Psychology Notes - What are the ethical research practices in psychology? and What is learning?

Authors Avatar by jkking (student)

CRITICAL THINKING                          

Critical Thinking Paper

Judith King

University of Alaska

Learning Unit 2: Research Methods

Select:  What are the ethical research practices in psychology?

     The basis of ethical research in psychology first and foremost is that the volunteer patient expects that no harm, either physical or psychological, will come to them as a participant of the research. The guidelines are outlined in our text as follows:

  1. The rights and well-being of participants must be weighed against the study’s value to science.
  2. Participants must be allowed to make an informed decision about participation.
  3. Deception must be justified.
  4. Participants may withdraw from the study at any time.
  5. 5.  Participants must be protected from risks or told explicitly of risks.  
  6. Investigators must debrief participants, telling the true nature of the study and expectations of results.
  7. Data must remain confidential.
  8. If for any reason a study results in undesirable consequences for the participant, the researcher is responsible for detecting and removing, or correcting, these consequences.  (Ciccarelli & White, 2011)  

Collect:  Informed Consent

     One of the most important components of ethical research in psychology is informed consent. I consider informed consent to be one of the most important components.  On the APA’s website, this issue is addressed.  “For persons who are legally incapable of giving informed consent, psychologists nevertheless (1) provide an appropriate explanation, (2) seek the individual's assent, (3) consider such persons' preferences and best interests, and (4) obtain appropriate permission from a legally authorized person, if such substitute consent is permitted or required by law.” ("Ethical principles of," 2010)

Join now!

Reflect: Celiac Disease

     While I have never personally taken part of a research study, I have read many scholarly articles about research studies in curing celiac disease.  Many of these studies include the patient ingesting a substance that their body has a lethal reaction to in order to test the effectiveness of the vaccination.  

Connect:

      I took part in a medical ethics group.  The discussion was based on a young patient’s desire to die and the parent’s desire to keep the child alive. We studied the stages of death and the child’s development ...

This is a preview of the whole essay