Which statement best defines demand characteristics in psychological research?

Which statement best defines demand characteristics in psychological research?

• A. They are sampling errors due to faulty randomization.
• B. They are measurement errors caused by instrument drift.
• C. They are cues that influence participants to respond in a certain way.
• D. They are unintentional bias in data coding.

Answer: (C)

Demand characteristics are cues in a study—the setup, instructions, or the experimenter’s behavior—that lead participants to guess what the researchers expect and change their responses to meet those guessed expectations. This can distort results because the behavior reflects perceived demands rather than true attitudes or abilities. The idea is that subtle signals in the research environment can steer how people respond. In contrast, sampling errors involve who is chosen for the study, instrument drift refers to changes in measurement tools over time, and unintentional bias in data coding concerns how responses are categorized after data collection, not how participants respond during the experiment.

Demand characteristics are cues in a study—the setup, instructions, or the experimenter’s behavior—that lead participants to guess what the researchers expect and change their responses to meet those guessed expectations. This can distort results because the behavior reflects perceived demands rather than true attitudes or abilities. The idea is that subtle signals in the research environment can steer how people respond. In contrast, sampling errors involve who is chosen for the study, instrument drift refers to changes in measurement tools over time, and unintentional bias in data coding concerns how responses are categorized after data collection, not how participants respond during the experiment.