Ethics

Question 1

What do ethics in psychology cover?

Answer 1

Psychological competence and types of therapy and assessment advocating for responsible conduct research (RCR)

Question 2

What do UNESCO guidelines cover?

Answer 2

They cover social scientists in regards to confidentiality, responsibility and care

Question 3

What is different about health workers?

Answer 3

They have their own set of guidelines but joined the HCPC in July 2009

Question 4

What does the BPS stand for?

Answer 4

The British Psychology Society

Question 5

What is the BPS?

Answer 5

They are compulsory, the Code of Ethics and Conduct founders in 2009 which cover psychological research and conduct

Question 6

What are the four main principles?

Answer 6

Respect, Competence, Integrity and Responsibility

Question 7

What is Respect?

Answer 7

Willingness to explain any study’s ethics,
Respecting individual differences (avoiding unfair practises/prejudice and prospecting opinions),

Privacy and confidentiality(including: data not shared not naming participants),
Informed consent,
Giving the right to withdraw with it being understood by the participant

Question 8

What is Competence?

Answer 8

Being aware of ethics/ethical issues around a subject,
Watching out for impaired performances,

Keeping up-to-date with knowledge in their field

Question 9

What is Responsibility?

Answer 9

Doing no harm,
Avoiding participant distress,

Health awareness throughout the study,
No compensation,
Right to withdraw,
Animals well treated,
Debriefed after the study

Question 10

What is Integrity?

Answer 10

Honesty and accuracy between dealings,
Clear personal boundaries between clients and participants,

Acting on misconduct ~ deception on researchers’ behalf may be necessary dependent on the study

Question 11

Why is it hard to evaluate a study based on these 4 main principles?

Answer 11

Though they underpin all psychological research and practises, it’s hard to evaluate a study on accuracy, reliability and ethical conduct based on them

Question 12

What are the five guidelines you should follow for evaluating studies?

Answer 12

Informed Consent,
Avoiding Deception,

Giving the Right to Withdraw,
Debriefing Participants,
Being Competent

Question 13

Define the requirement of ‘informed consent’

Answer 13

You can observe in public without gaining consent unless you involve a specific individual. For children, parents give informed consent as children aren’t able to make an informed choice and the same with students. Milgram gained presumptive consent (gave those not involved a choice whether they would get involved in the study and gained other psychologist’s opinions) as getting informed consent may have negatively affected the results. This isn’t as difficult for questionnaires/surveys/ interviews as participants may guess the study and if getting consent isn’t possible, debriefing them afterwards makes it more ethical.

Question 14

Define the requirement of ‘avoiding deception’

Answer 14

This may be necessary sometimes as it disguises the real aim, but unnecessary in questionnaires/interviews as sometimes the many questions disguise the real one. Deception needs an actual lie e but could also be when informed consent isn’t given, when participants aren’t told what results to expect or how they are used, or disguising the role of other participants.

Question 15

Define the requirement of ‘giving the right to withdraw’

Answer 15

this should be given at any point of the experiment, but may affect the results dependent on the study (i.e. obedience). Milgram didn’t explicitly give this right. Children and vulnerable people should be reminded of this right, as they may not feel as if they can.

Question 16

Define the requirement of ‘debriefing participants’

Answer 16

This should occur at the start and include obtaining informed consent. It should also include the study, the results (expected/obtained) but is unnecessary unless you’re looking at specific individuals.

Question 17

Define the requirement of ‘being competent’

Answer 17

This included knowing about the study implication, ethical guidelines, advice in unconfident areas and being suitably qualified, safe practice (adherence to the Data Protection Act)in knowing how/where to store data. It is hard to assess competence without the study’s results.

Question 18

What is risk management?

Answer 18

The decision whether to carry out a study based on intangible risk (unknown consequences)

Question 19

How do we determine risk?

Answer 19

Take the highest threat and minus it from the lowest threat, to find the probability of the threat occuring

Question 20

What is the process of risk management about?

Answer 20

To identify the situation and the risk, and then follow the risk throughout the study’s procedure: setting out how the risk is going to occur, ideas thought about how to manage said risk and the analysis of the risk. Further knowledge is sought before the final assessment takes place.

Question 21

What are the three solutions to managing risk?

Answer 21

Avoiding it completely, reducing the risk as far as possible, and transferring it

Question 22

What does ‘transferring risk’ as one of the solutions of managing risk mean?

Answer 22

using insurance against it or accepting and budgeting for it → in psychology, mitigation or avoidance are ideal solutions or else budgeting for it

Question 23

How do BPS prevent risk to practising psychologists and their patients?

Answer 23

Getting a supervisor to oversee any therapy and referring if needed

Question 24

What is an example of BPS protecting their psychologists and their patients?

Answer 24

Forensic psychologists, for example, are special cases dealing with offender behaviour and so are balancing a thin, threatening line of balancing the risk to the public if the individual’s behaviour becomes threatening.

Question 25

Why are child participants different?

Answer 25

They need special consideration, as they need to be safeguarded. They need to make sure to tell them that confidentiality only goes up to a certain limit.

Question 26

What are the rights of children?

Answer 26

Participate in a study or discussion about them but also the right to be protected

Question 27

What does the Latrine Code of Human Research say?

Answer 27

in a study, risk of harm to a participant must be no greater than that they experience in their normal, everyday life

Question 28

What is risk defined as?

Answer 28

Potential harm (physical or psychological) including discomfort and stress, beliefs, social status, privacy and relationships → therefore it is important to address risks and have protocols in place to do this.

Question 29

What are the things that may have more than a minimal amount of risk?

Answer 29

Vulnerable participants → children under 18 and some adults lacking capacity or in unequal relationships),
Sensitive topics e.g. sexuality, violent experiences, gender or ethnicity),

Deception if it is significant enough,
Records → when they are accessed e.g. getting genetic or private information,
Sensitive data e.g. employee records,
Harm → more than the minimum amount of pain, causing harm or distress,
Experiences e.g. hypnosis or invasive techniques, physical education,
Labelling → anything that leads to the participant labelling themselves e.g. bad memory or am stupid,
Samples → involving the collection of biological data e.g. blood

Question 30

What does the BPS Code of Human Research Ethics insist a research do?

Answer 30

Go to an ethics committee in order to explain the protocols for risk management and its cost-benefit analysis.

Question 31

What do the ethics in regards to animals involve?

Answer 31

The number of animals used, caging, use of anaesthetics and the use of endangered animals. A Home Office Licence is also required as well as special rules as these ethics don’t follow human guidelines.

Question 32

What are the three ways of looking at ethical issues?

Answer 32

As a practical psychologist: rebalancement of power so all treatment is focused on the client;
Ethics of ‘doing’ psychologists e.g. protecting and respecting psychologists;

Ethics of results Usage/ application e.g. bad or good → can link with issues and debates of social control e.g. related to sensitive social research

Question 33

What are the ethical issues within social psychology? (3)

Answer 33

Implication of findings of prejudice/ obedience have ethics including psychology in society;
Ethic of doing research → participants in Milgram 1963;

BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct (2009) and the four ethical points

Question 34

What are the ethical issues within biological psychology?(4)

Answer 34

Special animal procedure e.g. Animal Scientific Procedures 1986;
Aggression studies and findings involve moral issues (blame and punishment);

Raine et al. (1997) → non-murderers and murderers brain scans;
Participants treated ethically

Question 35

What are the ethical issues within learning theories?(4)

Answer 35

Animals in laboratory experiments;
Watson and Rayner (1920) Little Albert Study;

In research e.g. classical conditioning experiment involving phobias;
Operant conditioning studies such as learned behaviour that can change someone/animal

Question 36

What are the ethical issues within cognitive psychology? (4)

Answer 36

Field Experiments → ethical issues of public space usage;
Lab Experiments → participants within a strange situation and the stress experienced;

Case Studies of brain damage → confidentiality, privacy and stress of the participants;
Consequences of the findings → memory knowledge help dementia patients

Question 37

What were the ethical issues for participants within Milgram’s study?

Answer 37

Basic study distress (one had seizures) violating responsibility principles (do not harm and participants shouldn’t experience distress);

Theory to withdraw, made harder as they’re prodded to continue;

Lack of Informed Consent → thinks real shocks, memory experiments, lots were not rigged (deception);

Ethical in his debrief (principle of competence) → prove no arm, left in reasonable frame of mind, observation through mirror and own competency assessment through colleagues;

Meeus and Radijmaker’s study was similar to Milgram’s in terms of stress, theory of right to withdraw;

Milgram (1974) had to carry out these studies for society to know about obedience (take steps against destructive obedience). It is useful to note, as well, that the Netherlands (Meeus and Raaijmaker) and the USA (Milgram) have similar obedience levels as it suggests that Westernised countries have similar obedience levels→ Ideas of resistance are also useful to note when it may be important e.g. for orders against the values of society.