A researcher conducting a study on the effectiveness of a new prescription medication gives the actual medication to a group of people. A second group of participants are told they are receiving the medication but instead are given an inert sugar pill. Though the drug is found to be effective for the people who actually took it, a sizeable percentage of the people given the sugar pill also improve. The improvement of this second group is most likely due to
A)experimenter expectancy effects
B)the placebo effect
C)social desirability bias
D)sampling bias

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The improvement in the group given the sugar pill is most likely due to the placebo effect, where individuals experience a perceived or actual improvement in their condition solely because they believe they are receiving treatment, even though the "treatment" has no therapeutic effect.

A Researcher Conducting a Study on the Effectiveness of a New