3.6 issues and debates Flashcards
i&d What are the ethical issues in biological psychology
like learning theories, biological psychology also uses animals in research and this creates ethical issues as they could be exposed to unnecessary physical or psychological harm = lead to speciesism
eg Straiker et al 2012 looked at the effects of cannabis and found an affect in the hippocampus of mice
eg Andy and Velamati 1978 stimulated the hypothalamus in cats which resulted in aggressive seizures
eg downer 1961 Remove one amygdala in monkeys to find that they make the light is involved in aggressive responses to perceived threats
in the biological practical there was good ethics as confidentiality was addressed, informed consent was given And participants were debriefed are none of the investigation asked anything socially sensitive
i&d what ethical issues are there in the biological classic study raine et al 1997
each participant did give prior consent and did agree to have the pet scan because it would help their court case and if the NGRI’s or schizophrenic controls were not competent to consent then presumptive consent was given by the lawyer or carer
Pet imaging is an invasive procedure because the participants have to be injected with a radioactive tracer. It’s not serious or dangerous procedure, but any unnecessary medical procedure increases the risk of research
conclusions may be misinterpreted and this will go against social responsibility of ethical research. E.g. it seems to suggest that some people are driven to kill by their brain structure and that their violence is out of control. It invites us to screen people e.g. potential partners to check that they don’t have a murderers brain, which is a huge misinterpretation. However raine and his colleagues didn’t make it clear that they are not drawing those conclusions themselves
