Experiments and Ethical Guidelines
Q1. Complete the column Scientific Methods by identifying the IV, DV and the possible hypothesis of the experiment
Q2. Complete column 2 by identifying which ethical guidelines/rights of the participant may have been breached.
Q3. Complete column 3 by giving any reason why each experiment should be conducted again
Experiment Scientific method Breached Ethical Guidelines Repeat Experiment? Why?
Little albert (1919-1920) IV: the animals No informed consent and no voluntary No the experiment should not be repeated
participation- Alberts mother wasn’t fully because it would cause psychological harm
informed about the possible effects the for the baby
DV: little Alberts reaction experiment can have on her child, and we
weren’t told whether she agreed to the
experiment or not.
Hypothesis: it is hypothesized that the baby will
have a more dramatic reaction to different
animals which are associated with loud sounds.
The monster study (1939) IV: the type of speech therapy that was given to No informed consent – the children weren’t The experiment should never be repeated
the two groups (one received positive feedback informed about the true purpose of their because of the psychological harm caused
about their speech and the other group received study to the kids and lying to the participants
negative criticism about their stutter) No voluntary participation – the children would never be approved and alternative
did not have the choice to agree or not, methods exist if it were to be repeated.
they were just placed in the study
DV: the children’s speech fluency Use of deception - The researchers lied to
the children telling them they had a speech
disorder.
Hypothesis: If children receive negative
feedback about their stutter will their speech
have a decline in fluency?
Experiment Scientific method Breached Ethical Guidelines Repeat Experiment? Why?
Harlows monkey experiment IV: the type of surrogate mother which was given No informed consent: although this guidline It should not be repeated because of the
to the monkey baby (cloth mother: soft but no applies to humans, for animals this ethical psychological harm caused to the monkey
food, and the wire mother: uncomfortable and guideline applies because the experiment without a real mother and now there are more
should be in the best interest for the monkey ethical standards regarding experiments now.
hard but with food)
which was not prioritized in this study.
DV: how long the baby spent with each of them
Hypothesis: If there is a hard mum with food
the monkey will leave the comfortable mum to
be fed and go back to the comfortable mum.
Milgrams obedience experiment IV: the experimenter’s authority (the person Deception – the people who were told to This experiment has been repeated before with
instructing the teacher to administer shocks) administer the electric shocks weren’t told that different populations however now that we
it was an experiment which could’ve severely already collected the data there is no need for
harmed their psychological health knowing that the experiment to be repeated once again
they committed horrible acts of violence especially due to the harm caused to all the
DV: the level of obedience the teacher would although there was no electric shocks sent to victims of this experiment.
show under the experimenter’s authority with the student.
electric shocks
Hypothesis: If a person of higher authority told
someone to commit severe acts of violence
with electric shocks, then they will obey
because of the stress.
Stanford prison experiment (1970s) IV: the positions that were randomly assigned Withdrawal rights – although the prisoners No the experiment should not be repeated
(prisoner and police) could leave, they were encouraged not to which because of the psychological harm done to the
caused them to become confused and stay. individuals who were assigned the role of a
prisoner because they were abused by the
guards who had more power and authority.
DV: the participants’ behavior in result of the
randomly assigned experiment.
Hypothesis: If the participants were assigned
the role of police, they will take advantage of
the people who were assigned the role of the
prisoner by abusing them.
Bobo doll experiment IV- the behavior of the adult towards the bobo No right to withdraw - the children were too No it shouldn’t be repeated because of the harm
doll (abusive behavior) young to understand that they could leave and caused to the children because they’re learning
they didn’t know that it was an experiment so abusive behavior.
DV- the effect it has on the kid no informed consent.
Hypothesis – If the adult hits the bobo doll the
child will replicate their behavior when they
are upset because they learn from the adults.
