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

1. BUT if the P is under 16, they cant legally give consent (although a parent can).
2. In naturalistic observation studies, consent is NOT obtained. The research is acceptable provided it is done in a public location where ppl would expect to be observed by others.
3. Even when informed consent is supposedly obtained, issues may be raised. Menges (1973) reviewed 1000 American studies & found that 97% had not given ppl all the 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 the study bc the P’s wouldn’t behave naturally if they knew what the aim was.

1. The BPS guidelines state that deception is ONLY ACCEPTABLE if there is strong scientific justification for the research & theres no alternative procedure available to obtain the data.
2. P’s could just be given general details - although if too little is said they may feel deceived (but if P’s know too much they may not behave naturally).
3. The 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

• The BPS guidelines say that the risk of harm to P’s should be no greater than they would face in their normal lives. It’s hard to accurately assess this.

1. Research procedures can involve physical & psychological discomfort (eg. Glass & Singer 1972, exposed P’s to noise to make them stressed, & P’s in Milgram’s research suffered extreme distress).
2. Some ppl 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 the state they were in before the research.
• Its especially important if deception has been used.

1. Researchers must fully explain what the 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 the P’s in a psychological study should be identifiable from any reports that are produced.

1. Data collected during research must be confidential - researchers 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, som groups or ppl might be easily identifiable from their characteristics - more so if the report says when & where the 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 a bit of deception. If P’s know exactly what’s being studied, their behaviour might change, & data obtained would be useless.
• Psychologists dont usually tell P’s every last detail, but they do try to 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

• Ppl argue 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, where young monkeys were 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

• Some disagree with the idea of conducting research w non-human animals. They may argue that it’s ethically wrong to inflict harm & suffering on animals, & obviously animals cant give consent to take part.
• Some argue that 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 apple to us.

Question 14

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

Answer 14

1. There may be researchers who dont follow the guidelines properly.
2. If a 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 a doctor who can be fired for misconduct).
3. Even when guidelines are 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 (how/cost of study) is not straightforward either. This creates another dilemma for psychologists.