Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Scientific Nature of Social Psychology01:30

Scientific Nature of Social Psychology

526
Social psychology is a scientific discipline dedicated to understanding how individuals think, feel, and behave in social contexts. Unlike common sense, which relies on anecdotal experiences and intuition, social psychology employs systematic research and empirical methods to ensure objectivity and reliability. This distinction is fundamental in distinguishing scientifically supported findings from mere speculation.Four fundamental scientific values guide a structured approach to research in...
526
Impact of Individuals on Individuals01:30

Impact of Individuals on Individuals

348
Human behavior is intricately shaped by social influences that arise from interactions with others in diverse contexts. These influences not only mold beliefs and attitudes but also drive the regulation of behaviors through both direct communication and observational learning. The study of these processes falls within the domain of social psychology, which seeks to understand how individuals are affected by and affect those around them.Mechanisms of Social InfluenceDirect social influence...
348
Defining Social Psychology01:09

Defining Social Psychology

349
Social psychology investigates how the presence and actions of others influence individual behavior, cognition, and emotion. Examining the social environment's impact provides a scientific framework for understanding how individuals perceive others and are, in turn, influenced by them. This field seeks to uncover the underlying principles guiding social interactions, exploring phenomena such as conformity, obedience, and prosocial behavior.Core Themes in Social PsychologyOne central focus of...
349
Social Proof00:52

Social Proof

31.5K
Social proof is a form of persuasion based on comparison and conformity. People compare their behavior and actions to what others are doing and will change to conform to do what their peers do.
31.5K
Naturalistic Observations02:30

Naturalistic Observations

17.0K
If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...
17.0K
Causes of Social Behavior III: Biological and Environmental Influences01:28

Causes of Social Behavior III: Biological and Environmental Influences

229
Social behavior is a complex phenomenon that arises from the interaction between biological predispositions and environmental influences. This intricate interplay shapes how individuals think, feel, and act in various social contexts. Understanding these mechanisms requires insights from psychology, neuroscience, genetics, and evolutionary theory.Environmental Influences on Social BehaviorEnvironmental factors, including temperature, odors, and visual stimuli, play a crucial role in shaping...
229

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Correction: Tapped out or barely tapped? Recommendations for how to harness the vast and largely unused potential of the Mechanical Turk participant pool.

PloS one·2026
Same author

A survey of practicum training practices in clinical neuropsychology.

The Clinical neuropsychologist·2024
Same author

Time restricted eating and depression: a psychological perspective.

International journal of food sciences and nutrition·2024
Same author

Did people really drink bleach to prevent COVID-19? A guide for protecting survey data against problematic respondents.

PloS one·2023
Same author

Is it ethical to use Mechanical Turk for behavioral research? Relevant data from a representative survey of MTurk participants and wages.

Behavior research methods·2023
Same author

Evaluating CloudResearch's Approved Group as a solution for problematic data quality on MTurk.

Behavior research methods·2022

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Measuring Neural and Behavioral Activity During Ongoing Computerized Social Interactions: An Examination of Event-Related Brain Potentials
09:40

Measuring Neural and Behavioral Activity During Ongoing Computerized Social Interactions: An Examination of Event-Related Brain Potentials

Published on: November 15, 2014

14.5K

The Bots Ruining Social Science Are Not Bots at All.

Shalom N Jaffe1,2, Aaron J Moss1, Rachel Hartman1

  • 1CloudResearch, Queens, New York.

Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science
|January 6, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Online survey data quality issues are often blamed on bots, but research shows fraudulent human users outside the US are the main culprit. Identifying these users is key to improving data integrity in behavioral science research.

Keywords:
botsdata qualityonline data collectionscientific methodology

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: A Novel Setup to Conduct Naturalistic Laboratory Experiments with Real Human Actors in Scenarios
07:43

Author Spotlight: A Novel Setup to Conduct Naturalistic Laboratory Experiments with Real Human Actors in Scenarios

Published on: August 4, 2023

2.6K
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions
10:45

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions

Published on: July 6, 2011

12.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Measuring Neural and Behavioral Activity During Ongoing Computerized Social Interactions: An Examination of Event-Related Brain Potentials
09:40

Measuring Neural and Behavioral Activity During Ongoing Computerized Social Interactions: An Examination of Event-Related Brain Potentials

Published on: November 15, 2014

14.5K
Author Spotlight: A Novel Setup to Conduct Naturalistic Laboratory Experiments with Real Human Actors in Scenarios
07:43

Author Spotlight: A Novel Setup to Conduct Naturalistic Laboratory Experiments with Real Human Actors in Scenarios

Published on: August 4, 2023

2.6K
Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions
10:45

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions

Published on: July 6, 2011

12.1K

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Science
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Data Science

Background:

  • Online data collection is crucial for behavioral science research.
  • Low-quality data, often attributed to bots, threatens the reliability of online studies.
  • The actual source of problematic online data remains under-examined.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the primary sources of data-quality issues in online behavioral research.
  • To differentiate between bot-generated and human-generated problematic data.
  • To inform strategies for enhancing data integrity in online studies.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of data from popular participant recruitment platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and Lucid.
  • Multi-method approach across four studies conducted over five years.
  • Identification of behavioral patterns indicative of fraudulent human participants.

Main Results:

  • Evidence suggests fraudulent human users, primarily from outside the United States, are the main source of poor-quality data, not bots.
  • Telltale signs of fraudulent human responses were identified.
  • Effective methods for blocking problematic human responses were described.

Conclusions:

  • The assumption that bots cause most online data-quality problems is likely incorrect.
  • Targeting fraudulent human users is essential for improving data quality in online research.
  • Implementing effective blocking strategies can significantly enhance the reliability of behavioral science findings.