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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Combining Behavior and EEG to Study the Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Episodic Memory

Combining Behavior and EEG to Study the Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Episodic Memory

Published on: May 11, 2020

Expectancy Effect in Three Mind-Body Clinical Trials.

Matthew Hicks¹, Douglas Hanes², Helané Wahbeh³

¹National College of Natural Medicine, Portland, OR, USA matthewhicks12@gmail.com.

Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine

|June 9, 2016

Summary

This study found that pretreatment expectations did not significantly impact symptom reduction in mind-body interventions. The positive effects of mindfulness meditation appear to be independent of expectancy effects.

Keywords:

expectancy meditation mind-body mindfulness-based stress reduction

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Dissociation of the Confounding Influences of Expectancy and Integrative Difficulty Residing in Anomalous Sentences in Event-related Potential Studies

Dissociation of the Confounding Influences of Expectancy and Integrative Difficulty Residing in Anomalous Sentences in Event-related Potential Studies

Published on: May 9, 2019

Area of Science:

Mind-body medicine
Psychology
Clinical research

Background:

Expectancy is a key component of the placebo effect, influencing treatment outcomes.
Mind-body interventions have shown efficacy in improving health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the association between pretreatment expectations and symptom reduction.
To analyze data from three mind-body intervention programs.

Main Methods:

Secondary analysis of data from three mind-body intervention programs.
Correlation and regression analysis comparing expectancy questionnaire data to clinical impression scores.

Main Results:

Only one of six expectancy questions across three studies showed a significant correlation with symptom reduction.
Combined analysis of all three studies revealed no significant expectancy effects.
Mindfulness meditation's benefits were not linked to expectancy.

Conclusions:

Pretreatment expectations do not appear to be a significant driver of symptom reduction in the studied mind-body interventions.
The therapeutic effects of mindfulness meditation are likely independent of patient expectations.