Posted by wishingstar on May 21, 2006, at 9:38:39
In reply to A weird thing about pscho research, posted by happyflower on May 21, 2006, at 8:04:36
That's odd that they didnt mention the mirror in the debrief. They said it was about attention span or something though? Or was that just your guess?
They would not have had to tell you if they were watching through the mirror, although if they had been, I'm sure it would have been mentioned afterwards. In psych research, deception is allowed as long as it can be proven to the ethics board (all research has to be approved first) that the deception is necessary for the experiment and not likely to cause harm to the participant. However... I cant think of a reason why they would have needed to watch you through a mirror, as it sounds like there was already someone in the room anyway.
Another possibiliy, which would be my guess.. sometimes in psych research, mirrors are used to increase self-awareness, especailly in research having to do with ethical/moral questions (like deciding who gets the better task, you or another person.. etc). Research on many different topics in the past has found that having a mirror there and being able to see onesself actually does change how people respond in some situations. However, it doesnt sound like the questions they asked you would have been changed by heightened self-awareness.. but maybe. That's my best guess.
Glad youre enjoying doing the experiments.. I'm actually a grad student in a psych sciences program (its basically psych research) and we run lots of experiments. It can be SO hard to get people to participate sometimes!
poster:wishingstar
thread:646497
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060517/msgs/646525.html