When one operationally defines a variable, they translate an idea into a concrete operation that can be measured. For example, the concept of "aggression" might be operationally defined as "the number of times someone punches a wall in a 5 minute period." In order to get from the concept to the concrete, the researcher has to consider a lot of questions about how the idea will be specifically measured within the study.  

Albert Bandura's BOBO doll experiment showed the significance of modeling. Humans learn by way of observation; we watch the demonstrated behavior and imitate that behavior. In a similar manner, the BOBO doll experiment showed how vicarious reward and punishment influence behavior modification.If a child observed an adult being praised for aggressive behavior, then the child would imitate that behavior. If a child observed an adult being scolded for aggressive behavior, then the child would avoid modeling that behavior.

All of these statements are correct except for the idea that participants "volunteered" to have their corpus callosum severed. Psychologists know that the corpus callosum plays an extremely important role in communication between the two brain hemispheres, so it would be incredibly unethical to cut it simply for a study. Surgeries to cut the corpus callosum are generally only performed on patients with severe epilepsy, as the procedure (for reasons not entirely known) tends to stop the seizures. Split-brain research is important because it demonstrates that different halves of the brain are specialized for different activities. For example, if a split-brain patient was shown a spoon to her left eye, contralateral control means this information would be much more readily available to the right cerebral hemisphere. Since the left (not right) hemisphere is associated with language, she would not be able to correctly identify what the object was in words. This is evidence for hemispheric specialization—the “division of labor” between the two halves of the brain such that each side specializes in certain functions.

The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of roles associated with being a prisoner or a prison guard within a fictitious prison located in an laboratory setting. The experiment was stopped after six days due to the psychological torture that was being inflicted on the prisoners by the prison guards. It was conducted byPhilip Zimbardo and has been the subject of many conversations regarding ethical violations.

In Asch's experiments, most of the participants were actually confederates (i.e. actors), and were instructed to give the wrong answer to many of the easy line questions; therefore, Asch was looking to see if the "real" participants would conform to the majority opinion even if they knew that the answer was incorrect.

In this study, participants continued to administer what they thought were high-voltage shocks up until and even past the point on the dial marked “fatal,” presumably because the experimenter told them to keep going. This appears to suggest that people are much more blindly obedient to authority than they think they are, and people may carry out horrible acts they normally never would simply because they were told to by an authority figure. While removing a shock in response to a correct answer would be negative reinforcement, it is important to remember that no one was actually ever shocked in this experiment. This is because the “learner” was actually a confederate—a researcher acting as if he or she is another participant in order to add an element of deception to the experimental design.

An institutional review board (IRB) is a committee that reviews, approves, and monitors biomedical and behavioral research conducted on humans. Its purpose is to assure that participants' rights are protected during the course of research. 

Deception may be necessary to study subjects' true behavior, as people may behave differently if they know they are under observation or know the exact purpose of the study being performed. However, deceiving subjects simply because they might be upset if they knew the truth is not a valid ethical reason to do so.

Informed consent in psychological research means the subject is given enough information on the study to make an informed decision on his/her participation. This includes informing the subject that s/he can withdraw consent and leave the study at anytime.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has certain ethical guidelines when it comes to using animals for research. Experiments must be designed for the most minimal amount of suffering possible and the animals must be treated in a humane way. They have to have been acquired from a legal source, and it must be made clear why it is that animals must be used for this particular scientific end.