duckboard

Pronounced: DUCK-board, noun

Notes: I think I’ve heard the word, but could not define it properly

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Yesterday’s phrase

The phrase Hawthorne effect means “an improvement in workers’ performance attributed to the special attention they received when singled out for a study”

First usage

Our phrase came into English in the 1950s

Background / Comments

The origin of our phrase is interesting: in the 1920s, researchers were studying productivity. They noticed that, for example, if they tried to determine if workers were more productive under bright lights – they found that productivity increased with brighter lights. But then they tried dimmer lights — and found that productivity increased as well. They decided that the problem was that the workers were aware that their productivity was being measured, and this caused them to be more productive. This study was done at the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company, and thus the phrase Hawthorne effect came about.