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6500 BCE
Trephination
abnormal behavior was once thought to be demonic possession. It was thought to be curable only by religious exorcism or trephination. This procedure involved drilling holes in the patients skull to release demons. This was done without the patients knowledge. -
Nazi Concentration Camp Experiments
They conducted experiments on homosexuals, Jews, negros, and those not born of aryan lineage. These experiments included sleep deprivation, starvation and unnecessary surgeries without anesthesia. They also uses emotional and psychological torture. These experiments were made to disguise murder. -
Palace of Justice Nuremberg, Germany
They created the Nuremberg code which was a set of ethical principals to guide future research on human participants. This led to the Nuremberg trials where Nazi leader who conducted experiments were brought to justice. The ten principals of the code formed a basis for all ethical codes for human research. -
Milgram experiments obedience to authority
It was designed to get people to obey an authority figure and cause harm to others. The participants were told to administer a series of powerful electrical shocks to a "learner." Sixty-five percent of the participants did not quit administering the shocks despite their feelings of objection. -
Zimbardo Prison Experiments
A team of researchers led by Philip Zimbardo selected 24 male students from Stanford University. A mock prison was constructed in the basement of the psychology department. The participants were randomly assigned roles as either a prisoner or a guard. It revealed how reasonable people could become unreasonable, and even sadistic, when backed by ideological authority. -
The Belmont Report
This clarified research in three important areas. Distinction between therapeutic practice and research, established ethical principals of respect for persons, beneficence (do no harm), and justice, evidenced by a fair balance between research benefits and burdens. -
Code of Federal Regulations
This was implimented in 1982 to protect human subjects. Subpart A: is human subjects in general. Subpart B: pregnant women, fetuses and neonates. Subpart C: incarcerated prisoners. Subpart D: children. Subpart E: registration of institutional review boards. -
HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
It establishes the conditions under which protected health information may be used or disclosed by covered entities for research purposes. -
Ethical Principals of Psychologists and Code of Conduct
This was the American Psychological Associations final draft of the principals. It covers the major ethical issues.