Page 36 - Demo

Theprimaryreasonisbecauseweknowverylittleaboutthesechildhoodemotions,sotolearnmore,observingchildrenistheeasiestandmostdirectway.Theexperimenterswouldthenreturnwithanintactreplicaofthetoy,reassuringthechildandclarifyingthattheyhadnotcausedthedamage.Thisapproach,whichinducesguiltinchildrenatayoungage,hasfacedcriticismfromparentsandresearcherswhoobjecttoputtingchildreninunnecessarilyuncomfortablesituations.Withtheunderstandingthatchildhoodyearsarethemostcrucialperiodforaperson'sdevelopmentandtheirlifeasanadultlateron,researchinvolvingchildrenisofextremeimportance.However,becauseaperson'schildhoodyearshavesuchalastingimpactontheminthefuture,questionsofethicsarebroughtup.Afterall,guardiansareinchargeofconsentingonbehalfofthechild,andnoteverythinggoesasplanned;anynegativeeffectsthatmaybeinflictedonthechildhavethepotentialtoseverelyinhibitachild'sfutureanddevelopment.Becauseofthis,behavioralexperimentswithchildrenarenotinherentlybadbutneedtoberegulatedtoensurethesafetyofthechildtopreventfuturerepercussions.However,whileitmayseemlogicaltocallforabanonsuchtests,therearecompellingreasonsforconductingbehavioralexperimentslikethis.First,ourunderstandingofchildhoodemotionsislimited,andobservingchildrendirectlyprovidesanefficientwaytolearnmore.Moreover,researchhasconsistentlyshownthatlab-inducedmishapsaresignificantlylessdistressingandfarmilderthanthenaturallyoccurringmisbehaviorschildrenexperienceathomewiththeirparents.Didyouknow\DouglasMerritte.Hisexperimentisconsideredhighlyethicalbysociety.