"It never did me any harm"

[andrewducker]

Subjects were recruited to play the role of a teacher trying to make a child arrive on time for school at 8.30am. They sat at a computer, on which it appeared that each day, for 15 consecutive days, a child would arrive at some time between 8.20 and 8.40.

Since this was a psychology experiment, the subjects were lied to: they did not know that the arrival times were entirely random, and predetermined before the experiment began.

Nevertheless, participants thoughtfully deployed punishments for lateness, and rewards for punctuality.

When they were asked at the end to rate their strategy, 70% concluded that reprimand was more effective than reward in producing punctuality from the child. It's a touching testament to their own beliefs about the world.

Via the ever-reliable Ben Goldacre.

Comments

[d-c-m.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... This seems odd as well, the child, depending on age and circumstances, might not have any control. Didn't the subjects ask to speak to the parents? And hey, if it is the parents, there is no point in penalizing the child.

I teach college and frankly when students are late I just acknowledge their lateness with a nod. Some students tell me what happens, some don't, and most don't show up late.

Ok, sorry, totally irrelevant posting. Thanks for ignoring.

[andrewducker]

It's a computer sim - those might not have been options...

[endless-psych.livejournal.com]

It's a fairly well documented effect.

For a more comical example of it see the end of series episode of Derren Browns last tv show.

See here:- http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IDi2NlsA4nI.

[sterlingspider.livejournal.com]

What I'm curious about is how the subjects then reacted to debriefing.