| ceiling effect | Failure of a measure to detect a difference because it was too easy (also see floor effect).
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| confederate | A person posing as a participant in an experiment who is actually part of the experiment.
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| debriefing | Explanation of the purposes of the research that is given to subjects following their participation in the research.
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| demand characteristics | Cues that inform the subject how he or she is expected to behave.
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| electroencephalogram (EEG) | A measure of the electrical activity of the brain.
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| electromyogram (EMG) | A measure of the electrical activity of muscles, including muscle tension.
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| experimenter bias (expectancy effects) | Any intentional or unintentional influence that the experimenter exerts on subjects to confirm the hypothesis under investigation.
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| filler items | Items included in a questionnaire measure to help disguise the true purpose of the measure.
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| floor effect | Failure of a measure to detect a difference because it was too difficult (also see ceiling effect).
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| functional MRI | Magnetic resonance imaging uses a magnet to obtain scans of structures of the brain. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides information on the amount of activity in different brain structures.
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| galvanic skin response (GSR) | The electrical conductance of the skin, which changes when sweating occurs.
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| manipulation check | A measure used to determine whether the manipulation of the independent variable has had its intended effect on a subject.
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| pilot study | A small-scale study conducted prior to conducting an actual experiment; designed to test and refine procedures.
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| placebo group | In drug research, a group given an inert substance to assess the psychological effect of receiving a treatment.
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| sensitivity | The ability of a measure to detect differences between groups.
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