3 markers

Consent, deception, confidentiality, debriefing, withdrawal, and protection

Identify one possible ethical issue

Explain why it is an ethical issue

Suggest a way of dealing with it

1. An experiment to investigate whether the memories of 3–4-year-olds are more susceptible

to influence than adults’ memories.
Consent could be a possible ethical issue as the young children cannot consent to
being part of the experiment. This could be dealt with by asking for consent from the
parents instead.
2. A field experiment to investigate how people react to orders from someone dressed in a
uniform or not.
Deception could be an ethical issue here as people are taking orders from someone
who is not really in authority. This could be dealt with a full debrief of what will
happen, after the research has taken place.
3. A study to see if recall is affected by anxiety.
Protection from harm could be a possible ethical issue here as participants may be
put into anxiety inducing situations which could cause them harm. This could be
dealt with using counselling after the research has taken place.
4. A study to see if workplace stress increases the likelihood of heart attacks.
Protection from harm could be an ethical issue as a heart attack is extremely
dangerous. Participants should be reminded that they have the right to withdraw at
any given point in the investigation.
5. A study to see if the boys in an A level psychology class do better than the girls in the same
class.
Confidentiality could be an ethical issue here as students may not want their
information to be shown to others. This could be dealt with through anonymity so
no names or identifying information is shown to anyone.