Hello everybody,

I could need some help on finding more info on the subject mentioned above. The experiment showed a relation between the intensity of ligt and the productivity of personell in a factory. As i can remember the conclusion was that not the change of light was influencing the productivity, but the attention that was given to personel.

-- Martijn Janssen (martijnjanssen@amphia.nl), June 17, 2002

Answers

I think you'retalking about the Hawthorne effect (named after the Hawthorne Plant of Chicago's Western Electric Company in which it was first observed in the late 1920s). Generally, the finding is that almost any change in conditions -- even simply being observed -- will improve productivity for a short period of time, presumably because it raises workers' levels of interest in what they are doing, after which things will return more or less to the way they were prior to the intervention. I cannt find where the original work was published, but you can probably find out in most any industrial psychology textbook.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), June 17, 2002.

A PsycInfo search of "Hawthorne effect" (any field) found 214 references. Limiting the serac hmention of the Hawthorne effect in the title left only 22, which I have copied below:

1.The Hawthorne effect in reverse: Trainee orientation for the hard-core unemployed woman. By O'Leary, Virginia E. Journal of Applied Psychology. 1972 Dec Vol. 56(6) 491-494

2. The Hawthorne misunderstanding (and how to get the Hawthorne effect in action research). By Gottfredson, Gary D. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency. 1996 Feb Vol 33(1) 28-48

3. The Hawthorne effect: A reconsideration of the methodological artifact. By Adair, John G. Journal of Applied Psychology. 1984 May Vol 69(2) 334-345

4.The "Hawthorne effect" in an institution in transition. By Cleland, C. C.; Cochran, W. E.; Love, J. G.; Vowell, R. W. American Journal of Mental Deficiency. 1962 66(5) 723-728

5. More on the Hawthorne effect. By Parsons, H. McIlvaine American Psychologist. 1982 Jul Vol 37(7) 856-857

6.The Hawthorne effect. By Chant, Graham Journal of the Market Research Society. 1993 Jul Vol 35(3) 279

7. Hawthorne effect in learning by intact classes. By Dignan, Mark B. Psychological Reports. 1979 Jun Vol 44(3, Pt 2) 1222

8. Clinical trial of incontinence garments: Recognition of the possible influence of the Hawthorne effect. By Hanley, Janet; Beveridge, Mairi; Aitken, Cairns; Hunter, John; et al Clinical Rehabilitation. 1988 Nov Vol 2(4) 285-290

9. An assessment of therapist rating bias and the Hawthorne effect in a program evaluation. By Stahler, Gerald J. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1983 Jul Vol 44(1-B) 330

10. The Hawthorne effect: A fresh examination. By Diaper, Gordon Educational Studies. 1990 Vol 16(3) 261-267

11. An examination of the Hawthorne Effect in a verbal learning situation in an educational setting. By Simpson, Bert L. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1978 Jun Vol 38(12-A) 7242-7243

12. The effects of learning disabilities remediation, attention training, and the Hawthorne Effect on learning disabled children. By Campbell, Edwin F. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1978 Mar Vol 38(9-B) 4423-4424

13. The influence of the Hawthorne Effect with application to research on institutions for the mentally retarded. By Wool, Dennis I. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1978 Feb Vol 38(8-A) 4743

14. Intensive supervision of status offenders: Evidence on continuity of treatment effects for juveniles and a "Hawthorne effect" for counselors. By Land, Kenneth C.; McCall, Patricia L.; Williams, Jay R. McCord, Joan (Ed); Tremblay, Richard Ernest (Ed). Preventing antisocial behavior: Interventions from birth through adolescence. (pp. 330-349).New York, NY, US: The Guilford Press (1992) xv, 391 pp.

15. A failure to demonstrate the efficacy of the Hawthorne Effect in an educational setting. By Flohr, John C. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1977 May Vol 37(11-A) 7036-7037

16. Hawthorne effects in a remedial program for low achieving and learning disabled children. By Schneiderman, Mel H. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1977 Feb Vol 37(8-B) 4121

17. Programmed student achievement: A Hawthorne effect? By Haddad, Nabil F.; Nation, Jack R.; Williams, Jerry D. Research in Higher Education. 1975 Vol 3(4) 315-322

18.Harnessing the Hawthorne effect: The use of socio-psychological variables to improve training performance. By Griggs, Ian W. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1975 Oct Vol 36(4-B) 1957

19. Hawthorne control procedures in educational experiments: A reconsideration of their use and effectiveness. By Adair, John G.; Sharpe, Donald; Huynh, Cam-loi Review of Educational Research. 1989 Sum Vol 59(2) 215-228

20. Tachistoscopic vs. pseudo-tachistoscopic training and the Hawthorne effect in improving reading achievement. By Kleinberg, Norman M. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1971 Sep Vol. 32(3-A) 1339

21. Literary technique and psychological effect in Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil." By Quinn, James; Baldessarini, Ross Literature & Psychology. 1974 Vol 24(3) 115-123

22. The Hawthorne effect: The relationship of direct and indirect cues to intellectual task performance of third through ninth grade students. By Olson, Carl J. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1968 29(5-A) 1479

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), June 17, 2002.

The Hawthorne effect was studied originally by Roethlisberger and Dickson in the 1920s. A reference is Roethlisberger,F.J. & Dickson,W.J. (1939) Management and the Worker (Boston, Mass.: Harvard University Press).

However, the 'inventor' of the Hawthorne effect seems to be Elton Mayo, who reported about it in Mayo,E. (1933) The human problems of an industrial civilization (New York: MacMillan) ch.3.

A nice (short) web resource with information on the interesting effect is http://www.accel-team.com/motivation/hawthorne_01.html

-- Casper Hulshof (c.d.hulshof@utwente.nl), October 08, 2002.