2 ms·

Except in this case for the follow up interviews there was no incentive to lie.

by kenjackson 3y ago

canjobear 3y ago
They’re incentivized to tell the experimenters what they want to hear so they can get paid and go home faster.
- somenameforme 3y ago
  Having participated in plenty of these (as it was required for class credit, and they also paid reasonably well for an in-between classes hour type thing to go do), the 'researchers' can also be completely obnoxious. One study I was involved in had me listen to some rant about how women do better on a math exam I was about to take, being left in a room for about 10 minutes alone, and then being given the exam - on pink paper. It was generic algebra 2 / SAT level test. After the exam the researchers just endlessly hounded me from a hundred different angles trying to get me to express doubt or uncertainty in how I performed on it. If I just wanted my $20 and credit, it would have been far easier to just give them what they wanted. But I've been ever the contrarian. They also said they'd email me my results in 8 weeks. They did not. I've always wondered if I ended up getting culled from their 'study' as an 'outlier.'
  - AlbertCory 3y ago
    Funny, but my one and only contact with PLATO when I was at the U of I was for a Psych 100 experiment like this.
  - kenjackson 3y ago
    That just sounds like bad research. In general if you know their angle that clearly then they’ve failed at how to do a research study of this type — obnoxious or not. It sounds like they don’t know how to do this type of research.
    - somenameforme 3y ago
      I'm not sure that was the problem. Journals don't tend to publish negative results, and social science journals seem to have 0 issues with publishing studies that are overtly designed to confirm a hypothesis, rather than challenge it. Add in a bit of publish or perish, and this behavior is ubiquitous. What would you say is an example of good research in social psychology? As an example of bad science, you look to what's likely the single most well known experiment in social psychology - the Stanford Prisoner Experiment. It's not only failed to replicate, but was mostly entirely fabricated. [1] The famous clip of the guy screaming out 'I can’t stand another night! I just can’t take it anymore!' came from a guy who was intentionally faking a meltdown, because he needed to go study and they weren't allowing him access to his books, the guards were actively trained to be cruel, and more. Incidentally Zimbardo (the experimenter), far from being shunned, has received countless accolades for this experiment, some as recent as 2012. [1] - https://gen.medium.com/the-lifespan-of-a-lie-d869212b1f62 https://gen.medium.com/the-lifespan-of-a-lie-d869212b1f62
- anigbrowl 3y ago
  In most psychological experiments, volunteers are told it will take an hour/an afternoon/whatever at the time they sign up to participate. The notion that all of them actually want to cut corners and just obtain the cash in return for the bare minimum of time and effort is an assumption about people in general, not a fact.
- kenjackson 3y ago
  In the follow ups they are simply asked to recount and give their confidence of recounting. It’s only the original interview they are told to try to remember details even if they can’t. The premise of the study is that the first interview is used to plant the memories. The follow up interviews are to see if they stick. They specifically aren’t trying to intervene in those interviews.

Except in this case for the follow up interviews there was no incentive to lie.

canjobear 3y ago

They’re incentivized to tell the experimenters what they want to hear so they can get paid and go home faster.

somenameforme 3y ago
Having participated in plenty of these (as it was required for class credit, and they also paid reasonably well for an in-between classes hour type thing to go do), the 'researchers' can also be completely obnoxious. One study I was involved in had me listen to some rant about how women do better on a math exam I was about to take, being left in a room for about 10 minutes alone, and then being given the exam - on pink paper. It was generic algebra 2 / SAT level test. After the exam the researchers just endlessly hounded me from a hundred different angles trying to get me to express doubt or uncertainty in how I performed on it. If I just wanted my $20 and credit, it would have been far easier to just give them what they wanted. But I've been ever the contrarian. They also said they'd email me my results in 8 weeks. They did not. I've always wondered if I ended up getting culled from their 'study' as an 'outlier.'
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  Funny, but my one and only contact with PLATO when I was at the U of I was for a Psych 100 experiment like this.
- kenjackson 3y ago
  That just sounds like bad research. In general if you know their angle that clearly then they’ve failed at how to do a research study of this type — obnoxious or not. It sounds like they don’t know how to do this type of research.
  - somenameforme 3y ago
    I'm not sure that was the problem. Journals don't tend to publish negative results, and social science journals seem to have 0 issues with publishing studies that are overtly designed to confirm a hypothesis, rather than challenge it. Add in a bit of publish or perish, and this behavior is ubiquitous. What would you say is an example of good research in social psychology? As an example of bad science, you look to what's likely the single most well known experiment in social psychology - the Stanford Prisoner Experiment. It's not only failed to replicate, but was mostly entirely fabricated. [1] The famous clip of the guy screaming out 'I can’t stand another night! I just can’t take it anymore!' came from a guy who was intentionally faking a meltdown, because he needed to go study and they weren't allowing him access to his books, the guards were actively trained to be cruel, and more. Incidentally Zimbardo (the experimenter), far from being shunned, has received countless accolades for this experiment, some as recent as 2012. [1] - https://gen.medium.com/the-lifespan-of-a-lie-d869212b1f62 https://gen.medium.com/the-lifespan-of-a-lie-d869212b1f62
anigbrowl 3y ago
In most psychological experiments, volunteers are told it will take an hour/an afternoon/whatever at the time they sign up to participate. The notion that all of them actually want to cut corners and just obtain the cash in return for the bare minimum of time and effort is an assumption about people in general, not a fact.
kenjackson 3y ago
In the follow ups they are simply asked to recount and give their confidence of recounting. It’s only the original interview they are told to try to remember details even if they can’t. The premise of the study is that the first interview is used to plant the memories. The follow up interviews are to see if they stick. They specifically aren’t trying to intervene in those interviews.