Aresearcher would like to determine the effect of caffeine on memory. participants are randomly assigned to receive a caffeine pill or a sugar pill. both groups complete a recall task that assesses their memory. however, even those who received the sugar pill had a small increase in memory. this is likely due to:

c. The placebo effect

Explanation:

The options for this question are missing. The options are:

a. The experimental effect

b. The correlational approach to the study

c. The placebo effect

d. The participants becoming smarter

In research and psychology, the placebo effect refers to the phenomenon that occurs when people experience a benefit in their health after the administration of a substance with no real medical effects (an inactive substance).

In this example, in a study to determine the effect of caffeine on memory, participants receive either a caffeine pill or a sugar pill. Sugar is a substance that has no real medical effects when it comes to memory and that has no caffeine, in other words, it's an inactive substance. However, the participants that received this treatment had a small increase in memory. Therefore, they are experiencing a benefit after taking an inactive substance (the sugar pill) and this would likely be due to the placebo effect.