Internal validity is threatened when subjects in the control group modify their behavior to compensate for not receiving the experimental treatment. What is this called?
A) maturation effect
B) experimenter expectancy
C) compensatory behavior
D) diffusion of treatment

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Compensatory behavior occurs when subjects in the control group change their behavior because they know they are not receiving the experimental treatment, often in an attempt to compensate for this lack. This can threaten the internal validity of an experiment by introducing differences between the control and experimental groups that are not due to the independent variable.

Internal Validity Is Threatened When Subjects in the Control Group