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Suppose you are designing an experiment to test the efficacy of a new therapeutic medical device that is applied to the skin. To establish a rigorous control group that accounts for the placebo effect, how would you design a 'sham' version of this device?
Question: Suppose you are designing an experiment to test the efficacy of a new therapeutic medical device that is applied to the skin. To establish a rigorous control group that accounts for the placebo effect, how would you design a 'sham' version of this device?
Sample answer: To design a sham version of the therapeutic skin device, the control group should use a device that looks, feels, and sounds identical to the real device, and is applied to the skin in the same manner, but does not deliver the active therapeutic agent (e.g., no electrical current, heat, or radiation is emitted). This ensures that participants in both groups have the exact same expectations and sensory experience.
Key points:
- Proposes a control device that is visually and physically identical to the real device.
- Specifies that the sham device must not deliver the active therapeutic mechanism (e.g., active current, heat, or radiation).
- Explains that this design holds expectations constant across both groups.
Rubric: The answer should describe a control device that mimics the active device in all sensory aspects (appearance, application, sound, feel) but lacks the active therapeutic component, thereby isolating the device's true efficacy from expectation-based placebo effects.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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Suppose you are designing an experiment to test the efficacy of a new therapeutic medical device that is applied to the skin. To establish a rigorous control group that accounts for the placebo effect, how would you design a 'sham' version of this device?