Ethics cont.
Psych 231: Research
Methods in Psychology
Exam 1 in two days!
 Review session tonight
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DeGarmo 18 @ 5:00
Announcements
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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 ethics
www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html
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Costs: all potential risks to the participants
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Physical harm
Psychological harm
Loss of confidentiality
Benefits: the “good” outcomes
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Direct benefits to participants
Benefits to knowledge base
Benefits to world at large
Costs/Benefits analysis
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Fraud prevention
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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
Scientific Integrity
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Ethics in Science Quiz
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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)
Ethical responsibility to science
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Ethics in Science Quiz
DT
NT
DT
DT
QT
DT
QT
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Dirty tricks
Questionable
tricks
Neat tricks
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
Ethical responsibility to science
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Ethics in Science Quiz
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QT or
 Throwing out data
DT
depends reason for throwing out
NT  Reorganizing order of report of experiments
QT  Violations of underlying statistical assumptions
QT  Strategic graphing of the data
DT  Duplicate publications (presented as new)
QT  Selective reporting of the results
NT  Leaving out some bad experiments (not bad results)
Dirty tricks
Questionable
tricks
Neat tricks
Ethical responsibility to science
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Why use animals in research?
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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
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Irreversible and/or harmful effects
Using animals in research
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Why use animals in research (cont.)?
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Some unique, special characteristics
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Simpler systems
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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
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But animals and humans are different
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Well, there are strong similarities
• Evolution - Common ancestry - as a result, things may work in
similar ways
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But, we do need to be aware that there are differences, and
always keep that critical eye, think of alternative
explanations
Using animals in research
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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?
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There is no simple answer, no clear right or wrong. Each individual
must decide for themselves.
Animal ethics: What rights do animals
have?
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Exam 1
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Coverage
• Textbook (chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6), lectures, & labs
• Scientific method
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Getting ideas
Developing (good) theories
Reviewing the literature
Psychological Science
Ethics
Basic methodologies
Multiple choice and short answer
questions
Next time