Abstract
38 albino rats were trained to traverse a T-Maze for food reward, utilizing E as the discriminative cue. Upon testing, with 2 Es randomly alternating trials, performance indicated a successful utilization of the discriminative stimuli. A failure to find different performances between animals handled and not handled during intertrial intervals suggested that Ss were responding to some aspect of E other than merely the amount of handling given between trials.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
CORDARO, L. & ISON, J. R. Psychology of the scientist: X. Observer bias in classical conditioning of the planarian. Psychol. Rep., 1963, 13, 787–789.
FODE, K. L. The effect of non-visual and non-verbal interaction on experimenter bias. Unpublished masters thesis, Univer. of North Dakota, 1960. Cited by R. Rosenthal, Amer. Scient., 1963, 51, 268–283.
HARRIS, H. E., PICCOLINO, E. B., ROBACK, H. B. & SOMMER, D. G. The effects of alcohol on counter conditioning of an avoidance response. Quart. J. Alcoh. Stud., 1964, 25, 490–497.
KINTZ, B. L., DELPRATO, D. J., METTEE, D. R., PERSONS, C. E. & SCHAPPE, R. H. The experimenter effect. Psychol. Bull., 1965, 63, 223–232.
McGUIGAN, F. J. The experimenter: A neglected stimulus object. Psychol. Bull., 1963, 60, 421–428.
ROSENTHAL, R. Experimenter modeling effects as determinants of subjects’ responses. J. Proj. Tech., 1963, 27, 467–471. (a)
ROSENTHAL, R. On the social psychology of the psychological experiment: The experimenter’s hypothesis as unintended determinant of experimental results. Amer. Scient., 1963, 51, 268–283. (b)
ROSENTHAL, R. & FODE, K. L. The effect of experimenter bias on the performance of the albino rat. Behav. Sci., 1963, 8, 183–189.
ROSENTHAL, R. & HALAS, E. S. Experimenter effect in the study of invertebrate behavior. Psychol. Rep., 1962, 11, 251–256.
SMITH, K. U. Discriminative behavior in animals. In C. P. Stone (Ed.), Comparative psychology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1960.
SPENCE, K. W. Anxiety (drive) level and performance in eyelid conditioning. Psychol. Bull., 1964, 61, 129–140.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This study was suported in part by the University Research Committee of Ohio University.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kintz, B.L., Delprato, D.J., Mettee, D.R. et al. The Experimenter as a Discriminative Stimulus in a T-Maze. Psychol Rec 15, 449–454 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393614
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393614