A psychologist proposed an experiment in which he would tell participants that their performance on an intelligence test was extremely low (regardless of actual performance) and then measure their self-esteem. What might an Institutional Review Board ethics committee say about such a proposal?

When a psychologist proposes an experiment that could cause disagreement in the study subjects - through a hoax - to measure their self-esteem, the Institutional Review Board Ethics Committee will say that deception is allowable only if it is revealed afterward and if the emotional distress that it causes is short lived.

Explanation:

Options for this question:

A. Deception is allowable only if it is revealed afterward and if the emotional distress that it causes is short lived.

B. Deception is allowable only if participants give informed consent prior to the experiment.

C. Deception is never allowable.

D. Deception such as this would cause emotional discomfort, so it should not be done.

Any study or research test applied to people is subject to the regulations of an ethics committee, who will set the guidelines for this study.

Research that aims to expose research individuals to negative feedback can have psychological and emotional repercussions that must be measured and controlled.

In this case, the opinion of the institutional ethics committee will be to evaluate the scope that this research can have and to suggest that those evaluated know, after the test, that it was only a test to measure their self-esteem and emotional response.

The institutional ethics committees are in charge of monitoring and guaranteeing the physical and emotional well-being of people -submitted to research tests or medical care- in addition to ensuring treatment with respect to their dignity.

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