The Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (APA, 2010a) contains five general principles:
Beneficence and nonmalificence
Fidelity and responsibility
Integrity
Justice
Respect for rights and dignity
Before continuing, read more about each of these principles here:
http://www.apa.org/ethics/code
Chose a psychological researcher that you believe has done some unethical things in their research. Bear in mind that their research may have taken place before research standards were clarified and enforced. Their methodology may have led to the development of ethical principles. You can choose any researcher, though some likely candidates are listed below:
Stanley Milgram, John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner, Martin Seligman, Phillip Zimbardo, the “Monster Study”
Give specific examples of the researcher’s unethical behavior and for each example identify which ethical principle may have been violated. Start with an explanation of your researcher’s topic and methodology then specify how he/she violated ethical principles. Finally, make suggestions on how to improve their work. Design a research study that may get at some of the same information while not violating ethical standards.
Your critical thinking essay should be 2-5 pages long with a 12-point font.
The following rubric will be used for grading.
Grading Rubric
25 points-Interpret information accurately by identifying obvious violations of ethical standards in psychological contexts.
22-25 points: Correctly identifies all ethical violations. Meets all expectations.
10-21 points: Correctly identifies several ethical violations, but not all. Partially meets expectations.
0-9 points: Does not indicate understanding of ethical issues.
25 points – Explain – accurately and thoroughly- relevant ethical issues that reflect principles in the APA Ethics Code.
22-25 points: Accurately and thoroughly explains all relevant ethical issues.
10-21 points: Partially meets expectations.
0-9 points: Does not meet expectations.
25 points – Create a detailed conclusion or complex solution that is complete, well-supported, logically consistent, and often unique. Elaborates on how the researcher could fix the ethical issues while still seeking the relevant information.
22-25 points: Creates a detailed, complex solution. Meets all expectations.
10-21 points: Partially meets expectations.
0-9 points: Does not meet expectations.
25 points: – Recognize and develop overall organization (e.g., beginning, development, ending).
22-25 points: Paper is well written using the authors own words and few, if any, grammatical errors. The paper has a clear introduction, development, and conclusion. The paper flows well throughout.
10-21 points: Partially meets expectations. Too many grammatical errors and transitions are choppy.
0-9 points: Does not meet expectations. Paper incomplete or poorly written.