In medical research, sometimes people are recruited into experiments with the promise that, if they are in the control group, when the experiment ends, everyone will get the treatment if it is effective. That seems only ethical.
But what about this case? Weis and Cerankosky (2010) recently published a study, "Effects of Video-Game Ownership on Young Boys' Academic and Behavioral Functioning: A Randomized, Controlled Study<http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/02/17/0956797610362670>" (link available only to subscribers or APS members) online before print in Psychological Science (Feb 18) the abstract of which is as follows: Young boys who did not own video games were promised a video-game system and child-appropriate games in exchange for participating in an "ongoing study of child development." After baseline assessment of boys' academic achievement and parent- and teacher-reported behavior, boys were randomly assigned to receive the video-game system immediately or to receive the video-game system after follow-up assessment, 4 months later. Boys who received the system immediately spent more time playing video games and less time engaged in after-school academic activities than comparison children. Boys who received the system immediately also had lower reading and writing scores and greater teacher-reported academic problems at follow-up than comparison children. Amount of video-game play mediated the relationship between video-game ownership and academic outcomes. Results provide experimental evidence that video games may displace after-school activities that have educational value and may interfere with the development of reading and writing skills in some children. They mention later in the article that parents were debriefed but it isn't clear if they were made aware of the experimental findings or just of the hypothesis and methods. So, is it ethical to give everyone a treatment that has been found (in an experiment, not just a correlational study) to be detrimental? And was the compensation offered not only coercive but, based on the experimental findings, possibly detrimental to educational outcomes? Rick Dr. Rick Froman, Chair Division of Humanities and Social Sciences Box 3055 x7295 [email protected] http://tinyurl.com/DrFroman Proverbs 14:15 "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps." --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=1155 or send a blank email to leave-1155-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
