Lecture 6: More on Ethics

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Lecture 6 More on Ethics
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Respect for Dignity of Persons

• Respecting the rights of individuals
• Non-discriminatory
• Fees that reflect fair market value
• Informed consent
• Especially when there is more than minimal risk
  or behavior is changed
• Participants in research must know what they have
  consented to, otherwise, it is deception
• Third party consent, e.g., 17 year-olds at
  University
• Were consent procedures adequate in some kind of
  research or survey you were involved in?

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What goes in a consent form?

• Identifying information
• Overview of what they will do
• Potential risks
• Clear statement of benefits
• What happens to data? Confidentiality? Limits
  to confidentiality?
• Right to withdraw at anytime for any reason with
  no penalty
• Feedback of results? Publication of data?
  Dissemination plans? Group vs. single subject
  data.

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What is Minimal Risk?

• The standard of minimal risk is commonly defined
  as follows if potential subjects can reasonably
  be expected to regard the probability and
  magnitude of possible harms implied by
  participation in the research to be no greater
  than those encountered by the subject in those
  aspects of his or her everyday life that relate
  to the research, then the research can be
  regarded as within the range of minimal risk
  (Section C.1).
• Interpretation? Anything involving deception,
  invasive body procedures or fluids, some
  manipulations (e.g., therapy), recalling
  extremely stressful memories
• Filling out self descriptive questionnaires,
  engaging in play with children, reading, watching
  computer screens is all fairly normative activity
  Minimal risk

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Responsibility to Society

• Help the profession of psychology as a whole
• Help the public understand psychology
• Correct misinterpretations of the public
• Monitor and promote ethical practice
• Attend to conflicts between law and ethics
• Training in ethics

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Responsible Caring

• Promote welfare and minimise harm
• Be aware of limitations
• Conduct pilot studies to see if there are unknown
  risk
• Debrief in such a way that participants learn
  something
• Avoid dual relationships
• How do you handle participants you see outside of
  research?

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Integrity in relationships

• Avoid misrepresentation of education or
  qualifications
• The media calls us Psychologists
• Correct misperceptions
• Be honest and fair
• Avoid deception, or if it is necessary, take
  corrective action after full disclosure
• Do not use inducements that compromise consent

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REB Procedures

• http//ace.acadiau.ca/rgs/research/reb/index.html