1. Ethical Considerations

2. Australian Psychological
Society
• Confidentiality
• Voluntary Participation
• Informed consent
• Withdrawal Rights
• Deception
• Debriefing

3. SAC QUESTION
If you were going to perform a PET scan on
a 14 year old girl, what ethical concerns
would you need to consider? List and
describe at least three concerns. Make sure
you state why they are relevant.

4. Informed consent
• Wherever possible, participants must be informed of
the nature and purpose of the investigation.
• The informed consent must be appropriately
documented.
• For participants who are legally incapable of giving
informed consent (children, mentally incapable), the
research must obtain consent from those who are
legally responsible for their welfare.
• Before deciding that research does not require
informed written consent the research must consult
with an ethics committee.

5. Confidentiality
• Confidentiality means participants have a right
to privacy so their involvement in the study (test
results or confidential data) cannot be used so they can
be identified unless their written consent is given. This
must be explained beforehand.

6. Withdrawal Rights
• Withdrawal rights means that participants must be
told they have the right to participate or withdraw
from a study at any time and for any reason during
the research if they wish to.

7. Deception
• Deception in research may sometimes occur if it is
necessary to conduct a study without fully informing
participants about the true purpose and nature of the
study because it may affect the accuracy of the results.
• The researcher must ensure the participants do not
suffer any stress as a result of the procedure, and
ensure participants are fully debriefed at the end of
the study.

8. Debriefing
• Debriefing means that at the end of a study the
researcher must inform participants about the true
nature, purpose, results and conclusions of the study,
and correct any misleading ideas and
impressions they have about the study.
• The researcher should also provide information on
services available to help treat any stress resulting
from the study.