Friday, March 14, 2008

Just how representative are people who volunteer for psychology experiments?

The researchers said their findings have important implications for psychology research. For example, it's been shown that people, like those choosing to volunteer, who are lower in Neuroticism, are more likely to show a positive response to drug treatments for depression and panic disorder. Also, when someone completes a personality test, for example as part of a job application process, the idea is that their score is compared against a population average, but this study suggests the personality averages (or norms) that have been calculated for tests are likely to be skewed because they're based on the scores of volunteers.
Earlier post on Stanford Prison Experiment re-look here.

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