ETHICS

ETHICS

All research must:• Seek the approval of the IRB• Report all data fully and accurately• Share data with other professionals

ETHICS(HUMAN RESEARCH)

4 Basic Principle:1. Informed Consent

2. Protection From Harm

3. Confidentiality

4. Debriefing

ETHICS(HUMAN RESEARCH)

1. Informed Consent:Participants must be informed, in advance, about:• The general nature of the research• Any potential risks • Voluntary participation- no coercion • The right to withdraw at any time

ETHICS(HUMAN RESEARCH)

2. Protection From Harm:Participants must be protected from physical and psychological discomfort/damage• Studies involving some discomfort may be conducted under special circumstances with the informed consent of the participants

ETHICS(HUMAN RESEARCH)

3. Confidentiality:Participants personal data must never be discussed or released• Anonymity• Right to privacy• Use of secret identifiers

ETHICS(HUMAN RESEARCH)

4. Debriefing:Participants must receive a complete explanation of the research at the end of the study• This is extremely important if the research involves deception

ETHICS(HUMAN RESEARCH)

Deception:• Used to avoid/reduce problems due to placebo effects and the unreliability

of self-reports • Examines many important issues that could not be investigated if

experimenters were not allowed to mislead participants• May produces distress for participants• May affect the ability of participants to trust others• Most subjects who participate in research experiments involving deception

report that they enjoyed the experience and did not mind being misled***• Advancements in knowledge that improve human welfare are worth the

costs

Critics of deception:• Lying and immoral

ETHICS(ANIMAL RESEARCH)

Reasons for Animal Research• Interest in animal behavior• Data may apply to humans• Easier to control experiments with animals (vs. humans)• Can conduct research that is unethical to perform on

humans • Easier to do some type of studies on animals• Medical advances in the treatment of mental disorders,

neuromuscular disorders, brain injuries, strokes, high blood pressure…

• About 5% (less than 10%) of all psychological studies involve animals • mostly rodents (rats and mice)

ETHICS(ANIMAL RESEARCH)

Animals research must:• Have a clear, justifiable scientific purpose• Researchers must employ the least amount of suffering possible• Animals must be bought legally or captured humanely• Animals must be well cared for• Provide animals with clean housing• Provide animals with appropriate food and water

ETHICS(ANIMAL RESEARCH)

Critics of Animal Research:• Animal welfare• Harsh environment • Lack of evidence that animals are like humans• Exposure to treatment that is unethical for humans• Animals are entitled to the same rights as humans• Wrong to subject animals to harm/pain for

research purposes• Animals are subjected to cruelty and unethical

treatment for many trivial studies