Module 7 REVIEW

• 7-1 How would you know which research design to use?

• Psychological scientists design studies and choose research methods that will best provide meaningful results.
• Researchers generate testable questions, and then carefully consider the best design to use in studying those questions (experimental, correlational, case study, naturalistic observation, twin study, longitudinal, or cross-sectional).
• Next, psychologists measure the variables they are studying, and finally they interpret their results, keeping possible confounding variables in mind.

• 7-2 How can simplified laboratory conditions illuminate everyday life?

• Researchers intentionally create a controlled, artificial environment in the laboratory in order to test general theoretical principles. These general principles help explain everyday behaviors.

• 7-3 Why do psychologists study animals, and what ethical guidelines safeguard animal research subjects?

• Some psychologists are primarily interested in animal behavior; others want to better understand the physiological and psychological processes shared by humans and other species.
• Government agencies have established standards for animal care and housing. Professional associations and funding agencies also have guidelines for protecting animals’ well-being.

• 7-4 What ethical guidelines safeguard human research participants?

• The APA ethics code outlines standards for safeguarding human participants’ well-being, including obtaining their informed consent and debriefing them later.

• 7-5 How do values affect psychological science?

• Psychologists’ values influence their choice of research topics, their theories and observations, their labels for behavior, and their professional advice.
• Applications of psychology’s principles have been used mainly in the service of humanity.

Multiple-Choice Questions

1. What must a researcher do to fulfill the ethical principle of informed consent?
   1. Keep information about participants confidential.
   2. Provide financial compensation to the participants.
   3. Protect participants from potential harm.
   4. Provide participants with enough information about a study to enable a rational decision about whether to participate.
   5. Provide participants with a postexperimental explanation of the study.
2. Which ethical principle requires that at the end of the study participants be told about the true purpose of the research?
   1. Institutional review board approval
   2. Informed consent
   3. Confidentiality
   4. Debriefing
   5. Protection from physical harm
3. The laboratory environment is designed to
   1. exactly re-create the events of everyday life.
   2. re-create psychological forces under controlled conditions.
   3. re-create psychological forces under random conditions.
   4. minimize the use of animals and humans in psychological research.
   5. provide the opportunity to do case study research.
4. Which of the following animal studies is most likely to receive approval?
   1. Do monkeys who smoke get cancer?
   2. Are dogs who are abused violent?
   3. Will rats deprived of food for 1 week survive?
   4. What are the effects of raising kittens in isolation?
   5. Can dolphins learn simple language?

Practice FRQs

1. Nonhuman animals are often subjects in psychological experiments. Provide three reasons why a psychologist might use animals instead of humans in a study.

Answer

1 point: Some researchers use nonhuman animals because they are interested in understanding the animals themselves, including their thinking and behaviors. Page 61

1 point: Others use nonhuman animals to reduce the complexity that is part of human research. They hope to understand principles that may be similar to those that govern human psychological phenomena. Page 61

1 point: Researchers also study nonhuman animals in order to apply the findings in ways that will help both humans and the other animals. Page 61

2. Researchers interested in studying stress gave 150 high school seniors a very difficult math exam. After the test, the researchers measured stress by examining physiological changes with extensive medical testing that included drawing blood samples. When the test was over, they shared the results with the students but did not publish individual data. Explain whether or not this study conforms to each of the ethical standards:
   • Informed consent
   • Debriefing
   • Confidentiality
   • Protection from harm

(4 points)