99 undergraduates from a large public university who had (n = 47) and had not (n = 52) completed a course in ethics were compared on self-ratings of knowledge of ethics in psychology as well as actual knowledge. The group that had taken a prior class obtained significantly higher mean total scores on both tests. Both groups obtained significantly higher mean scores on self-ratings than on actual knowledge. The findings suggested that undergraduate training in ethical issues for psychology majors is useful but the tendency for students to believe that they knew more than they actually did was cause for concern.
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