Ethical Issues In Psychology

Question 1

What are the 3 different ways of looking at ethical issues

Answer 1

• first involves ethical issues as a practicing psychologist, such as how to re balance any power that a therapist has so that treatment is fair and focused
• second involves ethics of doing psychology, such as in research when participants must be protected and respected

Question 2

Social psych arguments

Answer 2

• the implications of findings in prejudice and obedience involve ethics, including thinking of how psychology is used in society and by others
• the ethics of doing research is explored when considering work on obedience such as milgrams work which was widely criticised but had ethical strengths
• the BPS 2009 code of ethics lays down 4 ethical principles and they also consider ethical issues around risk management

Question 3

Cognitive psych arguments

Answer 3

• field experiments: people on the streets can become participants with specific ethical issues around using them
• lab experiments: people are being taken out of their environment and put into a strange situation which can be stressful
• case studies of people with damage to their brains, for example the stress involved for participants and issues such as privacy
• consequences of findings of studies: such as knowing more about working working memory helping those with dementia, working with vulnerable people, carrying out ethical implications

Question 4

Learning theories arguments

Answer 4

• Using animals in lab experiments - there are special ethical principles with regards to sing animals
• ethical issues were considered in the Watson and Rayners study, where a young child was conditioned to fear a rat
• there are ethical issues in research such as classical conditioning experiments that involve phobias and might be stressful
• operant conditioning studies can lead to a learned behaviour that changes someone or an animal