Lecture 8 - Ethics

Question 1

What is the CPA Code of Ethics?

Answer 1

-Principle I: Respect for the Dignity of Persons and Peoples.
-Principle II: Responsible Caring.
-Principle III: Integrity in Relationships.
-Principle IV: Responsibility to Society

Question 2

What are the ethical norms and principles related to psychological assessments?

Answer 2

1. Act in accordance with scientific principles generally recognized in Psychology.
2. Informed and Voluntary Consent.
3. Confidentiality.
4. Cautious Interpretation.
5. Rules Regarding Record Keeping.
6. Others.

Question 3

What are the 3 components of the first norm/principle?

Answer 3

1. Practice according to generally recognized scientific principles, be rigorous and objective
2. Be aware of their own limits, avoid false representations, and maintain knowledge and skills up to date
3. Comply with scientific and professional principles generally accepted in psychology when using, administering, correcting, and interpreting psychological tests

Question 4

What ethical guidelines should psychologists follow to ensure their practice is rigorous, objective, and based on scientific principles?

Answer 4

-provide advice or diagnoses only with sufficient scientific and professional information.
-use validated assessment tools for the target population and recognize their limits.
-avoid making public sensational or exaggerated claims.
-refuse to participate in actions or research violating human/moral rights (e.g., discrimination) and ensure psychological knowledge is not misused.
-conduct cost-benefit analyses, aiming to maximize benefits, limit discomforts, and address adverse effects.

Question 5

What ethical responsibilities do psychologists have to ensure they are aware of their own limits and maintain professional competence?

Answer 5

-recognize the limits of interpretations and conclusions.
-engage in ongoing training to develop, perfect, and maintain knowledge and skills.
-practice self-knowledge and neutrality.
-consult others when needed.
-protect test accessibility by limiting access and providing realistic information about test uses and limitations.

Question 6

How should free and informed consent be obtained from clients?

Answer 6

-provide the client (and the person in charge) with the information necessary to understand the services offered and their possible implications – By all possible means.
-expose to the client the limits and rules of confidentiality.

Question 7

How should consent be obtained in research or testing situations?

Answer 7

-obtain the written consent of the participants as well as of all the individuals involved (inform them).
-make sure there is no coercion (true or felt).
-respect the right to withdraw from a project.

Question 8

What is more important than consent? And what is the legal age of consent in Canada?

Answer 8

-EMERGENCY SITUATIONS & DISCLOSURE. Don’t forget that laws come above ethics: Duty to provide assistance
-AGE (14-18).

Question 9

What the only exceptions to professional secrecy (confidentiality)?

Answer 9

-written authorization from the client.
-the law requires it (limit the information that is communicated).
-extension to others (e.g., supervision).

Question 10

What are the 2 types of confidentiality?

Answer 10

-divided (individual) and shared (say it openly) for interventions with groups or couples.

Question 11

What are 3 reasonable reasons why you would not provide the client with a written/verbal report if requested?

Answer 11

-selection.
-methodological risk for a test.
-prejudice.

Question 12

Which emergency situations would allow confidentiality to be broken?

Answer 12

-impending Violence or Abuse (short term).
-impending Suicide.
-only to the persons concerned, and only the relevant information.

Question 13

How should cautious interpretation of assessment material be done?

Answer 13

-carefully interpret psychological material, based on scientific knowledge and all available information.
-rely on sufficient information (objectives, test characteristics and properties, skills and other characteristics of the person being evaluated, context, etc.).

Question 14

How should information be provided [to maintain cautious interpretation]?

Answer 14

-do not hand over raw data, only provide interpretations of the raw data.
-in a report, stick to first-level interpretations of the data and to your conclusions and recommendations.
-avoid any possibility of misinterpretation, explain the results.

Question 15

What are the OPQ rules for record keeping and consulting-rooms security?

Answer 15

-Article 2: Computer storage: security and confidentiality.
-Article 7: Secure access, lock.
-Article 8: Records should be kept at least 5 years.
-Article 9: Records should be destroyed in a way that ensures confidentiality.

Question 16

What are the OPQ rules for record keeping and consulting-rooms in terms of raw data?

Answer 16

-article 5. … a psychologist shall avoid adding to a file any unprocessed data or any unverified information that could harm the client.

Question 17

What are the other ethical guidelines in psychology (norm/principle 6)?

Answer 17

-psychologists must not perform unwarranted or unnecessary professional acts. Actions must not be inappropriate or disproportionate to the client’s needs.
-collect only information relevant to the purpose for which consent was obtained
-avoid compromising the validity of tests by revealing protocols to unqualified individuals.
-inform the Order if a colleague acts incompetently or unethically.
-do not use or promote: obsolete tests or outdated results; inadequate scoring or interpretation services.; assessments conducted by unqualified personnel

Question 18

What are some things to keep in mind about tests?

Answer 18

-cannot predict the future.
-tend to promote the culture they were developed in
-the more similarities between the test taker and the normative group, the more valid the conclusions will be. And vice versa …
-in a maximal performance test, when the test taker differs from the normative group in terms of culture, it is unacceptable to interpret the results as indicators of learning ability, potential, aptitude, or intelligence.

Question 19

What are some things to keep in mind about tests [more specifically about results]?

Answer 19

-it is essential to consider and explain scores as rankings in an interval and not as specific point estimates.
-there is a huge difference between saying: “This is your test result and how you compare to others in this activity“ & “This is what you are capable of. This represents your abilities “.
-test scores don’t = success an individual can achieve. They are a measure of an individual’s responses to a set of stimuli, at a given time and in a particular situation.
-a clear distinction must be made between the elements that determine the performance on a test and the elements that determine performance in real life

Question 20

What are the rights and responsibilities of test takers?

Answer 20

1- Each test taker must have access to the same information.
2- This information must be as complete as possible (test, process, use, correction, confidentiality).
3- Free and informed consent.
4- Confidentiality.
5- Cheating and concealment are unacceptable.
6- Categorization must be valid and as little stigmatizing as possible.

Question 21

What are the rights and responsibilities of test users?

Answer 21

1- Review relevant information before choosing a test.
2- Have a rationale underlying the use of the test within each specific assessment process.
3- Protect tests safety.
4- Protect and respect copyright.
5- Clearly and fully inform the test takers about their rights, duties, etc.
6- Minimize errors and their consequences.
7- Keep up to date.
8- Be cautious when modifying the tests.
9- No result should be interpreted in isolation, alternative information likely to modify the conclusions should also be considered.