Chapter 4 - ethical guidelines for psychological research

ethics

• A set of general principles of how people should be educated, treated, and respected when participating in any study 

Historical examples of unethical studies

• Tuskegee syphilis study

• Milgram obedience study

• Stanford prison experiment

• Little albert experiment 

• Bobo doll experiment

• Robbers cave experiment 

Tuskegee syphilis study

• Treatment experimentation for syphilis - experimentation targeted specific marginalized groups

• Participants were lied to, denied treatment, told empty promises, and told there was no treatment when there was treatment 

• Unethical choices:

  • Participants were not treated respectfully 

  • Participants were harmed

  • Participants were a targeted, disadvantaged social group 

Milgram obedience studies

• participants were partnered with someone (actor) → asked questions →  each questions answered wrong led to shocks delivered to the actor 

• Participants obeyed authority figures when told to give shocks 

• Participants saw/heard actors being “shocked”

• Unethical choices: 

  • Participants were not followed up with after being debriefed

    • Also debate on content of debriefing 

Stanford prison experiment

• Looking at people taking social roles in groups

  • Participants given roles of guards and prisoners

  • Led to dehumanizing from participants

  • Intense violence and danger risks

  • Questionable debriefing 

• Unethical experiment 

The belmont report

• 1976 - created to define the ethical guidelines that should be followed by researchers in a variety of disciplines 

• 3 core principles:

1. Respect for persons

   1. Research should show respect for persons and their right to make decisions without undue influence or coercion 

   2. 2 major concerns:

      1. Informed consent - need all the information to make educated decision 

      2. Protections for less autonomous groups 

2. Beneficence

   1. Researchers must take precautions to protect participants from harm and ensure well being 

      1. Consider potential risks

         1. Identity info shared? 

            1. Anonymous study 

            2. confidential study 

      2. Consider potential benefits - for oneself and the community 

3. Justice 

   1. Must be a fiar balance between those who participate in research and those who benefit from it 

      1. Researchers need to ensure that participants are representative of the group that will benefit 

APA ethical principles

• 5 general principles and specific ethical standards adding to the belmont report 

• Many principles similar to the belmont report 

• Changes as research changes 

1. Beneficence and nonmaleficence 

   1. Treat people in ways that will benefit them. Do not cause suffering, conduct research that will benefit society 

2. Fidelity and responsibility 

   1. Establish relationships of trust. Accept responsibility for profession behaviour

3. Integrity 

   1. Strive to be accurate, truthful and honest in ones role as researcher, teacher, or practitioner

4. Justice

   1. Strive to treat all groups of people fairly, sample research participants from the same populations that will benefit from the research 

5. Respect for people's rights and dignity 

   1. Recognize that people are autonomous agents. Protect people's rights, including the right to privacy, the right to give consent for treatment or research, and the right to have participation treated confidentially. Understand that some populations may be less able to give autonomous consent, and take precautions against coercing such people.

Ethical standards for research 

• Standard 8: specific to research

  • Institutional review boards (Standard 8.01) 

  • Informed consent (Standard 8.02) 

  • Deception (Standard 8.07) 

    • Withhold information only when it is absolutely necessary and the ethics committee approves

  • Debriefing (Standard 8.08) 

    • Necessary when there is information withheld 

  • Research misconduct 

    • Data fabrication (Standard 8.10) and data falsification 

    • Plagiarism (Standard 8.11) 

  • Animal research (Standard 8.09)

Animal research (standard 8.09)

• Legal protection for laboratory animals

• Animal care guidelines and the three R’s

  • Replacement, refinement, reduction

• Ethically balancing animal welfare, animal rights, and animal research 

Ethical decision making

• Requires balance of priorities

• We need to weigh the potential harm to human or animal participants against what the knowledge gained from the research will contribute to society