Ethics

• The three ethical issues:

  • Deception.
  • Lack of informed consent.
  • Lack of protection from harm.
• How to overcome these ethical issues:

  • Deception - debrief.
  • Informed consent - right to withdraw.
  • Protection from harm - debrief.
• When may deception be justified?

  When the participant knowing the aim of the study could contaminate the results.
• How is protection from harm described?

  Participants must not be put in more risk than their daily lives. They must be protected from psychological and physical harm, including: embarrassment, stress, pressure, etc.
• The ethical issues present in Ash's research:

  Deception - Fake task, participants were told they were taking part in a study on visual perception and judgement.

  Lack of informed consent - Participants were not fully aware of the experiment and its risks.

  Lack of protection - A social pressure was involved as participants felt pressured to align with the majority, however, this is no more pressure than someone may experience in their day to day lives.
• The ethical issues present in Zimbardo's research:

  Deception - Participants were told the experiment was recording the psychological affects of prison, as a result, participants were well informed.

  Lack of informed consent - Participants were not fully aware of the experiment and its risks.

  Lack of protection - Prisoners were verbally assaulted and put in the 'hole' which is a form of psychological torture.
• The ethical issues present in Milgram's research:

  Deception - Participants were told that the experiment was about how punishment affects learning.

  Lack of informed consent - Participants were not fully aware of the experiment and its risks.

  Lack of protection: Subjects experienced lots of stress and pressure, some even experiencing seizures.