College Psych sources of bias in research

expectancy bias

(experimenter/personal bias) the researcher allows their own beliefs or expectations to affect the outcome of the study

double-blind study

a study in which both participants and experimenters are unaware of who has obtained the treatment- required by FDA

placebo effect

a positive response to a placebo caused by the subjects belief that they are receiving an actual treatment- medical, sugar pills

nocebo effect

a negative response to a nocebo caused by the subject’s belief that they are bring exposed to something harmful

sampling bias

occurs when the participants are not chosen at random, so that an attribute is over or under represented in the sample

volunteer bias

occurs when the participants are self-selected people who volunteer often defer (in some way) from people who don’t

response bias

to respond in a certain way regardless of knowledge or beliefs relevant to the actual situation- toothpaste study

subject bias

a tendency of people who know they are subjects to behave in a way other than they normally would

hawthorn effect

alternate behavior due to the fact that people are being observed, warehouse make people look better by just being watched

WEIRD

Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic

experimenter bias example

bright vs dull rats, no different between the rats but the “brighter” rats scored better

Single-Blind

just the participants are blind in the situation

Placebo in Latin

i shall please

Nocebo in Latin

i shall harm

What was a personal bias used in psych for a while

using only white subjects

confirmation bias

tendency to seek info that aligns with our point of view and dismiss info that challenges it

how to avoid bias

blind analysis, double blind, peer review, scientific method, placebos

validity

how well a test measures what it says it measures