Ethical Guidelines in Research Historical examples 1 Tuskegee Syphilis Study began in 1932 goal find patients that already have syphilis and watch the course of untreated syphilis a Told men they were being treated for syphilis when really they were not i All men were African American from the south all poor b Withheld important information about the study i Not told if they had contracted the disease c Could not serve in WWII because of researcher intervention d Did not give men the cure even once it was known Kinds of Ethical Violations Participants were 1 Harmed 2 Not treated respectfully 3 Targeted as a specific disadvantaged social group The Milgram Obedience Study Participants told that this is a learning experiment and assigned as a Participants must shock other person every time he gets an answer wrong Cannot see other person but can hear him scream in pain actually a starting from 15 volts to 450 colts teacher recording Told by the experimenter that he must continue the experiment no matter what happens Basic Results everyone ent until at least 300 volts before they stopped the learner complains of heart problems at 150 volts 65 of participants continued to the end of the dial Ethical questions What are some potential questions Was it ethical to put that much stress on Ss Was the debriefing enough Ss now know something they cannot unlearn about themselves Debriefing informing Ss of the studies true nature Were variations necessary Milgram could have changed procedure once he understood the stress Belmont Report Created in 1976 due to Tuskegee research and medical experiments done during WWII Three principles for conducting research with humans 1 Respect for persons a informed consent learn about risks benefits of research and decide if you want to participate i No coercion or manipulation Risk Benefit ratio b special protection for certain groups children elderly prisoners 2 Beneficence take precautions to protect Ss and ensure their well being a Experimenters asses risks benefits b Keep Ss from harm i Example can no longer withhold treatment and cures ii More difficult weight in the risk in psych studies than 3 Justice medical research a Need a fair balance between the Ss and those who benefit from the i Example Tuskegee ii Not fair for researchers to choose one poor subsample as Ss and then give beneficial results to rich and or white people Can determine if research is ethical by using a risk benefit ratio subjective evaluation Is it worth it Are the benefits greater than the risks to participants Potential benefits gathering new knowledge research improves human condition Potential risks participants can be injured physically or psychologically Must also evaluate likelihood that research will produce valid and interpretable result otherwise wasting participants time money resources Must be sure there are no other low risk alternatives to research and that research has not already been conducted Determining risk very difficult all of life is risky participants could be injured walking to experiment could be in a car accident etc risks go beyond injury if personal responses are released then participants could have social risks research must be confidential minimal risk harm or discomfort participants may experience is not greater than what they might experience in their daily lives or during routine physical and psychological tests filling out questionnaires is similar to daily test taking of college students Examples Students complete adjective checklist describing current mood Research seeks to identify depressed students so they can be included in study of cognitive deficits related to depression Ethical Standard 8 1 IRB a committee responsible for ensuring that research on humans is conducted ethically need to include 5 mentions with varying background and fields of experience it must have at least one member not affiliated with the institution it must include both men and women 2 Informed consent must explain the study in everyday language and give Ss a chance to decide if they want to participate not always needed for low risk or anonymous research How do we know what information must be kept private 1 Sensitivity sexual drug behavior religion politics medical history criminal record 2 Setting is research being conducted in public walking across campus at OSU game etc 3 Dissemination of info are you only releasing information in form of averages 3 Deception withholding some details of a study from participants i e omission not telling whole truth or actively lying i e commission up a lie to cover up what you re actually doing actively lying needed in many cases benefits must outweigh costs why Cant answer research questions without it ex Milgrams study on obedience can never use deception to trick people into participating in research making Pros can study natural behavior can get at behavioral beliefs not readily studied without deception Cons contradicts informed consent may make people suspicious Examples of approved deception Kassin Kiechel s study 1996 about eye witness testimony interested in false confessions vulnerability accused of breaking a computer when they really didn t majority ended up confessing that they did it 4 Debriefing describing nature of deception and why it was must remember how research will affect them after the study necessary is complete Goals Remove harmful effects of misconception about research explain the need for deception if applicable learn participants views of the research educate participants about research Research with animals Millions of animals are used in lab experiments every year Ex Test drugs exposed to disease surgical procedures Since 1985 all institutions conducting animal research must create a review board Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee ACUC Protect animal welfare by reviewing Research procedures Maintenance of the living quarters How experimenters are trained when working with animals Research is justified by need for information without putting human life at risk risk behavior benefit Misconduct Psychologists seek to promote accuracy honesty and truthfulness in the science teaching and practice of psychology Do not steal cheat or commit fraud ex Autism and vaccination link Dr Andrew Wakefield Changed or falsified data made the assumption that vaccination leads to children autism in Plagiarism presenting substantial portions of another persons work as your own Does not mean a lot of words could