Ethical Issues

• What are the ethical issues?

  1. Informed Consent
  2. Deception
  3. Right to withdraw
  4. Protection from psychological harm
  5. Privacy and confidentiality/anonymity
• What is meant by informed consent?

  participant must know what they are consenting to in order to decide whether they want to participate
• What is meant by deception?

  misleading/lying or withholding information
• What is meant by right to withdraw?

  participant must know that they have the right to withdraw from the study during or after
• What is meant by protection from psychological harm?

  participant must be no more at risk than everyday life
• What is meant by privacy and confidentiality?

  keeping personal details hidden
• Why is informed consent an issue?

  revealing true aim may lead to demand characteristics
• Why is deception an issue?

  you cannot give informed consent if you have information withheld from you
• Why is the right to withdraw an issue?

  participant may feel they shouldn't as they'll spoil study -> skew findings
• Why is protection from psychological harm an issue?

  might not be able to predict the harm the participants will experience (e.g. Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment)
• Why is privacy and confidentiality an issue?

  ->may be able to work out identity from other info

  ->or if the experiment takes place in a public area then informed consent isn't needed -> what constitutes as a public area?
• What is meant by presumptive consent?

  get people of similar characteristics to real participant and ask them to decide whether they would consent or not, if they would consent then assume real participant would
• What is meant by prior general consent?

  give real participant a list of experiments to consent to, with real experiment disguised within it, if participant agrees to all then they consent to real experiment without knowing which one is happening
• What is meant by retrospective consent?

  Consent gained after the experiment has already taken place
• What are the types of alternative consent which can be gained?

  1. presumptive consent
  2. prior general consent
  3. retrospective consent
• What should a debriefing include?

  • true aim
  • any details not previously given
  • right to withdraw data
  • how data will be used
• How can psychologists deal with informed consent?

  ->Alternatives:

  • presumptive consent
  • prior general consent
  • retrospective consent

  -> debriefing
• How can psychologists deal with deception?

  -> debriefing

  -> cost benefit analysis
• What is meant by a cost benefit analysis?

  Evaluation of the potential benefits of a decision compared to the costs involved
• How can psychologists deal with the right to withdraw?

  ensure participants know they have the right to withdraw all throughout study
• How can psychologists deal with protection from psychological harm?

  -> right to withdraw

  -> debriefing including reassurance their behaviour was normal

  -> offer counselling if harm is done
• How can psychologists deal with privacy and confidentiality?

  -> should not record names -> refer by number or initials (e.g. HM)