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Double Blind Study - AP® Psychology Definition

Reviewed by: Claire Neeson

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What is a double blind study?

In AP Psychology, a double-blind study is a research method commonly used to prevent bias in experimental results. In this type of study, neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving the treatment or the placebo during the experiment.

A double blind study helps ensure that the outcomes are not influenced by participants' or researchers' expectations or behaviours, thus maintaining the integrity and objectivity of the results. Double-blind studies are particularly important when testing the effectiveness of new drugs or therapies, as they provide a more reliable measure of a treatment's true impact by minimising the potential for placebo effects and observer bias.

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Claire Neeson

Reviewer: Claire Neeson

Expertise: Psychology Content Creator

Claire has been teaching for 34 years, in the UK and overseas. She has taught GCSE, A-level and IB Psychology which has been a lot of fun and extremely exhausting! Claire is now a freelance Psychology teacher and content creator, producing textbooks, revision notes and (hopefully) exciting and interactive teaching materials for use in the classroom and for exam prep. Her passion (apart from Psychology of course) is roller skating and when she is not working (or watching 'Coronation Street') she can be found busting some impressive moves on her local roller rink.

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