Past studies of the treatment of Milgram's obedience experiments in social psychology textbooks from the 1960s to the 1990s discovered an evolving "Milgram-friendly" coverage style (dealing with criticisms of his experiments either summarily, in a pro-Milgram manner, or not at all). We examined 10 current social textbooks to determine…

Most students have some experience with purported measures of psychological constructs before entering college. Critical analysis of such measures requires familiarity with test development strategies. The activities outlined in this article allowed students to complete the steps involved in scale construction and empirical analysis in a…

Distressed research participants were identified and contacted to investigate their experiences. Anxiety due to physical discomfort was the primary complaint. However, the experiments had very mild distress effects on the subjects. Anonymity did not influence responses. (CS)

This report describes the introductory psychology demonstration showing conditioned taste aversion in rats based on those animals' inability to distinguish between safe NaCl and toxic LiCl solutions. Test results showed the established phenomena of classical conditioning. Included is a discussion of the experiments relevance to behaviorist…

Investigates the amount of disclosure by undergraduate psychology students concerning their experience as research participants. Examines students' anticipated disclosure, and actual disclosure rates immediately after experiments and following a two-week interval. Shows disclosure rates were highest (85 percent) when students were promised…

Psychology departments in U.S., Canadian, English, and Irish universities were asked to describe their practices concerning student participation as subjects in experiments. Experimental participation as a requirement, with other options to fulfill that requirement, has become the most popular form of subject pool. The educational value is…

Summarizes the use of field experiments designed to investigate personal space invasion. States that the experiments were designed and conducted by introductory psychology students and complemented by classroom lectures. Reports that the experiments provided an understanding of personal space, personal space invasion, and the implications…

To discover how students felt about being experimental subjects, 152 introductory psychology student research subjects answered questionnaires about their evaluation of the experience. Results showed that, while students were aware of low-level coercion, they found the experience worthwhile and did not object to receiving extra credit as a reward.…

An analysis of research methods textbooks in psychology showed that little coverage is given to control issues in research, such as experimenter expectancies and subject bias. However, space and attention given to research ethics has increased considerably. This is probably due to imposition of controls from the government and the profession. (CS)

Offers a description of a learning module called "Reading the Research" that teaches students about empirical research. Presents the results of a formative evaluation with students in an experimental psychology course as well as an evaluation with students in an introductory psychology course. (CMK)

Reports on the use of participant modeling in a study of 56 college-level students to reduce fear of laboratory rats. Discovers that even mild exposure reduced fear significantly. Finds that women were more fearful initially but that their fear reduction was equal to that of men. (CFR)