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Ethical Issues. Ethical problems arising from psychological research Attempts to address/avoid these problems; success (or otherwise) of these attempts Discussion of these issues in the context of research into social influence (majority & minority influence; obedience). www.psychlotron.org.uk.
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Ethical Issues • Ethical problems arising from psychological research • Attempts to address/avoid these problems; success (or otherwise) of these attempts • Discussion of these issues in the context of research into social influence (majority & minority influence; obedience) www.psychlotron.org.uk
Effects on Participants… www.psychlotron.org.uk
Ethical Issues • Informed consent • Did the pps agree to take part? • Did they know what they were agreeing to? • Deception • Were the pps at any point deliberately misled? • Psychological harm • Were the pps put at risk of harm e.g. stress or damage to self image? www.psychlotron.org.uk
Ethical Issues • Asch (1951) • Informed consent, deception, damage to self-image • Zimbardo (1973) • Psychological damage (stress, self image) • Hofling et al (1966) • Informed consent, damage to self image • Milgram (1963) • All the above www.psychlotron.org.uk
Discussing Ethical Issues • Could the outcome have been predicted? • Could consent have been presumed? • Could another method have been used? • Did benefits outweigh costs? • Was the damage undone (debriefing)? • What did the pps say? www.psychlotron.org.uk
Dealing with Ethical Issues • Guidelines (e.g. BPS, 1995) • Remove ambiguity • Make responsibilities clear • But • Still open to interpretation • Still rely on self-regulation • Only effective if backed up with action www.psychlotron.org.uk
Dealing with Ethical Issues • Ethical Committees • Active enforcement of guidelines • Removes bias in self-regulation • More immediate power • But • Still may be biased towards researcher not pps • Mainly in universities – what about commercial or military research? www.psychlotron.org.uk