informal communications

in organizational settings, communications among employees that do not occur through the formally prescribed channels of communication. Informal communications often serve important functions that are instrumental in achieving organizational objectives, such as fostering innovation and problem solving.

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Psychology term of the day

January 30th 2025

subject sophistication

a familiarity with general research procedures that may influence a person’s behavior as a participant in a study. It is an issue of particular concern in deception research, as participants may significantly modify their behavior (e.g., specifically searching for any evidence of deceit in the experimental procedure) as they become increasingly knowledgeable about the nature of deception in experiments. Sources of sophistication include participating in research previously, talking to participants from other studies, and reading about studies in the mass media.