Samantha signs up for a psychology experiment and is told that the study involves people's study habits by themselves or in groups.She is assigned to an individual study room and given a packet of materials to study.She also notices that she can hear music through speakers in the room and wonders whether the experiment is really about whether music distracts people while they are studying.She decides to try even harder to study the material she was given and ignore the music.This example best demonstrates the concept of
A)the Rosenthal effect.
B)demand characteristics.
C)experimenter expectancy effects.
D)the placebo effect.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Samantha's behavior is influenced by the demand characteristics of the study. Demand characteristics refer to cues in an experiment that suggest to the participant what behavior is expected or considered appropriate, leading them to modify their behavior to conform to these expectations. In this case, Samantha tries harder to study and ignore the music because she believes that the study is investigating the effects of studying alone or in groups, while in reality, the study might be investigating the effects of music on studying.

Samantha Signs Up for a Psychology Experiment and Is Told