Lab 3

Learning Objectives

Evaluate the ethical principles as they are presented in an experiment.
Analyse the research case studies for ethical considerations..
Apply ethical principles in designing an experiment on memory.
Make graphs to depict the results of your memory experiment.

Materials Needed

APA Ethical Code of Conduct
Titan Net user ID and password
Ethics Case Studies (on the R: Drive)
Lab 3 Report Form (on the R: Drive)

Instructions

Part 1: Evaluate Published Research

Browse the current psychology news stories from ScienceDaily about psychology. Select one story for your team to investigate.
Use the library electronic resources to find an article that is related to the news story your team chose. With your team members identifiy the parts of the article that describe procedures that insure ethical conduct of the research. Be sure to evaluate each of the ethical areas. Write a summary of your evaluation, including and APA style reference to the source you evaluated and the APA ethical principles.

Part 2: Analyse Case Studies

The cases will be on the R: Drive under ProfNotes/Resources. Evaluate each case to identify the ethical challenges. Make specific suggestions for improving the research methods described in order to conduct an ethical experiment. Each team should choose to answer only one case.

Part 3: Memory Experiment

Using the Psych Tool Box on the Lab computers, or some other standard way of presenting stimuli test a hypothesis about primacy and/or recency in memory. With your team devise a method to quantitatively measure memory, write an informed consent form, get approval from your instructor, test at least 8 of your classmates. Debrief each participant. Analyze the data by making a graph. Draw a conclusion from the graphical analysis.

Internet Resource: APA Ethical Principles