Dr. Bloedorn is a health psychologist who researches nutrition. She is curious as to whether a new drink additive will help people consume fewer calories during a meal. The drink additive is a white, odorless, tasteless powder that a person can add to any drink. She collects a random sample of 63 overweight students on campus and measures the calories they eat during lunch using a bomb calorimeter. She then gives this additive to the same 63 participants to use at dinner and measures how many calories they eat (again using the bomb calorimeter).
Imagine that Dr. Bloedorn finds no difference between the calories consumed with the drink additive and without. This is known as:
A)observer bias.
B)a maturation effect.
C)a null effect.
D)the placebo effect.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A null effect refers to the lack of a significant difference between the two groups being compared. In this case, it means there was no significant difference in calories consumed with the drink additive and without it. Observer bias refers to the potential for the researcher's expectations to influence the results, maturation effect refers to changes that occur naturally over time, and the placebo effect refers to the phenomenon where a person's belief in a treatment or intervention influences their response to it. None of these terms accurately describe the situation in the scenario given. Therefore, the best answer is C (null effect).

Dr Bloedorn Is a Health Psychologist Who Researches Nutrition