Effects of Knowing Test Purposes on the Eysenck Personality Inventory

Abstract

14 male and 49 female black undergraduates were randomly assigned to two groups, who were given the Eysenck Personality Inventory, Form A, as pretest under the same standardized condition but as posttest under different conditions. For posttest, one group read three-paragraph descriptions of the actual purposes of the test before taking it. The other Ss read three-paragraph definitions of three psychological terms as placebo before taking the test. The hypothesis that knowing actual purposes of the test has no effect on responses was supported by these data.