A researcher asked students to teach a rat to learn a maze. Some students were told they had been given a genetically engineered "intelligent" rat, whereas others were told that they had a "dull" rat. Although there were no actual differences among the rats, the "intelligent" rats learned the maze more quickly than the "dull" rats. Which of the following can BEST explain the results of this experiment?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The results can best be explained by experimenter expectancy effects, where the expectations or beliefs of the researchers (in this case, the students) about the intelligence of the rats influenced the outcome of the experiment. This suggests that the students' behavior towards the rats was unconsciously altered based on their expectations, leading to the "intelligent" rats learning the maze more quickly.

A Researcher Asked Students to Teach a Rat to Learn