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Review Question - QID 104009

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QID 104009 (Type "104009" in App Search)
An office team is being observed by an outside agency at the request of management to make sure they are completing all their tasks appropriately. Several of the employees are nervous that they are being watched and take care to perform their jobs with extra care, more so than they would have done during a normal workday. What best describes this behavior?

Pygmalion effect

4%

4/111

Novelty effect

0%

0/111

Observer bias

12%

13/111

Hawthorne effect

77%

85/111

Ringelmann effect

1%

1/111

Select Answer to see Preferred Response

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The change in the employees' behavior as a result of being observed is representative of the Hawthorne effect.

The Hawthorne effect describes a situation in which workers improve or change aspects of their behavior as a result knowing that they are being observed. This effect was developed following a research study conducted in the 1920s - 1930s at the Hawthorne Western Electric Company. Researchers studied changes in worker productivity at various levels of light. When the researchers were removed, productivity decreased leading to the hypothesis of observer presence influencing subject behavior.

McCambridge et al. performed a systematic review of the Hawthorne effect in the available literature. They indicate that there are several psychological theories to explain the existence of the Hawthorne effect. In being observed, research subjects develop theories regarding the researcher's expectations. Social desirability and wish to conform influence the observed changes in behavior.

Gordis discusses additional forms of bias that may influence study results. In surveillance bias, if a certain population is monitored over a long period of time for a disease, diagnosis may be higher in the observed population compared to the general population. The example provided is the connection between oral contraceptive pills and thrombophlebitis. It was suggested that physicians monitored their patients on oral contraceptives more closely for signs of thrombophlebitis. Therefore, the increased prevalence of thrombophlebitis was secondary to closer monitoring, rather than a true association.

Incorrect Answers:
Answer 1: In the Pygmalion effect, the observer clearly states his or her expectation of those being watched. The subjects then adjust their behavior accordingly to meet those expectations.
Answer 2: In the novelty effect, performance initially improves because of interest in a newly introduced piece of technology.
Answer 3: In observer bias, and investigator's evaluation is impacted by their own knowledge of the exposure status of the study participant.
Answer 5: The Ringelmann effect describes how individual members of a group tend to become less productive as the size of the group increases.

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