Participants' understanding of the process of psychological research: Debriefing

In a broad-based study of experiences in psychological research, 65 undergr aduates participating in a wide range of psychological experiments were int erviewed in depth. Overall findings demonstrated that participants hold var ying views, with only 32% of participants characterizing their experiences as completely positive. Participants' descriptions of their debriefing expe riences suggest substantial variability in the content, format, and general quality of debriefing practices. Just over 40% of the debriefing experienc es were viewed favorably. Positive debriefing experiences were described as including a thorough explanation of the study and detailed information con cerning the broader relevance of the experiment to the field of psychology. The most common complaint, characterizing 28.8% of the responses, was that the debriefing was unclear and that insufficient information was provided. Participants' views of psychological research and the discipline of psycho logy were also elicited. Results are discussed in terms of ethical and meth odological implications.