Exam Numero Uno Flashcards
Nuremberg Code
a set of research ethics principles for human experimentation set as a result of the subsequent Nuremberg trials at the end of the Second World War. - consent necessary
Declaration of Helsinki
The World Medical Association’s international ethical guidelines for medical professionals researching human subjects
What are the issues addressed in the declaration of Helsinki?
Research proposals must be reviewed by independent committee
- informed consent is necessary
- risks should not outweigh benefits
Tuskagee Syphilis Study
Another origin of research participant protection.
In 1977, president of the U.S. admitted wrong doing and formally apologized to participant-victims. From 1929 to the 70s, U.S. Public Health Service sponsored a study in which poor, uneducated African-American men in Alabama suffered and died of untreated syphilis while researchers studied the severe phys disabilities that appear in advanced stages of the disease. Even when penicillin to treat the disease was available, the study began long after its availability.
National Research Act
A set of regulations for the protection of human participants in research, mandated by Congress in 1974.
Belmont Report Principles
- Respect for persons
- Beneficence
- Justice
What does respect for persons mean?
individuals should be treated as autonomous agents, they should give their full informed consent
What does beneficence mean?
Do good, welfare of others is the primary concern, risks vs benefits must be outweighed
what does justice mean?
the benefits and risks must be distributed fairly
Tri-Council Policy Statement
In Canada, the official statement of ethical conduct for research involving humans; researchers and institutions are expected to adhere to this document to receive federal research funds.
Tri-Council agencies
- natural sciences and engineering research council of canada
- social sciences and humanities research council of canada
- canadian institutes of health research
Research Ethics Board (REB)
Research oversight group that evaluates research to protect the rights of participants in the study
Respect for human dignity
Includes the right to self-determination and the right to full disclosure
- the fundamental principle behind modern research
respect for free and informed consent
Respecting the exercise of individual consent
Freedom to withdraw
experimenters’ ethical obligation to allow their subjects to discontinue participation in the research project
Removal of harmful consequences
if a participant could suffer long term consequences as a result of serving in an experiment the investigator has the responsibility to remove those consequences
respect for justice and inclusiveness
the benefits and burdens of research should be distributed fairly across individuals and groups in society
Respect for Confidentiality
what a subject does in an experiment should be confidential unless otherwise agreed
balancing harms and benefits
Foreseeable harms should not outweigh anticipated benefits
minimizing harm
The duty to avoid, prevent, or minimize harm to others; subjects must not be subjected to unnecessary risks of harm
maximizing benefit
a duty to benefit others and to maximize net benefits; human research is intended to produce benefits for subjects themselves, for other individuals or society as a whole, or for the advancement of knowledge
informed consent
an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate
what is the problem with informed consent?
From a researchers point of view the problem with asking for informed consent is that it may spoil the research.
Reactivity
the problem of a participant changing behaviour as a result of being measured, observed, or studied, invalidating the results of a study
partial disclosure
actively misleading/withholding information from participant
When is partial disclosure accepted according to the Tri-council?
- the risk to subject is minimal
- does not affect rights and welfare of the participant
- alternative methods have been ruled out
- participants are provided with full disclosure after participation
Problems with partial disclosure?
once participants have been misled they may react differently in subsequent experiments, the participants may feel duped and consequently experience a loss of self esteem or develop negative feeligns about research
Debriefing
the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants
reasons for debriefing
to inform the participants about the nature of any misleading that has occured during the experiment
- to provide an additional safeguard against unintended effects of the research
- provides an opportunity to answer any of the participants questions
What is a measure?
devices or procedures that researchers use to gauge the dependant variable
Example: IQ/Personality tests, weight scales, raters (like observers documenting the number of aggressive events that occur)
What are the two characteristics of a measure?
Reliability and validity
IMPORTANT: every measure is made up of a true score and measurement error
What is Reliability?
The consistency of your measure; will your measure produce similar results when repeated measurements are taken under ideal circumstances?
Has 2 components: The true score, and measurement error
What are the 3 types of reliability?
Test-retest
Split-half
Inter-rater reliability
Explain the 2 components of reliability
The true score: The real score on the variable
Measurement error: the difference between the measured value of a variable and the true value
What is test-retest reliability?
The extent to which the test yields consistent results over time
-participants are given the same test at two different points in time to see whether the results are the same across both administrations
-similar scores across the two administrations demonstrate reliability (consistency in the measuring device)
What are some problems with test-retest reliability?
-Subjects may remember how they responded on the first administration and respond accordingly on the second making the measure appear reliable
-The person may “change” between the two administrations making the measure appear unreliable
example: mood questionnaire, persons mood changes between the two tests making it appear unreliable
What is split-half reliability?
-total score of one half of the test is correlated with the total score on the other half of the test (two forms of the same test)
-if the test is reliable then the performance on one half of the test will be related to performance on the other half of the test
-the two halves of the test are administered at the same time so the variable being measures has no time to change
What is the problem with split-half reliability?
The two forms are not equivalent
What is inter-rater reliability?
The consistency across raters (observers, researchers, etc.)
-good inter-rater reliability is when two raters get the same measurement of the same variable
-if two raters are using the same operational definition, they should get the same results
What could be a problem with inter-rater reliability?
The two raters using different operational definitions and therefore collecting different results/data
Define: psychology
the scientific study of behaviour and cognitive processes
what are the key elements in the definition of psychology?
- scientific study
- systematic
- objective
- behaviour
- cognitive processes
why is psychology a scientific study?
involves systematic and objective methods of observation.
what is it meant that psychology is systematic?
it is carried out by using step by step procedures
why is psychology objective?
it is uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices
what does it mean that psychology studies behaviour?
behaviour is any action that can be observed, measured, or recorded
what does it mean that psychology studies cognitive processes?
mental activities that are associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering.
–> cannot be directly observed, but their existence can be inferred from observable behaviour
what are the two things that influence behaviour?
authority and intuition.
How is authority a way of understanding behaviour?
accepting unquestionably what someone else tells you
why is authority a limited way to understand behaviour?
- does not always provide valid answers
- the source may not be authoritative
- the source may be bias
how do we use intuition as a way to understand behaviour?
accepting as true our own judgements about behaviour and the world.
what are the different limitations that intuition has on understanding behaviour?
- confirmation bias
- fundamental attribution error
- availability heuristic
- hindsight bias
- mood effects
define: confirmation bias
a tendency to notice and remember information consistent with our views and ignore information to counter our views.
define: fundamental attribution error
when interpreting another’s behaviour we tend to overestimate internal factors and underestimate situational factors