Two groups of graduate students were given rats and were told to teach them how to run mazes.Group 1 was told that they had "very smart" rats that should learn quickly.Group 2 was told that they had "very stupid" rats that should learn slowly.In actuality,neither group was any different,and the rats were randomly assigned.In spite of that,when the experiment concluded,Group 1 rats had learned the maze much more quickly.How can that be explained?
A)experimenter effect
B)placebo effect
C)subject bias
D)treatment effect

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of experimenter effect, where the expectations of the experimenter influence the outcome of the experiment. The experimenter's belief that Group 1 had smart rats may have led them to inadvertently provide more positive reinforcement, attention, and encouragement to these rats, leading to their quicker learning.

Two Groups of Graduate Students Were Given Rats and Were