PSYC104 Lecture 7: PSYC104 Research Design Lecture 7 (Week 8) [Ethics]
8 May 2018
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PSYC104 Research Design Lecture
Week 8 – Ethics
Unethical research
• Tuskegee Syphilis Study
o A 40-year study starting 1932 in Alabama, USA on the effects of untreated syphilis
o Participants were recruited on the promise of treatment
o Government officials went to extreme lengths to make sure participants did not get any
treatment
o Procedures were conducted that were painful and distressing but were said to be party of the
treatment
• Human radiation experiments following WW2
o Between 1946 and 1974, human participants were exposed to radiation without their informed
consent
o By the mid 1990s, an investigation found that the entire process was unethical and in fact that
the medical personnel involved had failed to adhere to their own accepted standards of
practice
• Nazi Human Experiment
o Discovered after WW2 that this work done by Nazi researchers on human participants has
never been released as it is seen to be so tainted that any knowledge gained is corrupted
o Resulted in the Nuremberg Code
Nuremberg Code (Summary)
• Must have voluntary consent
• Should yield fruitful results for society not obtainable by other means
• Should be based on results of animal research or extensive knowledge of natural history
• Must avoid all unnecessary suffering both physical and mental
• Cannot conduct if any chance of death or disability [unless on researcher himself]
• Must protect against death or disability
• Must have risk less than or equal to importance of problem
• Must be conducted by scientifically qualified people
• Will empower human participants that they can bring the study to an end at any power
• Must have a scientist in charge who is prepared and able to terminate the study if they believe it to be
necessary to prevent harm to participants
Psychological studies of questionable ethical status
• Little Albert [Watson & Rayner, 1920]
o A tiny infant (9 months at start) whose mother was employed by the researchers’ institution
and was not aware of the experimental procedures
o Exposed to fear inducing noise associating with a white rate
o Albert left the institution before the experimental effect could be removed
• Milgrim [1963] Studies in Obedience
o Participants thought they were doing great harm to another person
o Even unto [supposed] death
o Some refused by many carried out instructions that they thought were ‘potentially’ lethal
• Asch [1955] Studies in Conformity
o A lone participant sits in a room with confederates and is ‘socially’ pressured into asserting
that a line is longest of three when visually they know it is not
o Might seem harmless but that is not certain and in fact could be experienced as rejection or
other powerful psychological experience
The need for ethical guidelines for conducting psychological research
• Participants can have reactions to experimental procedures that are detrimental to their wellbeing
• Researchers are required to take all reasonable steps to prevent such occurrences
• All human participants research must follow the National Health and Medical Research Council’s
guidelines
