Ch. 2 Section 5: Ethical Issues Obj: Evaluate the ethical issues involved in psychological research

Ethics are standards for proper and responsible behavior Ethics are standards for proper and responsible behavior. Psychologists follow ethical standards to promote the dignity of the individual, foster human welfare, and maintain scientific integrity. An important aspect of psychologists’ work is to lessen human suffering. Along these lines, ethical standards prevent scientists from undertaking research or treatments that will be harmful to human participants. Specific ethical guidelines have been established by the Am. Psychological Association (APA), a scientific and professional organization of psychologists.

Research with People Ethical standards limit the type of research that psychologists may conduct. Psychologists would not intentionally separate a child form their parent to conduct an experiment on separation. One alternative approach might be to observe the development of children who have already been separated from their mothers since an early age.

The APA guidelines provide a number of provisions that detail what is needed to make a study ethical. These guidelines include two important principles: confidentiality and informed consent.

Confidentiality Psychologists treat the records of research participants and clients as confidential. In other words, the records are private. This is because psychologists respect people’s right to privacy. In addition, people are more likely to disclose true information and feelings when they know that what they say will remain confidential.

In certain very rare circumstances, such as when a client reveals plans to harm someone, a psychologist may disregard confidentiality in order to protect the well-being of the client or of other people. Such situations, however, are definitely the exception rather than the rule. Even when they do arise, psychologists must think long and hard about whether breaking confidentiality is the appropriate thing to do.

Informed consent The APA has distinct restrictions against research studies that could pose a serious threat to the physical or psychological health of participants or that might have long-term, irreversible effects on them. However, the APA acknowledges that some worthwhile studies may cause participants to experience some discomfort or other short-term negative effects.

To help avoid situations in which people volunteer to participate in research without knowing that such effects are possible, the APA generally requires that the participants provide informed consent. Informed consent means that people agree, or consent, to participate in a research study only after they have been given a general overview of the research and have been given the choice of whether or not to participate. The provision of information and the opportunity to choose give people some degree of control and make participation less stressful.

Deception On the other hand, some psychological experiments cannot be run without deceiving people. In order for the study to be valid, some participants must be deceived. In drug experiments, many participants might be told they are taking a real drug when they are actually taking a placebo, or vice versa. According to the APA, psychologists may use deception only under specified conditions.

When they believe that the benefits of the research outweigh its potential harm. When they believe that the individuals would have been willing to participate if they had understood the benefits of the research. When participants receive an explanation of the study after it has occurred. Explaining what happened in the study once it is over helps avoid misunderstandings about the research. This also reduces participants’ anxieties and let the participants maintain their dignity.

Research with Animals Most studies that use animals do not harm animals at all. Sometimes psychologists and other scientists conduct research that may be harmful to animals. Such research studies often use animals because they cannot be carried out with people for ethical reasons. Example: sometimes parts of an animal’s brain are destroyed to learn how those parts influence the animals’ behavior.

Psychologists use animals only when there is no alternative and when they believe that the potential benefits outweigh the harm. Only a small percentage of all psychological studies involve animals. Some researchers argue that this is necessary, yet many people believe that it is no more ethical to harm animals than it is to harm humans. Although the APA regulates this research also, it remains very controversial.

Ethics in Using Data Another area in which psychologists follow strict rules about ethics is in how they produce, store, and present their data. When researchers conduct a study, they need to be as objective as possible in planning their study, in collecting their data, and in analyzing their data. Without this objectivity, the researchers may bias their study, perhaps unintentionally, in favor of their hypothesis.

Even more importantly, when information collected by researchers contradicts their hypothesis, they must be willing to discard their hypothesis in light of the evidence. It might be tempting to toss out all the evidence that contradicts the hypothesis and present to others only the evidence that supports the hypothesis. But this would be misleading and thus unethical. It might also become an obstacle to others’ attempts to study psychology.