issues and debates

Question 1

Free will and determinism

Answer 1

is our behaviour a matter of free will or are we a product of a set of internal and or external influences that determine who we are and what we do?

Question 2

hard determinism

Answer 2

suggesting that all human behaviour has a cause and in principle, it should be possible to identify and describe these causes.

such a position always assumes that everything we think and do is dictated by internal or external forces that we cant control,

this is too extreme

Question 3

soft determinism

Answer 3

whilst it may be the job of scientist to explain what determines our behavior this does not detract from the freedom we have to make rational conscious choices in everyday situations

Question 4

biological determinism

Answer 4

emphasizes the role of biological determinism in behaviour eg the influence of the ANS on the stress response or the influences of genes on mental health.

modern biological psychologist would recognises the mediating influences of the environment on our biological structures - another determinist influence

Question 5

environmental determinism

Answer 5

free will is an illusion and argued that all behaviour is the result of conditioning.

although we might think we are acting independently our experiences of choice are merely the sum total of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives

Question 6

psychic determinism

Answer 6

free will is an illusion but he emphasised the influence of biological drives and instincts.

he saw human behaviour as determined by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood.

there is no such thing as an accident and even something as seemingly random as a slip of the tongue can be explained by the influence of the unconscious.

Question 7

free will

Answer 7

human beings are essentially self-determining and free to choose their own thoughts and actions.

a belief in free will doesn’t deny that there may be biological and environmental forces that exert some influence on behaviour but nevertheless imply that we are able to reject these forces if we wish because we are in control of our thoughts/ behaviour.

free will is a view of human behaviour that is advocated by the humanistic approach.

Question 8

the scientific emphasis on causal explanations

Answer 8

basic principles of science are that every event in the universe has a cause and that causes can be explained using general laws (hard determinism).

knowledge of causes and the formulation of laws are important as they allow scientists to predict and control events in the future

the lab experiments are the ideal of science as it enables researchers to demonstrate causal relationships it is like the test tube used in other science where all variables can be controlled.

Everything has a cause
Helps with prediction
Lab is best

Question 9

practical value

strength- common sense we exercise free will but it can improve our mental health

Answer 9

a study conducted looked at teens who had a strong belief in determinism that their lives were decided by events outside of their control.

the study found that these teens were at significantly greater risk of developing depression.

it seems that people who exhibit an external rather than internal locus of control are less likely to be optimistic

this suggests that even if we do not have free will the fact that we believe we do may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour

Question 10

research evidence

limitation- brain scan evidence doesn’t support it but does support determinism

Answer 10

ppt chose a random moment to flick their wrist while the psychologist measured the activity of their brain activity.

leading up to the conscious decision to move came around half a second before the ppt consciously feel they had decided to move.

this may be interpreted as meaning that even our most basic experiences of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are aware of them.

Question 11

counter point

Answer 11

findings showing that the brain is involved in decision making is not surprising and are just as we would expect

just because the action comes before the conscious awareness of the decision to act doesn’t mean that there was no decision to act

just that the decision to act took time to reach consciousness.

our conscious awareness of the decision is simply a readout of our unconscious decision making

this evidence is not appropriate as a challenge to free will

Question 12

the law

limitation + strength- position of the legal system on responsibility

Answer 12

the hard determinist stance is that individual choice is not the cause of behaviour. this is not consistent with the way in which our legal system operates. in a court of law, offenders are held responsible for their actions. indeed the main principle of our legal system is that a defendant exercised their free will in committing the crime

this suggest that in the real world determinist arguments do not work

Question 13

idiographic- nomothetic debate

Answer 13

this debate has implications for the type of research method psychologists use whether we study individuals in-depth or study larger groups and discuss averages.

Question 14

idiographic approach

Answer 14

suggests that psychology should be the study of individuals or groups we can understand human behaviour better

Question 15

nomothetic approach

Answer 15

suggest that psychology should be the study of large and varied groups to make generalisations about what is typical in different aspects of human behaviour eg establishing norms

Question 16

Idiographic -Focuses on uniqueness of the individual, in-depth details using qualitative methods (e.g. case studies, unstructured interviews).

Subjectivity- Aims to understand the unique subjective experience of the individual person, rather than uncovering general laws.

Examples- Humanistic approach (e.g. Rogers’ concept of unconditional positive regard) and psychodynamic approach (e.g. Freud’s case of Little Hans’s phobia).

Answer 16

Nomothetic approach- Focuses on groups of people to establish general laws of behaviour using quantitative methods (e.g. lab experiments, structured questionnaires, statistical analyses).

Objectivity- Aims to understand behaviour through unbiased, standardised methods that can be replicated and results generalised.

Examples- Behaviourist approach (e.g. Skinner’s laws of operant conditioning) and biological approach (e.g. Sperry’s split-brain research).

Question 17

idiographic

small group/ individual case studies

Answer 17

qualitative research-
research on depression would be first hands account from a small number of people
interviewed in-depth and focus may be on human behaviour- unstructured interview
analysed and emergent themes are identified.

examples- humanistic + psychodynamic
little hands- phobia might develop

Question 18

nomothetic
aims to create laws ie create general principle of behaviour theories which then could be applied in individual situation such as drug therapy

Answer 18

quantitative research-
scientific methods, hypotheses are formulated samples of people or sometimes animals are assessed in some way- structured questionnaire
numerical data produced is analysed for its statistical significance. seeks to quantify count human behaviour.

examples-
behaviourist and biological
small samples
skinner studied animals to develop general laws of learning.
one aspect of behaviour in a few animal but the main aim was establish general laws.

Question 19

objective vs subjective

Answer 19

the key difference between idiographic and nomothetic- relate to subjectivity and objectivity

objectivity- nomothetic
standardised and objective
true replication occurs across samples of behaviour and removes the contaminating influence of bias

idiographic- people’s individual experiences of their unique context that is important rather than so,e underlying reality out there that is waiting to be discovered

Question 20

complete account

strength- idio contributes to nomo

Answer 20

idio uses in-depth qualit methods proving a global description of one individual.
complement nomo by shedding light on general laws or indeed by challenging such laws
eg HM, may reveal important insights about normal functioning which may contribute to our overall understanding

the focus is on fewer individuals the idio still may help form scientific laws of behaviour.

Question 21

counter

weakness-supporters of idio should still acknowlegde the narrow and restricted nature of their work.

Answer 21

meaningful generalisation cant is made without further examples as this means there is no adequate baseline with which to compare behaviour.
methods eg case studies tend to be the least scientific - rely on subjective interpretation of the researcher eg open to bias

difficult to build effective general theories of human behaviour in the complete absence of nomo

Question 22

scientific credibility

strength- fit with the aims of science

Answer 22

processes in nomo- similar to natural science, establishing objectivity through standardisation control and statistical testing.

researcher using idio seek to objectify their methods
eg triangulation- qualit methods compared as a way to increase their validity.

raise psychology status as a science

Question 23

losing the person

limitation- nomo loss of understanding of the individual

Answer 23

preoccupied with general laws prediction and control means its been accused of losing the person

there is 1% lifetime risk of developing schizo tells us little about what life is like for someone who has been diagnosed.

understanding the subjective experience of schizo- useful when devising appropriate treatment options

nomo may fail to relate to experience

Question 24

distinct or complementary?

distinct- appropriate for different situations for different research aims

Answer 24

researcher - universal claims and develop general laws, = nomo methods.
researcher - understand a unique perspective and generate depth and detail= idio

approaches are just two ends of a continuum, better to use them in this way. the two approaches may be used simultaneously and applied to the same individual or research question
eg diagnosing personality disorders

rather than seeing idiographic and nomothetic approaches as either/or alternatives, we can consider the same topic from both perspectives. And, in both cases, the aim may well be to develop general understanding.

Question 25

Ethical implications

Answer 25

The consequences of psychological research (studies and theories) for individuals, groups and wider society.

Question 26

Social sensitivity

Answer 26

Research is socially sensitive when it has potentially negative consequences for groups represented in the research (e.g. in terms of social policy).

Question 27

Implications for research

Answer 27

Research question
Dealing with participants
How findings are used

Question 28

research questions

Answer 28

phrasing may have a negative impact on groups (e.g. judging homosexual relationships against heterosexual norms).

Question 29

Dealing with participants

Answer 29

issues like informed consent, protection from harm and confidentiality are especially important (e.g. domestic abuse).

ppt may provide informed consent at the start of the study but not fully understand the effect of the research

Question 30

How findings are used

Answer 30

may give ‘scientific’ credibility to prejudice and discrimination, used to justify public policy (e.g. ‘racial’ basis of intelligence), and media sensationalism.

Question 31

benefits for groups

strengths- socially sensitive research is that it can have benefits for the group who have been studied

Answer 31

eg the gays were listed on the DSM-1 listed this as sociopathic personality disorder but removed in 1973.
from a report - anonymous interviews
over 5000 men about sexual behaviour
gays typical expression of human sexual behaviour

data included interviews-6000 women
outrage- because no one discussed it

Question 32

counterpoint

limitation- negative consequences some could have been anticipated

Answer 32

investigating the genetic basis of criminality has found that there is a criminal gene
if this was true does it mean that someone could be convicted on the basis that they have the gene or should they be excused because they cant be held responsible for any wronging?

need for very careful consideration of possible outcomes and their consequences

Question 33

real-world application

strength- certain groups eg policy makers rely on research related to socially sensitive issues

Answer 33

gov look to research when developing important social policies eg childcare education crime

preferable to base it on research than politically motivated views
UK has independent groups eg office for national statistics- responsible for collecting analysing and disseminating objective statistics about the UK econ soci and pop
data used in psycho research
important role to play in providing high-quality research on socially sensitive topics

Question 34

poor research design

limitation- poor research design leads to erroneous findings which continue to have an impact

Answer 34

psychologist who researched intelligence was found to be fraud the 11
+ continued to be used.
it is still a tool used in some parts of the UK
access to independent schools- a child’s performance in an entrance exam taken in year 6
based on the same reasoning- the genetic potential is revealed.

any research on socially sensitive topics needs to be planned with the greatest care to ensure the finding are valid because of the enduring effects on particular groups of people.

Question 35

to do or not to do