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72 PART I: General IssuesSTRETCHING EXERCISE IIThe APA Ethics Code states that psychologistsmay dispense with informed consent when researchinvolves naturalistic observation (seeStandard 8.05). As we have just seen, however,deciding when naturalistic observation is beingdone in a “public” setting is not always easy. Considerthe following research scenarios and decidewhether you think informed consent of participantsshould be required before the researcherbegins the research. It may be that you will wantmore information from the researcher. If so, whatadditional information would you want beforedeciding whether informed consent is needed inthe situation? You will see that requiring informedconsent can have a dramatic effect on a researchsituation. Requiring informed consent, for example,can make it difficult for a researcher to recordbehavior under “natural” conditions. Such are thedilemmas of ethical decision making.1 In a study of drinking behavior of college students,an undergraduate working for a faculty memberattends a fraternity party and records the amountdrunk by other students at the party.2 As part of a study of the gay community, a gayresearcher joins a gay baseball team with the goalof recording behaviors of participants in the contextof team competition during the season. All thegames are played in a city recreation league withthe general public as spectators.3 Public bathroom behavior (e.g., flushing, handwashing, littering, writing graffiti) of men andwomen is observed by male and femaleresearchers concealed in the stalls of therespective restrooms.4 A graduate student wants to investigate cheatingbehaviors of college students. He concealshimself in a projection booth in an auditoriumwhere exams are administered to students invery large classes. From his vantage point hecan see the movements of most students with theaid of binoculars. He records head movements,switching papers, passing notes, use of cellphones, texting, and other suspicious exam-takingbehaviors.problem on all three dimensions. For instance, the behavior of individuals inthe darkened setting of a movie theater would appear to have the potential ofyielding sensitive information about the individual, but the setting could bereasonably classified as public.Whenever possible, the manner in which participants’ information will bekept confidential should be explained to participants so that they may judgefor themselves whether the safeguards taken to ensure their confidentialityare reasonable. Implementing the principle of informed consent requires thatthe investigator seeks to balance the need to investigate human behavior on theone hand with the rights of human participants on the other.DECEPTION IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH• Deception in psychological research occurs when researchers withholdinformation or intentionally misinform participants about the research. Byits nature, deception violates the ethical principle of informed consent.• Deception is considered a necessary research strategy in somepsychological research.• Deceiving individuals in order to get them to participate in the research isalways unethical.• Researchers must carefully weigh the costs of deception against thepotential benefits of the research when considering the use of deception.