Wk 7 BEHS 300

Read the piece on “10 famous psychological experiments…….” on this week’s reading list.
Select 3 experiments from that list and list all violations of ethical principles that you think
those experiments have committed.
The Little Albert experiment violated the beneficence principle. The beneficence
principle dictates that the risks and benefits of research need to be evaluated critically before an
experiment is conducted. The magnitude and probability of risks need to be carefully considered
in any experiment or study. In this case, the risks and benefits of the experiment were not
considered. An evaluation of the risks the phobias would have on Albert was not considered. In
addition, the experiment did not embrace the principle of respect for persons. Albert was a child
and thus had diminished autonomy (Holm, 2001). Watson failed to protect Albert and instead
conducted an unethical experiment with Albert as the subject.
In the Stanford Prison Experiment, various ethical violations can be identified. The
researchers did not obtain full consent from the participants. Prisoners did not consent to the
house arrests. In addition, the participants were not protected from harm that could occur from
participating in the experiment. In the experiment, the prisoners began exhibiting symptoms of
depression, while the guards appeared to have been sadistic (Danko, 2013). The guards tortured
prisoners after they rebelled. The torture included humiliation that was meted on prisoners
considered to be rebellious. In the Asch Conformity Experiments, the researcher failed to obtain
informed consent. In every experiment, a researcher must obtain informed consent from the
participants. Such an undertaking ensures that researchers have the right to participate or fail to
participate. The experiment also relied on the deception that also made it to be unethical.

2. Select one experiment either from the list of 10, or from your readings. You should select
   a research study that you did not discuss under Question 1. Once again, list the three most
   important ethical breaches in that experiment. If you were given the chance to re-do that
   experiment, how would you rectify those three breaches?
   In the bystander effect, the three most important ethical breaches are the breach of
   voluntary participation and harmlessness, the lack of sufficient informed consent, and a breach of
   the beneficence principle (Danko, 2013). Given a chance to repeat the experiment, I would
   ensure that study participants are informed about the experiment, and informed consent is
   obtained before commencing the research. Participants should be informed about their right not
   to participate in the experiment. In addition, an analysis of the psychological impacts of the
   experiment should be conducted. This works by ensuring that the risk of psychological harm is
   eliminated. The experiment needs to be redesigned to ensure that the subjects are not exposed to
   traumatizing scenarios. Instead of using extreme medical emergencies, the experiment should
   use mild scenarios where one needs help. This can include where books fall from one’s hands
   and they need help collecting the books and organizing them. The experiment should be
   designed with the interests of the participants in mind. The psychological harm should be
   reduced.

References

Danko, M. (2013). 10 Psychological Experiments That Could Never Happen Today. Mental
Floss. Retrieved 1 October 2022, from https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52787/10-
famous-psychological-experiments-could-never-happen-today.
Holm, S. (2001). Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 5th edn.: Beauchamp TL, Childress J F.
Oxford University Press, 2001,£ 19.95, pp 454. ISBN 0-19-514332-9.