Ethics Flashcards

The psychologist must make an effort to correct the error.

1. Which of the following is true regarding the use of testimonials in
   advertisements or other public statements?
   a. use is unethical under all circumstances.
   b. use is ethical under all circumstances
   c. use is unethical whenever testimonies are solicited
   d. use is unethical whenever they are solicited from persons vulnerable to
   undue influence

1. D
   5.05 Testimonials: Psychologists due not solicit testimonials from current
   client/patients or others who are vulnerable to undue influence.

1. You receive a call from a client who tells you that she is receiving
   therapy from someone else, but she now wants to see you. You should:
   a. call the therapist to discuss the situation.
   b. not see the client until she has terminated her relationship with the other
   therapist.
   c. make an appointment to discuss the situation further.
   d. ask the client why she doesn’t want to see the other therapist, and if she
   has a good reason, set up a series of appointments.

1. C
   10.04 Psychologists carefully consider the treatment issues and the clients
   welfare and attempt to minimize the risk of confusion and conflict

1. After three sessions, a man you are treating in conjoint marital therapy
   says he wants to see you in individual treatment. You should:
   a. refer him to another therapist.
   b. tell him to wait until marital therapy is over.
   c. set up an appointment.
   d. offer a therapeutic interpretation of his request.

1. A
   10.02 makes clear that in conjoint therapy situations, psychologists should
   avoid performing potentially conflicting roles. A referral would be your
   most ethical course of action.

1. A client in therapy at a community agency is being seen by a
   newly-licensed therapist. The therapist consults a supervisor on a regular
   basis about the case. The client knows that the therapist has just received her
   license but does not know that the case is being supervised. A year later,
   when the therapist leaves the case, the client is referred to the supervisor.
   The client perceives that her new therapist has exceptional insight into her
   situation and asks him how he got to be such a great therapist. The therapist
   replies that he has been supervising the case for a year. The client becomes
   upset and files a complaint with an ethics committee. Which of the
   following best describes the issues in this case?
   a. No ethical violation has occurred, since the client apparently benefitted
   from the supervision.
   b. An ethical violation has not occurred unless either the intern or the
   supervisor revealed confidential information about the client to others.
   c. An ethical violation has occurred because the intern abandoned the client
   by referring the case to her supervisor.
   d. An ethical violation has occurred because the client was not informed that
   the therapist was supervised.

1. D
   Psychologists are ethically bound to discuss “appropriate issues” as early as
   possible in the therapeutic relationship.

1. You have been seeing a client for six months. Over the course of the past
   month, he has repeatedly mentioned that he is very unhappy with your
   psychotherapy. You should:
   a. seek consultation.
   b. begin the process of termination and provide referrals to another therapist.
   c. encourage the client to schedule more frequent sessions.
   d. help the client work through his resistance.

1. B
   10.10 Psychologists terminate therapy when it becomes reasonably clear
   that the client no longer needs the services, is not likely to benefit, or is
   being harmed by continued service.

1. A male psychologist provides an adult female client brief
   behaviorally-oriented therapy focused on anxiety reduction. After 4
   sessions, the woman feels she has made progress and wishes to terminate.
   The psychologist agrees, terminates the relationship, and tells the woman he
   will be available if she decides to re-enter therapy. Eighteen months later,
   the psychologist meets the woman at a party and strikes up a conversation.
   The psychologist asks the woman out on a date, they two months, and
   consumate their relationship sexually. In this situation, the psychologist has
   acted:
   a. clearly unethically because he engaged in a sexual relationship with a
   former client.
   b. clearly unethically because he abandoned the client by terminating
   therapy after 4 sessions.
   c. probably unethically, unless he could demonstrate that he did not exploit
   or otherwise take advantage of the client.
   d. ethically, since the therapeutic relationship is clearly over, no exploitation
   is involved, and he waited two months to consummate the relationship.

1. A
   10.08 a) Psychologists do not engage in sexual intimacies with a former
   client/patient for at least 2-years after cessation or termination of therapy.

1. The term “privilege”
   a. is defined by law
   b. comes from both the law and the Ethical Standards
   c. means the same thing as the term confidentiality
   d. refers to the client’s right to dictate the course of therapy

1. A
   Privilege is a legal term that refers to a client’s right to prevent confidential
   information from being released in a legal proceeding.

1. You are seeing a family and you notice bruises on the son’s body. The
   parents say that their child has been seen by a pediatrician but that they
   forgot to mention the bruises to him. When you ask the parents how the
   child got injured, the parents say that he “fell down the stairs”, but cannot
   provide any further details. The boy is silent and withdrawn and seems
   afraid of you. You should:
   a. conduct further investigation to determine if a child abuse report is
   necessary.
   b. tell the parents to have the pediatrician call you.
   c. refer the parents back to the pediatrician for treatment of the child’s
   bruises.
   d. file a child abuse report with the appropriate state agency.

1. D
   Psychologists are mandatory reporters and thus must report reasonable
   suspicions of child abuse they encounter in their professional capacity.

1. Which of the following is true of confidentiality in a group therapy
   session?
   a. Group members are legally obligated to maintain confidentiality.
   b. Group members have no obligation to maintain confidentiality.
   c. Group members are on their own honor to maintain confidentiality.
   d. At the outset of therapy, group members must sign a legally binding
   contract to maintain confidentiality.

c. Group members have no legally enforceable obligation to maintain the
confidence of what they hear from other members in session. Group leaders
should stress the need to respect confidentiality from the outset of therapy.

1. A client’s insurance company calls and asks you for some information
   about the client’s diagnosis and treatment. You should:
   a. refuse to give them information.
   b. give information only with the consent of the client.
   c. give information only after you verify the intent of the inquiry.
   d. give only information that is not damaging to the client.

1. B
   Although HIPAA may apply here, information about a client seen in therapy
   is confidential and can only be released with the client’s consent.

1. A client tells you that he is planning to shoot his ex-girlfriend. You
   know that the client owns a gun and has a history of violent behavior. You
   should:
   a. attempt to get him to change his mind.
   b. warn the police and attempt to warn the ex-girlfriend.
   c. be sure to maintain the confidentiality of this disclosure.
   d. provide a therapeutic interpretation of his statement.

1. B
   The client clearly poses a clear and imminent danger to an identifiable
   victim. You have a valid reason to break confidentiality in this case, and
   warning the police as well as attempting to warn the victim would be the
   best way to meet the duty to protect.

1. During a session, a client of yours that you know to be HIV positive,
   casually claims that he has been engaging in unprotected sex. You believe
   he is telling the truth. Is this sufficient grounds for you to break
   confidentiality and notify the authorities?
   a. Yes. You should always break confidentiality whenever an individual
   makes a claim like this.
   b. Yes, if you genuinely believe his statement is truthful.
   c. No, because there is no identified third party who is at risk.
   d. No, confidentiality is sacred and it must be protected regardless of the
   circumstance.

1. C
   In this case, you may not have sufficient grounds to break confidentiality.
   According to APA recommendations, disclosure should occur when 1) there
   is an identifiable third party who is at risk, 2) the third party is unaware that
   he/she is at risk, and 3) the client has refused or is not considered reliable to
   inform the third party.

1. If you receive a subpoena to testify about one of your former clients, you
   should first:
   a. ignore the subpoena because the individual in question is a former client.
   b. try to work out a compromise with the requester of information.
   c. agree to provide any information requested in the subpoena.
   d. find out if the subpoena is legally valid.

1. D
   The APA recommends that a psychologist first determines the validity of the
   subpoena before taking action.

1. Which of the following is true of deception in research?
   a. it can be used only if justified by the study’s prospective scientific value.
   b. it can be used in any study, as long as participants are debriefed
   afterward.
   c. it can be used if justified by the study’s prospective value, as long as
   subjects are debriefed within three years from the end of the study.
   d. it can be used in any study, as long as informed consent is obtained.

1. A
   Standard 8.07a states psychologists do not use deception in research unless
   such techniques are justified by the study’ significant prospective value and
   equally effective non-deceptive alternative procedures are not feasible.

1. A graduate student complains to her supervisor that her research study is
   causing harm to subjects. The supervisor tells her not to worry about it.
   Later, one of the subjects is determined to have been emotionally harmed by
   the research procedures. Who is responsible for the apparent ethical
   violation?
   a. the graduate student
   b. the supervisor
   c. the graduate student and supervisor
   d. the host institution.

1. B
   Psychologists are responsible for the ethical conduct of research conducted
   by them or by others under their supervision.

1. A student complains to the Ethics Committee about Dr. John Henry,
   who showed slides of male and female genitalia in his physiological
   psychology class and then announced that the final slide was a photo of his
   own penis. In response to the Committee’s inquiry, Dr. Henry claims that he
   included the slide in order to shock the students into paying better attention
   in class. In this case, the instructor has acted:
   a. ethically and professionally correct. Even though his methods are
   unorthodox, a professor has the right to choose his or her own method of
   teaching.
   b. ethically, but not politically correct. Though the psychologists actions are
   likely to offend some on campus, his actions are not barred by the Ethical
   Standards.
   c. unethically - the teacher has unnecessarily risked offending his students.
   d. unethically - the teacher should have shown the slide to a consultant
   before using it in his class.

1. C
   Psychologists must make reasonable efforts to avoid engaging in conduct
   that is personally demeaning to their students.

1. Informed consent to research is:
   a. always necessary
   b. necessary, unless dispensing with it clearly poses no harm or is
   scientifically justifiable.
   c. unnecessary, except in research which poses a clear risk of serious harm
   to participants.
   d. never necessary.

1. B
   A psychologist should obtain informed consent from participants before
   conducting research. Some exceptions do exists, however, such as
   naturalistic observations or anonymous questionnaires.

1. You are asked by the attorney of a divorced woman to evaluate her. The
   attorney explains that he would like your opinion regarding whether the
   woman is more competent as a parent than her ex-husband. As an ethical
   psychologist, you should:
   a. evaluate the client and make a report.
   b. evaluate the client and the children before filing your report.
   c. evaluate the client, children, and the client’s husband before filing a
   report.
   d. explain to the attorney that no evaluation is necessary. For the right fee,
   the mother could be as competent and the father as incompetent as the
   attorney would like.

1. c
   Psychologist must base their assessment and conclusion on sufficient
   information. Determining the most competent parent involves obtaining
   information on both adults and their interactions with their children. Even
   then, the conclusions should be qualified with limitations.

1. The term “insanity”
   a. is a legal term that refers to an individual’s ability to distinguish right
   from wrong.
   b. is a legal term that refers to an individual’s competence to stand trial.
   c. is a psychiatric term that refers to psychosis.
   d. is a psychiatric term that refers to candidates for psychology licensure the
   day before the licensing exam.

1. A
   The term insanity is a purely legal term that refers to a defendant’s ability to
   distinguish between right and wrong.

1. If you are asked by a court for your opinion about how dangerous a
   client is to others, you should:
   a. refuse to answer the question, and explain that it is impossible to predict
   future dangerousness.
   b. refuse to answer the question based on therapist-client privilege.
   c. qualify any opinions you offer by explaining that such a question is
   difficult to answer precisely.
   d. do your best to give the court a precise and completely accurate
   prediction.

1. C
   Psychologist should clarify the information upon which they are basing their
   assessment, disclose probable impacts of limited information, and
   appropriately limit the nature and extent of their conclusion or
   recommendation.

40.In your capacity as a forensic psychologist, you are ordered by the court
to evaluate a celebrity who has been accused of assault and battery. Part of
your evaluation is used in the trial and becomes a matter of public record. At
the end of the trial, in which the defendant was found guilty, you write a
book which includes information about parts of the evaluation not
mentioned in court. Your actions are:
a. ethical and legal since the evaluation was court ordered.
b. ethical and legal since convicted criminals have no rights.
c. unethical but legal.
d. unethical and illegal. See you in court.

1. C
   The actions described are not illegal, since information disclosed in a
   court-ordered evaluation is not privileged. However, according to the
   Specialty Guidelines for Forensic-Psychologists, psychologists cannot
   publicly disclose information obtained from court-ordered evaluations
   unless it is a matter of public record or they have the consent of the
   evaluated client.