Discuss one or more ethical considerations related to research studies investigating cultural origins of behaviour and/or cultural origins of cognition.

Refer to the paper 1 section B assessment criteria when awarding marks. These can be found under the “Your tests” tab > supplemental materials.

The command term "discuss" requires candidates to offer a considered review of ethical considerations related to research studies investigating the cultural origins of behaviour and/or cognition. The focus of the response should be on the ethical considerations related to relevant research into cultural origins of behaviour and/or cognition.

Ethical considerations may be positive (which guidelines were followed) or negative (which guidelines were not followed). There are a number of ethical considerations which may be discussed. These include, but are not limited to:

• deception
• protection from physical and/or mental harm
• briefing and debriefing
• right to withdraw from a study
• informed consent
• anonymity
• confidentiality.

Relevant research studies may include, but are not limited to:

• Studies on conformity – Bond and Smith (1996), Berry and Katz (1967)
• Studies on cultural dimensions – Hofstede (1973), Finkelstein (2010), Eylon and Au (1999), Kulkofsky et al. (2011), Petrova et al. (2007), Levine and Norenzayan (1996), Chen et al. (2005)
• Studies on culture and attachment – Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988); Sagi et al. (1985)
• Studies on culture and addictive behaviour – Raylu and Oei (2004); Brady (1995)
• Studies on cultural origins of cognition – Williams and Williams (2010), Lamm et al. (2017)
• Studies on cultural differences in cognitive skills – Vygotsky (1978), Cole and Scribner (1974), Chiu (1972); Briley, Morris and Simonson (2005)
• Studies on cultural demands and memory – Bartlett (1932), Misty and Rogoff (1994), Rogoff and Waddell (1982).

Critical discussion may include, but is not limited to:

• the considerations of conducting research in a different culture
• the justification of how ethical considerations were resolved – for example, why was deception used?
• how ethical considerations may limit the ability to carry out research
• using a cost/benefit analysis when undertaking research
• the difficulties of ensuring confidentiality in social psychology research
• the role of informed consent when studying groups
• decisions as to why certain ethical guidelines were/were not followed
• changes over time in adherence to ethical standards/guidelines.

There were very limited responses to this question with many candidates choosing to answer others. The majority of responses were poorly done and scored in the low markbands; this was due to a number of reasons. Many candidates were clearly confused and demonstrated little understanding of ethical considerations related specifically to "cultural origins of behaviour and/or cultural origins of cognition". A large proportion of responses used generic ethical considerations of studies such as Bandura's Bobo Doll study, Tajfel's minimal group paradigm studies or Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment, which were not relevant.

Of those that did describe ethical considerations into relevant research, the vast majority of candidates described studies in either cultural origins of conformity or the cultural dimension of individualism and collectivism; examples included Hofstede, Barry, Berry and Katz, Kulkofsky.