Cited by 386Psychology of Social InfluencePain Management and Placebo EffectReliability and Agreement in Measurement

The effect of experimenter bias on the performance of the albino rat

Rosenthal, Robert, Fode, Kermit L.·2007·Behavioral Science

Abstract

That an experimenter can very easily influence his subjects to give him the response he wants is a problem that every investigator recognizes and takes precautions to avoid. But how does one cope with the problem of unconscious influence? It is possible that a good many contradictory or unexpected findings are due to the fact that the experimenter unknowingly communicated his desires or expectations to his subjects. Though this problem has been generally recognized and much discussed, there has heretofore been no systematic test of the hypothesis that an experimenter can obtain from his subjects the data he expects or wants to obtain. This paper reports just such a test, and discusses what can be done to avoid experimenter influence, both conscious and unconscious.

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Crossref · 10.1002/bs.3830080302

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7 of 7 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • There is limited empirical evidence in animal research on the impact of blinding.

    “Although there is primary evidence of the impact of blinding in the clinical literature that directly compares blinded versus unblinded assessment of outcomes [82], there is limited empirical evidence in animal research [83,84].”
  • Blinding during outcome assessment is especially important, particularly if there is a subjective element.

    “Blinding is especially important during outcome assessment, particularly if there is a subjective element (e.g., when assessing behavioural changes or reading histological slides) [83].”

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Authors
Rosenthal, R., & Fode, K. L.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Venue
Behavioral Science
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2007-01-17
Volume
8
Issue
3
Pages
183-189
ISSN
  • 1092-7026 (ISSN-L)
  • 0005-7940
  • 1099-1743
OpenAlex
W2010723570
Cited by
384
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 9
FWCI
14.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Systems Research and Behavioral Science (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Psychology of Social Influence
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Reliability and Agreement in Measurement
Keywords
researcher bias, albino rats, animal behavior, unconscious influence

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