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If you used deception in your study design, you are ethically bound to disclose and explain the deception to the participants. Students often ask, "Do you mean we have to tell them we lied to them"? A blunt description of the deception might embarrass participants, making them feel foolish or stupid. A more gentle statement such as "While the study used a visual task, we were also interested in learning about your response to peer pressure in a performance situation. The other participants in the room were part of the study and were trying to get you to join with them in giving a particular answer to the puzzle". This discloses the true goal of the experiment but in a gentle manner.
If the respondent asks you right out "Do you mean you lied to me?", then you must answer honestly and straightforwardly in return. Any other type of response would be defensive and might add to the participants' bad feelings. If participants are upset about the deception, you must give them the opportunity to end their participation in the study and to remove their data from analysis.
A full explanation of the deception should also state why you found the deception necessary. For example, in the peer pressure study, you might say, "Research has shown that peer pressure is often very subtle. We were concerned that if we told you that we were also studying how peers influence your response in performance conditions, you might be too aware of their presence and we would not see the effect." If you had not asked before, this would be a good time to ask the participants if they had thought about other possibilities while doing the experiment.
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