Psy231 Class notes:  GF Chapter 4 -- Ethics in research

Ethical responsibility

       -- Ensure welfare and dignity of all participants, both human & animal

                        Welfare =

                        Dignity =

            Human:  IRB (Institutional Review Board)  [See APA Ethical Guidelines]

            Animal:  IACUC (Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee)

       -- Reports of research are accurate & honest

            Fraud

            Accuracy

 History

            Nazi atrocities

            Nuremburg Code (1947) ethical tx of humans in research

            Declaration of Helsinki (1964) ethical medical research (World Medical Assoc)

            Tuskegee Study syphilis (U.S. Public Health Service)

                        originally intended as short-term study

                        turned into long-term study (40 years) to see what happens at end-stages   

            Milgram's (1963) Obedience Study  [conducted prior to first APA ethical guidelines]

                        Some Nazi prison guards had argued that they were simply obeying orders.

                        How likely is it that a normal person will behave cruelly when ordered to do so?

                        learning task if participant commits errors, then shock

                        participants who shocked later expressed shame & embarrassment

                                    upon finding that they would actually carry out these acts

                        Question:  is it suffly important for us to know about behavior x authority

                                    to warrant such research

             Seligman's (1967) learned helplessness study with dogs

             Zimbardo's (1973) prison study

  APA ethical guidelines

         --1973:  first set

         --Current guidelines [Class handout & GF04 - summary]