ethics Flashcards

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1
Q

Why do psychologists need ethical guidelines?

A

respect for persons - people either have autonomy, or protection if they don’t.
beneficence - research should do no harm to participants, and should benefit participants and society.
justice - burden of participation should not be limited to certain groups, and beneifts should be available to all.

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2
Q

Specfic codes of practice

A

British psychological society (BPS) - must be adhered by all psychologists, even GCSE students
American psychological association (APA)

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3
Q

BPS code of ethics

A
  • regularly reviewed documents
  • “changes in societal explanations of professionals are considered”
  • “psychologists should consider it good practice to record their decision processes when confronted with a particularly challenging ethical issue”
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4
Q

4 ethical principles for psychologists

A

respect for the dignity of persons and people - privacy, consent, self-determination
competence in providing services to a professional standard - appropriate skills, willingness to refer
responsibility for what is in their power, control or management - accountability, respect for welfare, consideration of competing duties.
integrity - openness, unbiased, fairness, addressing misconduct.

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5
Q

legal obligations for psychologists

A
  • health and care professionals council (HCPC) registration
  • competence
  • indemnity insurance (e.g., covers negligence claims)
  • disclosure and barring services (DBS) checks
  • equality act
  • data protection
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6
Q

More legal obligations for psychologists

A
  • freedom of information act
  • health and safety at work act
  • working together to safeguard children guidance
  • mental capacity act - framework for capacity and consent for ages 16 and older
    mental health act - ensures people with mental health disorders receive care and treatment.
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7
Q

APA code of conduct

A
  1. beneficence and nonmaleficence - benefit those who they work with and do no harm.
  2. fidelity and responsibility - establish trust; be aware of professional and scientific duties.
  3. integrity - promote accuracy and honesty in science, teaching and practice.
  4. justice - exercise fairness and ensure equal opportunity to the benefits of psychology.
  5. respect for people’s rights and dignity - respect the worth of all people, their privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination. Be aware of special safeguards to protect the welfare of individuals and vulnerable populations.
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8
Q

Key points on human research ethics

A
  • risk are explained
  • participants is voluntary
  • valid (informed) consent is given
  • confidentiality is maintained
  • advice is given
  • deception
  • debriefing occurs after experiment
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9
Q

Informed consent requires

A
  • full information
  • voluntary participation
  • consent involves capacity to make a decision - ability to:
    1. understand relevant information
    2. appreciate situation and its consequences
    3. reason with the information and weigh up consequences logically
    4. communicate decision
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10
Q

For informed consent, participants need full information

A
  1. purpose of the research, expected duration, and procedures
  2. right to decline to participate and to withdraw once started
  3. foreseeable consequences of declining or withdrawing
  4. reasonably foreseeable factors that might affect willingness to participate
  5. any prospective research benefits
  6. limits of confidentiality
  7. incentives for participation
  8. who to contact for questions
    - researcher should provide opportunity for prospective participants to ask questions and receive answers.
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11
Q

Clarify to participants at outset of the research - in therapeutic treatments

A
  • the treatments experimental nature
  • the services available/unavailable to the control group if appropriate
  • the means by which assignment to treatment and control groups will be made
  • available treatment alternatives if an individual does not wish to participate in the research or wishes to withdraw once a study has begun.
  • payment issues
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12
Q

Harm/benefit analysis for risky research - things to think about

A
  • is risk more than people experience in day-to-day life
  • people often engage un risky activities
  • can risk be reduced
  • should moderate/high-risk studies be viewed differently if they include altruistic acts?
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13
Q

Informed consent with special groups

A
  • problem of groups who cannot give informed consent (children, individuals with psychosis or dementia)
  • obtain informed consent from caregivers
  • where procedures involve risk/harm, obtain informed consent from the individual as well, plus consult an ethics committee
  • child’s avoidance of testing should be taken as withdrawal of consent.
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14
Q

Informed consent and power relationships

A
  • be aware that prisoners, institutionalised individuals, students may feel they are not in the position to say “no”
  • Belmont report prohibits coercion - “who an overt threat of harm is intentionally presented by one person to another in order to gain compliance”.
  • also applies to implicit perceived threats
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15
Q

Informed consent - benefits

A
  • forces researchers to think more about their research
  • encourages trust and better rapport with participants
  • better recruitment rates
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16
Q

Informed consent - costs

A
  • delays, bureaucracy
  • some “vulnerable” groups become un-reasonable because obtaining consent is difficult
  • Hawthorne effect - behaviour is altered because participants are aware they are being observed
17
Q

Inducements to participate

A
  • should not be excessive
  • should not be sued to coerce participation is risky/harmful procedures.
  • for students, alternatives to research participation should be equally palatable.
  • Belmont report prohibits undue influence - “an offer of an excessive, unwarranted, inappropriate, or improper reward or other overture in order to obtain compliance”
18
Q

Use of deception

A
  • use it only if unavoidable - precludes informed consent or makes people distrustful of psychologists
  • consider participants’ reaction to finding out they have been misled
  • debrief participate as soon as possible
  • consult an ethics committee, plus individuals of the community/culture from which participants are taken.
19
Q

Deception varies in extent

A
  • pps gives informed consent to participate in one of various conditions, but does not know which one they are allocated to e.g., drug or placebo.
  • pps consents to participate in a study but does not know the full details until afterwards e.g., vaguely on memory or perception.
  • pp is involved in study whithout prioor knowledge or consent e.g., bystander behaviour.
  • pp consents to participate in a study but is misled about what the study is about.
20
Q

Filming and voice recording

A
  • experiments, therapy sessions - make/use recordings only with pps knowledge and consent (afterwards if deception is involved)
  • observational, naturalistic studies in public places - no knowledge or consent necessary, as long as individual cannot be identified or harmed, respect for cultural traditions about this, etc.
21
Q

Boundaries of competence

A
  • important for applied areas (expert witness, therapist, etc)
  • must have appropriate expertise or acquire it.
  • must keep knowledge up to date.
  • must acknowledge limitations and boundaries when dealing with non-specialists.
22
Q

Honesty, sharing data

A
  • be prepared to share your data with others - maintain confidentiality, and remember informed consent.
  • avoid plagiarism and fraud.
23
Q

Confidentiality of data

A

Need to maintain records but:
1. GDPR
2. data should be anonymous wherever possible
3. only acquire and retain as much personal information as is necessary for the study.
4. PPS have right to expect their data will be kept confidential; if not, should be warned in advance or participation.
5. preserve confidentiality with codes, aliases, etc.

24
Q

Debriefing

A
  • give full explanation of what the pp has been involved in
  • avoid evaluative statements
  • consider effects of study on self-esteem, etc
  • provide contact details for follow-up questions
  • does not justify unethical/misleading treatments
  • if psychological/physical problems are revealed, researcher should alert pp to these, and refer them to an expert for treatment if necessary.
  • after debriefing, pps have right to withdraw their consent retrospectively, and to demand destruction of their data and any recordings.
25
Q

Ethical issues in internet research

A
  • internet surveys, but also “observation” studies e.g., of group dynamics
  • need to distinguish between internet chat rooms (public behaviour open to anyone to observe) and private email correspondence and instant messaging (personal data).
  • lack of interactivity poses special issues:
    1. difficult to ensure informed consent
    2. difficult to ensure adequate debriefing
    3. need to ensure confidentiality of participants
    4. widens access to participation in research