issues and debates

Question 1

what is the debate for reductionist and holism

Answer 1

whether complex behaviour is better understood by breaking down into individual parts or considering whole systems

Question 2

what is the definition of reductionism

Answer 2

breaking down into smaller parts

Question 3

what are the examples of reductionism

Answer 3

• parisimony
• result of part learning
• stimuli and response reduction
• neurochemicals

Question 4

what are the two types of levels of explanations

Answer 4

micro: basic components
macro: holistic

Question 5

what is the highest level of explanation

Answer 5

social cultural explanations

Question 6

what is the second level of explanation

Answer 6

(behavioural, cognitive social)
psychological explanations

Question 7

what is the lowest level of explanation

Answer 7

physiological

Question 8

what is biological reductionism

Answer 8

behaviours reduced to physical levels in terms of neurones and hormones

Question 9

what is environmental reductionism

Answer 9

behaviours using stimulus response mechanisms which are simplistic

Question 10

what is holism

Answer 10

behaviours that focus on systems as a whole

Question 11

what is an example of biological reductionism

Answer 11

high dopamine and low serotonin

Question 12

what is an example of environmental reductionism

Answer 12

two process model for phobias

Question 13

what are features of holism

Answer 13

• unpredictable
• concerned with highest level explanations
• gestalt psychology
• humanistic approach

Question 14

what is the debate for determinism and free will

Answer 14

whether behaviour is a result of internal and external forces or whether to act or behave in a certain way

Question 15

what is determinism

Answer 15

being governed by internal or external forces

Question 16

what is an example of internal forces in determinism

Answer 16

hormones

Question 17

what is an example of external forces in determinism

Answer 17

parents

Question 18

what is hard determinism

Answer 18

a result of accumulated conditioned responses

Question 19

what is fatalism

Answer 19

forces that are outside of control

Question 20

what is soft determinism

Answer 20

constrained behaviours by environmental or biological make up

Question 21

what are the three types of determinism

Answer 21

biological, environmental and psychic

Question 22

what is an example of biological determinism

Answer 22

innate behaviours e.g. MAOA-L gene

Question 23

what is an example of environmental determinism

Answer 23

classical and operant conditioning through reinforcement contingencies

Question 24

what is an example of psychic determinism

Answer 24

childhood experiences by focusing sequentially on erogenous zones

Question 25

what is free will

Answer 25

playing active roles

Question 26

what are the features of free will

Answer 26

self determining impossible to predict humanistic approach

Question 27

what is the scientific emphasis of free will and determinism

Answer 27

predicting and controlling events

Question 28

what is the debate for nature and nurture

Answer 28

the relative contribution of nature and nurture through behaviour

Question 29

what is the definition of nature

Answer 29

characteristics determined by genes

Question 30

what is the focus on natavists

Answer 30

favouring heredity

Question 31

what is the effect of nature and nurture

Answer 31

environmental influences beginning as soon as birth

Question 32

what is the heritability coefficient

Answer 32

assessing heredity from a scale of 1-10

Question 33

what is an example of nature

Answer 33

bowlby's monotropic theory with the innate drive to form bonds

Question 34

what is nurture

Answer 34

characteristics shaped by experience and social interactions

Question 35

what is an example of nurture

Answer 35

behaviourism which is learnt via conditioning

Question 36

what is interactionism

Answer 36

the relative contribution of both nature and nurture

Question 37

what is the debate of idiographic and nomothetic

Answer 37

whether we should focus uniqueness of individuals or large groups via theories

Question 38

what is the definition of being idiographic

Answer 38

being its own and private views

Question 39

what is the aim of being idiographic

Answer 39

in depth understanding, subjective experiences

Question 40

what is the method of idiographic data

Answer 40

qualitative data through case studies over a period of time

Question 41

what is an example of idiographic data

Answer 41

carl rogers and studies of humanistic approach sigmund freud and little hans

Question 42

what is the definition of being nomothetic

Answer 42

generalised laws and theories for everyone

Question 43

what is the aim of nomothetic data

Answer 43

using large samples of participants through laws

Question 44

what is the method of nomothetic data

Answer 44

using scientific ideas through controlled lab experiments

Question 45

what is an example of nomothetic data

Answer 45

skinner and the response to using hundred of animals localisation of function