Examination – Study Period 1, 2024

PSYC1005 - PSB120 - Science and Professional Practice in Psychology

Curtin School of Population Health

EXAMINATION

Study Period 1, 2024

PSYC1002 Science and Professional Practice in Psychology

This is an OPEN BOOK examination

Instructions to Students

Please read these instructions and each question carefully. You must answer all

questions. This written exam has a total of 30 marks available is worth 30% of your unit

grade. You will be provided with four short case study descriptions. For each of these case

studies you will be asked to: 1) identify potential ethical issues that need to be considered by

those involved (including the relevant ethical standard/guideline) and why they are of

concern, and 2) describe how the ethical issues identified could be minimised or mitigated.

Make sure that your consideration of how the issue could be addressed is realistic, feasible,

and meets the ethical guidelines as described in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in

Human Research or the APS Code of Ethics.

Examination Cover Sheet

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PSYC1005 - PSB120 - Science and Professional Practice in Psychology
Case studies 1 and 2 relate to ethics in psychological research. For each ethical issue

that you identify in these case studies, you must refer to the chapter and relevant guideline

from the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) National Statement on

Ethical Conduct in Human Research. For example, “this issue relates to Chapter 3.1: The

elements of research, specifically guidelines 3.1.14 and 3.1.16, which are about…”. You can

access the relevant document here: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/national-

statement-ethical-conduct-human-research-2007-updated-2018

Case studies 3 and 4 relate to ethics in psychological practice. For each ethical issue

that you identify in these case studies, you must refer to the General Principle and the related

Ethical Standard/s from the Australian Psychological Society’s (APS) Code of Ethics

document. For example, “this issue relates to General Principle A: Respect, specifically

Standard A.1.2, which is about…”. You can access the relevant document here:

https://www.psychology.org.au/getmedia/d873e0db-7490-46de-bb57-c31bb1553025/18APS-

Code-of-Ethics.pdf

This exam is open book and you may consult any other resources you need to help

you answer the questions. You do not need to include a reference list of sources used.

However, the exam must be written in your own words and you must not discuss the

exam with other students or any other individual. Direct quotes are not allowed at all

(including information from the guidelines), and will not contribute towards your grade.

Submissions will be carefully checked for plagiarism and collusion using Turnitin, as well as

checked for the use of any AI tools (such as ChatGPT).

General Formatting

Your exam must be Calibri, size 12 font with 2.5cm margins (top, bottom, and sides),

and single-spaced (1.0). Please do not change any of the existing formatting settings of

Examination Cover Sheet

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PSYC1005 - PSB120 - Science and Professional Practice in Psychology
this document. You may use subheadings to organise your answers if you wish. You must

write in full sentences (i.e., bullet points/numbered lists are not allowed). Please adhere to

the word limits for each case study, as outlined below. Please respond to each case study

on a separate page below that is clearly labelled with the case study number at the top. You do

not need to rewrite the whole question. Add your answers at the end of this document in the

‘Examination Answers’ section and upload your completed exam document per the

instructions below.

Exam Submission

You have 24 hours to complete this exam. Your exam must be submitted to Turnitin

using the submission portal in the ‘Assessment 3- Exam’ folder on Blackboard. Note that you

cannot upload multiple drafts to the exam submission portal; your first submission is

final. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have completed and submitted your exam

correctly. If you have submitted correctly, a download link for the submission receipt will be

generated. Make sure to save this receipt as proof of your exam submission. If you have any

difficulty submitting the exam via Turnitin, you must email the final document to your Unit

Coordinator, Scott Devenport (PSYC1005@curtin.edu.au), with screenshot evidence of the

issue you are having, before the due date and time.

Examination Cover Sheet

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PSYC1005 - PSB120 - Science and Professional Practice in Psychology
Examination Questions

Case Study 1: Ethics in Psychological Research (9 marks total; 450 words maximum)

Dr Milburn is interested in studying whether internet usage is related to feelings of

loneliness and depression among university students. Dr Milburn plans on recruiting

participants through the university’s research participation program, where students can sign

up to take part in research to meet their course requirements. Dr Milburn will be asking one

group of students to use the internet for at least six hours per day and another group of

students to abstain from using the internet altogether, over a three-week period. Knowing that

obtaining ethical approval may take several weeks and there is not much time before the end

of the semester, Dr Milburn starts recruitment before receiving ethical approval (confident

that the study will be approved eventually anyway). This means that the experiment will take

place in the three weeks leading up to the examination period, which is just in time for when

students need to have completed their participation points. Dr Milburn also plans to collect

data on the participants’ internet activity by monitoring their online social media profiles to

ensure both groups are following the study instructions appropriately. Dr. Milburn decides to

omit this detail from the study description so as to not discourage students from participating.

It soon becomes clear that recruitment of participants into the study is slow, so to boost

recruitment, Dr Milburn shows a slide advertising the study at the end of their 1st year

lecture. To further encourage students, Dr Milburn tells the students they will receive 5 extra

marks on their final exam if they participate.

a) Identify THREE ethical issues, and the corresponding ethical principles from the

NHMRC guidelines, that Dr Milburn should be aware of when designing and

executing this study. You need to specify what each issue is (refer to the relevant

guideline/s from the NHMRC National Statement) and why it is of concern (6 marks).

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b) For each ethical issue that you have identified above, describe how this issue could be

minimised or mitigated (3 marks).

The space to answer this question is provided on page 5.

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Case Study 2- Ethics in Psychological Research (6 marks total; 300 words maximum)

Professor Effiong is seeking to assess the effectiveness of a 2-month intervention

program to increase perceived empowerment in people who experience stigmatisation around

poverty. Professor Effiong has approval from the local ethics board to approach people when

they are leaving a local food bank to ask them if they would like to participate in the study.

One day, noticing that there is a soup kitchen near the office, Professor Effiong also asks

volunteers there to hand out recruitment flyers. The study requires participants to engage in

daily 30-minute coaching phone calls and attend weekly 90-minute group sessions for the

duration of the 2-month program. Professor Effiong has considered compensating

participants by providing phone credit and taxi vouchers to attend the group sessions, but has

already spent the research funds on a conference trip. Professor Effiong argues that the

program itself will be so beneficial that compensation will not be required. Since starting the

study, several participants have expressed their desire to withdraw from the study due to

participation requiring too much time, and the location being inaccessible by public transport.

However, by explaining to the participants that it is unfair on the research team for them to

withdraw when so much effort went into the design of the program, Professor Effiong has

been able to successfully persuade most of the participants to stay in the study.

a) Identify TWO potential ethical issues, and the corresponding principles from the

NHMRC guidelines, that Professor Effiong should be aware of when designing and

executing this study. You need to specify what each issue is (refer to the relevant

guideline/s from the NHMRC National Statement) and why it is of concern (4

marks).

b) For each ethical issue that you have identified above, describe how this issue could

be minimised or mitigated (2 marks).

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The space to answer this question is provided on page 6.

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Case Study 3- Ethics in Psychological Practice (9 marks total; 450 words maximum)

Dr Marchetti is conducting an assessment of a 13-year-old girl, Hawi, who has

recently moved to Australia with her family from Ethiopia. Since moving, Hawi has enrolled

at a new school in Perth and one of her teachers has noted that she has not been engaging

well in class, has trouble communicating with her peers and is quite isolated. Hawi’s parents

have agreed to the assessment and attend the first appointment with Dr Marchetti. Having

recently attended a professional development seminar on intelligence testing, Dr Marchetti

decides to assess Hawi’s intelligence, with a particular focus in her processing speed,

working memory, and verbal comprehension. While Dr Marchetti has used this test before

with English-speaking Australian children, they wonder whether it would be culturally

appropriate for Hawi, and whether she knows English well enough to take the test. Dr

Marchetti has not had much experience with clients from diverse cultures, but sees this as an

excellent professional development opportunity and approaches the process with the

philosophy of ‘trial and error’. Additionally, Dr Marchetti thinks using this test will be the

quickest and easiest option, given their personal familiarity with it. Because Hawi’s parents

do not speak English very well, Dr Marchetti decides to send the assessment report to the

school, as they can inform the parents of the appropriate actions to be taken.

a) Identify THREE ethical issues, and the corresponding ethical principles from the

APS Code of Ethics, that Dr Marchetti should be aware of in this situation. You need

to specify what each issue is (refer to the relevant standard from the APS Code of

Ethics) and why it is of concern (6 marks).

b) For each ethical issue that you have identified above, describe how this issue could be

minimised or mitigated (3 marks).

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The space to answer this question is provided on page 7.

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Case Study 4- Ethics in Psychological Practice (6 marks total; 300 words maximum)

Dr Gibbs has been meeting with a client once every two weeks for about two years

now. This client originally presented with symptoms of social anxiety disorder, but after

implementing an effective therapeutic treatment plan, the client has seen a significant

reduction in their symptoms and is functioning well socially and at work. Dr Gibbs feels that

the client no longer requires psychological treatment but is reluctant to tell them. Dr Gibbs

actually looks forward to talking with the client regularly, as it provides some relief from

their work with “difficult” clients, which lately has been leaving Dr Gibbs feeling burnt out

and tired. Dr Gibbs believes that they are not doing any harm, as the client does not appear to

be worried about paying for the fortnightly sessions and hasn’t expressed a desire to stop

therapy. Last month, Dr Gibbs noticed they matched with the client on a dating app and

decided to end the sessions – providing a referral to a colleague. Dr Gibbs has now reached

out to the client via the dating app, and have asked them out for dinner.

a) Identify TWO ethical issues, and the corresponding ethical principles from the APS

Code of Ethics, that Dr Gibbs should be aware of in this situation. You need to

specify what the issue is (refer to the relevant standard from the APS Code of Ethics)

and why it is of concern (4 marks).

b) For each ethical issue that you have identified above, describe how this issue could be

minimised or mitigated (2 marks).

The space to answer this question is provided on page 8.

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Examination Answers

Case Study 1- Ethics in Psychological Research (9 marks total; 450 words maximum)

Ethical Issues

According to the information provided in Dr. Milburn’s study, there are several

ethical questions to be asked. First, he started enrolling participants for the study without

obtaining the necessary ethical clearance from the NHMRC as highlighted in the guidelines

5. 1. 6 and 5. 1. 7, which involves the need for ethical clearance in order to assess the

potential risks of the study. Subjecting participants to premature recruitment makes them face

risks that have not been assessed and complicates ethical guidelines of institutions. Secondly,

the author did not secure informed consent from the participants for monitoring their social

network usage from social media sites which is against the guidelines provided by NHMRC

in the Australian code for the responsible conduct of research 2. 2. 1 and 2. 2. 2, which direct

that all aspects of a study should be clearly and fully disclosed. This omission leads the

participants astray and undermines their autonomy and privacy. Last but not least, the extra

marks for participation are coercive based on guidelines 3. 1. 7 and 3. 1. 9, thereby possibly

influencing the students to enroll and hence threaten the voluntary nature of the consent in

this study.

Mitigating Ethical Issues

In order to tackle the challenge of having no ethical approval, Dr. Milburn should

cease all activities related to recruitment and data collection until ethical approval is granted

by the ethics committee. This action facilitates a comprehensive review of the study to enable

the identification of possible risks that may be posed to the participants. In the same way, it

also brings the research process in harmony with the rules and regulations of the institution

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and laws that govern their conducts this underscores the importance of adhering to ethical

considerations in the conduct of psychological research.

With regard to the lack of information provided in the consent process, Dr. Milburn

should ensure that the informed consent forms include specific information in this regard

regarding the tracking of patients’ social media profiles. The recipient should be well aware

of all the aspects of the study, including the data collection techniques and the aim of the

monitoring. This transparency help the participants to make their own choice on whether or

not to participate in the study and also ensure that their right to privacy is upheld. However,

Dr. Milburn should avoid using invasive ways of ascertaining whether participants are

following the study guidelines or not, such as monitoring logs or check-ins which are likely

to infringe on the participants’ rights and increase the risks of ethical violation.

In order to avoid the situation where a student may feel coerced into participating in

the study, Dr. Milburn should consider not giving extra marks as a reward. Alternatively, he

could look for other factors that do not relate to the academic achievement of students such as

giving them some money or voucher. Furthermore, the recruitment could be done in a way

where we do not target students based on their attendance in lectures or other academic

obligations, for instance, we can use emails or any other research participation platforms.

This approach is useful in ensuring that students participate voluntarily and that they give

their consent freely and without coercion.

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Case Study 2- Ethics in Psychological Research (6 marks total; 300 words maximum)

Ethical Issues

In the study conducted by Professor Effiong, the issues that were not aligned with the

NHMRC guidelines include; inadequate compensation for participants. 2. 6 and 2. 2. It is,

therefore, important to take a look at the 7th step as it presents an ethical concern. There is no

provision for compensating for phone credits, transportation, and this may be quite

demanding to the participants especially the ones who are already in financial challenges due

to the daily coaching call and weekly group meetings. This further raises an issue of an

oversight that may result in the exclusion of some population groups thus reducing the

generalizability of the study. Furthermore, forcing the participants to continue with the study

even if they have changed their mind in accordance with NHMRC guideline 2. 2. 19, which

also present ethical concerns relating to undue influence and autonomy invasion. Appeals to

fairness and team spirit by Professor Effiong may, however, have the effect of pressurizing

participants, which undermines the principle of voluntary participation and possibly cause

distress.

Mitigation Strategies

To address this problem of low compensation, Professor Effiong should consider

relocating some of the funds to cover for the phone credit and transportation allowance of the

participants so that they do not further strain themselves to contribute to this study. This

change complies with the NHMRC guidelines and provides equality for the participants, thus

increasing the chances of having a wider geographical distribution. Furthermore, one could

look for grants to alleviate the funding burden or make some alterations to the observational

study to minimize the financial burden on the participants. In the aspect of pressure to stay in

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the study, the study should consider adopting a more considerate attitude towards dropout.

Appropriate information should be conveyed to participants including the fact that they may

choose to withdraw from the study at any time with no harm or repercussions, hence

upholding ethical consideration. It has been suggested that describing the right to withdraw in

the consent forms and at the time of enrolment may reduce perceived pressure of participants

to continue with their participation.

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Case Study 3- Ethics in Psychological Practice (9 marks total; 450 words maximum)

a.) In the case of Dr. Marchetti, some ethical questions can be raised. First of all,

administering an intelligence test while ignoring its cultural appropriateness in Hawi

is against Standard A. 4 of the APS Code of Ethics which stipulates that psychologists

should always respect cultural differences in their practice. The assessment can be

unfair and the results may not be valid when cultural differences are taken into

account in the assessment process. This is a clear violation of the ethical principle of

fairness in assessment, and it also casts doubts on the validity of the conclusions made

from the test results. Secondly, Dr. Marchetti has not worked with culturally diverse

clients, which is an important ethical concern and may be in conflict with Standard A.

3 that requires professionals to be competent. Dr. Marchetti, however, lacks sufficient

cultural humility and understanding of Hawi’s behavior and needs and might develop

skewed perceptions and misguided approaches. This lack of competence can be

considered to go against the ethical principle of beneficence because it is possible that

the care and support provided to Hawi will not be optimal.

One final ethical concern that can be identified from the case is regarding the action

of Dr. Marchetti forwarding the assessment report to the school without the required

authorization from Hawi’s parents/guardian as stipulated by the APS Code of Ethics

particularly Standard A. 7. This standard provides a focus for ethical practice such as

informed consent and confidentiality, which underlines the importance of people’s

rights to privacy. In this case, Dr. Marchetti’s action of divulging sensitive

information to third parties without the patient’s permission threatens Hawi’s

confidentiality and autonomy and may lead to harm and loss of trust in the therapeutic

process. This violation of confidentiality goes against the ethical standard of respect

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for the rights and dignity of individuals, especially the rights of Hawi and her parents,

and as such, Dr. Marchetti should ensure that informed consent is obtained from

Hawi’s parents before sharing any assessment results with a third party.

b.) To address the cultural appropriateness issue, Dr. Marchetti could have consulted

other professionals or experts in cross cultural assessments to help him determine

whether the test is culturally fair for Hawi. However, Dr. Marchetti could consider

using other assessment techniques that are less culturally intrusive, or, if possible, the

culture assessment which is more sensitive to Hawi’s background and needs as stated

in Standard A. 4. With regards to the lack of cultural competence, Dr. Marchetti could

enroll for cultural competency and diversity training and this would help him

understand the cultural differences and give accurate results in the future. In order to

avoid the violation of the right for confidentiality and informed consent according to

Standard A. 7, Dr. Marchetti should obtain the parents’ permission to share any

assessment reports with the school, and thus avoid any potential conflicts.

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Case Study 4- Ethics in Psychological Practice (6 marks total; 300 words maximum)

Two ethical issues arise in Dr. Gibbs' situation: First, the lack of notifying the client

about the termination of the therapy, which is against the Standard A. 7 of the APS Code of

Ethics regarding informed consent and clients’ self-determination. This gap takes away the

client’s right to be involved in the decision making process of his/her treatment, which in

return, may affect his/her autonomy and confidence in the therapeutic process. Secondly, I

will discuss the violation of Standard A. 3 which concerns the aspect of boundaries, that is,

Dr. Gibbs crossing the boundaries while contacting the client through a dating app to invite

them for dinner. Having social or romantic relationships with clients or even the clients

whom one has treated earlier may be a violation of the therapeutic boundaries and may result

in negative consequences for the client. These breaches of ethics are problematic for several

reasons; they compromise the welfare and rights of the clients, trust, and the whole

therapeutic process.

To address the ethical dilemma of non-disclosure to the client regarding the

termination of therapy, Dr. Gibbs should adhere to the principle of disclosing information to

the client and seeking their consent. This entails explaining to the client why one is

terminating treatment, reviewing the present condition of the client and his or her progress,

and then referring the client to other forms of treatment. This way, Dr. Gibbs embraces the

client’s rights and provides guidance to the client in a way that makes them understand the

course of action that Dr. Gibbs is about to apply in the therapeutic process, which is in

consonance with Standard A. 7 of the APS Code of Ethics. In this regard, to address the

boundary-crossing behaviour, Dr. Gibbs should consider finding a supervisor or consulting

someone in case of any feelings or conflicts of interest that may occur. In order to avoid

potential harm or exploitation of the client, it is crucial to define professional boundaries and

follow ethical guidelines set in Standard A. 3.

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END OF EXAMINATION

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