Students' Ethics Ratings of Demonstrations in Introductory Psychology

Abstract

There are important differences among instructors about whether or not a potential classroom demonstration is judged to be ethical. Presumably, the students themselves are the best judges of whether a demonstration would offend their sense of dignity or propriety. Introductory psychology students read procedures for 10 published demonstrations designed for introductory classes, judged each study as ethical or unethical, and rated their confidence in each judgment. If a demonstration is defined as questionable when 5% or more of the participants consider it to be unethical, then 6 of the 10 demonstrations are questionable. These results indicate the need for greater concern about ethical issues in classroom demonstrations.