Sam's psychology professor, Dr. Smith, recruited him to serve as a research assistant. Sam's job was to teach study participants a new strategy for studying textbook material. Experimental group participants were supposed to be taught the new strategy, while control group participants were to be told that they could increase their test scores by holding their textbooks at a particular angle when reading. Each group was allowed to practice the techniques they were taught on a chapter in a psychology textbook, after which Sam tested them over what they had studied. Dr. Smith was surprised to discover that the control group scored higher on the tests than the experimental group did. Required:
a. Did Dr. Smith's design include a placebo?
b. If so, what was the placebo?
c. What term refers to the outcome of Dr. Smith's study?
d. Would it be correct to conclude that the procedure that was taught to the control group is a useful study strategy? If not, what is the correct conclusion?