RMA: WEEK 6 Flashcards
Origins of ethics
- It is wrong to needlessly hurt others > minimise harm to participants both physically + psychologically
- It is good to help others > maximise benefits of research to ppts and society.
- Typically wrong to make people do things they don’t want to or things out of their interest > need informed consent
- Usually wrong to lie > deception in research is generally unacceptable but is tolerated if it is to not bias the exp > debrief ppt after the study to be ethical
- Respect others privacy unless given permission > do not intrude by for example using secret webcams without them knowing
- Usually don’t break promise to keep others’ secret > keep anonymity + confidentiality unless they agree for it to be public. Not all secrets can be kept > e.g. if a minor tells a researcher they have been harmed, they have to tell a superior.
Can ethical guidelines be broken?
- Infringing an ethical principle is allowed but violating it is not. e.g: it is ok for a surgeon to cut a persons arm to remove a harmful tumour because it is little harm for greater benefit.
- Violation of ethics is when research has no benefit for the ppt and is unethical with no good reason > e.g: Nazi scientists experimented unethically on twins
- Most research being conducted will have to have been signed off by an ethics committee who are made up of a group of experienced researchers.
Ethics in animal research
- Animal studies can answer questions that would be impossible/impractical to do on humans > e.g. stimulating neurons in open brains of apes led to finding mirror neurons (Giacomo Rizzolati)
- Developmental psych uses animals to study mimicking behaviour (Gross,2006)
Advantages of animal research
- Benefits for human beings (neurosurgery, depression, etc.). > almost all drugs we use today have been tested on animals
- Benefits animals (e.g., anesthetic measures).
- Pain is always weighed against potential benefits > Only when not possible with human participants and some animals thought not to feel pain (e.g. fish).
- Animals can be harmed by other types of exploitation (as food, pets, etc).
Disadvantages of animal research
- Animals feel pain.
- Destroying or harming any living being is dehumanising.
British Psychological Society
- Standing Advisory Committee.
- Advises on treatment of animals in psychology
teaching and research.
Animal Act 1986
- to avoid or at least minimise discomfort
to “living animals”.
It states details about animal care and treatment. - e.g., scientists have to show that animals cannot be replaced by alternatives, the number of animals cannot be reduced (use minimum amount of animals) and suffering is minimised.
BPS guidelines
- Observational research
- Protection of ppts
- Confidentiality
- Withdrawal
- Debriefing
- Deception
- Consent
Observational research:
studies based on obs must respect the privacy + psychological well-being of ppts
Protection of participants:
Investigators primary responsibility to protect participants from physical and mental harm during the investigation
Confidentiality:
Except in circumstances specified by law, info obtained about a ppt during an investigation is confidential unless otherwise agreed in advance
Withdrawal:
Investigators should make plain to participants their right to withdrawal from research at any time, irrespective of payment etc.
Debriefing:
The investigator should provide the participants with any necessary information to complete their understanding of the nature of the study
Deception:
- Withholding information or misleading participants is unacceptable > debrief them at the start or end of the study to avoid this
Consent:
- Whenever possible, the investigators should inform all participants of the objectives of the investigation
