User talk:Bsum12/sandbox

What I Will Create or Change
I expect to add to the existing page called "placebo button" and I will add:

some workplaces have employed a strategy known as placebo thermostats. A placebo thermostat is a device that looks like a normal thermostat but is not connected to the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning system (HVAC) (Sandberg, 2003). This practice became common because workplace officials and HVAC specialists became inundated with complaints with employees regarding the temperature in the workplace (Sandberg, 2003). The HVAC specialists sell these fake thermostats to landlords and building managers to keep individuals and tenants feeling comfortable and in control (Arabe, 2003). Some HVAC specialists will also install a fan or other mechanism to make noises resembling a real heating and air conditioning system (Arabe, 2003). The sound of hissing or the sound of a fan blowing shortly after the thermostat is changed completes the illusion created by the placebo thermostat (McRaney, 2010). One informal study asked HVAC specialists “if they ever installed “dummy” thermostats?”. The results were that out of 70 companies contacted 51 companies said, “yes” and 19 companies said, “no” (Arabe, 2003). This shows that the phenomenon of placebo thermostats may be a common practice in workplaces today. The placebo thermostats works on two psychological principles, which are classical conditioning and the placebo effect. First, placebo thermostats work in accordance with classical conditioning. Classical conditioning was first discovered by Pavlov and is a type of learning which pairs a stimulus with a physiological response. Applied to placebo thermostats this is when the employee adjusts the thermostat and they hear the noise of hissing or a fan running and they will physically feel more content. This is due to the countless trials involving the thermostat in their own home, which actually works. The employee has paired the sound of hissing or a fan running to being more physically content due to the actual temperature change and therefore when they experience the noise at work they feel the same way even though there is no change in temperature. As long as individuals get the result they are looking for (noise associated with temperature change) they will continue with the practice (changing the placebo thermostat) (McRaney, 2010). Additionally, placebo thermostats work due to the placebo effect. The placebo effect works on the basis that individuals will experience what they believe they will experience. This is attributed to Expectancy Theory, which states that the placebo effect is mediated by overt expectancies (Stewart-Williams & Podd, 2004). The most common example is in medical testing sugar pills are given to patients and told they are actual medicine and some patients will actually get better even though there is medically no reason for it. This is applicable to placebo thermostats because if people believe they are going to experience a temperature change after changing the thermostat they may psychologically experience one without an actual change happening. To apply the Expectancy Theory; because individuals consciously expect a temperature change to occur after changing the thermostat they will experience one (Stewart-Williams et al., 2004). Both psychological concepts of classical conditioning and the placebo effect may play a role in the effectiveness of placebo thermostats.

Bsum12 (talk) 15:12, 8 April 2014 (UTC)