Lecture 2

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Lecture 2 Ethics in Psychological Research
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Outline

1. Psychologists have a special responsibility to
   behave ethically towards others
2. There are no special individuals who know best
   how to behave ethically
3. Ethical research follows from openness and some
   simple guidelines

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Psychologists special responsibility

• We study people not things.
• Mental states are properly private, except where
  licence is given for intervention.

• Harm may be done by such intervention, so special
  care is warranted.

4
There are no special individuals who know best
how to behave ethically

• There are no special people who know better
  than the rest of us how to behave ethically

• No religious figures, no philosophers, no
  politicians or professors

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There are no special individuals who know best
how to behave ethically

• How would you become such a person?

• Would someone train you?
• Who?
• How would you select such a person?

6
There are no special individuals who know best
how to behave ethically

• If you are not an ethical person yourself, how
  would you be able to tell that someone else is?

• If someone tells you that they have special
  knowledge of how to behave ethically, why should
  you believe them?

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There are no special individuals who know best
how to behave ethically

• But thats alright, because you dont have to be
  special to be ethical.
• Ordinary people like us are ethical

• As ordinary people, scientists depend upon each
  other, upon the science community, for guidance
• Being scientists, weve turned this into a
  process

8
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines

• Oversight
• Risk vs. benefit
• Informed consent
• Privacy

• Deception
• Debriefing
• Using animals
• Reporting

9
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines

• Note these guidelines are useful but not
  foolproof

• Final responsibility for any research project
  always rests with the investigator

10
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines

• Oversight
• Risk vs. benefit
• Informed consent
• Privacy

• Deception
• Debriefing
• Using animals
• Reporting

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Oversight

• The most important concept in our study of ethics
  is oversight

• Oversight means telling some people what you plan
  to do and getting their opinions before you do it

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Oversight

• Question should oversight be objective, or
  informed?

• Can it be both?
• Who is likely to be informed?
• How likely are they to be objective?

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Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines

• Oversight
• Risk vs. benefit
• Informed consent
• Privacy

• Deception
• Debriefing
• Using animals
• Reporting

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Risk vs. benefit

• Who takes the risks associated with research?

• What is acceptable risk?
• Acceptable to whom?

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Risk vs. benefit

• Who gets the benefits?

• How do we assess the benefits?
• Significance
• Immediacy
• Probability

16
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines

• Oversight
• Risk vs. benefit
• Informed consent
• Privacy

• Deception
• Debriefing
• Using animals
• Reporting

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Informed consent

• Various totalitarian states conducted brutal
  research on prisoners in the 20th century.
• We dont do that.

• Human participants are volunteers.
• All of them.
• Always.

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Informed consent

• Consent
• Must be genuine

• Do not lie about things that would affect
  willingness to participate
• Do not offer significant inducements

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Informed consent

• Provide all the information a person needs to
  decide whether to participate

• Explain the task
• Explain rights and recourse
• Be clear about risks
• Be sure you are understood
• You do not need to explain the hypothesis

20
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines

• Oversight
• Risk vs. benefit
• Informed consent
• Privacy

• Deception
• Debriefing
• Using animals
• Reporting

21
Privacy

• 3 major dimensions

• Sensitivity of the information
• Degree of dissemination?
• Is the setting for observation public or private?

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Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines

• Oversight
• Risk vs. benefit
• Informed consent
• Privacy

• Deception
• Debriefing
• Using animals
• Reporting

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Deception

• Milgram

• Technical illusion
• Deception is not always bad e.g., surprise
  party special effects in movies Santa Claus
• Suspension of a general moral principle for a
  public purpose

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Milgrams argument my view

• He makes a sensible case that deception is not
  always wrong
• Milgram also offers a reasoned statement of the
  potential benefits of research involving
  deception

• But decide for yourself
• Milgram, S. (1988). Can deception in
  psychological research be justified? Yes. In
  Rubenstein Slife (Eds.) Taking Sides. Guilford,
  CT., Dushkin

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Deception

• Baumrind

• Deception interfers with informed consent
• Cost to profession
• Deception teaches people to distrust
  psychologists

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Baumrind 3 arguments against deception

• (a) the right of self-determination within the
  law, which translates in the research setting to
  the right of informed consent (b) the obligation
  of a fiduciary (in this case, the researcher) to
  protect the welfare of the beneficiary (in this
  case, the subject) and (c) the obligation,
  particularly of a fiduciary, to be trustworthy in
  order to provide sufficient social stability to
  facilitate self-determined agentic behavior.
  (1985, p. 167)

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Baumrinds argument my view

• Overstates potential harm to the subject
• Overstates potential harm to the profession
• Understates potential benefits from research

• But decide for yourself
• Baumrind, D. (1985). Research using intentional
  deception. American Psychologist, 40 (2), 165-174.

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Deception general view

• Is deception justified by prospective value of
  result?
• Is there any other way to get the data?

• Never deceive about anything that would affect
  willingness to participate in the study
• Clear up deception at earliest possible moment

29
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines

• Oversight
• Risk vs. benefit
• Informed consent
• Privacy

• Deception
• Debriefing
• Using animals
• Reporting

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Debriefing

• Discuss the study with the participant after
  their participation
• Their insights may be useful
• This is also a way of thanking them

• Public relations value for the profession we
  could use it.

31
Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines

• Oversight
• Risk vs. benefit
• Informed consent
• Privacy

• Deception
• Debriefing
• Using animals
• Reporting

32
Using animals

• Be humane
• Be competent
• Know the literature
• Know procedures

• Minimize pain, stress
• Use anesthesia
• Kill humanely

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Ethical research follows from openness and some
simple guidelines

• Oversight
• Risk vs. benefit
• Informed consent
• Privacy

• Deception
• Debriefing
• Using animals
• Reporting

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Reporting

• Dont plagiarize
• Dont falsify data
• Give credit where its due
• Share data when asked

• Maximize societys return on its investment in
  your work
• Publicize, share, be competent

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Review

• There are no special people who know best how to
  be ethical
• We depend upon each other, but thats OK because
  most people are ethical

• Oversight is very important

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Review

• Human subjects are always volunteers

• They give informed consent
• They share risks and benefits