In the history of IRBs, there have always been principles to protect human subjects in research. This is done to ensure that the end of research justifies the means of reducing infamous ethical experiments. From the article by Macdonald (2020), I choose the Stanford prison experiment study. According to the IRB guidelines discussed in the textbook, this experiment is considered unethical because there is a lack of fully informed consent by the 24 male volunteers. Even the researcher, Philip Zimbardo, did not know what could happen to the participants afterward (Macdonald, 2020). IRB requires that any experiment involving human subjects be governed extensively by established rules and principles to prevent harm. For instance, the principle of informed consent ensures that subjects are aware of the risks to make a voluntary decision about whether to be involved in the experiment.
From the experiment, the results do not justify how they were achieved. The participants' mistreatment escalated immensely, something that forced Zimbardo to terminate the experiment after 5 days (Macdonald, 2020). Furthermore, the study was not conducted according to the acceptable IRB guidelines; the participants were not notified of probable risks.
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Self-consciousness is a crucial factor to determine whether subjects could respond to meet the intended social behavior. It is possible to replicate Zimbardo's study with a more diverse sample pool in a more ethical way. This can be done by disclosing detailed and byzantine information about the experiment to the participants to make informed participation decisions. Also, other variables such as justice, beneficence, and respect for persons should be considered as the basis of the experiment (Moon, 2009). However, this does not mean that the participants should be coached about the experiment.
References
Macdonald, C. (2020). 10 Psychological Experiments That Went Way Too Far. Health Journal. https://www.thehealthjournals.com/10-psychological-experiments-that-went-way-too-far/
Moon, M. R. (2009). The history and role of institutional review boards: A useful tension. AMA Journal of Ethics , 11 (4), 311-316. https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/history-and-role-institutional-review-boards-useful-tension/2009-04
