​Discuss the disadvantages and advantages of placebos.

A. A placebo is a treatment that is capable of causing effects through expectation concerning the effectiveness of the treatment, independent of the influence of the treatment itself.
B. The disadvantages of placebos occur in research settings.
1. Placebos create problems in assessing the effectiveness of treatment because people who get treatment expect the treatment to be effective, and the people show improvement even to "sugar pills."
2. Placebos create problems in assessing the effectiveness of psychological treatment because people expect psychological interventions to work, and the people show improvement even if the treatment has no effective component.
C. The advantages of placebos can be seen in treatment situations.
1. Placebos bring about improvements and cures that are indistinguishable from those brought about by medically and psychologically effective treatments.
2. The placebo effect can add to the effect of medical and psychological treatment, boosting the effectiveness.