CODE OF ETHICS:

PRINCIPLE IV
A report by:
Precious M. Carpizo
&
Ron Rose Amper
 PROFESSIONAL
AND SCIENTIFIC
RESPONSIBILITIES
TO SOCIETY
 Psychology is a profession. It requires highly specialized

education. They created their own languages—generally

not understood by the populace at large—and

developed their own standards of practice, ethics, and so

forth.
• Psychology functions as a discipline within the context of human

society. As a science and a profession, it has responsibilities to society.

These responsibilities include contributing to the knowledge about

human behavior and to persons’ understanding of themselves and

others, and using such knowledge to improve the condition of

individuals, families, groups, communities, and society.

 They also include conducting its affairs within society in
accordance with the highest ethical standards, and encouraging
the development of social structures and policies that benefit
all persons and peoples.
 Differences exist in the way these responsibilities are

interpreted by psychologists in different cultures. However, they

need to be considered in a way that is culturally appropriate and

consistent with the ethical principles and related values of this

Declaration.
 THEREFORE, psychologists accept as fundamental the

Principle of Professional and Scientific Responsibilities to

Society. In so doing, they accept the following related values:

a) the discipline’s responsibility to increase

scientific and professional knowledge in

ways that allow the promotion of the well-

being of society and all its members;

 Look around you. What are the issues in your
community? In your society?

What can we do about them as future

psychologists?

What do we know about it? Do we have the

enough knowledge, and skills to solve them?
 “To advance psychology as a science, as a profession, and as

a means of promoting human welfare” (Wolfle, 1946/1997, p.

721).
 b) the discipline’s responsibility to use

psychological knowledge for beneficial purposes and

to protect such knowledge from being misused, used

incompetently, or made useless;

 Should psychologists take a high profile

stance on controversial issues in their

personal time?
 Even if the psychologist is not intentionally representing the

profession, individuals familiar with the psychologist’s profession

may assume that certain behaviors are reflective of the field of

psychology and these actions may have harmful repercussions for

consumers.
• Clinical Psychology and Industrial Psychology: Validation of diagnostic
instruments.
• School Psychology: clear understanding of the person’s talents, skills,
knowledge, interests, knowledge about diverse jobs, matching these
informations to provide the best career guidance.
• Evaluation of interventions/ treatment
• Empirically supported treatments and teachings
• The question of quality control
 Some psychologists may hold alternative views to those promoted by
APA and even act on them in their personal time.
It would be easy to see psychologists getting involved on certain issues
that mattered to them personally.
Even if psychologists’ public involvement takes place during their
personal time, individuals familiar with the psychologist’s profession may
assume their behavior is representative of the field, which could have a
detrimental impact on current or future clients.
It is important, therefore, for psychologists who are considering taking
public positions based on their personal values to contemplate the
potential negative consequences for their professional roles and the
individuals to whom they have responsibility for a standard of care.
 PROFESSIONAL VS.
PERSONAL LIFE

Psychologists should not endorse a personal

belief that has not been supported by research or is

not within the bounds of competency of the

psychologist.
 c) the discipline’s responsibility to conduct its affairs

in ways that are ethical and consistent with the

promotion of the well-being of society and all its

members;
d) the discipline’s responsibility to promote the

highest ethical ideals in the scientific,professional

and educational activities of its members;

• Psychologists consult with, refer to, or cooperate with
other professionals and institutions to the extent
needed to serve the best interests of those with whom
they work.

• They are concerned about the ethical compliance of

their colleagues' scientific and professional conduct.

• Honor all promises and commitments that are
made prior to obtaining inform consent,

• Psychologists strive to contribute a portion

of their professional time for little or no
compensation or personal advantage
e) the discipline’s responsibility to adequately

train its members in their ethical responsibilities

and required competencies;

• The clinical section identified three goals: “promoting better
working relationships within clinical and within allied fields,
developing professional standards for practitioners, and
encouraging research and publication on topics in clinical
psychology” (Napoli, 1981, p. 26).
• The consulting psychologists called on the APA to develop a code of
professional ethics.

• They sought help in protecting the label “psychologist.” They called for
changes in graduate training that included additional applied
psychology experiences, including internships (which had begun as
early as 1908 but were still uncommon; see Routh, 2000). And they
asked that psychology departments hire more faculty who
had significant practical experience.
• Psychologists with similar needs could work together on issues of common concern.

• Licensing boards, certification, and insurance reimbursement for the clients

• When the new APA was formed in 1946, a “professional” journal was established, American
Psychologist (AP). Initially, many articles on professional training and professional job
opportunities were published in AP. After 10 years, AP was serving a broader, association-
wide role.
 PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY (PP)

- an experimental publication to tackle policy issues, case histories, training and internship opportunities,
and so forth that are important in the applied practice.

- was made an “official” APA publication.

- coverage included managed care, prescription privileges for psychologists, telehealthcare, expanding
roles for psychologists within the public policy (including legislative and administrative) arena, and
behavioral health-service delivery within primary care, and many of these issues exhibit growing salience
for the profession and for the public.

- Training and Education in Professional Psychology

 POST-CONVENTION WORKSHOPS
Title Group-administered Intelligence Tests
•
Facilitator/s Arsenio Sze Alianan, Jr. PhD, RPsy
This 3-hour seminar introduces the measurement of intelligence with a focus on
group-administered intelligence tests. It gives an overview of the history of the
measurement of intelligence and some landmark models of intelligence. These are
meant to enhance the discussion on the interpretation of some group-administered
intelligence tests. Some exemplars of these tests, both foreign-made and locally
developed, will also be discussed. The seminar ends with some examples of
reporting intelligence test results.

Abstract
At the end of this 3-hour seminar-workshop, the participants would be able to:
1. Explain a brief history of the measurement of intelligence;
2. Clarify at least five models of intelligence;
3. Link the models of intelligence with specific group-administered intelligence
tests; and
4. Interpret and report sample intelligence test results.
 Dr. Boboy Sze Alianan completed his doctorate in Clinical
Psychology from the Ateneo de Manila University. He is a certified
specialist in clinical and assessment psychology of the
Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP), and currently a
board member. He has been a registered psychologist since
About the 2013. He is a founding member of PsychConsult, Inc., and a full time
Facilitator/ faculty member of the Department of Psychology at the Ateneo de
Manila University. He is engaged in active research and publication
s of his work. He has been teaching, mentoring, and supervising other
psychologists since the last 1990’s. He also has extensive
experience in the practice of psychology, doing both psychological
assessment and a range of psychological interventions for over 25
years.
f) the discipline’s responsibility to develop its ethical

awareness and sensitivity, and to be as self-correcting

as possible.
• They are aware of their professional and scientific
responsibilities to society and to the specific
communities in which they work.
• Psychologists uphold professional standards of
conduct,
• clarify their professional roles and obligations,
• accept appropriate responsibility for their behavior
and
• seek to manage conflicts of interest that could lead
to exploitation or harm.
 If a psychologist were a public pro-life or anti-abortion advocate, for
example, this could hurt the relationship with her client who is in therapy to
deal with depression after having had an abortion, as well as future clients
seeking therapy for this reason.
Openly promoting personal beliefs has the potential to negatively affect
the therapeutic relationship if the client does not share the psychologist’s
point of view. Prospective clients may feel judged before beginning therapy
and may avoid seeking treatment when needed.
 It is the psychologist’s duty to correct the false

advertisements by explicitly stating that they participated in these

activities in their personal time. The same goes for psychologists

who willingly providing public comment on a matter.

 SOME
SCENARIOS
TO
PONDER….(SS
TP)
 Outside of work, Dr. Shenanigan, a psychologist, is very involved in politics. He holds strong
opinions on universal healthcare and is passionate about educating others on his beliefs about the bill.
Dr. Shenanigan is an active member of his political party, and spends his leisure time campaigning
door to door, sharing his perspective on essential information on universal healthcare, and
encouraging people to vote for his candidate of choice.

When Dr. Shenanigan is campaigning, he is sure to travel in groups of two or three in case he
knocks on a current client’s door (which has happened in the past) so, after greeting the client, he can
step back and allow the others to do most of the talking. Dr. Shenanigan is not concerned that his
political activities interfere with his professional role because he takes this precaution.
 Dr. Linoleum is a psychologist with conservative values. She joined the

Tea Party last year, and took public positions that were consistent with the Tea

Party’s views: anti-gay, pro-life, and anti-gay marriage and parenting. The Tea

Party wanted to use Dr. Linoleum as a spokesperson on behalf of the political

group so that the public would see her as a psychologist holding these values,

not just as a private citizen. Dr. Linoleum was flattered by the request and

accepted the position.

 Although the Ethics Code permits psychologists to engage in
these activities in their leisure time, participation in such high profile
behavior could have unplanned detrimental effects.

Given that APA only takes a stance when there is considerable

scientific evidence supporting a particular direction on an issue.

Assumptions could easily be made by the public that all

psychologists hold a similar opinion on specific controversial issues
based on the psychologist’s public position.
Campbell, Vasquez, Behnke, & Kinscherff, (2010) made an excellent point that
all public statements made by psychologists leave an impression on the
community regarding the field of psychology. This issue overlaps with
Principle C (Integrity), which details that psychologists should promote honesty
and should not intentionally misrepresent information (APA, 2002).
KAMSAHAMNIDA!