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Placebo Effect Produces Higher Test Scores

   A new study finds it’s possible to trick people into doing better on a
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   Scientists are increasingly convinced of the power of the placebo
   effect. Believing that one is receiving treatment when you're not—say,
   in the form of a pill that supposedly contains a powerful drug that is
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   for some patients, some of the time.

   Newly published research suggests a placebo process can produce a
   similarly positive outcome for test-takers. In short, the belief that
   you have access to the answers makes it more likely you will get them
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   were random letter strings.”

   No matter: “Participants in the placebo condition who believed they had
   been exposed to the correct answers subliminally scored higher than
   participants in the control condition,” Weger and Loughnan write.
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   About Tom Jacobs