Structured AI Conversations on Ethical Reasoning in Introductory Psychology

Authors

Brianna McCartney, Southern Arkansas University Main CampusFollow

Title - Alternative

Structured Artificial Intelligence Conversations on Ethical Reasoning in Introductory Psychology

Date Created

12-12-2025

Institution Type

Master's college or university

Course Level

Undergraduate

Modality of Lesson

In-Person

Category

Task Execution with Human Oversight

Primary AI Tool Used

Perplexity.ai

Learning Objectives

1. Define and distinguish the ethical principles of the Belmont Report and the APA Code of Ethics General Principles;
2. Identify ethical issues and violations in historical research studies;
3. Apply ethical reasoning by proposing revisions that would make an unethical study align with Belmont and APA principles;
4. Evaluate ethical dilemmas in hypothetical research scenarios based on ethical guidelines;
5. Engage in structured dialogue with a chatbot, incorporating feedback to revise or strengthen claims and reasoning;
6. Practice responsible scholarship by documenting AI’s role, evaluating an AI-generated source for credibility, and citing it accurately in APA style;

Strategy Description

This strategy integrated structured AI conversations using Perplexity into an introductory psychology course to strengthen students’ ethical reasoning. Guided prompts led students through analyzing historical unethical studies, applying APA and Belmont principles, and proposing ethical redesigns while receiving immediate feedback. The activity concluded with a final paper and AI acknowledgment, fostering both deeper ethical understanding and responsible use of AI in academic work.

Publisher

University of Central Florida Libraries

Keywords

Psychology; Ethical reasoning; APA Code of Ethics; Belmont report; Perplexity AI; Responsible AI use

Subjects

Psychology--Research--Moral and ethical aspects; Human experimentation in psychology--Moral and ethical aspects; Research--Moral and ethical aspects--Study and teaching; Psychology--Study and teaching--Moral and ethical aspects; Ethics--Study and teaching (Higher)

Type

Text; Document

Collection

Teaching Repository for AI-Infused Learning

Series

Task Execution with Human Oversight

Audience

Faculty; Students; Educators; Librarians

Comments

Please see attached files.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Recommended Citation

McCartney, Brianna, "Structured AI Conversations on Ethical Reasoning in Introductory Psychology" (2025). Teaching Repository of AI-Infused Learning. 24.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/traiil/24