Question 1: Part A

For years at end, many unethical psychological experiments have been conducted on a
broad number of groups in the name of research and observations. Project MK ultra, the
facial expressions experiment, and operation midnight climax are the three experiments I'm
writing about.
Project MKUltra is the first experiment. From 1953 until 1973, a number of unethical
experiments were carried out. The experiments' purpose was to be able to manipulate
people's minds and create chemical materials that could be used in covert operations. The
experiments were formally sanctioned by the CIA. All of the participants in the experiment
were subjected to mind-altering substances, provision of sensitivity features, verbal and
sexual abuse, intense seclusion, hypnosis, and other sorts of torture.
The next experiment was the Facial Expressions experiment, conducted in 1924 at the
University of Minnesota, in which a large number of individuals were exposed to various
stimuli and their reactions to those stimuli were photographed. Happiness, horror, disgust,
and other emotions were among the expressions. Ammonia, handling reptiles, seeing
indecent films, and even removing rats' heads were among the stimuli they were subjected
to.
The third experiment, Operation Midnight Climax, a CIA-sponsored experiment that took
place in the 1950s, is the third experiment. It was centred on determining the effects of the
chemical LSD on people. Individuals or subjects who were a part of this experiment were
non-consenting and were taken or lured by prostitutes hired by the CIA, after which they
were given mind-altering substances. Then, through a one-sided glass, their actions were
monitored. Although the results of these experiments were broad and even beneficial, they
were all eventually shut down due to the unethical procedures and apparatus used to obtain
them.

Question 1: Part B
Subject: Violation of the APA Code of Conduct
Dear Ethical Committee,
I am writing this application in order to inform you of the infractions that have been a part of
the experiments that I have depicted in the attached document.
The first and third experiments involved the use of mind-altering drugs on individuals who
were not consenting and were subjected not only to the uncontrollable and unconscious
effects of the drugs, but also to verbal and sexual abuse.The second experiment involves
exposing individuals to mental as well as physical torture by forcing them to react to certain
brutal stimuli that are not only dangerous for their mental health but also quite unethical.
Clearly, all three of these experiments have been in violation of the APA ethical code of
conduct. Serious measures should be taken to enforce these codes upon psychologists
within the USA and ensure that every psychologist considers them before not only
performing experiments but also during their conduct with their clients within their practise.
Yours sincerely,
Name of student.
Question 2: Part A
Every area of the existing ethical code of the American Psychological Association directs
psychologists in a different way toward ethical action. The General Principles are a goal-
oriented set of guidelines. In other ways, they define an idealised degree of ethical
functioning or the behaviour that psychologists should aspire for. They do not provide any
explicit definition of ethical infractions, but rather describe outstanding ethical behaviour in a
broader sense. In comparison, the Ethical Standards segment of the ethical code contains
strictly enforced codes of conduct. Therefore, when a psychologist is found to be guilty of an
ethical violation, it is indeed a standard which is infringed. Hence, as it is obvious from these
facts, the current legal requirements are just right when it comes to steering psychologists
towards their own behaviour within their practise.

Question 2: Part B
A clinical psychologist should have a strategy in place to make the best ethical conclusion
feasible when an ethical dilemma occurs. Although the American Psychological
Association's ethical code does not specifically mention such decision-making models, a
number of specialists in the field have suggested them. Celia Fisher is one such expert,
having chaired the American Psychological Association's Ethics Code Task Force, which
was responsible for the modification of the ethical code in 2002. Fisher provides an eight-
step approach for ethical decision making in her book Decoding the Ethics Code. I believe
the addition of such a model into the Code of Ethics would provide psychologists with a
resolved and conflict free approach towards their conduct.

Question 2: Part C
When a psychologist's ethical obligations clash with the law, regulations, or other controlling
legal authority, the psychologist declares his or her allegiance to the Ethics Code and makes
efforts to address the problem. If the issue cannot be resolved through these methods,
psychologists may be forced to follow the rules of the law, regulations, or other governing
legal body. These sections guarantee that psychologists are not caught between the law and
the ethics of their profession. I believe that this ethical standard could be improved to provide
a better method of resolving such conflicts in order to make practise even more civilised.