APA Ethics Code Standards 7 & 8 Flashcards
Dr. Barry Bull advertised his two-hour workshop for licensed psychologists as a “hands-on experience administering and scoring neuropsychological tests.” However, during the workshop, he only shows videos that demonstrate how to administer and score the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and three other frequently used neuropsychological tests. In terms of ethical requirements, Dr. Bull has acted:
A. unethically because he violated test security.
B. unethically because his advertisement did not accurately describe his workshop.
C. ethically as long as he had determined the videos were the most effective way to train participants in the use of the tests.
D. ethically as long as he refunded the course fee to dissatisfied participants.
Answer B is correct. Dr. Bull’s advertisement for his workshop violated Standard 7.02 of the APA Ethics Code because it inaccurately described his workshop as providing a “hands-on experience.” Showing videos on test administration and scoring to licensed psychologists is not a violation of test security and giving refunds to dissatisfied participants would not compensate for providing inaccurate information about the workshop’s content.
A graduate student’s dissertation research extends an aspect of his advisor’s ongoing longitudinal research on treatments for PTSD. When the student submits an article describing the results of his study to a journal, he lists his advisor as second author. With regard to ethical requirements, this is:
A. unacceptable since the advisor should have been listed as the first author because the student’s dissertation research extended an aspect of the advisor’s ongoing research.
B. unacceptable since only the student should be listed as an author on an article that describes his dissertation research.
C. acceptable since the student’s research was based on his advisor’s ongoing research.
D. acceptable as long as the listing of the advisor as second author reflects her actual contribution to the student’s research.
Answer D is correct. This answer is most consistent with the requirements of Standard 8.12, which requires (a) publication credit to be based on each person’s contribution rather than on his/her status and (b) students to be listed as principal author on multiple-authored articles that are substantially based on their doctoral dissertations.
Which of the following best describes ethical requirements for the use of deception in research?
A. Deception may be acceptable when alternative nondeceptive procedures are unavailable.
B. Deception may be acceptable as long as subjects can participate in the study anonymously.
C. Deception is acceptable as long as subjects are told about the general nature of the study during the informed consent process.
D. The use of deception is always unacceptable.
Answer A is correct. Ethical guidelines require that deception be used in research only when several criteria have been met. Of the answers given, this is the only one that accurately describes one of those criteria – i.e., deception may be acceptable when alternative nondeceptive methods for conducting the study are unavailable.
For articles published in APA journals, psychologists must retain their data for:
A. at least 3 years following the date of publication.
B. at least 5 years following the date of publication.
C. at least 10 years following the date of publication.
D. indefinitely.
Answer B is correct. Current submission guidelines for APA journals state that “APA expects authors to have their data available throughout the editorial review process and for at least 5 years after the date of publication.” (Note that data retention requirements vary for other journals and for different state laws, federal regulations, funding sources, and institutional policies.)
You receive a request from a licensed psychologist to provide her with the data you collected for your recently published article for the purpose of reanalyzing the data to verify the conclusions you reached based on that data. To be consistent with ethical requirements, you should:
A. not provide the psychologist with the data.
B. provide the psychologist with only a summary of your data analysis.
C. provide the psychologist with the data since she is licensed.
D. provide the psychologist with the data as long as the confidentiality of research participants is protected.
Answer D is correct. This answer is most consistent with Standard 8.14 of the APA Ethics Code, which requires psychologists to share research data with other professionals for the purpose of verifying the claims they made on the basis of that data as long as the confidentiality of participants can be protected. While Standard 8.14 requires psychologists to provide data only to “competent professionals,” it does not state that the professionals must be licensed psychologists.
Simultaneous submission of a manuscript for publication to different journals is:
A. standard practice.
B. acceptable only when the article is compatible with the purposes of those journals.
C. acceptable only if the journals have different purposes and readers.
D. unacceptable.
Answer D is correct. Simultaneous submission of a manuscript to more than one journal is unacceptable for several reasons – e.g., when more than one journal reviews and edits the article, this is a waste of academic and scientific resources; if the manuscript is published by more than one journal, this can lead to a copyright dispute. Note that this prohibition does not apply to pre-publication inquiries.
Which of the following best describes ethical requirements regarding sexual relationships with students and supervisees?
A. Psychologists are prohibited from becoming sexually involved with students or supervisees under any circumstances.
B. Psychologists are prohibited from becoming sexually involved with current (but not former) students or supervisees.
C. Psychologists are prohibited from becoming sexually involved with students and supervisees over whom they have or are likely to have evaluative authority.
D. Psychologists are prohibited from becoming sexually involved with students and supervisees except in the “most unusual circumstances.”
Answer C is correct. This answer is most consistent with Standard 7.07, which states that “psychologists do not engage in sexual relationships with students or supervisees who are in their department, agency, or training center or over whom psychologists have or are likely to have evaluative authority.” Answer B is not the best answer because it’s not possible to conclude that psychologists will not have evaluative authority over a former student or supervisee in the future.
To ensure that she obtains a sufficient number of subjects for her doctoral dissertation research, a graduate student plans to offer some type of inducement to volunteers. With regard to ethical requirements, this is:
A. clearly unacceptable.
B. acceptable only when alternative procedures for obtaining volunteers are unavailable.
C. acceptable as long as the study is not likely to cause subjects physical pain or psychological stress.
D. acceptable as long as the inducement is not coercive because of its value or desirability to potential volunteers.
Answer D is correct. This answer is most consistent with Standard 8.06, which states that “psychologists make reasonable efforts to avoid offering excessive or inappropriate financial or other inducements for research participation when such inducements are likely to coerce participation.”
You will be teaching your first introductory psychology class next semester and are considering requiring students to participate in one research study as a course requirement. This is acceptable as long as students:
A. are not required to participate in a study that you’re conducting.
B. are given the option to complete an alternative assignment instead of participating in a research study.
C. are not required to participate in studies that will subject them to physical pain or psychological stress.
D. are made aware of this requirement before they sign-up for your class.
Answer B is correct. Standard 8.04 applies to this situation. It states that, “when research participation is a course requirement or an opportunity for extra credit, the prospective participant is given the choice of equitable alternative activities.”
At the request of the editor of a professional journal, a psychologist is reviewing a research paper that has been submitted to the journal for publication. The psychologist is impressed with the research and wants to apply some of the unique ideas presented in the paper to the research he is currently conducting. In this situation, the psychologist (reviewer):
A. can use the ideas in his own research since the article has not been published.
B. can use the ideas in his own research only if he gives credit to the paper’s authors when his own research is published.
C. cannot use the ideas in his own research unless he obtains permission from the paper’s authors to do so.
D. cannot use the ideas in his own research unless he obtains permission from the journal’s editor to do so.
Answer C is correct. Standard 8.15 of the APA Ethics Code requires reviewers to respect the proprietary rights of the authors of the documents they review. This means that reviewers must not make personal or professional use of proprietary and unique ideas, techniques, and information presented in the document without getting permission from the authors. Note that reviewers are often not given the names of document authors and, therefore, cannot contact them directly. In this situation, reviewers should ask the journal editor to contact the authors about their willingness to interact with them.
