The study by Saavedra and Silverman (button phobia) raised ethical issues. Explain two ethical guidelines that are relevant to this study.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2019). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] 1 mark for identifying an issues (whether resolved or not)
2. [1] 1 mark for describing the situation in the study } x2
3. the need for informed consent;
4. this was obtained both from the boy and the parents;
5. avoiding psychological harm ;
6. he was distress by the desensitisation procedure;
7. the researchers kept the sessions short/used a staged procedure to avoid too much distress;
8. they used food which might encourage bad eating habits;
9. maintaining confidentiality;
10. we know the boy's ethnicity but few other details (so not identifiable);
11. ensure privacy;
12. the boy may have been asked questions he didn't want to answer (so not followed);
13. boys' mother may have said things the boy didn't want other people to know;
14. giving the right to withdraw;
15. there were several adults in the room so he may have felt unable to leave;