Exam 1 (Midterm) Psychology Ethics Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering legal, regulatory, and ethical standards, philosophical models of morality, consent procedures, and competency in psychology.

Positive Ethics

An approach to ethics that encourages practitioners to strive for the ethical ceiling by going above and beyond basic ethical minimums.

Ethical Floor

A historical perspective on ethics that focuses strictly on meeting the bare minimum requirements.

Principle A (APA Code)

Beneficence and nonmaleficence.

Principle B (APA Code)

Fidelity and Responsibility.

Principle C (APA Code)

Integrity.

Principle D (APA Code)

Justice.

Principle E (APA Code)

Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity.

The 4Ds of Malpractice

The four required elements to establish malpractice:

• Duty owed

• Deviation from standard of care

• Damage caused to client

• Direct cause- direct raltionship between deviation and damage caused (by omission or commission)

Malpractice Statute of Limitations

A period of $2\text{ years}$, with exceptions made for treatment that occurred for a minor.

State Psychology Board Composition

A regulatory body composed of $9\text{ members}$ ($6$ psychologists, $2$ members of the public, and $1$ commissioner)

serving $4\text{-year terms}$ with a maximum of two consecutive terms.

Two outcomes to a founded care from a board complaint

Consent Agreement- professional agrees to some form of punishment.

Formal hearing- similar to talking a case to trial

Who investigates founded cases from board complaints?

Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation

• psychologist has no right to access complaint

• psychologist does not have to meet with investigator

• psychologist may have an attorney but it i not required. no attroney will ever be provided

Section 1208 of the Act

There are 15 types of behaviors for which the board can take disciplinary action, and they are combined into 5 main categories

• criminal behavior

• misconduct

• incompetence

• misrepresentation to the public

• impairment.

Characteristics of Highly Competent Professionals

• Strong interpersonal skills 

• Know how to form productive alliances with their patients

• Engage in deliberate practice

• Show healthy self-doubt in order to solicit feedback

Complementary Medicine

Treatments not taught regularly in professional programs that are used in conjunction with traditional treatments.

Alternative Medicine

Treatments not taught regularly in professional programs that are used in place of traditional treatment.

Burnout

A psychological state characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization of patients, and a lack of a sense of personal accomplishment.

Compassion Fatigue

An inability to feel empathy for patients caused by overwork.

Cultural Humility

• The willingness, openness, and desire to reflect on oneself as an embedded cultural being, strive to understand others’ cultural identities, remain curious and respectful, and avoid biased assumptions.

• being curious, respectful of others

• not making automatic/biased assumptions

Social Prescribing

The practice of referring patients to community agencies that can assist with safety net resources such as housing or food.

Preventative Controls

Measures designed to prevent professionals from harming patients or violating ethical codes, such as continuing education, training, and receiving supervision.

Discipline Controls

Measures designed to discipline professionals after patient harm or ethical code violations have occurred, such as board disciplinary actions or lawsuits.

Moral Dumbfounding

our moral decision making tends to be intuitive rather than reasoned

• When faced with a moral dilemma, individuals instinctively judge the situation as “good” or “bad” and then use their reasoning to justify their already-made judgments 

• Unable to justify their moral judgment with reasoning

Moral Foundations Theory

Jonathan Haidt's theory proposing humans possess an innate moral sense that is fine-tuned through interactions with environment and culture across five core value systems:

• care

• fairness

• loyalty

• authority

• sanctity

Virtue Ethics

An ethical framework focusing on individual character and traits, emphasizing essential virtues such as prudence, integrity, respectfulness, and benevolence.

Communitarian Ethics

An ethical orientation focusing on close relationships, the common good, and community well-being over individual well-being alone.

Deontological Ethics

A duty-based ethical framework formulated by Immanuel Kant asserting that actions are moral only when performed out of intent to fulfill one's duties, independent of the consequences.

Categorical Imperative

Kant's universal moral directive stating that an individual must act only according to principles they would want everyone to follow in every situation without fail.

Hypothetical Imperative

A principle of conduct that directs an individual to act in a certain way only if they wish to achieve a specific desired result.

Utilitarianism

A consequentialist ethical framework by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill asserting that the morality of an act depends on maximizing overall benefits, defined by consequential, hedonistic, and universal features.

Principle Based (Prima Facie) Ethics

William David Ross's theory stating that moral duties hold true unless overridden by a superior, conflicting moral obligation.

Medicolegal Model of Consent

A passive, one-time event focused on obtaining patient consent.

Participatory Model of Consent

A dynamic, active, and fluid ongoing process between provider and patient to continually revisit consent.

Nudges

Presentations of options that steer or encourage people in specific directions while preserving their ultimate freedom of choice.

Age of Consent for Mental Health Treatment in PA

Minors aged $14\text{ years}$ old or older who can legally consent to treatment on their own accord.

ADDRESSING Model

A cultural framework identifying

• Age/generation

• Developmental disabilities

• Disabilities acquired later in life

• Religion

• Ethnic/racial identity

• Socioeconomic status

• Sexual orientation

• Indigenous heritage

• National origin

• Gender.

IDEAL Model

A five-step decision-making model:

• Identify problem

• develop options

• Evaluate options

• Act on chosen option

• Look back

Kitchener’s Model of Ethical Decision Making

A dual-process decision-making model operating on two levels: the intuitive level (personal moral beliefs) and the critical-evaluative level (ethical codes and larger principles).

Procedural Justice

A subtype of social justice concerned with the fair and impartial treatment of all persons.

Distributive Justice

A subtype of social justice concerning the fair allocation and distribution of resources across society.

Interactional Justice

A dimension of justice focusing on fairness and dignity within interpersonal and social relationships.

PPPA vs. Title 49, Chapter 41

The PPPA defines legal and professional requirements for psychologists in Pennsylvania, whereas Title 49 Chapter 41 details the specific administrative regulations governing the PPPA.

Privacy

An individual's general legal right to control the disclosure of their personal information and remain protected from unwarranted external intrusions.

Privileged Communication

A statutory mechanism that exempts designated professionals from being legally compelled to disclose confidential patient records or testimony in a court setting.

Confidentiality

An ethical mandate prohibiting treating professionals from disclosing patient information to any third party without explicit client consent.

Act 148 of 1990

Pennsylvania legislation governing the strict confidentiality of HIV-related information, prohibiting disclosure without consent except under specific statutory exemptions.

Considerations for Telehealth Competence

Technological skills and appropriate equipment, How to respond to emergencies – 911?, Mindfulness of the security of the telecommunication platform, Ensure compliance of technology with HIPAA, Awareness of interjurisdictional issues, If patient is in another state, psychologist must understand rules/laws of patient’s state

Preventative controls

designed to prevent professionals from harming patients or violating ethical codes i.e. CEs, training, receiving supervision

Discipline controls

designed to discipline professionals after they have harmed a patient or violated an ethical code i.e. disciplinary action by licensing board or lawsuit

Licensing board uses ________ law NOT criminal law

ADMINISTRATIVE, No rights to an attorney, Lower burden of proof

APA Codes realting to Competence

1. 2.01 Boundaries of Competence

2. 2.02 Providing Services in Emergencies

3. 2.03 Maintaining Competence

4. 2.04 Bases for Scientific and Professional Judgments 

5. 2.05 Delegation of Work to Others

6. 2.06 Personal Problems and Conflicts

2.01 Boundaries of Competence

• Psychologists work with populations and in areas only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training/supervised experience, and professional experience

• obtain necessary training, consultation, and supervised experience when working with populations, technology, or areas that are new to them

• when asked to provide services to those for whom appropriate services are not available psychologists with closely related experience provide services to ensure services are not denied

• psychologists working in emerging areas that do not yet have standards of training take reasonable steps to ensure competences to avoid harm

• those in forensics learn about the judicial and admin rules governing their roles

2.02 Providing Services in Emergencies

• In emergencies, when psychologists provide services to individuals for whom services are not available and for which psychologists have not obtained the necessary training, psychologists may provide such services in order to ensure that services are not denied.

• The services are discontinued as soon as the emergency has ended or appropriate services are available.

2.03 Maintaining Comptence

Psychologists undertake ongoing efforts to develop and maintain their competence.

2.04 Bases for Scientifc and Professional Judgements

Psychologists' work is based upon established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline.

2.05 Delegation of Work to Others

• Psychologists are responsible for ensuring that tasks delegated to employees, supervisees, or other professionals are assigned to individuals who are appropriately qualified and competent.

• Psychologists must also take reasonable steps to prevent conflicts of interest or multiple relationships that could lead to exploitation, impaired objectivity, or harm to those receiving services

2.06 Personal Problems and Conflicts

• Psychologists refrain from initiating an activity when they know or should know that there is a substantial likelihood that their personal problems will prevent them from performing their work in a competent manner.

• When psychologists become aware of personal problems that may interfere with their performing work-related duties adequately, they take appropriate measures, such as obtaining professional consultation or assistance, and determine whether they should limit, suspend, or terminate their duties.

Potential consequences of Malpractice

• loss of license

• civil suits (sued for financial repercussions)

• legal (criminal charges)

How can a psychologist be an advocate

In direct service- preventative services to those at high risk

Advocacy- responding to APA outreaches, signing petitions, etc

APA enforced policies regaulating to cultural competence

• APA now mandates teaching of diversity issues 

• Psychologists must undertake relevant education, training, supervised experience, consultation or study to provide services to diverse populations