ethical considerations Flashcards
1
Q
research is ethical when…
A
when it follows the ethical guidelines (consent, right
to withdraw, protection from harm, etc.)
Ethics relates to
people WITHIN a study –
i.e. the participants).
2
Q
research is unethical when….
A
when it doesnt follow the ethical guidelines
3
Q
when is it okay to break these guidelines
A
to collect findings which are more valid and useful
4
Q
studies that are unethical
A
- Milgram: psychological harm caused
to participants who believed they were
inflicting shocks, participants were
deceived about the purpose of the task
BUT were given a thorough debrief to
ensure they were not harmed - Yerkes: caused psychological harm to those who are unable to answer the tests given to them and become segregated into different groups due to their levels of intelligence
5
Q
studies that are ethical
A
- baron-cohen: gives informed consent
- loftus and palmer: used smokescreen
questions to disguise the aim of the
experiment but did protect participants
from harm by using staged car crashes
rather than real ones
6
Q
strengths of psychological research being ethical
A
- Psychologists are likely to get other
participants for future research if they believe they will be protected and treated in a respectful way - It avoids participants leaving the study in a
worse state than they started (protects their wellbeing) - Makes it possible to replicate the research
again to check the results are consistent (as permission would be given by university
ethics boards)
7
Q
weaknesses of psychological research being ethical
A
- If research has to be ethical, it can limit the type of research that can be carried out/how much we can learn about behaviour.
- It can lead to invalid results if participants
know the aims of the research and show
demand characteristics - Can lead to biased samples if participants are allowed to withdraw from research
