Question

Which of the following statements about participant bias is most correct?

a) participant bias is when participants are aware of the expected outcome of the experiment and knowingly alter their behaviour.
b) participant bias only occurs when a participant's prior knowledge consciously affects their performance in an experiment.
c) participant bias can be reduced or even prevented by using a between-participants design where there are different participants in each condition.
d) participant bias can be reduced or even prevented by making the conditions of the experiment as similar as possible between the experimental and control groups.

Answer 1

Participant bias is when participants alter their behavior because they are aware of the study's purpose. Double-blind studies and placebo control groups are methods used to prevent this bias, ensuring that neither researchers nor participants influence the results with their expectations.

Step-by-step explanation:

Participant bias occurs when participants are aware of what the study is investigating, which can influence their behavior and affect the results of the experiment. To counteract this, research designs like the double-blind study are implemented, where both researchers and participants are unaware of group assignments. The expectation is that this helps control for both experimenter and participant bias, including the placebo effect, where simply expecting something to happen can make it happen. Additionally, ensuring random selection and assignment of participants, as well as including control groups that receive a placebo treatment, are key components in a well-designed study to prevent such biases.