问答题
Experimental Effect

Experimental effect is an interesting phenomenon that occurs when researchers perform experiments. The accuracy of the experimental outcome turns out just as hypothesized or expected -- not because of the knowledge or the methods of the researchers, but because their expectations tend to affect the processes and results of the experiment. For example, a researcher who predicts that the outcome of the experiment will not be the expected one may take actions that make the unexpected result more likely, thus fulfilling the original hypothesis.
Question: The professor gives an example to illustrate the "experimental effect" phenomenon. Explain how this example is related to the reading passage.
【正确答案】
【答案解析】Experimental effect is an interesting phenomenon which happens when performing experiments. A researcher's expectations tend to affect the process and outcome of the experiment. For example, two groups of monkeys were trained to pick up balls and put them into boxes. The monkeys have the same level of intelligence, but the researchers were told the monkeys in the first group are smarter than those in the second group. Later, the experiment showed that the first group fulfilled the task two hours faster than the second group. The reason for such an outcome is that the researchers spent more effort on and gave more encouragement to the first group because they believed the monkeys in the group were more intelligent than the other group. [听力原文] M: Let's talk about experimental effect today. Generally speaking, people mostly behave as expected. If we expect people to be friendly, they are more likely to be so than if we expect them to be hostile, and we treat them accordingly. Therefore, researchers can affect the outcome of experiments, biasing them in the direction of whatever their expectations are. Here is one example: two groups of monkeys were given training in a method of putting balls into the boxes. The researchers were told that the monkeys in the first group had higher IQ than the monkeys in the second group. However, in fact the monkeys were of similar intelligence, which was unknown to the researchers. Later, the researchers trained these monkeys to pick balls and put them into the boxes. The results turned out that the first group did the task two hours faster than the second group. This way, the monkeys in the first group "proved" to be more intelligent than those in the second group. The reason behind that outcome was that the researchers were more enthusiastic and patient with the first group. The monkeys of that group received more smiles and encouragement than those in the second group.