• Ethical guidelines are needed to define the appropriate treatment of subjects in psychological research
  • Current ethical guidelines were derived over the years as the original Nuremberg Code was revised and adopted by the APA and US Government in the Belmont Report
  • Due to the level of deception and stress caused by both the situation and the participants’ experience in the Milgram study, and the level of stress experienced by the “prisoners” in the Zimbardo study, many researchers believe that these studies were NOT ethical
  • Ethics Code for Research includes: o Humans:
    1. IRB approval
    2. Informed consent

 

  • Purpose of the research
  • Expected duration of their participation
  • Procedures used in the research
  1. Participants’ right to decline or withdraw
  2. Foreseeable risks
  3. Benefits of the research

 

 

  • Confidentiality rights of the participants
  • Incentives for participation
  1. Whom to contact for questions or concerns
  2. Informed consent reduce harm
  3. Participants must be informed that it is experiments, how participants will be assigned to groups, the available alternative treatments, and the compensation
  4. Coercion
  5. Incentives for participation must be reasonable so as not to be coercive
  6. Deception Reduce Harm
  7. If the research involves any deception, the researchers must determine that the deception is necessary and justified and explain any use of deception as soon as possible at the completion of the study
  8. Reduce harm
  9. Thorough debriefing must be given for the study
  10. If researchers become aware of unexpected harm to participants, they must take reasonable measures to reduce harm, including termination of the study if necessary

o Animals:

  1. Animal research ethics
    1. Adhere to federal and local guidelines for care and treatment of animals
    2. Involve trained personnel
    3. Minimize discomfort
    4. Painful or stressful procedures must be justified and ONLY used when alternative procedures cannot
    5. Use anesthesia and prevent infection with surgical procedures
    6. Terminate animals quickly with minimal pain if necessary
    7. Ethics in reporting research
    8. Researchers must report data accurately and correct errors if they are discovered
    9. Researchers must properly cite others’ ideas and work
    10. Publication credit can be taken only for work the authors have performed
    11. Credit order should be determined according to the contribution of each author
    12. Data should be shared with other researchers to allow verification of results
  • The IRB oversees research conducted at each institution. o In cases where the researchers may not be the most objective judge of the ethics of the study, the IRB provides a more objective review of the ethics
  • Ethical guidelines for reporting research necessitate accurate reports of results and proper citation of sources

 

Questions:

  • Which of the following is part of the ethical guidelines for research with human participants?
  1. No identifying information may be collected from the participants during the study
  2. Participants can withdraw from the study at any point before the study begins, but not after that point
  3. Participants must be informed about the study’s procedures before they are asked to give consent for their participation
  4. All of the above
  5. Which of the following is part of the ethical guidelines for research with animal subjects?
  6. Only trained personnel may be involved with the research
  7. Discomfort of the animals must be minimized as much as possible
  8. Use of animals and the particular species of animal used must be strongly justified for the study
  9. All of the above
  10. The ___________ provides set of ethical guidelines provided by the US Government that must be adhered to by all researchers conducting studies with human participant

Ans: Belmont Report

  1. At the conclusion of a study with animal subjects, the researcher
  2. Must provide for the care of the animals for the rest of their lives
  3. May release the animals into the wild to live the rest of their lives
  4. Must use those animals for additional research studies before any new animals can be obtained
  5. The Belmont Report principle of ____________________ involves making certain that harm to the subjects in a research study is reduced such that the benefit of the study is greater than the risk

Ans: Beneficence

  1. If I were to discuss a research study without citing the source or authors of the study, I would be guilty of ____________

Ans: Plagiarism