AP Psychology - 1.5

• After choosing a topic to study, psychologists select the most appropriate research design (case study, survey, naturalistic, etc.) based on time, money, ethical issues, etc.

Ethics - morality; referring to one's system of standards for proper/responsible behavior

Ethics in Science

• The problem in psychology is that ethical considerations are often central in gathering, accumulating, or discovering information

  • Harm: Should researchers be expected to take steps to protect participants form harm?

Institutional Review - The US federal gov't has a series of rules and regulations that must be followed in research. States, instructions or independent ethics committees oversee research on human or animal subjects to ensure the research is scientific, ethical and regulatory

Confidentiality - Secrecy; Not to be disclosed

Informed consent - the term used to indicate that a person has agreed to participate in research after receiving information about the purpose of the study and the nature of the study/treatments

• Includes info on dangers of study, why study is being done, expectations, etc.

• Volunteers are also given the opportunity to drop out of the research project, even after it has begun

Informed assent - term to indicate that a person not competent to give informed consent (under the age of 18 or cognitively-impaired), has agreed to participate in a research study

Note: they may not fully understand the consequences of treatment/participation

Confederate - research actor who agrees to participate along with actual test subjects

• After the study is concluded, subjects are debriefed (given full information about a just-completed procedure) - including any deception that may have been used