All of the ethics Flashcards
Undue stress or harm
The most basic ethical standard is the protection from undue stress or harm.
It is important to make sure that no harm is done to participants.
It is not permitted to humiliate a participant or force them to reveal private information.
And it is important that there is nothing done to the participant that will have a permanent effect on their physical or psychological health.
Notice that psychologists use the term “undue” stress or harm.
Health psychologists study stress - so, how would we study stress if we cannot cause stress in a participant?
“Undue” stress is a higher level of stress than an individual may experience on a day-to-day basis.
Asking participants to solve a frustrating puzzle before being asked to memorizing a list of words is not an example of “undue” stress or harm.
Informed consent
Psychologists must obtain informed consent from participants before the research begins.
Participants must be told about the nature of the study and agree to participate.
They must also be told what rights they have, including the right to withdraw from the study at any time.
Informed consent also means that the participant must understand what the research is about and any potential issues that may arise.
In biological research, this is often complicated as many people do not really understand genetic or biochemical terminology.
In addition, people with mental or physical illness may not be able to really understand the implications of agreeing to take part in a study.
In this case, it is often guardians that give consent for their family member. In the case of children, parents must give consent.
Deception
From the point of view of the psychologist, informed consent can be problematic.
If the psychologist tells you what she is studying, this may influence your behaviour.
In order to prevent this, researchers may use deception.
Deception can either be misinformation or it may be not telling the participant the complete goal of the study.
Deception should generally not be used; however, slight deception, which does not cause any stress to the participant, may be used in some cases.
However, before deception may be used, the psychologist proposing the study must justify why it is necessary and an ethics board should approve the study.
Right to withdraw
A participant has the right to withdraw from a study at any time.
If they wish to withdraw from the study, they should feel no pressure or coercion from the psychologist to remain and their data must be withdrawn from the study.
Debrief
At the end of the study, all participants must be debriefed.
In a debriefing, the true aims and purpose of the research must be revealed to the participants.
Any deception must be justified.
All participants should leave the study in the same physical and psychological state in which they arrived.
They also should be guaranteed that all information that is obtained in the study will be anonymized - that is, their identities will not be revealed in the publication of the study or any other use of the data thereafter.
