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In a classic demonstration of the experimenter expectancy effect, Robert Rosenthal and Kermit Fode (1963) had psychology students train genetically similar rats to run a maze. Students who were falsely told their rats were bred to be 'maze-bright' reported significantly faster learning times than students told their rats were 'maze-dull.' Data revealed that students expecting smarter rats unconsciously handled them more warmly and positively, proving that an experimenter's expectations can alter subject behavior and skew research outcomes.

Rosenthal and Fode's Rat Maze Experiment

In Rosenthal and Fode's (1963) rat maze experiment, the rats assigned to the 'maze-bright' condition learned the maze faster because they were actually genetically bred for superior intelligence.

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