What is the “Hawthorne effect”?

The Hawthorne effect refers to the phenomenon where individuals modify their behavior in response to being observed or aware that they are part of a study. This effect was first identified in research conducted at the Hawthorne Works factory in the 1920s, where researchers found that simply observing workers led to changes in their productivity, regardless of the changes made to their working conditions.

In the context of experimental research, the Hawthorne effect highlights the impact of observation on participants’ behaviors, indicating that awareness of being studied can lead to alterations in performance. This is crucial for researchers to consider, as it can influence the validity of the study's results. Understanding this effect is important for designing experiments that minimize bias and accurately reflect behaviors that would occur in a natural setting, rather than behaviors driven by the awareness of observation.

The other choices do not precisely capture this concept. While changes in behavior due to environmental factors and increased motivation from peer support may occur in various contexts, they do not specifically describe the awareness of being observed leading to behavior modification. Improvement in performance due to fatigue pertains to response effects unrelated to the observation factor inherent in the Hawthorne effect.