Ethical Issues in Psychology Flashcards
What does DDRIPPC stand for?
- Deception
- Debrief
- Right to withdraw
- Informed consent
- Protection from physical and psychological harm
- Privacy/Confidentiality
- Competence of researcher
Deception
Act of deliberately witholding information from or misleading Ps during a study
How can a Psychologist deal with the ethical issues presented by deceiving their Ps?
- Debrief - During this time, the researcher will reveal the true aims and intentions of the study and what the data will be used for
- Ps will then have the right to decide whether or not they want to withdraw their data
- Researcher would also have to ensure there is no psychological harm; if there is then they may have to reconsider the study
Why is deception necessary for some studies?
- Demand characteristics
- Ps may guess the aim and change their behaviour to suit the experiment, (act in an unnatural way) - Decreases the validity of the findings - Hence, deception
Debrief
Written or verbal explanation of the true nature of the study and what the data will be used for - *Vital, if deception has occured
Right to withdraw
A researcher must infrom Ps that they have the right to withdraw from the experiment at anytime - They also have the right to withdraw their data after the study is complete
Informed Constent
When a participant understands what they are going to do in the study and gives written agreement to participate
Sometimes, a researcher may be decieving a P in order to achieve a set of valid results, meaning a P wouldn’t be giving informed consent.
How are some ways to deal with the ethical issues presented from not giving informed consent
- Presumptive consent
- Prior general consent
- Retrospective consent
Presumptive consent
When a researcher asks people with a similar background to the P if they would participate in the study - If they say yes, then the researcher assumes the actual participants would also be willing to participate
Prior general consent
When Ps agree to being decieved but they don’t know whether or not they will be decieved or how they would be decieved
Retrospective consent
Asking Ps for consent after they have finished the study - If the P doesn’t give consent then they can withdraw their data
- However, if the P suffers from psychological harm, then not consenting after the study is done wouldn’t help them with their psychological harm
Protection from harm
- Researcher has an obligation to protect the Ps from both physical and psychological harm
- This is achieved, according to the PBS, by ensuring that the Ps are not undergoing any more physical or psychological harm than they would in their day-to-day lives
How do researchers deal with the ethical concerns caused by both physical and psychological harm?
- Researcher should provide councelling even after the experiment is over
- Cost-benefit analysis should be carried out by an ethics committee, whereby the pros and cons will be weighed up to determine whether or not the study is ethical
Although a cost-benefit analysis done by an ethics committee could be a good way to ensure studies are ethical and don’t cause physical or psychological harm, some studies have been deemed ethical by these committees and have gone on to cause harm.
Give an example.
Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment
Right of privacy
The right Ps have to controlling information about themselves, such as how much is released and how it is used
