ethics, biology and psychology Flashcards
(17 cards)
What are the main objectives of ethical standards in biological psychology?
To ensure responsible research with humans and animals, address current and future ethical issues, and apply guidelines appropriately.
When did systematic animal research begin?
During the Renaissance, around 1400–1600 AD.
What was the significance of the Cruelty to Animals Act (1876)?
It was the first formal introduction of ethical guidelines for animal research.
Name some key UK ethical guidelines and organizations for animal research.
Code of Research Conduct and Research Ethics, UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO), Concordat to Support Research Integrity, Wellcome Trust, UKRI.
Under what condition is animal use in research considered ethical?
Only when no other reasonable option exists and the research benefits, such as in medicine, outweigh the ethical costs.
What are key ethical principles for using animals in research?
Minimize number, use anesthesia for pain, ensure humane euthanasia, reduce stress and discomfort.
List some animals commonly used in biological research.
Mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, fish, dogs, cats, pigs, ferrets, horses.
What are some historical benefits of animal research?
Medical advances (e.g., AIDS, polio, COVID-19), understanding nervous system, learning and memory, brain-behavior interactions, developmental theories.
What are some historical unethical practices in human research?
Experimentation on poor people, slaves, blind individuals, mentally ill, and prisoners without consent.
What modern guidelines protect human research participants?
Declaration of Helsinki, UKRIO Code of Practice, UK GDPR.
What are the ethical principles for human participant research?
Informed consent, minimal harm, anesthesia if pain is involved, benefit must outweigh risk.
Why is ethical oversight continually evolving in biological research?
To address new challenges like long-term effects of early interventions and maintain public trust.
What was unethical about the Neubauer Twin Experiment?
Twins were separated and studied without informed consent; results were sealed for decades.
How is 19th-century gynaecology linked to unethical research?
Many practices were developed through experiments on enslaved women without consent.
What happened in the Los Alamos Plutonium Experiments?
18 individuals were unknowingly injected with plutonium between 1945–1947.
What was unethical about the Tuskegee Syphilis Study?
Participants were misled and denied treatment; led to major ethical reforms in the US.
Why are HeLa cells considered ethically controversial?
Henrietta Lacks’ cells were taken and used in research without her knowledge or consent.
