讲完方法之后,就是伦理道德的底线问题,分别是:针对人、和针对动物 —— 为什么心理学研究会有这个问题呢?因为研究对象不同,物理对象没有感情、不会“被伤害”:
Although psychology adheres to the same basic scientific principles as other sciences, let’s face it: A chemist needn’t worry about hurting his mineral’s feelings, and a physicist needn’t be concerned about the long-term emotional well-being of a neutron. The scientific study of people and their behavior raises distinctive concerns.
所以,尽管科学是价值中立的,科学研究就未必是价值中立的,要权衡取舍:
Many philosophers believe—and the authors of this text agree—that science itself is value-neutral. Because science is a search for the truth, it’s neither inherently good nor bad. This fact doesn’t imply, though, that scientific research is value-neutral because there are both ethical and unethical ways of searching for the truth.
作者举例,针对脑损伤研究:
- 通过观察研究,来理解已经脑损伤的人,会如何学习,是符合伦理的;但是
- 通过棒球棒去打人,然后学习同样的问题,就是不符合伦理的
- 然而,给动物实施伤害,以学习同样的问题,是否符合伦理呢?就存在争议了
作者提到了几个伦理问题非常显著的实验:
- 塔斯基吉实验,主动对黑人施加以病毒,持续时长达40年之久
- 米尔格兰姆的服从实验,争议至今
- 关于极端恐惧对注意力影响的实验
这里面是个“正义论”的话题了 —— 什么是正义的?作者提到了美国机构审查委员会(IRB)会坚持知情同意:
IRBs insist on a procedure called informed consent, that is, researchers must tell subjects what they’re getting into before asking them to participate.
During the informed consent process, participants can typically ask questions about the study and learn more about what will be involved.
以及要求任务报告,让参与者完全理解这个实验的结果,及其含义:
IRBs may also request that a full debriefing be performed at the conclusion of the research session.
Debriefing is a process whereby researchers inform participants what the study was about. In some cases, researchers use debriefings to explain their hypotheses in nontechnical language.
By administering a debriefing, the study becomes a learning experience for not only the investigator, but also the subject.
这样,对双方都是一个学习的过程,把人当人,参与者也是平等的。
另外,美国心理学会的要求,还包括了要避免参与者受到伤害:
动物研究中,就更有争议了,而且这些争议现在没有共识 —— 基本上来说,是因为动物保护主义者会倾向于将动物和人类平等,但是并非所有人都认可这一点。
本章剩余内容是统计学知识,就不赘述了。
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