Hernandez conducted a study that explored whether giving children recess prior to testing helped their test performance. For one of the semesters, he sends half of his classes out for 10 minutes of recess prior to testing for the other half, he provides 10 minutes of free time after the test. Given the study was conducted in a school, students in the recess condition classes told students in the other classes that they were allowed to go to recess before the tests. This is an example of which of the following?
A) History effect
B) Instrumentation bias
C) Treatment diffusion
D) Placebo effect

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Treatment diffusion occurs when participants in one condition of a study share information or knowledge about the study with participants in another condition, potentially contaminating or diluting the treatment effect. In this case, students in the recess condition shared information with students in the other condition about their pre-test recess, potentially impacting their performance on the test.

Hernandez Conducted a Study That Explored Whether Giving Children Recess