Topic > The Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Zimbardo Prison Guard Experiment

These are numerous controversial opinions on human and animal topics. Is it fundamental in psychological research? In order to understand why we are the way we are, we must use human subjects to understand how we behave in certain ways, but they must have moral standards. Animal and human research plays numerous roles in learning and understanding certain human behaviors. As indicated by Gould, scientists assume that further examinations on animals could provide greater knowledge and understanding to their studies of suicide because they believe that basic studies on these animals will provide them with greater understanding of the fundamental mechanisms that would underlie biological phenomena. Scientists would consider using animals because they are much simpler than humans. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay There are many problems with using animal and human subjects for research. The scientists turned out to be very unethical. For example, the Zimbardo prison guard experiment, which occurred at Stanford University in 1971 by a psychology professor, Philip Zimbardo. According to Haslam, this experiment aims to study the destructive behavior of groups of men over a certain period of time. The students were placed in a mock prison and then randomly assigned roles, they were assigned as guards or prisoners. The experiment was stopped after just 6 days. Why? I think being in uniform and having the title “guard” gave them power and made them brutal. They assume it was natural. Another example is the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, also known as the largest and most well-known biomedical research study in the history of the United States. This study has been conducted for over 40 years. This experiment involved approximately 600 black men; 399 with syphilis and 201 without. They were deceived and did not receive the proper treatment. Various rumors are circulating about this study and people are more reluctant to participate in biomedical research, as stated by Katz, 60% of the black participants from Tuskegee, Hartford, Birmingham and San Antonio, in their study had heard about the Tuskegee syphilis study . With this information, researchers seeking participants should create a welcoming environment when recruiting new participants for studies (V. Katz et al., 2008). The Tuskegee syphilis study and Zimbardo prison guard experiment would not be accepted by our society today. From what I understand, the reason it was allowed at the time was because it was new, no one had ever done anything as big as these studies before. Tuskegee Syphilis did not have informed consent and participants were unaware of the known dangers. They were refused treatment and were not given treatment even though it was accessible. Zimbardo's prison guard experiment was more psychologically violent. Zimbardo failed to become a psychologist but took on the role of prison superintendent. We are now more regulated and have the technology to prevent these things from happening. There are three agencies involved in reviewing experimental research; the Institutional Review Board (IRB), the Office of Research Integrity (ORI), and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). According to Eissenberg, APA regulations and federal laws require that the IRB analyze every human participant in the research project. People in the field of psychology have codes of ethics that provide guidance for research, and the IRB is there to help review proposed experiments. They followall APA guidelines for animal and human subjects. The IRB provides protection to human research subjects from psychological or physical harm. It was established in 1974 by the National Research Act. As indicated by Enfield and Truwit, the IRB was created to help ensure the protection of human subjects since there is a long history of unethical research, therefore this board's top priority is to protect it. There are many requirements to consider before submitting your study. First you need to take a human subjects training course. Then you need to have the appropriate documents, some necessary ones are consent forms and IRB review forms. When you submit your study, an IRB member will assign it to an applicable review type and check whether all documents have been submitted and completed. If a full study is needed, it will go through a pre-review process. The purpose of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is to ensure the welfare of animals by providing regulations and protocols that ensure the care of animals. This team consists of a Doctor of Veterinary Pharmacy, a scientist with experience in research on animal subjects, and a community member. The IACUC is important because animals have always been mistreated. The next step to submit to the IACUC is to complete the proposal. Training is also required, in this case it will be collaborative institutional training (CITI) which will provide you with information on animal care. According to Silverman, the IACUC will then review the proposals and make a decision on whether animal subjects can be used. If a submission does not meet the modified standards, clarification is required to approve the study. During the approval process, IACUCS reviews regulations and guidelines to administer the use of animals (Silverman et al.,). All animals should be protected according to the IACUC, but because we do not know the definitive number of animals that are used. The Office for Research Integrity (ORI) reviews research abandonment. It is located in the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The ORI helps coordinate public health services and research accountability. They help develop procedures to prevent research misconduct, investigate studies that have been reported, and provide programs that educate scientists about research fraud. This is an important program because it aims to quell allegations of unethical conduct. When reviewing a report of misconduct, they will review important documentation. After the supervisory review is completed, they make a report to determine whether the allegation has been substantiated. Naturalistic observation is when you observe subjects in a natural environment, it can help psychology but some human participants are also needed. Our technology is also advancing and improving natural observations, according to Mel there is an audio recorder called EAR that records snippets of your daily life. The EAR allows researchers to study mental health and how loneliness and other social expressions might impact health. It ensures patients have their privacy by collecting information on real-life social behaviors. As technology advances, we will have more ways to observe people without causing them any harm. The EAR to me is just one of many other technologies that are improving. Computer models used for human participants seem crazy, but one study shows that computer models make more accurate personality judgments than human ones. According to Youyou, computer-based models are much more accurate than human ones in judgments about.