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What is the difference between

"target"

and

"foil"

in experimental design in psychology? And how is a foil different from a distractor?

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Often, experimental designs in psychology contain a target participant (who receives the experimental manipulation) and then also other types, such as:

control: no intervention, or a different intervention confederate: fake participant (actor, or often research assistant) observer: in social influence paradigms

perhaps foil is a confederate. Hard to know without you providing the source.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks, but what is the difference between a "distractor" and a "foil"? $\endgroup$
    – Tasha
    Commented May 29, 2019 at 19:03
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    $\begingroup$ See recent answer $\endgroup$
    – Cameron Brick
    Commented May 30, 2019 at 7:42
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A target is:

A stimulus that a research participant or subject is searching for or trying to concentrate on, and that in research is often accompanied by distractors.

And a foil is:

In research methodology, another name for a distractor.

For example, in a multiple choice question, the correct answer is the "target", and the rest are "foils" or distractors. This is similar to a police lineup, where the suspect is the "target", and the rest are "foils" or fillers. "Foil" and "distractor" are synonyms.

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