Observer effect, observer bias, observation effect, or observation bias may refer to a number of concepts, some of them closely related:
General experimental biases
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Hawthorne effect
The Hawthorne effect is a type of human behavior reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. The effect was discovered in the context of research conducted at the Hawthorn ...
, a form of reactivity in which subjects modify an aspect of their behavior, in response to their knowing that they are being studied
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Observer-expectancy effect
The observer-expectancy effect is a form of reactivity in which a researcher's cognitive bias causes them to subconsciously influence the participants of an experiment. Confirmation bias can lead to the experimenter interpreting results incorr ...
, a form of reactivity in which a researcher's cognitive bias causes them to unconsciously influence the participants of an experiment
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Observer bias
Observer bias is one of the types of detection bias and is defined as any kind of systematic divergence from accurate facts during observation and the recording of data and information in studies. The definition can be further expanded upon to inc ...
, a detection bias in research studies resulting for example from an observer's cognitive biases
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Observer's paradox, a situation in which the phenomenon being observed is unwittingly influenced by the presence of the observer.
Physics
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Observer effect (physics), the impact of observing a physical system
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Probe effect, the effect on a physical system of adding measurement devices, such as the probes of electronic test equipment
Computing
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Heisenbug
In computer programming jargon, a heisenbug is a software bug that seems to disappear or alter its behavior when one attempts to study it. The term is a pun on the name of Werner Heisenberg, the physicist who first asserted the observer effect ...
of computer programming, in which a software bug seems to disappear or alter its behavior when one attempts to study it
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Observer effect (information technology)
In information technology, the observer effect is the impact on the behaviour of a computer process caused by the act of observing the process while it is running.
For example: if a process uses a log file to record its progress, the process cou ...
, the impact of observing a process while it is running
Other uses
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"Observer Effect" (''Star Trek: Enterprise''), an episode of ''Star Trek: Enterprise'', named after the effect in physics
See also
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Bystander effect
The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is a social psychological theory that states that individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim in the presence of other people. The theory was first proposed in 1964 after the murder of Kitty ...
, the social psychological theory that states that individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim in the presence of other people
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Actor–observer asymmetry, a bias one makes when forming attributions about the behavior of others or themselves
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Demonstration effect, an effect on the behavior of an individual caused by observation of the actions of others and their consequences
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Personal equation, the idea that different observers have different reaction times, which can introduce bias when it comes to measurements and observations
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Placebo
A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.
Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...
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nocebo effects, positive and negative effects autosuggested by a patient under an inert substance or treatment
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Schrödinger's cat
In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment concerning quantum superposition. In the thought experiment, a hypothetical cat in a closed box may be considered to be simultaneously both alive and dead while it is unobserved, ...
, a thought experiment that illustrates a paradox of quantum superposition, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger
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Uncertainty principle
The uncertainty principle, also known as Heisenberg's indeterminacy principle, is a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics. It states that there is a limit to the precision with which certain pairs of physical properties, such as position a ...
, any of a variety of mathematical inequalities in quantum mechanics, introduced by German physicist Werner Heisenberg
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