Issues & debates, ethics and practical issues (CP)

Question 1

what are the 6 ethical guidelines?

Answer 1

• right to withdraw
• informed concent
• debrief
• deception
• protection from harm
• confidentiality

Question 2

what are the 4 ethical principles?

Answer 2

• respect
• responsibility
• intergrity
• competence

Question 3

ethical issues in cognitive psychology (AO1)

what are the ethical issues in case studies?

Answer 3

• Allows ethical way to research individuals with brain damage that would not be possible replicate in a lab without inflicting harm
• Issues with informed consent and right to withdraw, especially in participants with short term memory issues. They will not be able to remember what they have consented to. Even if they have had their right to withdraw explained they may not be able to remember and therefore exercise it.

Question 4

ethical issues in cognitive psychology (AO1)

what are the ethical issues in lab experiments?

Answer 4

• Can see more ethical as participants can consent to memory tests and can be reminded of their right to withdraw
• Due to the controlled environment, it is easy to debrief participants after the study

Question 5

(AO3)

experiment with no ethical issues in cognitive psychology

Answer 5

Baddeley (1966b) - lab experiment

• the experiment conducted didn’t cause any psychological or physical harm
• didn;t deceive the participants
• informed consent as all participants were volunteers

Question 6

(AO3)

experiment with potential for ethical issues in cognitive psychology

Answer 6

Clive Wearing and HM - Case studies

• can’t give valid consent as they forget they have given it
• confidentiality of clive wearing’s name
• don’t have the right to withdraw as they would forget

But: Cognitive psychologists will get presumptive consent from people with a legal right to provide that consent in place of the patient, therefore, being able to conduct the research without breaking guidelines

Question 7

Practical issues

how do we see practical issues in lab studies? (e.g. Baddeley)

Answer 7

• high control over extraneous variables e.g. can control external noise which could distract participants during memory tasks, affecting performance
• However, it is an artificial task and not applicable to the real world, doesn’t accuratley represent how someone acts in a day-to-day life

Question 8

Practical issues

how do we see practical issues in case studies? (e.g. Clive Wearing and HM)

Answer 8

• hard to replicate as each individual is unique making it difficult to find others who have the same conditions
• not reliable as the individual would forget what they’re talking about but also friends and family may be biased and provide inaccurate information
• provides rich, indepth data about unique Individuals which can be highly useful but lack generalisability