In One Study, Participants in Group 1 Were Given a Pill

question 27

Multiple Choice

In one study, participants in Group 1 were given a pill and told, "This pill will make you a bit jumpy, will make your palms sweat, and may give you butterflies in the stomach." Participants in Group 2 were given the same pill, but they were told, "This pill may make you a little sleepy." In both cases, the pill was a placebo. All participants were then exposed to electric shocks and were asked to rate how painful each shock had seemed. Given other evidence, we would expect that:

• A) there will be no difference between the two groups
• B) the participants will not differ in how they rate the shocks, but participants in Group 2 will end up having more positive feelings about the experiment
• C) the participants in Group 2 will rate the shocks as less painful than the participants in Group 1
• D) the participants in Group 1 will rate the shocks as less painful than the participants in Group 2

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Definitions:

Fechner's Law

A principle in psychophysics that quantifies the relationship between the intensity of a physical stimulus and the intensity of the sensation it produces, suggesting a logarithmic relationship.

Weber's Law

A principle in psychology that proposes the smallest change in a stimulus that can be detected is proportional to the intensity of the original stimulus.

Sensation Strength

The intensity level at which a stimulus is perceived, influenced by physical properties and individual sensitivity.

Psychological Magnitude

A concept in psychology that refers to the perceived size, amount, or intensity of a psychological attribute.