A Signal Detection Theory Analysis of the Placebo Effect

Some instances of the placebo effect may be understood as a particular type of error made by the patient--a false positive error. False positive errors are common (indeed, frequently encouraged) in medical decision making, both by diagnosticians and by patients, and are the inevitable consequence of concluding that an ambiguous signal (e.g., attenuation of pain, relief of depression) did, or did not, occur. Signal detection theory (SDT) was …