Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

informed consent
.
Before par-
ticipating in an experiment, the participants must sign a document affi rming that 
they have been told the basic outlines of the study and are aware of what their 
participation will involve, what risks the experiment may hold, and the fact that 
their participation is purely voluntary and they may terminate it at any time. 
informed consent
A document 
signed by participants affi rming that 
they have been told the basic outlines 
of the study and are aware of what 
their participation will involve.
M O D U L E 6 
 
Critical Research Issues
Study Alert
Because the protection of 
experiment participants is 
essential, remember the 
key ethical guideline of 
informed consent.
49
Key Concept
What major issues confront 
psychologists conducting 
research?
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50 Chapter 
2 
Psychological Research
Furthermore, after participation in a study, they must be given a debriefi ng in 
which they receive an explanation of the study and the procedures that were 
involved. The only time informed consent and a debriefi ng can be eliminated is 
in experiments in which the risks are minimal, as in a purely observational study 
in a public place (Barnett, Wise, & Johnson-Greene, 2007; Fallon, 2006; Koocher, 
Norcross, & Hill, 2005). 
When Latané and Darley, both college professors, decided who 
would participate in their experiment, they turned to the people 
at hand: college students. Using college students as participants 
has both advantages and drawbacks. The big benefi t is that 
because most research occurs in university settings, college 
students are readily available. Typically, they cost the researcher 
very little: They participate for either extra course credit or a 
relatively small payment. 
The problem is that college students may not represent the general population 
adequately. They tend to be younger and better educated than a signifi cant percentage 
of the rest of the population of the United States. Compared with older adults, their 
attitudes are likely to be less well formed, and they are more apt to be infl uenced by 
authority fi gures and peers (Sears, 1986). 
College students are also disproportionately white and middle class. However, 
even in research that does not involve college students, participants are often white, 
middle-class participants; the use of African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and other 
minorities as participants is relatively low (Graham, 1992; Guthrie, 1998). Because 
Although readily available and widely used as research subjects, college students may not 
represent the population at large. What are some advantages and drawbacks of using college 
students as subjects?
Exploring