Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Ethics in Psychological Research33Ethics in Psychological ResearchKey Theme• Psychological research conducted in the United States is subject to ethicalguidelines developed by the American Psychological Association.Key Questions• What are five key provisions of the APA ethics code for researchinvolving humans?• Why do psychologists sometimes conduct research with nonhumananimals?What might happen if you were to volunteer to participate in a psychology experimentor study? Are psychologists allowed to manipulate or control you withoutyour knowledge or consent? Could a psychologist force you to reveal your innermostsecrets? Could he or she administer electric shocks?The answer to all these questions is “no.” The American Psychological Association(APA) has developed a strict code of ethics for conducting research with bothhuman and animal subjects. This code is contained in a document called EthicalPrinciples of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (APA, 2002). At the Web sitewww.apa.org/ethics, you can download a copy of the document.In general, psychologists must respect the dignity and welfare of participants.Psychologists cannot deceptively expose research participants to dangerous orharmful conditions that might cause either physical or emotional harm. At most institutions,any psychological research using human or animal subjects is scrutinizedby an institutional review board before approval is granted (Pollick, 2007).Not surprisingly, the ethical guidelines for research with human and animal subjectsare somewhat different. However, the use of animals in psychological researchis also governed by specific ethical guidelines (APA, 1996). These guidelines, as wellas other issues, are discussed in the In Focus box on page 38.Here are highlights of five key provisions in the most recent APA ethical principlesregulating research with human participants:• Informed consent and voluntary participation. The psychologist must informthe participants of the purpose of the research, including significant factorsthat might influence a person’s willingness to participate in the study, suchas potential risks, discomfort, or unpleasant emotional experiences. The psychologistmust also explain that participants are free to decline to participate orto withdraw from the research at any time.• Students as research participants. When research participation is a courserequirement or an opportunity for extra credit, the student must be giventhe choice of an alternative activity to fulfill the course requirement or earnextra credit.• The use of deception. Psychologists can use deceptive techniques as part ofthe study only when two conditions have been met: (1) It is not feasible to usealternatives that do not involve deception, and (2) the potential findings justifythe use of deception because of their scientific, educational, or applied value.• Confidentiality of information. In their writing, lectures, or other publicforums, psychologists may not disclose personally identifiable informationabout research participants.• Information about the study and debriefing. All participants must be providedwith the opportunity to obtain information about the nature, results, andconclusions of the research. Psychologists are also obligated to debrief the participantsand to correct any misconceptions that participants may have hadabout the research.The Shocking Treatment of Research Participants?Shown above was one of the experimentalvariations in psychologist StanleyMilgram’s landmark—and controversial—study of obedience to an authority figure.Milgram’s study was conducted in the early1960s. In the variation shown, the experimenterdirected one subject (the “teacher”)to hold another subject’s hand (the“learner”) down on an electric “shockplate” if he answered incorrectly on a memorytask. As you might imagine, Milgram’sstudy generated intense debate about theethical treatment of research participants inpsychology studies. In response to Milgram’sexperiment and other studies in which participantswere pushed to extremes, theAmerican Psychological Association developedstringent guidelines and proceduresto help protect human research participants.Some of those guidelines are discussedon this page. Later, in the chapter onsocial psychology, we will explore StanleyMilgram’s famous study, and the implicationsof his findings, in detail.