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64 PART I: General IssuesKey ConceptSome psychological research may pose psychological risk if participants inthe study experience serious mental or emotional stress. Imagine the stress aparticipant may experience when smoke enters the room in which she is waiting.The smoke may be entering the room so that the researcher can simulatean emergency. Until the true nature of the smoke is revealed, participants mayexperience considerable distress. Anticipating when emotional or psychologicalstress may occur is not always easy.Consider the dilemma posed when researchers seek to gather informationabout child abuse and interpersonal violence (see Becker-Blease & Freyd, 2006).Asking individuals to describe instances of child abuse or family violence fromtheir past can be emotionally stressful. Yet, most researchers agree that knowledgeof such experiences can help provide behavioral scientists with importantinsights into some of society’s ills (e.g., divorce, poor school performance,criminality) as well as guide clinical research studies. But how and when to doit? Becker-Blease and Freyd (2006) discuss the ethics of asking and not askingabout abuse. They point out that not asking has its costs, too, in the form of impedingscience and preventing participants from getting help or learning aboutnormal reactions to abuse and about community resources that may help. Studiesof child abuse may also help break the taboo against speaking about abuseand let victims know that these discussions can be important. In Becker-Bleaseand Freyd’s view, not asking “helps abusers, hurts victims” (p. 225). Thus, thecost of not asking must be importantly weighed in any risk/benefit analysis.Simply participating in a psychology experiment is anxiety-provoking forsome individuals. After learning a list of nonsense syllables (e.g., HAP, BEK),a student participant once said that he was sure the researcher now knew agreat deal about him! The student assumed the psychologist was interestedin learning about his personality by examining the word associations he hadused when learning the list. In reality, this person was participating in a simplememory experiment designed to measure forgetting. A researcher is obligated toprotect participants from emotional or mental stress, including, when possible, stressthat might arise due to participants’ misconceptions about the psychological task.Minimal Risk• A study is described as involving “minimal risk” when the procedures oractivities in the study are similar to those experienced by participants intheir everyday life.A distinction is sometimes made between a participant “at risk” and onewho is “at minimal risk.” Minimal risk means that the harm or discomfort participantsmay experience in the research is not greater than what they might experiencein their daily lives or during routine physical or psychological tests. Asan example of minimal risk, consider the fact that many psychology laboratorystudies involve lengthy paper-and-pencil tests intended to assess various mentalabilities. Participants may be asked to complete the tests quickly and mayreceive specific feedback about their performance. Although there is likely to bestress in this situation, the risk of psychological injury is likely no greater thanthat typically experienced by students. Therefore, such studies would involve