Question

An experiment was designed in order to investigate whether antidepressants can help people

quit smoking. The subjects in the experiment were 430 adults over the age of 18 years who

were all highly motivated to quit smoking. Half of these subjects were randomly assigned to

take 300 mg daily—for 45 weeks—of an antidepressant known as bupropion. The other

half were randomly assigned to take a sugar pill daily for 45 weeks. The sugar pill looked like

bupropion but did not contain any of the active ingredients found in bupropion. At the end

of the 45-week period, it was observed that 55.1% of the adults in the bupropion group were

no longer smoking, compared to 42.3% of the adults in the sugar pill group. We would call

the sugar pill a(n)

A. response.

B. lurking variable.

C. placebo.

D. subject.

E. individual.

Answer 1

Correct option:

C. placebo.

Explanation:

In an experiment, the subjects respond differently after they receive a treatment, even if the treatment is neutral. A neutral treatment that has no real effect on the dependent variable is the placebo. In this experimentation the sugar pill looked likebupropion but did not contain any of the active ingredients found in bupropion.