Expectation Bias

I guess it depends what one is looking for. If, for instance, it is something like whether a difference can be heard between different bit rates of a lossy compression, then I think that people will go to the point where, to them, there is a very obvious eye's-shut difference. That's a bit like how I tune a musical instrument: I'm not very good at it, so I might have to start with way off one way, then way off the other... Then I end up with two notes that I can't tell the difference... then somebody else walks in the room and says, shit... that's out of tune!

Apparently.... no.

Why? Because expectation bias is not what we expect it to be!

 

Or that it confirms the well known XOR ability of the brain...
We've all experienced that sensation where you know something changed, but you are not sure what. No one remembers those corporate "motivation" posters that they pass everyday, but when one changes, you notice it right away.

 

Actually when I said;

"Personally, I try and keep in mind that price, prestige and other people's opinions don't matter once the rubber meets the road and one is evaluating a piece of equipment for himself."

Is just a fancy way to express not giving a shit.

Kevin

 

I don't want to draw too much of a parallel with the notion of a placebo effect in medicine, but just some things that might interest people:

First is that there are areas of the brain which have been associated with placebo effects, so there's a biological basis for some of this.

The second thing is another bit of research. There was a study where people were actually told "you are in the group getting a sugar pill not the real medicine". The people in that group _still_ showed improvement even though they knew their pills were fake.
Interesting, right?

 

QUOTE="Kunlun, post: 9257, member: 34"]I don't want to draw too much of a parallel with the notion of a placebo effect in medicine, but just some things that might interest people:

First is that there are areas of the brain which have been associated with placebo effects, so there's a biological basis for some of this.

The second thing is another bit of research. There was a study where people were actually told "you are in the group getting a sugar pill not the real medicine". The people in that group _still_ showed improvement even though they knew their pills were fake.
Interesting, right?[/QUOTE]

There is, in general, no acquired skill involved in your reaction to a medicine, though a good attitude toward recovery is always useful (certainly more so than a bad one), placebo or no. And subconscious beliefs certainly enter in, the placebo can trigger the idea that "help is on its way" which can cause our mind/body system to generate certain physiological changes. The fact that this happens is certainly fascinating!

But in terms of evaluating audio equipment, there is a certain degree of skill involved related to your strategies, exposure to music, your experience of different gear and your level of interest in music reproduction. Not to say there is none of these types of subconscious effects, just that your skill level and experience can help avoid some of the pitfalls.

As far as the second thing, maybe the patient subconsciously feels like, even though he was told it was placebo, the authority figure (doctor) wouldn't REALLY give the patient something the doctor expects not to work. We all suspect that any information can easily be disinformation...

Kevin

 

I don't deny the acquired skills of the experienced listener. Hey, I'd stick my neck out so far as to say that, whilst lacking breadth of equipment experience, and even while suffering known hearing loss, I have a few myself. It's not black and white; accepting that biases happen does not rule out listening skills, nor vice versa.

There is another aspect, though, which is that skills and knowledge bring along with them other biases --- and, sometimes, more complex and sophisticated ways of both denying and justifying the bias. This stuff has layers and layers and layers: just knowing that certain kinds of casework, or even brand names/identities doesn't mean that I can entirely counter that or that there are not dozens of other semi-concious things going on in my head,

Ultrabike, has studied this stuff. I have only become of aware of it, and interested in it, in recent years. It is audio that brought me to even thinking about this stuff. Part of the journey!