A critical view of the utility of positive controls in a test battery

Many behavioral teratologists underestimate the cumulative experimental effect from several studies, and regard a seeming inconsistency in results as a substantial inconsistency, as revealed by a survey of the attitudes toward significance test results. Such erroneous attitudes toward significance test results may lead to a confusion in the treatment of positive controls. Although the use of positive controls has been recommended, in practice, too small sample sizes lead to low statistical power in the administration of a test battery. The effectiveness of the positive control to verify the sensitivity of a test battery is discussed critically.