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Tuesday 9-11 (Group 2) & Tuesday 11-1 (Group 3)

Tom Mitchell: t.mitchell@abdn.ac.uk, T15

mailto:t.mitchell@abdn.ac.ukmailto:t.mitchell@abdn.ac.uk

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Reminder of where to access resources relating toethics in Psychology.

Studies which resulted in the development of ethical

guidelines in Psychology. Q & A: key terms quiz

Ethics in Psychological research assessment overview.

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School of Psychology research ethics documents.www.abdn.ac.uk/psychology/research/ethics.shtml

BPS Code of Conduct- links to PDF document.

http://www.bps.org.uk/what-we-do/ethics-standards/ethics-

standardsESRC Research Ethics Framework

http://www.esrc.ac.uk/about-esrc/information/research-ethics.aspx

American Psychological Associationwww.apa.org

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Think back to some of the key studies mentioned in Psychology;

Milgram (1963) was interested in researching how far people

would go in obeying an instruction if it involved harminganother person. Stanley Milgram was interested in how easilyordinary people could be influenced into committingatrocities.

Procedure:

Volunteers were recruited for a lab experiment investigatinglearning (re: ethics: deception). Participants were 40 males,aged between 20 and 50, whose jobs ranged from unskilled toprofessional.

At the beginning of the experiment they were introduced toanother participant, who was actually a confederate of theexperimenter. They drew straws to determine their roles leaner or teacher although this was fixed and the confederatealways ended to the learner. There was also an experimenterdressed in a white lab coat, played by an actor.

The learner (Mr. Wallace) was strapped to a chair in anotherroom with electrodes. After he has learned a list of word pairsgiven him to learn, the "teacher" tests him by naming a word

and asking the learner to recall its partner/pair from a list offour possible choices.

The teacher is told to administer an electric shock every timethe learner makes a mistake, increasing the level of shock eachtime. There were 30 switches on the shock generator markedfrom 15 volts (slight shock) to 450 (danger severe shock).

The learner gave mainly wrong answers (on purpose) and foreach of these the teacher gave him an electric shock.

65% (two-thirds) of participants continued to thehighest level of 450 volts. All the participantscontinued to 300 volts.

Stark authority was pitted against theparticipants

strongest moral imperatives against hurting others,and, with theparticipantsears ringing with thescreams of the victims, authority won more oftenthan not. The extreme willingness of adults to go toalmost any lengths on the command of an authorityconstitutes the chief finding of the study and the

fact most urgently demanding explanation.

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Would you trust this man???

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Let us review some of the original materials used in the study:

Ethics application:http://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/humansubjects.pdf

Information provided to participants:http://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/geninfo.pdf

Consent form:http://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/consent.pdf

Prisoner rules used once experiment had begun:http://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/rules.pdf

http://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/humansubjects.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/geninfo.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/consent.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/rules.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/rules.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/rules.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/consent.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/consent.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/geninfo.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/geninfo.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/humansubjects.pdfhttp://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/humansubjects.pdf

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Principles for Research Participation

1. Voluntary participation2. Informed consent to participate

3. Right to withdraw at any time

4. Confidentiality of data

5. Duty of care by the researcher - participants must be protected from mentaland physical harm

6. Benefits must outweigh the costs to the participant

In groups come up with a) a definition of points 1-4, and b) how you wouldachieve points 1-4 in a research proposal.5 minutes then class discussion.

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Consent form

Inform participants on the consent form about1. purpose of the research, expected duration, and procedures;

2. right to decline to participate and to withdraw once started;

3. foreseeable consequences of declining or withdrawing;

4. factors that might affect willingness to participate (e.g. potential risks, discomfort, or

adverse effects);

5. any prospective research benefits;6. limits of confidentiality;

7. incentives for participation;

8. who to contact for questions.

Researcher should provide opportunity for prospective participants to ask questions and

receive answers.

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Special Groups

Problem of groups who cannot give informed consent (children, mentally ill,

demented, elderly).

Patients (requires special ethical review by NHS committee)

Obtain informed consent from caregivers.

Where procedures involve risk/harm etc. obtain informed consent from the individualas well, plus further consult an ethics committee.

Anyones avoidance of testing (child or adult) should be taken as withdrawal of

consent.

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Informed Consent

1. Full information

2. Voluntary participation

3. Consent involves capacity to make a decision - ability to:

understand relevant information

appreciate situation and its consequences

reason with the information and weigh up consequences logically

communicate decision

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Informed Consent and Power Relationships

Prisoners, institutionalised individuals, and students may feel they are not in a positionto say no.

Participation as part of training/experience.

Coercion prohibited

When an overt threat of harm is intentionally presented by one person to another in

order to gain compliance.

But also applies to implicitperceived threats.

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Levels of Deception

Deception varies in extent; for example:

Participant gives informed consent to participate in one of various conditions, but does

not know which one they are allocated to (e.g. drug or placebo).

Participant consents to participate in a study but is misled about what the study is about

(e.g. Milgrams learning experiments).

Participant consents to participate in a study but does not know the full details until

afterwards (e.g. vaguely on memory).

Participant is involved in a study without prior knowledge or consent (e.g. bystander

behaviour).

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Observational Research

e.g. Filming and voice recording

Experiments, therapy sessions, etc.

Make/use recordings only with participants knowledge and consent (afterwards, if

deception is involved).

Observational, naturalistic studies in public places

No knowledge or consent necessary, as long as individuals cannot be identified or

harmed. Respect cultural traditions etc.

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DebriefingGive full explanation of what the participant has been involved in.

Avoid evaluative statements.

Consider effects of study on self-esteem, etc.

Provide contact details for follow-up questions.

Does not justify unethical/misleading treatments.

If psychological/physical problems are revealed, researcher should alert participant to these,

and refer them to an expert for treatment if necessary.

After debriefing, participants have right to withdraw their consent retrospectively, and to

demand destruction of their data and any recordings.

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Materials for exercise available on myAberdeen, in materialsfolder all groups at top of page.

You will need to download the document to complete theexercise.

You should read through the details of the study, then produce a

word document with your student number, tutor name, andgroup number. - This document should be clearly labelled as subsections 1-10 for

each of the questions asked in the exercise. Eachquestion/answer is equally weighted at 2 CAS marks perquestion (with the assessment contributing 10% of your course

grade). - a physical copy should be submitted to the office in the first

week back after Easter break, and a copy via turnitin onmyaberdeen.

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The research exercise will be based on the followingpaper, which displays many ethical inconsistencies,and would not pass for review in the current system.

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The following diagram from the original research papermay aid in your understanding of the research

environment detailed in the methods section within theexercise.