What ethical rules must psychologists follow when studying people and animals?
Ethical issues in psychological research: consent, deception, protection from harm, confidentiality and the right to withdraw, the use of animals, and how researchers deal with these issues.
A focused answer to Edexcel GCSE Psychology Topic 11, covering ethical issues in research: consent, deception, protection from harm, confidentiality, the right to withdraw, the use of animals, and how they are dealt with.
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What this dot point is asking
Edexcel wants you to explain the ethical issues in psychological research, such as consent, deception, protection from harm, confidentiality and the right to withdraw, plus the use of animals, and how researchers deal with these issues. Ethics is both a research-methods topic and a formal debate in the specification, and it connects to studies like Zimbardo and Bandura.
The main ethical issues
The key issues with human participants are:
- Informed consent: participants should agree to take part knowing what the study involves, so they make a free, informed choice. Special care is needed for children and vulnerable groups.
- Deception: participants should not be misled about the study unless it is necessary and minimal, because deception undermines informed consent and can cause distress.
- Protection from harm: participants should not be exposed to more physical or psychological harm than in everyday life, and the study should be stopped if harm occurs.
- Confidentiality: participants' data and identity should be kept private and anonymous.
- Right to withdraw: participants can leave the study, and remove their data, at any time without penalty.
How researchers deal with ethical issues
These safeguards are why famous older studies (such as Zimbardo's prison study or Bandura's, which exposed children to aggression) would face much stricter checks today.
The use of animals and the ethics debate
Some psychology uses animals, which raises its own ethics: research must minimise suffering, use the smallest number of animals needed, and only proceed when justified by the likely benefits, under legal regulation. The ethics debate in the specification asks whether the benefits of research (advancing knowledge and treatments) can justify the costs to participants or animals, and you should be able to argue both sides and conclude that research must be justified and well-controlled to be acceptable.
Try this
Q1. What is informed consent? [2 marks]
- Cue. Agreeing to take part in a study while knowing what it involves, so the choice is free and informed.
Q2. Name one way a researcher protects confidentiality. [1 mark]
- Cue. Keeping data anonymous by removing names and identifying details.
Q3. Explain how debriefing deals with the use of deception. [2 marks]
- Cue. It tells participants the true aim afterwards, offers the right to withdraw their data, and addresses any distress.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 20184 marksExplain two ethical issues a psychologist must consider when studying human participants. (Paper 2)Show worked answer →
A 4-mark Explain item rewards two developed ethical issues with how they affect participants.
Informed consent: participants should agree to take part knowing what the study involves, so they can make a free choice; without it, people may be studied against their wishes. Protection from harm: participants should not be exposed to more physical or psychological harm than in everyday life, so the researcher must avoid causing distress and stop the study if harm occurs. (Other issues include deception, confidentiality and the right to withdraw.)
Markers reward two clear ethical issues, each explained in terms of the participant (for example consent meaning a free, informed choice; protection from harm meaning no undue distress), rather than just listing them.
Edexcel 20214 marksA study deceives participants about its true aim. Explain why this raises an ethical issue and how the researcher could deal with it. (Paper 2)Show worked answer →
A 4-mark item rewards explaining the ethical problem of deception and a sensible way to deal with it.
Deception is an ethical issue because participants cannot give fully informed consent if they do not know the true aim, so their right to make a free, informed choice is undermined, and they may feel embarrassed or distressed when they find out. The researcher can deal with this by only using deception when necessary and minimal, gaining consent for the general procedure, and giving a full debrief afterwards that explains the true aim, offers the right to withdraw their data, and addresses any distress.
Markers reward explaining why deception undermines informed consent (and may cause distress), and a way to deal with it such as a thorough debrief with the right to withdraw data.
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Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Psychology (1PS0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2017)