Ethics cont. Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology.

Ethics cont.

Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology

Announcements

Exam 1 in two days! Review session tonight

DeGarmo 18 @ 5:00

Basic courtesy Institutional review board approval

Informed consent Avoiding deception Freedom from coercion Protection from harm Debriefing Confidentiality Costs vs. Benefits

APA’s code of ethicswww.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html

Costs/Benefits analysis

Costs: all potential risks to the participants Physical harm Psychological harm Loss of confidentiality

Benefits: the “good” outcomes Direct benefits to participants Benefits to knowledge base Benefits to world at large

Scientific Integrity

Fraud prevention Replication – repeat a research study to validate results

Plagiarism – taking credit for another’s work or ideas• Avoided by citing the ideas or words of others

Peer Review – critical analysis of research by peers in the same area

Ethical responsibility to science

Dirty tricks (this will get you thrown out)

Questionable tricks (these are a little fuzzier, but be wary)

Neat tricks (accepted as okay, and sometimes necessary)

Ethics in Science Quiz

Ethical responsibility to science

Fabrication of results Reformulating your theory as you go Falsifying credentials Plagiarism Little or no attempt to minimize confounds Deliberately hiding (significant) errors in published

work Little or no attempt to minimize demand

characteristics

DT

DT

DT

QTDTQT

NT

Dirty tricks

Questionable tricks

Neat tricks

Ethics in Science Quiz

Ethical responsibility to science

Throwing out data

Reorganizing order of report of experiments

Violations of underlying statistical assumptions

Strategic graphing of the data Duplicate publications (presented as new)

Selective reporting of the results Leaving out some bad experiments (not bad

results)

QT or DT

QTQT

QTNT

NT

DT

Dirty tricks

Questionable tricks

Neat tricks

depends reason for throwing out

Ethics in Science Quiz

Using animals in research

Why use animals in research? Same building blocks (e.g., nervous systems) Control

• Often we can’t control the relevant past experiences of our human subjects, but we can with animals

• Easier to control certain experimental factors with animals

Irreversible and/or harmful effects

Using animals in research

Why use animals in research (cont.)? Some unique, special characteristics

Simpler systems

May allow you to focus on particular variables (IV’s and DV’s), easier to do the experiment without a lot of complex interactions

Using animals in research

But animals and humans are different Well, there are strong similarities

• Evolution - Common ancestry - as a result, things may work in similar ways

But, we do need to be aware that there are differences, and always keep that critical eye, think of alternative explanations

Animal ethics: What rights do animals have?

If animals are so similar to humans, then should they have similar rights that humans have? Is it unethical to do things to them that we wouldn’t do to ourselves?

There is no simple answer, no clear right or wrong. Each individual must decide for themselves.

Next time

Exam 1 Coverage

• Textbook (chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6), lectures, & labs

• Scientific method• Getting ideas• Developing (good) theories• Reviewing the literature• Psychological Science• Ethics• Basic methodologies

Multiple choice and short answer questions