Ethics Study Materials

name the two many schools of ethics 1. consequential 2. deontological consequentialism the rightness of wrongness of an act depends upon its consequences utilitarianism - subtype of consequential ethics - emphasises the role of pleasure or happiness as a consequence of our actions criticism of utilitarianism ethics what makes happiness the most important end point, what about other factors such as liberty/equality of opportunity deontology (duty) judges morality (right or wrong) by examining the nature of actions themselves and the intentions/motive of those carrying them out immanuel kant is the main proponent of which ethical theories? deontological 'act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, what does categorical incentive mean? always as an end and never as a means only' deontological idea 22 orphans, half given positive speech johnson and tudor study on stuttering as therapy half had attention drawn to every a learned behaviour slight speech imperfection 8/11 in second group developed a stutter the positive impacts of the study (greater judge the morality of the johnson and tuunderstanding of stutter onset) means dor study from a consequentialist ethics that the study is ethical despite the negperspective ative acts for participants involved judge the morality of the johnson and the act itself was very negative and this tudor study from a deontological ethics outweighs any ultimate benefit so the perspective study would be deemed unethical which ethical approch is taken by the british psychological society? deontological 1/9 what is psychological egoism? idea that self-oriented interests ultimately motivate all human actions thomas hobbs believed that humans always act from self-interest and even when people appear to be acting altruistically they are actually being selfish - how would he explain someone donating to a homeless person? emphasises the role of egotistical motive for behaviour the person does so to relieve their own personal discomfort at seeing that person in need, reduce feelings of stress or alleviate feelings of guilt what are normative ethics? the practical task of arriving at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct name the two ethical codes in the UK 1. world health organisation (declaration of helsinki) - guide for conducting medical research with human subjects 2. british psychological society (code of ethics and conduct + code of human research ethics + practice guidelines) guidelines for carrying out psychological research which of the BPS codes contains guide- code of ethics and conduct, lines for both practitioners and recode of human research ethics is only for searchers? researchers name the four ethical principles covered in the BPS code of ethics and conduct 1. respect 2. competence 3. responsibility 4. integrity - privacy and confidentiality - community/group values - impacts on the broader environment what should be considered when evalu- - issues of power (consider from the POV ating the ethical principle 'respect'? of the participants) - consent - self determination (autonomy) - importance of compassionate care 2/9 - whether the researcher has the appropriate knowledge, skills training, education and experience to maintain high standards in their work - recognition of the limits of the researcher and the potential need to refer to another professional - advances in the evidence base (training what should be considered when evalu10 years ago could be out of date) ating the ethical principle 'competence'? - need to maintain technical and practical skills - matters of professional ethics and decision-making - practice taking mitigating actions when necessary due to limitations to competence - caution when making knowledge claims - professional accountability - use of knowledge and skills, not acting out of the realms of their expertise - respect for welfare of humans, non-huwhat should be considered when evalu- mans and the environment ating the ethical principle 'responsibility'? - avoidance of harm - prevention of misuse/abuse of their contribution - potential competing duties (recognising responsibility will help) - honesty, openness and candour (avoid deception) - accurate unbiased report of data - fairness - avoidance of exploitation and conflicts what should be considered when evaluof interest (including self-interest) ating the ethical principle 'integrity'? - maintaining personal and professional boundaries - address misconduct - professionalism, credit given where credit is due 3/9 1. respect for the autonomy and dignity of persons name the four ethical principles covered 2. scientific value in the BPS code of human research 3. social responsibility ethics 4. maximising benefit and minimising harm what should be considered when evaluating the ethical principle 'respect for the autonomy and dignity of persons'? - inform of the nature of the research - avoid discriminatory practices - ensure self-determination (protect against coercion) - ensure privacy - research designed, reviewed and conducted in a way that ensures its quality, what should be considered when evaluintegrity and contribution ating the ethical principle 'scientific val- needs to add to research base and offer ue'? value to be worthwhile - accountability for research quality poorly design or conduction wastes resources and devalues the contribution when the scientific value of research be of the participants, can lead to misleadquestionned? ing information being promulgated which has the potential to cause harm - consider purpose of research - awareness of outcomes (the predicted what should be considered when evalu- and unexpected ones) and the implicaating the ethical principle 'social respon- tions they could have on society sibility'? - acknowledge limitations, careful to not preach a conclusion beyond the findings of the research - assess and identify risks to psychological well-being, dignity etc what should be considered when eval- - consider from the POV of participants uating the ethical principle 'maximising - effort to maximise benefit - put in place measures to minimise/manbenefit and minimising harm'? age those risks (protocols for if someone begins to show signs of stress) 4/9 practical considerations - risk responsibility to identify potential risks, develop protocols for risk management and inform participants of any risks (some participants may be more vulnerable to certain risks than others ie mental instability) - vulnerable groups (children, individuals who lack capacity, those in an dependant relationship) - sensitive topics - significant deception - access to personal/confidential information (genetic, medical etc) research scenarios that carry more than - access to sensitive data via 3rd parties the minimal risk (salary) - educe psychologically stressful - pain - invasive interventions (drug administration, hypnotherapy etc) - impacts for employment/social standing - labelling by researcher or participant (stupid or intelligent etc) stages of informed consent 1. instruct participants about the nature of the study 2. obtaining their written agreement to take part suggest a scenario in which obtaining written consent is not necessary using public records some field research observing people in public 1. nature of the study 2. potential risks or inconveniences (physical, psychological or social) and what information is included in a partici- how these will come about 3. procedure for ensuring anonymity or pant information form? confidentiality of data, who will have access, how will be contact ps about concerning results 5/9 4. voluntary nature of the study and right to withdraw at any time - dementia - mental illness - learning disability - brain damage what conditions may prevent individuals - intoxication giving informed consent? - conditions causing confusion, drowsiness or loss of consciousness ie concussion, stroke, heart attack, epileptic fit, serious accident, delirium 16 consent of parents/those with legal responsibility is obtained instead only children over the age of ______ are assent should be regularly monitored, if able to give informed consent child displays any verbal or non-verbal signs they don't want to continue they should be withdrawn criteria for assessing mental capacity ability to: - understand the information relevant to the question - retain the information - use or weigh the information - communicate their decision (by any means) right to withdraw - at any time - without giving a reason - without prejudice - withdraw data retrospectively (notified of any time restrictions) what does anonymity refer to? ideally it should be impossible to identify participants from published data if it is not necessary to collect participant names them=n don't 6/9 giving advice is only ethical when... - it forms an intrinsic part of the research - it has been agreed with the participant in advance - it has been subject to an ethics review in advance - if failing to do so endangers the participant's future wellbeing - opinion is inside the realms of your professional expertise evidence of a problem could be unexpected and it is important that risks for obtaining this type of evidence is thought of prior (if study on IQ what will you do if you discover a participant with a very low IQ who is seemingly unaware) what is the difference between deceptions of commission and deceptions of omission? commission - actively misleading omission - failing to disclose all details (allowed in scenarios when later disclosure will not anger the participants) why might deception be necessary in some studies? issue of reactivity examples of accidental deception - misunderstandings of what is required by the study - misrepresentations of the amount of time required - experimental 'extras' that aren't explained to the participants prior to obtaining consent true or false - debriefs are only necessary in studies where the participants have been deceived false 7/9 pre-study - information about purpose, risks, rewards - opportunity to ask questions during study - right to withdraw - no unexpected risks what should a participant expect pre-study, during study and post-study? post-study - debrief (inc deception explained and justified) - right to withdraw - opportunity to ask questions - see results shouldn't be given their own personal result unless the purpose of the study is looking at individual-level data what results should and shouldn't be giv- if RQ is to look at average rates of x in x, en to participants after a study? participants should be provided with cohort level feedback rather than individual feedback (the questionnaire or whatever was not designed for diagnostic purposes) true or false - debriefing does not have to be an active process and the participants may just be given an information sheet false participants have the right to withdraw there data up until what point? data analysis what does HCPC stand for? health and care professions council what is the difference between the HCPC and BPS? HCPC - a regulator - they enforce the rules - protect the public - gives people the 7 psychology practitioner titles 8/9 BPS - sets standards - protects their members name the 7 HCPC protected titles in psychology 1. educational psychologist 2. forensic psychologist 3. clinical psychologist 4. health psychologist 5. counselling psychologist 6. sport and exercise psychologist 7. occupational psychologist an education psychologist wants to determine the efficacy of an intervention designed to improve numeracy skills, she needs to recruit 60 children who are falling behind national standards in numeracy skills and allocate them to intervention and no-intervention groups the intervention was helpful what can be done to ensure good ethical practice? group that had been randomly allocated to not have the intervention offered it at a later point after the data for the study had been collected to ensure those participants are not unfairly disadvantaged as a consequence of the random allocation in the study 9/9