An industrial-organizational psychologist is hired to help increase productivity at a company. He teaches one group of workers strategies to improve productivity and has a control group who does not learn the new strategies. However, workers in the experimental group talk to their friends in the control group about the new strategies, and pretty soon everyone is using them. Which kind of problem has the psychologist encountered?
A) Mortality
B) Maturation
C) Diffusion of treatment
D) Statistical regression

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The psychologist has encountered a "diffusion of treatment" problem, where the intervention intended only for the experimental group spreads to the control group, contaminating the results.

An Industrial-Organizational Psychologist Is Hired to Help Increase Productivity at a Company