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Ethics in Psychology Grade: High School Class: Psychology Essential Question(s) Why are ethics important to consider in psychology experiments? Objectives Educational Students should be able to: 1. Evaluate the significance of the treatment of mental illness in the past compared to today. 2. Investigate the ethical issues involved when doing experiments in psychology. 3. Explain some of the studies that aided in the development of ethical standards in psychology. Informational Students will us evidence from their primary source document in order to explore ethical issues within the field of psychology. Instructional Students will examine different primary sources that illustrate unethical means of treatment or experimentation to determine the influence of unethical treatment and experiments have had on the field of psychology. Standards NCSS Thematic Strand o Time, Continuity, and Change o Individuals, Groups, and Institutions Context This lesson would be used in an introductory psychology course as part of a unit on psychological methods. This would be one of the last lessons in the unit as it brings to light many ethical issues that have since been dealt with from the past. It also incorporates a current ethical issue seen in psychology more recently. Understanding some of the experiments that triggered the need for ethics in psychology provides an important background for future lessons.

Materials Powerpoint, projector, computer with internet access Primary/Secondary Sources o Primary Source 1 (as a class) a scene from Bedlam as depicted by William Hogarth in The Rakes Progress (1735)

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http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/hogarths-a-rakes-progress.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=cU3qzJlu7RIC&lpg=PA622&ots=KK USC_F7dG&dq=Bethlem%20Hospital%20or%20%E2%80%98Bedlam% E2%80%99%20encyclopedia&pg=PA622#v=onepage&q=Bethlem%20H ospital%20or%20%E2%80%98Bedlam%E2%80%99%20encyclopedia&f =false o Primary Source 2 (Groups) Fraud Case Seen as a Red Flag for Psychology Research http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/health/research/noted-dutchpsychologist-stapel-accused-of-research-fraud.html?pagewanted=print o Primary Source 3 (Groups) The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment https://www.msu.edu/course/hm/546/tuskegee.htm#The%20Oslo%20Stud y http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762136.html#ixzz2gRNzcjiI o Primary Source 4 (Groups) The mind is a formidable jailer A Pirandellian prison (Highlighted sections) http://www.prisonexp.org/pdf/pirandellian.pdf Worksheets: o Ethical Issues in Psychology Reading Worksheet o Primary Source 2: Fraud Case Seen as a Red Flag for Psychology Research o Primary Source 3: Tuskegee Syphilis Study o Primary Source 4: A Pirandellian Prison (The Stanford Prison Study) Reading from text: Psychology Principles in Practice Rathus (Chapter 2, Section 4, Pages 55-57) Milgram Clip o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f6LLV3fkXg

Procedures/Timing 1. (Day One: 10 minutes) Students will be shown a scene from Bedlam as depicted by William Hogarth in The Rakes Progress (1735) via powerpoint: a. What do you notice first? Describe behaviors or emotions you see. People on their knees. Assumed upper class watching these people for entertainment. People in costumes. People that are on their knees have a variety of emotionssad, silly, depressed, etc. Bars on windows. Some people look crazy. b. How does this image depict the views of mental illness in the 1700s? Negatively. Like a prison. People watched them for fun. Humiliating. Mental illness could be equated to being a criminal in jail. No freedom. c. What does this say about the treatment of those with mental illness?

Shipley 3 They were not highly thought of or cared about. They were treated very poorly in society. d. How are people with mental illness treated today? Hospitals? Education? People with mental illness is treated better today. It still seems to be something that is swept under the rug. We now have academic accommodations and laws about inclusion- keeping those who have physical and or mental illness in the classrooms as much as appropriate. It is recognized now as an actual illness and does not define a person. 2. (Day One: 5 minutes) After going through these questions as a class I would share the information about this actual hospital on the powerpoint.

3. (Day One: 20 minutes) Students will actively read pages 55-57 by filling out a worksheet that will be used later when analyzing primary source documents in relation to the ethics involved in psychology. After students have read we will discuss their ideas about the reading and worksheet. Worksheet questions and possible answers are as follows: a. Why should psychologists follow ethical standards? What is the purpose of having ethical standards? Psychologists should follow ethical standards for many reasons. One reason is in order to promote the dignity of the researcher and the scientific aspect of psychology to be taken more seriously. Psychology tries to promote human welfare through these experiments. Not following ethical standards would jeopardize not only the integrity but human welfare would not be promoted. Ethical standards also prevent humans from being harmed by participating in psychological experiments. b. You are working with a fellow psychologist who wants to study the differences in twins who grow up apart versus together. Why is it unethical to purposely separate a set of twins at birth for this purpose? What could you propose to do alternatively? It is unethical to split up a set of twins just for a study because of ethics. The reading uses the example of separating a child and mother early on in

Shipley 4 order to look at the developmental effects. Essentially this is the same idea. This would provide very important psychological data but is unethical to purposely separate siblings for the sole purpose of an experiment due to the potential harm. One alternative research approach might be to observe the development of twins that are already separated. You could look at twins who decide to attend different colleges. Twins that separate due to divorce. c. Why is confidentiality important in psychology? Confidentiality is important in psychology for a few reasons. One reason is because psychologists respect participants rights to privacy. Going along with this includes that participants are more truthful when they know information will be confidential. It is essential that a psychologist considers whether breaking confidentiality is necessary and appropriate. d. Can you think of examples for short term negative effects that the APA acknowledges as worthwhile studies on participants? What does informed consent mean or require? Short term negative effects might include temporary feelings of emotions that do not cause severe distress and distraught. These emotions include sadness, anger, frustration, or even confusion. Sometimes the goal of psychology involves seeing how certain people respond to certain things. Informed consent allows for psychologists to avoid situations where participants in research do not know what they are getting themselves into. Consent makes sure that participants know what is going on in the experiment, whats required of them, and that they can choose to stop at any time. e. Why are rules needed for the treatment of animals? Rules are needed for the treatment of animals because harming animals should be the last resort. Alternative experiments that provide the same behaviors or situation is preferred. However, animal research can end up benefiting humans. In order for the harming of an animal in experimental research to be considered is when there are no alternatives and the benefits of the study could potentially outweigh the harm being done initially. Controversy still continues to surround the use of animals in scientific research. 4. (Day Two: 20 minutes) After this laying the context of the importance of ethics in psychological research, students will be split up into groups of three or four. Groups will be given one of three primary source documents and a worksheet that corresponds to the individual document. Worksheet questions and potential answers are provided below: a. Primary Group 2 Before reading, what year was the article published?

Shipley 5 2011 Before reading, what does the title of the article tell you about this article? A psychologist presented some kind of faulty research and was discovered. Who is Diederik Stapel? What did he do? Where is he from? Diederik Stapel is a psychologist from the Netherlands who falsified data in many publications. He was well-known and respected. How do his actions affect the entire field of psychology? It brings psychology down and the field is less respected as a science. More skepticism will be acknowledged toward every researcher in psychology. Why do you think we have a culture such that researchers spin their work in a way that tells a prettier story..? Opinion When you have a hypothesis that is not supported by your data, are the results still helpful? Why or how? Data is helpful for other researchers who may have a similar hypothesis. Allows for others to do things differently next time. Although it is not seen as a success, much can be learned from an experiment that does not support the experimenters hypothesis. Do you think Stapel should be able to continue to do experiments in psychology? Opinion Why was Stapel able to get away with publishing false data? Use evidence from the article. Operating in secrecy and change data to get what they want and not get challenged. Making his data interesting and eye opening to readers via media. How would you reduce the publication of falsified data in experiments? Opinion. Explain the difference in the ethics from this article compared to the scene from Bedlam as depicted by William Hogarth in The Rakes Progress (1735) discussed earlier in class. Hogarths scene dealt with the treatment of individuals. Stapes ethical mistake was publishing false data. Hogarths scene is not an experiment but an actual depiction of what went on in that time period. However, one could argue that mental institutions were an experiment because people did not know what else to do with people who were different. Stapel made a choice to go against ethics while in the scene much of what we think is unethical now was not unethical in the 1700s. b. Primary Group 3 Before reading the typed text, what does the picture titled Mason County Health Department urge patients to do? What do you notice about the choice of words?

Shipley 6 The picture document urges a person to get a second examination for having bad blood. The words are very generic and unspecific. It seems very undisruptive as if the department is lying. Bad blood Special It also seems enticing because they mention that it is free many times. It also seems as though their bad blood may be something to be worried about but they do not directly address that or what it actually is. Before reading the typed text, do you think the researchers doing this experiment care about the wellbeing of participants? Why or why not? Use examples from the picture of the document. From the picture it does not seem the researchers care about the participants. They do not explain anything about what bad blood actually means for the patient. The text goes on and on about how the participant will probably be waiting a long time to be seen so be prepared to stay overnight. Bad blood must not be too bad. After reading the typed text, when did this experiment take place? 1932-1972 What are two ethical issues you can pull out of this experiment? Use evidence from the text to explain why. Refer back to the textbook reading if necessary as well. Lack of informed consent and the use of deception. The text tells us that the participants were not told about what disease they had and that there was no intention of curing the patients. This means the patients had no idea the risks that the researchers were putting them in. The fact they lied and said they were being treated for bad blood aids into deception. Compare the similarities and differences between the Tuskegee Study and the scene from Bedlam as depicted by William Hogarth in The Rakes Progress (1735) discussed earlier in class. Look at ethics, treatment, and result. Make sure to use evidence that you were provided. Mistreatment is a major issue concerning both sources. Hogarths scene shows the upper class watching those with mental and physical illnesses as entertainment. The Tuskegee study chose individuals because they had syphilis. However, they just wanted to see how the disease would affect these men even though a cure was available. Tuskegee was an actual experiment while Hogarths scene depicted how things actually were for those living with mental and or physical illnesses. Discrimination, harm by withholding medical care. Main concern was to do an autopsy for the experiment while the scene shows that the people living there were treated like they were in prison. c. Primary Group 4 What year was this study published? (*Note: APA created the first code of
ethics in 1953)

1973 Where was the study being done? Who was doing the experiment?

Shipley 7 The basement of Stanford Universitys psychology basement. Phillip Zimbardo and three graduate colleagues conducted the study. Zimbardo was a professor of psychology at the University. What is this study observing? How are they doing this? What is the role of the guard? This study is looking at the psychological state of imprisonment. They were interested in looking at the behaviors that this state produced in the prisoners as well as how the guards used their power and authority in treating the prisoners. Prisoners and guards were randomly assigned and both groups were de individualized to a different extent. The guards were told that they are responsible to keep the prisoners under control no matter what. The guard is the authority. Why do you think they created a mock prison? Why not a real prison? They may have created a mock prison rather than going to a real prison because of safety. Another reason might be because of the introduction of the experimenter observing could potentially cause behavior that is not normal to occur. Do you think this experiment follows the ethical standards? Why or why not? Make sure to use examples from the document. Yes or no because of X, Y, and Z (Opinion) Why do you think this experiment was so difficult for some of the prisoners? Some people were more affected emotionally and mentally by the environment in which they were being forced to adapt to. The prisoners were subject to abuse when it comes down to it. Some guards became power hungry and overly emerged into their roles. What did you learn from the study? I learned that the psychological state of imprisonment has a substantial effect on prisoners even when it is an act. This struck me because they gave informed consent to participate but still got so wrapped up in the hypothetical situation. 5. (Day Two: 15 minutes) After groups have finished, students will be regrouped. I will allow students to pick their own groups as long as they have at least one person of each different source within the group. Students will then explain what they found from their source, ethical issue addressed, and what they thought was most surprising. 6. (Day Two: 10 minutes) After the sharing of sources, I will ask the class the following question to discuss. I will expect students to use what they have learned from everything up to this point in the lesson in order to answer: a. Why are rules important for outlining the treatment of humans in experiments? Rules are important for many reasons. Prevent discrimination like in the Tuskegee Study. In order to strengthen the integrity of psychology as a

Shipley 8 scientific science by not falsifying data. Preventing participants from being harmed in anyway including physically and mentally as seen in the Stanford Prison Study. 7. (Day Two: 5 minutes) Before students can leave they must answer a couple questions and turn it in. Answers should be brief- a sentence or two. Questions will be written on the board and students will answer on notebook paper. Questions are as follows: a. Why is it important to follow ethic codes in psychology? b. What ethical issues were addressed in each source: Bedlam by William Hogarth The Rakes Progress Tuskegee Study Stanford Prison Study Red Flag for Psychology Reasearch 8. (Day Three: 30 minutes) Finally students will be shown a clip of a final experiment- a replication of the Obedience study originally created by Stanly Milgram (15 minute clip). The film shows the use of deception by having a volunteer think he is increasing the shocks received by another volunteer for each wrong answer. The person getting shocked is really not getting shocked and is an actor for the experiment. The volunteer is urged to go on with the experiment in order to test the obedience of humans in action when they think they know they are hurting another person. After viewing the clip, I will ask students to analyze the experiment by writing a short persuasive essay addressing whether or not they think this experiment is ethical in their opinion. They would need to make sure to summarize the experiment first and then incorporate ideas and concerns from the textbook reading and the activity using the primary source documents in supporting their ethical position. Assessment 1. Formative assessment a. Students will read about ethics in psychology and fill out an accompanying worksheet that introduces students to some of the important ethical considerations in psychology. b. Students will analyze their primary source documents by answering guided questions on the accompanying worksheet. c. Students will explain their source to peers including a summary and the ethics involved. d. Students will discuss why ethics are necessary from what they learned from related activities. e. Students will answer a few questions to gage their understanding of the importance of ethics. This will be done at the end of class on day two and they must turn it in before they leave.

Shipley 9 f. Assess students argument on whether or not Milgrams study was ethical or not. Evaluate (1) the use of textual and previous discussions evidence and (2) conclusion that brings everything together. Extensions and Adaptations 1. Extension: For gifted students, a web exploration to seek out other experiments in psychology that provide evidence of not following ethical standards. Look at the APA website for the full document of ethical codes for ideas. 2. Adaptation: For struggling students, an outline of all the sources may be provided. I would group students first based on ability and make sure people who are struggling are paired with at least one person that can help aid or explain things to struggling student. I may have struggling students meet me outside of class in order to do the Milgram assignment verbally.