Question

Discuss the major ethical conducts regarding the use of psychological tests by psychologists

Answer 1

Ethics refers to the correct rules of conduct necessary when carrying out research. We have a moral responsibility to protect research participants from home. The important issue is that under investigation, psychologists need to remember that they have a duty to respect the rights and dignity of research participants. This means they must abide by certain moral principles and rules of conduct .There are 6 codes of conduct to protect research participants, the reputation of psychology and psychologists themselves. they are

1. Informed consent

2. Debrief

3. Protection of participants

4. Deception

5. Confidentiality

6 Withdrawal from the investigation

1. Informed consent: whenever possible investigators should obtain the consent of participants. In practice this means it is not sufficient to simply get potential participants to say “yes”,, they also need to know what it is that they are a grain. The psychologist should be practicable explain what is involved in advance and obtain the informed consent of participants .In order that consent be “informed”,consent forms may need to be accompanied by an information sheet for participants setting out information about the proposed study along with details about the investigators and how they can be contacted.

2. Debrief: After the research is over the participants should be able to discuss the procedure and the findings with the psychologist. they must be given a general idea of what the researcher was investigating and why and their part in the research should be explained .the purpose of the debriefing is to remove any misconceptions and anxiety that the participants have about the research and to leave them with a sense of dignity, knowledge and perception of time not wasted. the aim of the debriefing is not just to provide information but to help the participants leave the experimental situation in a similar frame of mind as when he or she entered it.

3. Protection of participants: researchers must ensure that those taking part in research will not be caused distress. they must be protected from physical and mental harm. This means you must not embarrass, frighten, or offend or harm participants. the researcher must also ensure that if vulnerable groups are to be used they must to receive special care for example if studying children, make sure their participation is brief as they get tired easily and have a limited attention span.

4. Deception: this is where participants are misled or wrongly informed about the aims of the research. types of deception include deliberate misleading examples using confederates, staged manipulation in in field settings deceptive instructions and deception by omission for example failure to disclose full information about the study for creating ambiguity.

5. Confidentiality: participants and the data gained from them must be kept anonymous unless they give their full consent. no names must be used in a lab report. researchers have no legal obligation to disclose criminal acts and have to determine which is the most important consideration: their duty to the participants versus duty to the wider community. ultimately decisions to disclose information will have to be set in the context of the aim of the research.

6. withdrawal from an investigation: participants should be able to leave a study at any time if they feel uncomfortable. they should also be allowed to withdraw their data. they should be told at the start of the study that they have the right to withdraw. they should not have pressure placed upon them to continue if they do not want to. participants mayfield they should not withdraw as this may spoil the study. many participants are paid or receive course credit, they may worry they won't get this if they withdraw even at the end of the study the participants have a final opportunity to withdraw the data they have provided for the research