APA Ethical Guidelines

APA Ethical Guidelines for Human and Animal Experiments

Ethical Guidelines for Human Participants (5 points)

• Informed Consent (No deception):
  • Participants must understand what they are agreeing to and willingly consent to participate.
  • Deception is allowed, but not to the extent that the participant has a fundamentally different understanding of the experiment.
  • Acceptable deception example: Lying about taking placebos when participants are actually taking real pills to study the impact of mindsets on biological responses.
  • Unacceptable deception example: Falsely stating the experiment involves psychological effects of drugs on mental performance.
• No Coercion (Voluntary participation):
  • Participants cannot be forced to participate; their participation must be voluntary.
  • Special considerations for those unable to give consent (e.g., underage children, individuals with mental issues): Consent should be sought from parents or caregivers.
  • Participants should have the option to withdraw from the study at any time.
• No Risk to participants:
  • Experiments should not pose significant physical, mental, or social risks to participants.
  • Participants should be kept safe and comfortable during the experiment.
  • A reasonable level of risk is determined by various boards (APA/IRB) with the local research facility or university having the final say.
• Confidentiality/Anonymity:
  • Participants' privacy should be respected through confidentiality or anonymity.
  • If complete anonymity isn't possible, confidentiality should be guaranteed (data cannot be traced back to the participant without their consent).
• Debriefing:
  • After the experiment, participants must be informed about the results and how their data was used.
  • Researchers are obliged to answer all questions participants might have.

Ethical Guidelines for Animal Participants (Simplified to 3 points from 5)

• Legal Acquisition:
  • Animals must be obtained legally; acquiring animals from illegal sources is prohibited.
  • If wild animals are caught, it must be done humanely and legally.
• Best Suitable Animals and Humane Housing:
  • The most suitable animals for the experiment should be chosen whenever possible.
  • Example: When studying stress response, it is more ethical to use a less sentient animal (e.g., a pig) rather than a more intelligent one (e.g., a monkey), to minimize potential suffering.
  • Animals must be housed in humane conditions.
  • Experiment conditions must be designed to minimize suffering.
• Clear Scientific Purpose:
  • Animal experiments are only permitted if they serve a clear scientific purpose to answer an important/useful scientific question.
  • Example of an unethical experiment: Testing prolonged stress response in animals in different conditions without a clear application of the results.
  • Example of an ethical experiment: Researching different coping methods of monkeys concerning stress, as this could be generalized for humans.