Code of Ethics

- Experimental Psychology

Dr. Arathi Venkatesh

Associate Professor

MISSION VISION CORE VALUES

CHRIST is a nurturing ground for an individual’s holistic development to Excellence and Service Faith in God | Moral Uprightness
make effective contribution to the society in a dynamic environment Love of Fellow Beings
Social Responsibility | Pursuit of Excellence
 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Welcome to the Online Classroom session

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Q & A Session with regard to the Ethics (based on post-class

Activities)

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Introduction
What is Code of Ethics?
Code of Ethics refers to the correct rules of conduct necessary when carrying out research. We as Psychologists
have a moral responsibility to ensure that our methods are scientific and highly professional.

Purpose:
 Purpose of the Code of Ethics is to protect Research Participants, the reputation of Psychology and the
reputation of the Psychologists

 Ethics code provides guidance for professionals working in the field of psychology so that they’re
better equipped with the knowledge of what to do when they encounter some type of moral or ethical dilemma.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Why APA?
The APA is the professional body which has researched well and has derived at the ethics, which provides the
guidelines to conduct research and experiments in Psychology.

The American Psychological Association (APA) publishes both:

1. The Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct which outlines aspirational principles as well as
2. The enforceable standards that psychologists should use when making decisions.

The APA first published their ethics code in 1953 and has been continuously evolving the code ever since.

The current version of the ethics code, which introduced the distinction between principles and standards, was
developed in 2002 and later amended in 2010 and 2016.

The code of ethics applies only to work-related, professional activities including research, teaching, counselling,
psychotherapy, and consulting. Private conduct is not subject to scrutiny by the APA's ethics committee.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

The Five Ethical Principles

1. Principle A: Beneficence and Non-maleficence

The first principle of the APA ethics code states that psychologists should strive to protect the rights and welfare of
those with whom they work professionally.
 Beneficence: Psychologists strive to benefit those with whom they work and
 Non-maleficence: To take care, so that no harm is done to the participants / subjects

From a Psychological Experiments’ perspective, this includes the participants who are the subjects, on whom
Assessments or Experiments are deployed. It could also include animals as subjects.
From a Therapist perspective, it includes clients they see in clinical practice; and anyone else with whom they
engage in professional interaction.

This principles encourages psychologists to strive to eliminate biases, affiliations, and prejudices that might
influence their work.

This includes acting independently in research and not allowing affiliations or sponsorships to influence results.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

The Five Ethical Principles

2. Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility

Psychologists have a moral responsibility to help ensure that others working in their profession also uphold high
ethical standards.

This principle suggests that psychologists should participate in activities that enhance the ethical compliance and
conduct of their colleagues. Serving as a mentor, taking part in peer-review, and pointing out ethical concerns
or misconduct are examples of how this principle might be put into action.

Psychologists are also encouraged to donate some of their time to the betterment of the community.

Researchers and assistants are permitted to perform only those tasks for which they are appropriately trained and
prepared.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

The Five Ethical Principles

3. Principle C: Integrity

In research and practice, psychologists should never attempt to deceive or misrepresent. In research, deception
can involve fabricating or manipulating results in some way to achieve desired outcomes.

Psychologists should also strive for transparency and honesty in their practice.

When deception is used in research (which may involve the use of confederates / partners as participants or not
fully revealing the true nature of the research), psychologists must make efforts to mitigate the effects.

This type of research deception must be justified and the possible gains must outweigh potential drawbacks.

The use of deception should be minimal, not result in distress, and be disclosed at the earliest possible opportunity.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

The Five Ethical Principles

3. Principle C: Integrity

Examples of Deception:
 Subjects complete a quiz, and are falsely told that they did very poorly, regardless of their actual performance.

 The study includes a researcher’s “confederate” (an individual who poses as a subject) but whose behavior in
the study is actually part of the researcher’s experimental design.

Example of Incomplete Disclosure:

 Subjects are asked to take a quiz for research but they are not told that the research question involves how
background noise affects their ability to concentrate.

 Participants are asked to read a list of words or view a series of images but are not told that their memory will
be tested.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

The Five Ethical Principles

4. Principle D: Justice

In its broadest sense, justice relates to a responsibility to be fair and impartial.

This principle states that people have a right to access and benefit from advances that have been made in the field
of psychology. It is important for psychologists to treat people equally.
Psychologists should also always practice within their area of expertise and also be aware of their level of
competence and limitations.

They should use only those techniques for which they are qualified by education, training, or experience.

Psychologists exercise careful judgment and take appropriate precautions to protect the welfare of those with whom
they work.

They maintain knowledge of relevant scientific and professional information related to the services they render.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

The Five Ethical Principles

5. Principle D: Respect for People's Rights and Dignity

Psychologists should respect the right to dignity, privacy, and confidentiality of those they work with professionally.

They should also strive to minimize their own biases as well as be aware of issues related to diversity and the
concerns of particular populations.

For example, people may have specific concerns related to their age, socioeconomic status, race, gender, religion,
ethnicity, or disability.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethical Standards
The 10 standards found in the APA ethics code are enforceable rules of conduct for psychologists working in
clinical practice and academia.
These standards tend to be broad in order to help guide the behavior of psychologists across a wide variety
of domains and situations.
They apply to areas such as education, therapy, advertising, privacy, research, and publication.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethical Standards
1. Resolving Ethical Issues:

This standard of the APA ethics code provides information about what psychologists should do to resolve
ethical situations they may encounter in their work.
This includes advice for what researchers should do when their work is misrepresented and when to report
ethical violations.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethical Standards
2. Competence:

It is important that psychologists practice within their area of expertise.

Psychologists must make it clear what they are trained to do as well as what they are not trained to do.
Psychologists strive to maintain high standards of competence in their work.
They recognize the boundaries of their particular competencies and the limitations of their expertise.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethical Standards
3. Privacy and Confidentiality:

This standard outlines psychologists’ responsibilities with regards to maintaining patient confidentiality.
Psychologists are obligated to take reasonable precautions to keep client information private.
However, the APA also notes that there are limitations to confidentiality. Sometimes psychologists need to
disclose information about their patients in order to consult with other mental health professionals,
While there are cases where information is divulged, psychologists must strive to minimize these intrusions on
privacy and confidentiality.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethical Standards
4. Obtaining Consent:

Psychologists are responsible for providing a wide range

of services in their roles as therapists, researchers,
educators, and consultants.
When people are acting as consumers of psychological
services, they have a right to know what to expect.
In therapy, obtaining informed consent involves explaining
what services are offered, what the possible risks might
be, and the patient’s right to leave treatment.
When conducting research, informed consent involves
letting participants know about any possible risks of taking
part in the research.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethical Standards
4. Assessment:

Psychologists should obtain informed consent before administering assessments.

Assessments should be used to support a psychologist’s professional opinion, but psychologists should also
understand the limitations of these tools.
They should also take steps to ensure the privacy of those who have taken assessments.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethical Standards
5. Compliance with Law and Standards:

Psychologists plan and conduct research in a manner consistent with law and regulations, as well as professional
standards governing the conduct of research, and particularly those standards governing research with human
participants and animal subjects.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethical Standards
6. Research and Publication:

This standard focuses on ethical considerations when conducting research and publishing results.
For example, the APA states that psychologists must obtain approval from the institution that is carrying out the
research, present information about the purpose of the study to participants, and inform participants about the
potential risks of taking part in the research.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethics impacting Research Writing and Publication

1. Plagiarism:
Psychologists do not present portions of another's work or data as their own, even if the other work or data source
is cited occasionally.
6 Ways to Avoid Plagiarism:
1. Paraphrase - So you have found information that is perfect for your research paper. Read it and put it into your
own words. Make sure that you do not copy verbatim more than two words in a row from the text you have
found. If you do use more than two words together, you will have to use quotation marks. We will get into quoting
properly soon.
2. Cite - Citing is one of the effective ways to avoid plagiarism. Follow the document formatting guidelines (i.e.
APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.) used by your educational institution or the institution that issued the research request.
This usually entails the addition of the author(s) and the date of the publication or similar information. Citing is
really that simple. Not citing properly can constitute plagiarism.
3. Quoting - When quoting a source, use the quote exactly the way it appears. No one wants to be misquoted.
Most institutions of higher learning frown on “block quotes” or quotes of 40 words or more. A scholar should be
able to effectively paraphrase most material. This process takes time, but the effort pays off! Quoting must be
done correctly to avoid plagiarism allegations.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

6 Ways to Avoid Plagiarism: continued…

4. Citing Quotes - Citing a quote can be different than citing paraphrased material. This practice usually involves
the addition of a page number, or a paragraph number in the case of web content.

5. Citing Your Own Material - If some of the material you are using for your research paper was used by you in
your current class, a previous one, or anywhere else you must cite yourself. Treat the text the same as you would
if someone else wrote it. It may sound odd, but using material you have used before is called self-plagiarism, and
it is not acceptable.

6. Referencing - One of the most important ways to avoid plagiarism is including a reference page or page of
works cited at the end of your research paper. Again, this page must meet the document formatting guidelines
used by your educational institution. This information is very specific and includes the author(s), date of
publication, title, and source. Follow the directions for this page carefully. You will want to get the references right.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethics impacting Research Writing and Publication

2. Reporting Research Results:

(a) Psychologists do not fabricate data.

(b) If psychologists discover significant errors in their published data, they take reasonable steps to correct such
errors in a correction, retraction, erratum, or other appropriate publication means.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethics impacting Research Writing and Publication

3. Scientific Writing:

 Use of clear and simple language (avoid unnecessary details and jargons)
 Impartial in nature and avoid making assumptions
 Structured logically – ideas and processes are expressed in a logical order
 Use of accurate information
 Objective – Statements and ideas are supported by appropriate evidence that demonstrates how conclusions
have been drawn as well as acknowledging the work of others
 Avoid personal statements
 Unbiased language should be used, (e.g.: Comments on race, ethnicity, etc.)

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Ethical Code Violations

What happens if a psychologist violates a standard in the APA ethics code?
After a report of unethical conduct is received, the APA may censure or reprimand the psychologist, or the
individual may have his or her APA membership revoked.
Complaints may also be referred to others, including Professional licensing boards, Psychological associations,
professional groups, licensing boards, and government agencies may also choose to impose sanctions against
the psychologist.
Health insurance agencies and payers of health insurance claims may also pursue action against professionals
for ethical violations related to treatment, billing, or fraud.
Those affected by ethical violations may also opt to seek monetary damages in civil courts.

Illegal activity may be prosecuted in the criminal courts. If this results in a felony conviction, the APA may take
further actions including suspension or expulsion from psychological associations and the suspension or loss of
the psychologist's license to practice.

Excellence and Service

 CHRIST
Deemed to be University

Thank you

Excellence and Service