17. Ethics

Question 1

Why are ethics an important issue in Psychology

Answer 1

• Psychological research & practice should aim to improve our self-understanding, be beneficial to ppl & try to improve the quality of life of individuals.
• As professionals, psychologists are expected to do their work in an ETHICAL MANNER.

Question 2

What is The British Psychological Society (BPS)

Answer 2

• The BPS has developed ethical guidelines for psychologists to follow when theyre designing studies, so that P’s are protected.
• They are formal principles for what is considered to be acceptable or unacceptable, & include advice on deception, consent, & psychological harm.

Question 3

What 5 principles are outlined in The BPS

Answer 3

1. Informed consent
2. Deception
3. Protection from harm
4. Debriefing
5. Confidentiality

Question 4

INFORMED CONSENT

Answer 4

• BPS state P’s should always give informed consent.
• told aims & nature of study before agreeing to it.
• know they have the right to withdraw at any time.

1. U16’s cannot legally give consent (parent can).
2. Consent not obtained in naturalistic observation. Acceptable provided its done in public location where ppl would expect to be observed.
3. Still issues when consent is obtained. Menges (1973) reviewed 1000 American studies - found that 97% had not given ppl all info abt the research.

Question 5

DECEPTION

Answer 5

• If P’s have been deceived then they cannot have given informed consent.
• HOWEVER, sometimes researchers must withhold information abt study bc P’s wouldn’t behave naturally if they knew the aim.

1. BPS state deception is ONLY ACCEPTABLE if theres strong scientific justification for the research & theres no alternative procedure available.
2. Severity of deception differs, eg. research on memory may involve unexpected memory tests (that P’s weren’t informed abt). This is less objectionable than the deception involved in Milgram’s study.

Question 6

PROTECTION FROM HARM

Answer 6

• BPS state the risk of harm to P’s should be no greater than they would face in their normal lives. Hard to accurately assess this.

1. Research procedures can involve physical & psychological discomfort (eg. P’s in Milgram’s research suffered extreme distress).
2. Some face risks in their work (eg. soldiers), but that doesnt mean they can be exposed to risks in research.
3. Researchers dont always known in advance what might be distressing for P’s.

Question 7

DEBRIEFING

Answer 7

• Debriefing is supposed to return P’s to state they were in before the research.
• Especially important if deception has been used.

1. Researchers must fully explain what research involved & what the results might show.
2. P’s are given the right to withdraw their data.

Question 8

CONFIDENTIALITY

Answer 8

• None of P’s in a study should be identifiable from any reports produced.

1. Data collected must be confidential - cant use ppl’s names in reports.
2. P’s must be warned if their data is not going to be completely anonymous.
3. HOWEVER, some groups or ppl might be easily identifiable from their characteristics - more so if report says when/where study was conducted.

Question 9

What ethical issues to researchers have to deal with in their studies

Answer 9

• Deception
• Consent
  (ALSO - Animal rights)

Question 10

Ethical issues researchers have to deal with in their studies: DECEPTION

Answer 10

• Sometimes it’s difficult to conduct meaningful research w/o slight deception - if P’s know exactly what’s being studied, behaviour might change –> data obtained would be useless.
• Psychologists dont usually tell P’s every detail, but do try minimise deception. That way P’s arent likely to be upset when they find out the true nature of the study.
• Milgrams experiment is an eg of a study that would not be considered ethical today - deceived P’s & many showed signs of stress.

Question 11

Ethical issues researchers have to deal with in their studies: CONSENT

Answer 11

• Gaining consent is central to conducing research ethically. But telling P’s theyre being observed could change the way they behave
• Milgrams P’s couldn’t give informed consent until after they were debriefed. If they’d known abt the nature of the suited, it wouldn’t have worked.

Question 12

SUPPORT for use of animals in research

Answer 12

• Argued that animal research has provided valuable information for psychological & medical research.
• Some experimental designs couldn’t have been conducted on humans - eg. Harlow’s study on attachment - young monkeys separated from their mothers & reared alone.
• Some argue its acceptable to experiment on animals far less developed than humans.

Question 13

AGAINST the use of animals in research

Answer 13

• May argue it’s ethically wrong to inflict harm & suffering on animals, & obviously animals cant give consent to take part.
• Some argue it’s cruel to experiment on animals that have a similar intelligence to humans, bc they may suffer the same problems we would.
• The supporting argument that its acceptable to experiment on animals far less developed than humans is COUNTERED by the view that there would be no point bc they’ll be too different from humans to give results that apply to us.

Question 14

HOWEVER, ethical guidelines dont solve all the problems (issues with ethical guidelines)

Answer 14

1. May be researchers who dont follow the guidelines properly.
2. If psychologist conducts research in an unacceptable way, although they’d most likely be kicked out of their uni, they cant be banned from research (unlike doctor who can be fired for misconduct).
3. Even when followed, it can be difficult to assess things like psychological harm, or to fully justify the use of deception.
4. Deciding whether the ends (benefits from study) justify the means (cost of study) is not straightforward either. Creates another dilemma for psychologists.