Ethics in Experimental Psychology
Science as amoral – not seen in the sense of morality, but instead, the reality according to data)
- Truth according to findings holds the highest
Objectives of a responsible research
Research is “not an attempt to satisfy idle curiosity about other people’s innermost
thoughts and experiences”, but is “aimed at advancing our understanding of feelings,
thoughts, and behaviors in ways that will ultimately benefit humanity”
History of ethics in research
• During World War II, the Nazis conducted gruesome experiments on human beings who
were prisoners in Nazi concentration camps
o The prisoners (men and women) were:
▪ Injected with painful chemicals
▪ Their genitals were exposed to radiation to test methods of human
sterilization
▪ Deliberately burned with chemicals to stimulate the effect of bombs
▪ Put in freezing air or ice water for hours at a time, so treatments for burns
and cold exposure can be tested
▪ Injected people with gasoline, live viruses and forced people to ingest
poisons
• In effect, many of the people who were experimented on were killed, maimed, or disfigured
by the Nazi experiments
• Those who were not killed by the experiments were subsequently sent to the gas chamber
because the injuries from the experiments left them unable to work in the concentration
campus
The NUREMBERG Trials
• In 1964, the atrocities committed by Nazi scientists were investigated in War Crimes
Tribunal at Nuremberg
• 16 doctors and administrators were found guilty of “willing participation in the systematic
torture, mutilation, and killing of prisoners in the experiments.”
• This led to the development of the Nuremberg Code (1947)
o Formed the basis of today’s ethical standards
o First international code of research ethics
o Mandated that research involving human beings must follow the following
directives:
▪ Voluntary informed consent from research participants
▪ No coercion to participate in research
▪ Only properly trained scientists should carry out research
▪ Any risks must be outweighed by the benefits of the research
Science as amoral – not seen in the sense of morality, but instead, the reality according to data)
- Truth according to findings holds the highest
Objectives of a responsible research
Research is “not an attempt to satisfy idle curiosity about other people’s innermost
thoughts and experiences”, but is “aimed at advancing our understanding of feelings,
thoughts, and behaviors in ways that will ultimately benefit humanity”
History of ethics in research
• During World War II, the Nazis conducted gruesome experiments on human beings who
were prisoners in Nazi concentration camps
o The prisoners (men and women) were:
▪ Injected with painful chemicals
▪ Their genitals were exposed to radiation to test methods of human
sterilization
▪ Deliberately burned with chemicals to stimulate the effect of bombs
▪ Put in freezing air or ice water for hours at a time, so treatments for burns
and cold exposure can be tested
▪ Injected people with gasoline, live viruses and forced people to ingest
poisons
• In effect, many of the people who were experimented on were killed, maimed, or disfigured
by the Nazi experiments
• Those who were not killed by the experiments were subsequently sent to the gas chamber
because the injuries from the experiments left them unable to work in the concentration
campus
The NUREMBERG Trials
• In 1964, the atrocities committed by Nazi scientists were investigated in War Crimes
Tribunal at Nuremberg
• 16 doctors and administrators were found guilty of “willing participation in the systematic
torture, mutilation, and killing of prisoners in the experiments.”
• This led to the development of the Nuremberg Code (1947)
o Formed the basis of today’s ethical standards
o First international code of research ethics
o Mandated that research involving human beings must follow the following
directives:
▪ Voluntary informed consent from research participants
▪ No coercion to participate in research
▪ Only properly trained scientists should carry out research
▪ Any risks must be outweighed by the benefits of the research
