Debriefing

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All experimental and study participants have the right to be debriefed from psychological studies. In order to facilitate both a greater understanding of research in psychology and to provide other sources of related information about the study, student participants should receive a brief written debriefing sheet (less than one half page) upon completion of the study. The debriefing sheet should contain the following information:

1. The name of the study, the experimenter(s) and the faculty supervisor(s).

2. The telephone and other contact information for the lab(s) in which the study was conducted as well as contact information for the University Human Research Ethics Committee and the Psychology Department Ethics Committee.

3. *The nature of the study (hypotheses, goals, etc.).

4. *Some information about the design of the study (groups, measures, etc.).

5. A brief statement about the importance or implications of the study.

6. Citation of one or two suggested articles or book chapters for further reading.

*If the study involves deception, it is acceptable for items 3 and 4 to be somewhat vague when distributed in written form, provided that a full oral debriefing is given to each participant.
Ideally, this sheet will be accompanied by a brief oral debriefing period in which the above are explained to the student participant.