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Introduction to Experimental Psychology

By
Spriha Ray
Aryabhatta College, University of Delhi
Prof. – Dr. Ravi Bhushan Prasad
Due date – January 25, 2021
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Introduction to Experimental Psychology

Experimental psychology can be defined as the scientific and empirical approach to the study of
the mind. The experimental approach means that tests are administered to participants, with both
control and experimental conditions.

This means that a group of participants are exposed to a stimulus (or stimuli), and their behavior
in response is recorded. This behavior is compared to some kind of control condition, which
could be either a neutral stimulus, the absence of a stimulus, or against a control group.

Experimental psychology is concerned with testing theories of human thoughts, feelings, actions,
and beyond – any aspect of being human that involves the mind. This is a broad category that
features many branches within it (Eg. Behavioral psychology, cognitive psychology). It is also
interested in exploring theoretical questions, often creating a hypothesis and then setting out to
prove or disapprove it through experimentation. Experimental psychology studies a wide range
of behavioral topics among humans and animals, including sensations, perceptions, attention,
cognition and emotion. It is important because the findings discovered by psychologists play a
vital role in our understanding of the human mind and behavior.

Experimental psychology seeks to explore and better understand behavior through empirical
research methods. This work allows findings to be employed (applied psychology) in real-world
applications across fields such as clinical psychology, educational psychology, forensic
psychology, sports psychology and social psychology.

What is an Experiment?

Oxford defines experiment as ‘a scientific test that is done in order to study what happens and to
gain knowledge’. An experimentation is a research method in which researcher systematically
alters one or more variables to determine whether such changes influence some aspects of
behavior. It is a series of observations conducted under controlled conditions to study a
relationship with the purpose of drawing causal inferences about that relationship and also a
carefully regulated procedure in which changes are made in one factor and its effect is studied on
another factor while keeping other related factors constant. An experiment usually involves the
manipulation of an independent variable, the measurement of a dependent variable, and the
exposure of various participants to one or more of the conditions being studied i.e. the
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manipulation of variables to establish the cause-and-effect relationships. The key features are
controlled methods and the random allocation of participants into controlled methods and
experimental groups. Random selection of participants and their random assignment to
conditions also are necessary in experiments. 

In an experiment, an independent variable (the cause) is manipulated and the dependent variable
(the effect) is measured; any extraneous variables are controlled. The dependent variable is the
response measure that is dependent on the subject. The independent variable is a manipulation of
the environment controlled by the experimenter.

Experimental group – Also known as the treatment group, the experimental group is the group
that receives a treatment in an experiment. The ‘group’ is made up of test subjects (people,
animals, plants, cells, etc.) and the ‘treatment’ is the variable you are studying. Eg. A human
experimental group could receive a new medication, a different form of counselling, or some
vitamin supplements.

Control group – the control group is composed of participants who do not receive the
experimental treatment. When conducting an experiment, these people are randomly assigned to
be in this group. They also closely resemble the participants who are in the experimental group
or the individuals who receive the treatment.

Experimenters compare the experimental group to the control group to determine if the treatment
had any effect. Eg. In the famous ‘Redi’ experiment, the experimenter wanted to prove that
covering the meat prevents maggots from hatching. He put meat into two different jars; one with
the lid closed and one left open. The jar with the lid is the experimental group as it receives the
treatment (the lid); the jar left open is the control group.

OBJECTIVES OF EXPERIMENT

Experimental psychology has five major objectives:

1. Description – what is happening? : In the first objective of psychological study, we

attempt to describe a behavior or phenomena as accurately as possible. This helps in
distinguishing one behavior from another. This first thing in understanding is to give it a
name. Description involves observing a behavior and noting everything about it, for e.g.,
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what is happening, where it happens, and under what situation it happens. For e.g., in
Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning, Pavlov noticed that his dogs were
salivating as the result of a stimuli – the lab assistant approaching – before food was even
presented to them. This observation acted as a description of what was happening. The
description requires recording of particular behavior which helps in its proper
understanding.
2. Explanation – why is it happening? : In addition to describing, psychologists also seek
to explain the occurring phenomenon. The goal of explaining is to lay out answers about
why people react to stimuli in a certain way. Psychologists often use experiments, which
measure the impacts of variables upon behaviors, to help formulate theories that explain
aspects of human and animal behaviors. Finding explanation for behavior is a very
important step in the process of forming theories of behavior. A theory is a general
explanation of a set of observations or facts. The goal of description provides the
observations, and the goal of explanation helps to build the theory. In the case of Pavlov,
he was able to conduct an experiment using multiple dogs that all seemed to behave in
the same way. When presented with an unconditioned stimulus (the food), the dogs began
to salivate – which is the unconditioned response. When presented with delicious food,
humans tend to salivate, right? After the dogs were fed for a period of time, Pavlov began
to notice that even the presence of his lab assistant, who fed the dogs, caused them to
salivate. The lab assistant, which was once a neutral stimulus, had become a conditioned
stimulus.
3. Prediction – when will it happen again? : After we are able to understand, describe and
explain a behavior, we come to know the relationship of a particular behavior with other
types of behavior, events, or phenomena. We can use knowledge gleaned from previous
studies to predict why, when, and how observed behaviors might happen in the
future. Prediction, at least in theory, gives the ability to change or control behavior.
Pavlov predicted that the new neutral stimulus – the bell – would become a conditioned
stimulus if he presented it with food enough times. Sure enough, after presenting the dogs
with food at the same time the bell was sounded, he was able to condition the dogs to
salivate when the bell rang even when they weren’t presented with food. This discovery
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held a lot of importance in the world of psychology and allowed many people to
influence the behavior of others.
4. Control – how can it be changed? : If we can explain and predict why and when a
particular behavior occurs, we can control that behavior by making changes in its
antecedent conditions. Control refers to three things: making a particular behavior
happen, reducing it, or enhancing it. Psychology aims to change, influence, or control
behavior to make positive, constructive, meaningful, and lasting changes in people's lives
and to influence their behavior for the better. What did Pavlov’s experiment mean to the
future of psychology? It meant that psychology can be used as a medium to help ease
ways of life; teachers can take control of their classroom in an easier way, parents can
teach their child to exhibit good behavior, drug addiction can be reduced etc.
5. Application – improving the quality of life : the final objective is to bring out positive
changes in the lives of people. Experimental research is conducted to solve problems in
various settings. Psychological researches are often conducted to solve various problems
faced by the society at different levels such as individual, organization, or community.

Types of Experiments

Laboratory Experiments - These are conducted under controlled conditions, in which the
researcher deliberately changes something (independent variable) to see the effect of this on
something else (dependent variable).

Strength:
 Control – lab experiments have a high degree of control over the environment & other
extraneous variables which means that the researcher can accurately assess the effects of
the independent variable, so it has higher internal validity.
 Replicable – due to the researcher’s high levels of control, research procedures can be
repeated so that the reliability of results can be checked.

Limitations - Lacks ecological validity – due to the involvement of the researcher in

manipulating and controlling variables, findings cannot be easily generalized to other (real life)
settings, resulting in poor external validity.
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Field Experiments - These are carried out in a natural setting, in which the researcher
manipulates something (independent variable) to see the effect of this on something else
(dependent variable).

Strengths - Validity – field experiments have some degree of control but also are conducted in a
natural environment, so can be seen to have reasonable internal and external validity.
Limitations - Less control than lab experiments and therefore extraneous variables are more
likely to distort findings and so internal validity is likely to be lower.
Natural / Quasi Experiments - These are typically carried out in a natural setting, in which the
researcher measures the effect of something which is to see the effect of this on something else
dependent variable. Note that in this case there is no deliberate manipulation of a variable; this
already naturally changing, which means the research is merely measuring the effect of
something that is already happening.

Strength - validity – due to the lack of involvement of the researcher; variables are naturally
occurring so findings can be easily generalized to other (real life) settings, resulting in high
external validity.

LIMITATIONS – Lack of control – natural experiments have no control over the environment &
other extraneous variables which means that the researcher cannot always accurately assess the
effects of the independent variable, so input has low internal validity.

History of Experimental Psychology

The roots of experimental psychology could be dated back to the time of Plato. He and other
famous Greek philosophers like Aristotle and Descartes made first references to experimental
psychology. Plato emphasized the genetic point of view, stressing that certain things are a part of
our biological configuration whereas Aristotle emphasized on the nurture side of the debate.

Wilhelm Wundt was responsible for opening the very first psychology laboratory in 1879, in
Leipzig, Germany. By inaugurating this laboratory, he officially separated psychology as a sub-
discipline of philosophy and biology to a separate, unique scientific discipline. He also
mainstreamed the school of Structuralism. Before that, William James, an American
psychologist, established a lab in the US for class demonstration.
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Although Wundt solidified psychology as an entirely different field, many people before him
gave important theories and experiments which till date are considered very salient.

 Darwin – Charles Darwin is famous for his theories of evolution which include natural
selection and survival of the fittest. However, his contribution to psychology has been
overlooked a lot. Darwin’s more specific contributions can be condensed into three
major points: (1) his doctrine of the evolution of instinct and the part played by
intelligence in the process; (2) the evolution of mind from the lowest animal to the
highest man; and (3) the expressions of emotion.
 Sir Francis Galton - Galton was one of the first experimental psychologists, and the
founder of the field of enquiry now called Differential Psychology, His influential
study was the first systematic attempt to investigate the effect of heredity on intellectual
abilities. Later Galton went on to suggest the use of twin studies to disentangle nature
from nurture, by comparing identical twins to fraternal twins.  The research program that
Galton initiated in this regard has developed into the important field of behavior
genetics. He is also known as the ‘father of Psychometrics’.
 Charles Bell - Charles Bell was a British physiologist, whose main contribution was
research involving the nervous system.  His research concluded that sensory nerves enter
at the posterior (dorsal) roots of the spinal cord and motor nerves emerge from the
anterior (ventral) roots of the spinal cord. 
 Ernst Heinrich Weber – He is credited to being one of the founders of experimental
psychology. His most memorable contribution to the field of experimental psychology is
the suggestion that judgments of sensory differences are relative and not absolute. He
derived the first quantitative law of psychology. He focused on skin and muscular
sensations
 Gustav Fechner - He also developed experimental procedures, still useful
in experimental psychology, for measuring sensations in relation to the physical
magnitude of stimuli. Most important, he devised an equation to express the theory of
the just-noticeable difference, advanced earlier by Ernst Heinrich Weber.
 Herman Helmholtz – He discovered the velocity of nerve impulses and proved that
nerves take time for transmission.
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 Hermann Ebbinghaus – He pioneered experimental psychology of memory and also

discovered the forgetting curve. He intended to study memory by using simple acoustic
encoding and maintenance rehearsal. He also compiled a list of 23,000 non-sense
syllables. In his learning curve, Ebbinghaus refers to how fast we learn information. He
also documented the serial position effect, which describes how the position of an item
in the list affects the likelihood of said item being recalled.

After psychology became known as a separate discipline, different schools of it started

emerging.

 Wundt and his fellow psychologists of that time gave rise to the school of
‘introspection’ also known a s structuralism. Introspection was a procedure in which
individuals or subjects in psychological experiments were asked to describe in detail,
their own mental procedures.
 Introspection was followed by the emergence of the ‘functionalists’. William James
believed that instead on focusing on the structure of the mind, psychology should focus
on the study of what mind does and how it affects people’s behavior.
 This was soon after followed by Gestalt psychologists who believed that what we
experienced is more than the inputs received from our environment, i.e., our perceptual
experience I more than the sum of the components of the perception. Max Wertheimer,
Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Wöhler are considered as the founders of the gestalt school
of psychology.
 Yet another reaction to the structuralism emerged in the form of behaviorism. John
Watson, around 1910, rejected the ideas of mind and consciousness as subject matters of
psychology. he stated that mind is not observable and introspection is subjective. He
defined psychology as the study of behavior or responses (to stimuli) which can be
studied and measured objectively. Watson’s idea of behaviorism greatly influenced the
work of B.F. Skinner in this work of operant conditioning.
 Around the same time as behaviorism, Sigmund Freud established the school of
psychoanalysis. Freud viewed human behavior as dynamic manifestation of unconscious
desires and conflicts. He used the system of psychoanalysis to understand and cure the
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psychological conflicts of individuals. He also established the three levels of

consciousness and the five stages psychosexual personality development model.
 Freud’s psychoanalysis was followed by the development of an entirely new school of
humanistic perspective which took a positive turn on human nature stating that human
conscious is driven by aims and aspirations rather than unconscious desire of sexual
gratification. Carl Jung, Karen Horney and Alfred Adler are few well known
psychologists who were a part of the post - Freudian school.

Thoughts of Gestalt psychology and structuralism were merged together and that paved the way
for now called Cognitive psychology, which a prominent branch of experimental psychology. It
involves thinking, perceiving, memorizing, problem solving and host of other mental processes
that help us deal with our day- to- day environment. Modern cognitive psychology views human
beings as actively constructing their minds through exploration into the physical and the social
world.

Experimental psychology also gave birth to varied number of test and theories. Intelligence was
a widely studied topic under experimental psychology. The first ever intelligence was developed
by Alfred Binet. Use experimental psychology was also used extensively in the formation of
many personality and learning theories. Dr. Alburt Bandura’s famous ‘Bobo Doll experiment’ to
back the nurture side of debate, Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer’s ‘car crash experiment’ to
shed light on the deceiving nature of memory, Ivan Pavlov’s study of ‘Classical conditioning’,
and Harlow’s monkey experiment, were some ahead of time, spearhead experiments that paved
the way for many psychological studies that are famous till date.

Hypothesis

A hypothesis can be explained as a tentative answer to a researcher’s problem, which the

researcher tries to prove to be true in the experiment conducted by him or her. It can be a
possible outcome of a research or an educated guess about the experiment’s outcome. A
hypothesis is quite often a prediction, which is capable of being tested using experimental
methods that uses dependent and independent variable. Hence, in layman’s term, a hypothesis
can be seen as an assumption, hunch or suspicion about an idea, phenomenon, relationship or
situation whose truth is yet unknown and they become the basis of an experiment’s enquiry. The
formulation of hypothesis provides a focus for the study thus, enhancing the objectivity of the
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experiment. A hypothesis is a clear statement about what the experiment intends to investigate
and is specified at the beginning of a report. This allows to:

 Facilitate the extension of knowledge of the experiment

 Identify the experiment objectives
 It can be tested - verifiable or falsifiable
 Hypothesis are not ethical or moral questions
 It is considered valuable even wen it is proved false

A proper hypothesis, presented before the experiment, holds much importance:

1. Hypothesis provide the researcher with rational statements, consisting of elements

expressed in a logical order of relationships which seeks to describe or to explain
conditions or events, that have yet not been confirmed by facts. The hypothesis enables
the researcher to relate logically known facts to intelligent guesses about unknown
conditions. It is a guide to the thinking process and the process of discovery.
2. Hypothesis provides direction to the research. It defines what is relevant and what is
irrelevant. The hypothesis tells the researcher what he needs to do and find out in his
study. Thus. it prevents the review of irrelevant literature and provides a basis for
selecting the sample and the research procedure to be used in the study.
3. Hypothesis implies the statistical techniques needed in the analysis of data, and the
relationship between the variables to be tested. It also helps to delimit his study in scope
so that it does not become broad or unwieldy.
4. Hypothesis provides the basis for reporting the conclusion of the study. It serves as a
framework for drawing conclusions. In other word, we can say that it provides the outline
for setting conclusions in a meaningful way.

Characteristics of Hypothesis:

1. A hypothesis should be simple so that it is easily understood by everyone. As far as

possible, a hypothesis must be stated in the simplest language, so as to make it
understood by all concerned
2. A hypothesis should be conceptually clear, specific, and precise. If the hypothesis is not
clear and precise, the inferences drawn on this basis cannot be taken as reliable.
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3. A hypothesis should be capable of being tested empirically. It should also be stated that it
is possible to deduce logically certain inferences close to the level of concrete
observations so that they can be tested by observation. That is the hypothesis should have
empirical referents.
4. A hypothesis should state relationships between variables (if it is relational hypothesis)
5. A hypothesis should be consistent with most known facts i.e., it must be consistent with a
substantial body of established facts. The hypothesis should be related to a body of theory
or some theoretical orientation. If the hypothesis is related to some theory, research will
help to qualify, support, correct or refute the theory.
6. The hypothesis must explain the facts that give rise to the need for explanation. It must
actually explain what it claims to explain and also have an empirical reference.

TYPES OF HYPOTHESIS: There are six major types of hypothesis:

 Simple hypothesis
 Complex hypothesis
 Non- directional hypothesis
 Directional hypothesis
 Null Hypothesis
 Associative and Causal hypothesis
1. Simple hypothesis - A simple hypothesis predicts the relationship between a single
independent variable and a single dependent variable. It I also called basic hypothesis.
For e.g., Global warming is causing the icebergs to melt. Here, the cause is global
warming and the effect is the melting of icebergs.
2. Complex hypothesis – Complex hypothesis shows the relationship between two or more
dependent variable and two or more independent variable. Unlike in simple hypothesis,
the relationship exists between multiple variables. For e.g., Global warming causes
icebergs to melt which in turn gives rise to major adverse climatic changes.
3. Directional hypothesis - These are usually derived from the theory. They may imply that
the researcher is intellectually committed to a particular outcome. They specify the
expected direction of the relationship between variables i.e., the researcher predicts not
only the existence of a relationship but also its nature. A directional hypothesis specifies
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the direction or nature of the relationship between two or more independent variables and
two or more dependent variables.
4. Non – Directional hypothesis - This hypothesis states that there is a relationship between
two variables but it does not predict the exact nature or direction of the relationship. This
type of hypothesis is used when there is little or no theory, or when the finding of the
previous studies was contradictory. They may imply impartiality and also do not stipulate
the direction of the relationship.
5. Null hypothesis - These are used when the researcher believes there is no relationship
between two variables or when there is inadequate theoretical or empirical information.
The null hypothesis represents a theory that has been put forward, either because it is
believed to be true or because it is to be used as a basis for argument, but has not been
proved. It has serious outcome if incorrect decision is made. It provides the statement
which is contrary to the hypothesis. It’s a negative statement, and is denoted by “HO”.
6. Associative and Causal hypothesis –
Associative Hypotheses: It propose relationships between variables - when one variable
changes, the other changes. It does not indicate cause and effect. Associative hypotheses
states that there is a relationship between two variables. It looks at how specific events co-
occur.
Causal Hypothesis: It proposes a cause- and- effect interaction between two or more
variables. The independent variable is manipulated to cause effect on the dependent
variable. The dependent variable is measured to examine the effect created by the
independent variable. Causal hypothesis states that any difference in the type or amount of
one particular variable is going to directly affect the difference in the type or amount of
the next variable in the equation. It looks at how manipulation affects events in the future.

Variables:

In simple meanings, variable is anything that does not have a fixed value, or something that can
take up different values such as characteristics or values. Variables are generally used in
experimental psychology to determine if changes to one thing result in changes to others as well.
By systematically varying some variables and measuring the effects on other variables, we can
determine how the change on one effect the other. The important aspect of variable is that they
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can be manipulated, controlled or measured accordingly in an experiment. An object by itself is

not a variable, but its attributes are. E.g., the pen we use for writing is not a variable, but the
varieties of pen available in varying shapes, color, and sizes are the variables. In the same way,
intelligence is variable, so is the different eye color in people. Thus, the variation can be in
quantity or quality of objects.

Variables differ in many respects, most notably in the role they are given in our research and in
the type of measures that can be applied to them. Therefore, there are many types of variables
that can be used in an experiment:

 Qualitative variable - A qualitative variable, also known as categorical variable, is a

variable that does not fit into the numerical aspect. It describes data that fits into
categories. It generally has qualitative attributes such as eye color, hair color, skin color,
religion, cities, animal breeds, etc. Qualitative variable has no natural order of value so
they are generally assigned in nominal and ordinal variables.
Nominal variables do not have a logical order nor can be ranked any order. For e.g.,
species names, brand names etc.
Ordinal variables though have a specific logical order, but the difference between
two categories is not defined. For e.g., clothing size or examination grades.
 Quantitative variable – Quantitative variables are those whose values result from counting
or majoring something. They take numerical values and some kind of measurement.
Height, age, weight are some types that come under this category.
 Discrete variables - They represent the counts of individual items or values. Discrete
variables are also numeric variables that have a countable number of values between any
two given values. E.g., the number of participants in a particular experiment.
 Continuous variable – continuous variables are the types of variables that have an infinite
number of values between any two given values. A continuous variable can be numeric or
dates/time. For e.g., height of a person or someone’s age.
 Dependent variable – dependent variables are variables on which the effect of independent
variables is observed. They represent he phenomenon the experimenter desires to explain.
It is expected that change in the dependent variable will ensue the changes in the
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independent variable. Therefore, the dependent variable is the effect studied in any
experimental situation.
 Independent variable – it is the variable which is manipulated or altered or its strength
varied by the researcher in the experiment. It is the effect of this change in the variable
which the researcher wants to study or observe in his experiment. Thus, the independent
variable is the cause of an experiment. For e.g., in an experiment examining the effect of
fatigue on short term memory, there are two groups ‘fatigued’ and ‘non-fatigued’. The
fatigue group runs for ten minutes without stopping prior to being tested. Both the groups
are given a list of words to recall immediately after reading the list. The independent
variable in this example would be the groups because that is being manipulated by the
experimenter. The dependent variable would be the number of words recalled because
that is how the participants performance is being measured.
 Moderating variable - A moderator is a variable that affects the strength of the relation
between the predictor and criterion variable. Moderators specify when a relation will
hold. It can be qualitative (e.g., sex, race, class…) or quantitative (e.g., drug dosage or
level of reward). Moderating variable are typically an interaction term in statistical
models. For instance, imagine researchers are evaluating the effects of a new
cholesterol drug. The researchers vary the participants in minutes of daily exercise
(predictor/independent variable) and measure their cholesterol levels after 30 days
(criterion/dependent variable). They find that at low drug doses, there is a small
association between exercise and cholesterol levels, but at high drug doses, there is a
huge association between exercise and cholesterol levels. Thus, drug dosage moderates
the association between exercise and cholesterol levels. 
 Extraneous variables – These are the types of variable which may impact the
relationship between the dependent and independent variable. The researcher wants to
make sure that it is the manipulation of the independent variable that has effect in the
experiment. Hence, all other variables that can have an effect on the experiment must
be controlled or kept in check. These other variables are called extraneous variables.
Extraneous variable must be controlled were possible, as they might be important
enough to provide alternate explanations of the effect. There are different types of
extraneous variables like participant variables (related to the participant of the
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experiment like his/her age, mood, etc.) and situational variables (related to
environment in which the experiment is conducted).

Ethical issues in experimentation:

Ethics is referred to as the correct rules according to which a researcher must carry out the
experiment. They must abide by these given rules. While conducting an experiment, the
researcher is expected to follow certain ethics (or moral principles) while conducting the studies.
These principles are: respect for the person’s privacy and choice to participate in the study,
beneficence or protecting the participants in the study from any harm, and justice or sharing the
benefits of the research with all participants. After many unethical experiments were conducted
like the Little Albert Experiment (John Watson), Racism against elementary school students (Jane
Elliott), Stanley Milgram’s experiment, etc., it led to the establishment of these ethical rules in
order to maintain the rights of participants and the reputation of the psychologists as well as of
psychology as a whole discipline.

1Some of the important aspects of these ethical principles are described as follows:

1. Voluntary participation – this principle states that the persons on whom the experimenter
wants to conduct the study should have the choice to decide whether to participate or not
participate in the study. The participants should have the freedom to decide about their
participation without any coercion or excessive inducement and the freedom to withdraw from
the research without any penalty, once it has begun.
2. Informed consent – it is important for the participants in the study to understand what will
happen to them during the study. The principle of informed consent states that potential
participants must receive this information before data from them is collected, so that they can
make an informed decision about the participation in the study. In some psychological
experiments, electric sock is given to participants during the process of experiment or in some
cases obnoxious stimuli are present. They may at time be required to give some private
information, which is generally not shared with others. In some studied the technique of
deception is used on which the participants are given the instructions to think or imagine in
certain ways and are given false information or feedbacks about their performance (for e.g.,
you are incompetent, you are intelligence). It is therefore, important that the participants are
explained the nature of the study before its actual commencement.
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3. Debriefing – Once the study is over, the participants are provided with necessary information
to complete their understanding of the research. This is particularly important if deception has
been used in the experiment. Debriefing ensures that participants leave the study in the same
physical and mental state as when they entered. It should provide reassurance to the
participants. The experimenter should make efforts to remove any anxiety or other adverse
effects that participants may have felt as a result of being deceived in the course of the
experiment.
4. Sharing the result of the study – In the experiment, after collecting information from the
participant, the experimenter return to his/her workplace, analyzes the data and draw
conclusions. It is obligatory for the experimenter to go back to the participants and share the
results of the study with them. When they go for data collection, the participants develop
certain expectations. One of the expectations is that the experimenter will tell them about their
behavior that has been investigated in the study. As an experimenter, it a moral duty to go
back to the participants. This exercise, in turn, has two advantages. One, the experimenter
fulfills the expectations of the participants. Second, the participants may tell their opinion
about the result, which sometimes may help in developing new insights.
5. Confidentiality – The participants of the experiment have the right to privacy. The
experimenter must safeguard their privacy by keeping the information provided by them in
strict confidence. The information should only be used for research purposes and, in no
circumstances, it should be passed on to other interested parties. The most effective way of
protecting the confidentiality of participants is not to record their identities. This s, however,
not possible n certain kinds of research. In such cases, code numbers are given on the data
sheets and the names with the codes are kept separately. The identification list should be
destroyed as soon as the experiment is over.

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