Psychologist as Detective The An Introduction to Conducting Research in Psychology 6th Edition By Smith - Test Bank

CHAPTER 2: DEVELOPING A GOOD RESEARCH IDEA AND

CONDUCTING AN ETHICAL PROJECT

Activities/Assignments

Developing a Research Idea. The textbook lists several sources for developing a research

question (e.g., everyday occurrences, past research, classroom lectures). Have students answer

the following questions in preparation for perhaps a final research proposal.

1. What areas of psychology interest you the most?

2. Find information on that topic in your Introductory Psychology textbook, and list

some references on that topic.

3. Find one of those references in the library and summarize the article (see p. 28

for a sample)

4. Try to come up with a research question on this topic.

Surveying the Psychological Literature. Abramson et al. (1999) present a good exercise designed

to help students use library databases, interlibrary loan, microfilm, etc.

Abramson, C. I., French, D. P., & Locy, S. M. (1999). Learning to use the contemporary

library: A laboratory exercise. In L. T. Benjamin, B. F. Nodine, R. M. Ernst, & C.

B. Broeker (Eds.), Activities handbook for the teaching of psychology, Vol. 4 (pp.

3-8). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Internet Resources. Students often wish to use Internet resources for their papers and could use

practice evaluating these resources. Direct students to a reputable website containing

psychological information (e.g., www.apa.org/monitor) and have them evaluate an article based

on the information in Table 2-3.

Summarizing a Research Article. Have students read a relatively easy article and summarize it

using the sample on p. 28 as a guide. Remind students to summarize on one side of a sheet of

paper.

Deception. A discussion of deception may be more powerful if students have experienced

deception themselves. Beins (1993) describes an activity that utilizes the Barnum effect. Students

are given a fake personality inventory and a subsequent interpretation that is identical for all

students. Students then rate the validity of the personality test. Beins found that generally,

students found the test to be accurate in describing their personality. During “debriefing,” Beinsreported that students initially experienced discomfort when they were informed of the

deception, but that they found the demonstration effective in learning firsthand about the effects

of deception on participants.

Beins, B. C. (1993). Using the Barnum effect to teach about ethics and deception in

research. Teaching of Psychology, 20, 33-35.

Research Synopses. In small groups during class or as an individual assignment, students can

read through the research synopses in the Ethical Dilemmas handout and identify any potential

ethical risks associated with each scenario. Then, students can pretend to be a member of the IRB

and decide whether they would approve of the study and why. Note that all of these are

published studies; students often have very strong feelings about the ethics of some of these

studies!

1. 2. 3. 4. Potential ethical violations in the Zimbardo study:

a. Potential breach of confidentiality (police officers “arrested” participants at home

while neighbors watched).

b. Psychological harm to participants

c. Physical harm to participants

d. Feeling as though they were not allowed to leave

e. Informed consent likely did not include these issues

Potential ethical violations in the Pennebaker study:

a. b. Confidentiality – how did the researchers get access to the medical records?

Psychological harm due to remembering traumatic events

Potential ethical violations in the Middlemist, Knowles, and Matter study:

a. Invasion of privacy? The men did not know they were in a study and were being

watched.

b. Psychological harm was possible if participants did find out they were being

watched.

Potential ethical violations in the Crocker, Cornwell, and Major study:

a. b. Not a full debriefing – one aspect of the deception was kept from participants

Psychological harm possible for participants receiving negative feedback from the

evaluator

The Institutional Review Board: Role-Playing. Rosnow (1990) describes a role-play activity in

which students find journal articles containing studies that they find ethically questionable.

During class, students summarize the study and describe the potential ethical violations. Then,

students role-play the study author and allow classmates to ask them questions while arguing the

merits of the study. Students also evaluate the costs of not doing the research.

Rosnow, R. L. (1990). Teaching research ethics through role-play and discussion.

Teaching of Psychology, 17, 179-181.