areas Flashcards
1
Q
social area assumptions
A
- Human behaviour is influenced by the situation as well as individual characteristics
- Human behaviour can be influenced by individuals and groups
- Research in the area of Social Psychology can help us understand social issues.
2
Q
strengths of social area
A
- can help improve out understanding of human behaviour particulaly to the extent to which this is affected by other people
- can be extremely useful, having practical applications in a range of different settings
- often helps to to bring psychology to wider audiences, given the way in which research often seeks to explain real-world events
- often high in ecological validity, particularly if it makes use of field experiments
3
Q
weanesses of social area
A
- findings from may not be tyrue for all time as social situations can change over time
- research may not be true for all places as social situations can change from one culture to another
- given the socially sensitive nature of much research within the social area, it can be difficult to stay within the ethical guidelines
- boundries can become blurred between social area and say cognitive area such as when looking at social cognition
4
Q
applications of social area
A
- Reducing blind obedience e.g. in grooming, brainwashing
- increasing obedience e.g. in schools, prisons, etc
- encouraging helping behaviour e.g. community programmes, supporting charities
- changing attitudes e.g. advertising, education
- promoting conformity and cohesion e.g. political campaigns, in schools
- crowd control e.g. at large public events, dealing with riots and protests tackling anti-social behaviour
5
Q
assumptions of cognitive psychology
A
- Behaviour is caused by internal mental processes – this includes how we think, perceive the world, and form memories All behaviour is the product of these processes taking place within the mind.
- The mind should be studied using scientific methods – cognitive research almost always takes place in the lab. This allows psychologists to control extraneous variables.
- The mind as a computer – cognitive psychologists use a computer analogy when talking about the mind. Like a computer the mind receives input, processes it, then produces an output.
- Interested in the middle process- encoding- How the information is processed and how decisions about our actions are made.
6
Q
strengths of cognitve area
A
- can help improve our understanding of human behaviour particularly the extent to which is affected by the way we think and how our brain processes incoming sensory info
- can be extremely useful having practical applications in the real world
- major strength is that it favours a scientific method, using the laboratory experiment to investigate mental processes. enables researchers to establish cause and effect between variables
- the emphasis on controlled scientific study in the cognitive area makes it easier to test such studies for reliability. this means the scientific value of studies in the cognitive area can be increased since replication of findings is n important featuire of scientific enquiry
7
Q
weaknesses of cognitive area
A
- findings may not be true if studies lack ecological validty and is often a problem where laboratory experiments are used
- there are limitations to the way data is gathered. cognitive processes can only be studied by inference - we cannot study them directly - we can only gather what is going on in someones head by recording what they can or cant tell us
- use of lab experiments also increase chances of ppts responding to demand characteristics in the study.
8
Q
applications of cognitive area
A
- Cognitive therapies
- Eye witness testimony
- Memory aids
- Teaching and learning
- Coaching in sports
- Advertising of products e.g. getting attention, recall of products
- Campaigns to change attitudes e.g. towards mental health, recycling
- Artificial Intelligence
- Health & safety e.g. avoiding memory lapses, improving attention
9
Q
assumptions of developmental area
A
- There is no singular explanation to Behaviour under the developmental area, interested in how our behaviour develops and whether it is due to individual/Nature or situational/Nurture factors.
- Developmental area of Psychology encompasses many perspectives such as :
> Psychodynamic perspective
> Behaviourist Perspective
10
Q
strength of developmental area
A
- many useful applications to child care, education etc
- attempts to answer the nature/nurture debate
- uses a variety of qualitative + quantitative methods so will gain useful data
- can study ppts over time to reduce ppts variables
11
Q
weaknesses of developmental area
A
- research with hildren ay raise ethical issues, such as consent + protections
- using children as ppts can highlight practical issues, such as making inferences from observed behaviour as they cant tell us
- reseachg may be constrained by time or cultures due to changes in early years environments and cultural differences in child rearing
- samples are often small and may be unrepresent5ative
12
Q
applications of devlopmental area
A
- Curriculum planning
- Teaching and learning
- Play therapy
- Parenting classes
- Identifying/intervention for atypical development
- Restoring motor skills in the older people
- Support for children moving through adolescence
- Dealing with children’s behavioural problems
- Toy/game design
- Authoring children’s books
13
Q
assumptions of biological area
A
Psychology should be seen as a science, to be studied in a scientific manner
Our Biology leads to our behaviour. What is Psychological is first Biological
1. Genes
2. Neurotransmitters
3. Brain Structure
14
Q
strengths of biological area
A
- research leads to greater understanding of the physiognomy of the brain = learning how the brain works and how it impacts our behaviour
- it favours the scientific method using the laboratory experiment to investigate mental processes
- emphasis on the controlled scientific study in the biological area makes it easier to test such studies
15
Q
weaknesses of biological area
A
- limitations to the way data is gathered
- methods used to measure the brain objectively have their limitations
- explanations of human behaviour based on biology alone are often too simplistic. human behaviour influenced by a range of factors including social, cognitive and biological influences
