Review the two classic psychology studies (Milgram’s Obedience to Authority and Zimbardo’s Stamford Prison Experiment) under Readings and Resources.? Using evidence from Chapter 3
Review the two classic psychology studies (Milgram’s Obedience to Authority and Zimbardo’s Stamford Prison Experiment) under Readings and Resources. Using evidence from Chapter 3 of your textbook, as well as the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct, discuss two (2) ways in which research ethics were violated in one (1) of these studies. Then, discuss two (2) ways you would make the study more ethically sound if you were to rerun the study today. With your ethical considerations in place, do you think you would learn as much about obedience as Milgram did in his original research or as much as Zimbardo did about the power of social roles? Why or why not? Finally, do you think it was ethical that Milgram or Zimbardo only studied white males? How might their study results have differed if their sample was more culturally diverse?
Research Methods in Psychology
Ethical Issues in the Conduct of Psychological Research
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1
Ethical Standards
APA Ethics Code
Applies to all psychologists (including psychology students)
Ethical standards for
Research
Therapy
Teaching
Administration
Solve ethical dilemmas
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2
Evaluate Ethics Before Conducting Research
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Protect rights and welfare of human participants
Committee members
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
Protects rights and welfare of animal subjects
Committee members
Care and housing of animals
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3
Risk/Benefit Ratio
Subjective evaluation
Costs and benefits of a research project
Participants
Society
The researcher and institution
Questions
Is the research worth it?
Are the benefits greater than the risks?
Will the study produce valid and interpretable results?
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4
Risks
Different types
Physical injury
Psychological injury (mental or emotional stress)
Social injury (e.g., embarrassment)
Ethical obligation
Protect participants from all risk
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5
Minimal Risk
Definition:
Harm or discomfort is not greater than that experienced in daily life or during routine physical or psychological tests.
Minimal risk differs across individuals.
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6
“At Risk”
When risk is greater than minimal
= “at risk”
Increases researchers’ ethical obligation to protect participants’ welfare
Consider alternative methods with lower risk
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7
Confidentiality
Social risk
“confidential” ≠ “anonymous”
To increase confidentiality
Remove identifying information
Report results in terms of statistical averages
Internet research
Confidentiality is a special problem
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8
Is Risk Present?
Consider whether participants are at risk in the following situations.
College students complete an adjective checklist to describe their current mood. The researcher seeks to identify depressed students so they can be included in a study that examines cognitive deficits associated with depression.
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9
Is Risk Present?
A psychologist administers a battery of achievement tests to elderly adults in the dayroom of a nursing facility. The psychologist seeks to determine if there is a decline in mental functioning with advancing age.
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10
Is Risk Present?
Students in a psychology research methods class see another student enter their classroom in the middle of the class period, speak loudly and angrily with the instructor, and then leave. As part of a study on eyewitness behavior, the students are then asked to describe the intruder.
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11
Is Risk Present?
A researcher recruits students from introductory psychology classes to participate in a study of the effects of alcohol on cognitive functioning. The experiment requires that some students drink 2 ounces of alcohol (mixed with orange juice) before performing a computer game.
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12
Informed Consent
A social contract
Make clear to participants:
Nature of the research (what they will do)
Possible risks
Written informed consent
Required when risk is greater than minimal
Not required when researchers observe public behavior
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13
Informed Consent, continued
Informed consent requires
Inform participants of all aspects of research that may influence their decision to participate
Allow to withdraw at any time without penalty
No pressure
Some are unable to provide legal consent
Young children, mentally impaired
provide assent to participate
Obtain legal guardians’ consent
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14
Is Informed Consent Necessary?
Consider whether informed consent is necessary in these situations.
In a study of the drinking behavior of college students, an undergraduate working for a faculty member attends a fraternity party and records the amount of alcohol consumed by students at the party.
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15
Is Informed Consent Necessary?
As part of a study of the gay community, a gay researcher joins a gay baseball team with the goal of recording behaviors of the participants in the context of team competition during the season. All the games are played outdoors and may be watched by the public.
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16
Is Informed Consent Necessary?
Public bathroom behavior (e.g., flushing, hand washing, littering, graffiti writing) of men and women is observed by male and female researchers concealed in the stalls of the respective washrooms.
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17
Is Informed Consent Necessary?
A graduate student investigates cheating behaviors of college students by concealing himself in a projection booth in an auditorium during an exam. From this vantage point he can see with the aid of binoculars the movements of most students. He records head movements, switching papers, passing notes, use of cell phones, texting, and other suspicious exam behaviors.
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18
Privacy
Definition
The right of individuals to decide how information about them is communicated to others
Research participants want to know
How their information is protected
How their confidentiality will be protected
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19
Privacy, continued
Public or private behavior?
Three dimensions
Sensitivity of the information
Setting
Method of dissemination of the information
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20
Deception
Occurs when
Information is withheld from participants
Participants are intentionally misinformed about aspects of the research
Deception for the purpose of getting people to participate is always unethical.
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21
Pros and Cons of Deception
Pros: Why deceive?
Allows study of people’s natural behavior
Opportunity to investigate behavior and mental processes not easily studied without deception
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22
Pros and Cons of Deception, continued
Cons: Why should we not deceive?
Contradicts principle of informed consent
Relationship between researcher and participant is not open and honest
Frequent deception makes people suspicious about research and psychology
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23
Deception, continued
Deception is justified only when
The study is very important
No other methods are available
Deception would not influence decision to participate
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24
Deception, continued
When deception is used, the researcher must debrief
Inform participants of the reason for deception
Discuss any misconceptions
Remove any harmful effects
Goal: Participants should feel good about the research experience.
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25
Research with Animals
Should animals be used in research?
APA Ethical Standards and IACUCs
Researchers are ethically obligated to protect welfare of animal subjects
Justify any pain, discomfort, death by potential scientific, educational, or applied goals
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26
Reporting Psychological Research
Publication Credit
Acknowledge fairly those who contributed to a research project
Authorship based on scholarly importance of contributions
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27
Reporting Psychological Research, continued
Plagiarism
Don’t present substantial portions or elements of another’s work as your own.
“Substantial portion or element” can be 1-2 words if it represents a key idea
Ignorance or sloppiness are not legitimate excuses
Cite sources appropriately
Cut-and-paste from Internet is plagiarism.
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28
Plagiarism, continued
Example of a Correctly Cited Direct Quote
“Informed by developments in case law, the police use various methods of interrogation—including the presentation of false evidence (e.g., fake polygraph, fingerprints, or other forensic test results; staged eyewitness identifications), appeals to God and religion, feigned friendship, and the use of prison informants” (Kassin & Kiechel, 1996, p. 125).
Kassin, S. M., & Kiechel, K. L. (1996). The social psychology of false confessions: Compliance, internalization, and confabulation. Psychological Science, 7, 125-128.
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29
Plagiarism, continued
Example of Plagiarism (No citation accompanying paraphrased material)
Research investigations of deceptive interrogation methods to extract confessions are important because police use false evidence (e.g., fake test results) and false witnesses when interrogating suspects. Interrogators also pressure suspects by pretending to be their friends.
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30
Plagiarism, continued
Example of Paraphrased Material with Correct Citation
Research investigations of deceptive interrogation methods to extract confessions are important because police use false evidence (e.g., fake test results) and false witnesses when interrogating suspects (Kassin & Kiechel, 1996). In addition, Kassin and Kiechel state that interrogators pressure suspects by pretending to be their friends.
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31
Thinking Critically about Ethical Issues
How do we decide whether a proposed study is ethical?
What if people disagree? (they will)
Is there a right answer? (often, no)
The best we can do is follow steps for making ethical decisions.
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32
Steps for Ethical Decision Making
Find out the facts.
Procedure, participants, etc.
Identify the relevant ethical issues.
Risk, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, deception, debriefing
Decide what is at stake for all parties.
Participants, researchers, institutions, society
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33
Steps for Ethical Decision Making, continued
Identify alternative methods, procedures
Consider ethical implications for each alternative, including not doing the proposed research
Decide on the action to be taken
Approve research
Conditional approval with modifications
Do not approve research
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34
Ethical Compliance
Ethical Compliance Checklist
Goal: ensure ethical compliance throughout the research process
Required for research submitted to APA journals
www.apa.org/journals
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