An investigator is conducting structured interviews to measure the effectiveness of a new cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program for stress management. During the interviews, the investigator unconsciously nods and smiles more frequently when participants describe positive coping strategies, but remains neutral when they describe negative reactions.
Which research methods term best describes this phenomenon, and what is its primary consequence on the study's validity?
Demand characteristics, which primarily reduces the external validity of the findings because the experimental setup is artificial.
Acquiescence bias, which primarily reduces the population validity because the sample size is influenced by researcher expectations.
Investigator effects, which primarily reduces the internal validity of the findings because the researcher's behavior acts as an extraneous variable.
Social desirability bias, which primarily reduces the ecological validity because participants are reacting to social norms.
644 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Research methods and techniques. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.