Table 1. Potential for the two- and three-condition experimental design to detect relationships between placebo and experimental conditions, and true baseline values. Likely outcome 2 condition design 3 condition design (a) Exp > Pla Yes Yes (b) Exp = Pla Yes Yes (c) Pla > Exp Yes Yes (d) Exp = Pla = Bas No Yes (e) Exp > (Pla = Bas) No Yes (f) (Exp = Pla) > Bas No Yes (g) Exp > Pla > Bas No Yes (h) Pla > (Exp = Bas) No Yes (i) Pla > Exp > Bas No Yes (j) Exp > (Bas > Pla) No Yes Abreviations: Bas = Baseline level; Pla = Placebo condition; Exp = experimental condition. The symbol ‘=’ indicates no significant differences between; the symbol ‘>’ indicates that the condition to the left was associated with significantly better performance than the condition to the right.