ethics Flashcards
describe the Tuskegee syphilis study
- when
- what happened
- what ethical guidleline was passed as a consequence
1932-72
aim: to investigate the progression of syphilis
400 AA men found to be infected but weren’t told or offered treatment
28 died of syphilis
100 died of related complications
40 infected their wives
19 children born with congenital syphilis
1974 National Research Act passed by US Congress
describe the Nazi ‘medical’ experiments
- what happened
- which ethical guidelines emerged from them
Josef Mengele performed often fatal procedures on over 1500 pairs of twin children in Nazi concentration camp
other investigations into effects of hypothermia, mass sterilisation, mustard gas etc.
1949 Nuremberg Code which specified ethical principles for research on humans (note, not animals)
describe Milgram’s ‘obedience’ study
- when
- what happened
- why performed
- what the effect was on ethics
1963
ppts asked to administer ‘shocks’, which they believed to be real, of increasing severity to another ‘ppt’ but was actually an actor
Milgram himself said that some ppts even had ‘uncontrollable seizures’
conducted to investigate Nazi’s claims at Nuremberg trials that they were ‘only following orders’ - agentic state
stimulated debate on ethical standards of research and what couldn’t be done to humans (couldn’t be fully replicated today due to guidelines in place)
describe Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Study
- when
- what happened
- what happened when replicated
1971
random division of students into guards and prisoners and zimbardo played role of chief warden over head experimenter (e.g when ‘prisoner’ asked to leave, he acted as a warden and insisted he stayed)
study terminated early due to mistreatment of ppts but cleared by APA investigation in 1973
partially replicated in 2002 for the BBC but ethics panel external of BBC brought in to oversee the programme
what are the 2 key studies in psychology known for poor ethics?
stanford prison experiment
milgram’s obedience study
what are the 5 APA principles?
A. beneficence and non-maleficence - do no harm to humans or animals in research
B. fidelity and responsibility - establish trust and aware of professional and scientific responsibilties
C. integrity - being honest
D. justice - fairness in studies and all to beneift from psychology equally
E. respect for people’s rights and dignitiy - rights to confidentiality, privacy and self-determination
what are the 4 ethical principles of the BPS?
- respect - of rights e.g privacy
- competence
- responsibility
- integrity
remember as CRRI
what is in place when working with animals and those vulnerable e.g children and the elderly
specific standards and procedures
how much risk should ppts be abe to be exposed to in research?
no greater risk than they would normally encounter in their day-to-day lives
who is the best judge of whether a study will cause offence?
members of the population from which the sample will be drawn
what should informed consent include?
unambiguous freely given specific informed 'explicit' for special categories no 'opt-out' only 'opt-in'
definition of deception?
withholding information or misleading participants
in what situation is deception acceptable?
when it is justified as essential and proportional to the needs of the study
- alternative prcedures not available
- ppts given sufficient info at the start
what should ppts be given if they are deceived?
debrief which is sufficient to eliminate all possibilty of harmful after-effects
researchers contact info
what should a debrief minimally include?
written statement of the purpose of teh research (essential if deception was used)
include contact info of primary investigator
ask ppts if tehy have any questions about the researchand whether they’d like the contact of the investigator
