Issues and Debates

Question 1

Idiographic definition

Answer 1

focus on the individual and emphasise the unique personal experience of human nature

Doesn’t seek to formulate laws or generalise results to others

Question 2

Nomothetic definition

Answer 2

concerned with establishing general laws based on the study of large groups of people

Question 3

What research methods do idiographic approaches prefer and why?

Answer 3

produces qualitative data

case studies, unstructured interviews

Provide an in-depth insight into individual behaviour

Question 4

AO3 of the idiographic approach

Answer 4

✘ Studies of individuals may be incorrectly generalised. e.g Many of Freud’s key concepts were derived from a single case of Little Han.

✘ Also tend to be less scientific due to conclusions being based on subjective interpretations of the researcher. Therefore lacks reliability.

✔ In depth qualitative methods provide a complete account of the individual. E.g HM generated hypotheses for further study and other brain damage studies revealed insights about normal functioning.

Question 5

What research methods do nomothetic approaches prefer and why?

Answer 5

research methods: experiments, correlational research

approach is scientific

Statistical and quantitative methods to analyse data

Question 6

AO3 of nomothetic approach

Answer 6

✔ Benefits of using scientific methods e.g. quantitative methods, controlled, reliable methods. Gives psychology more scientific credibility as they can come up with a baseline of ‘typical’ behaviour.

✔ Application of approach - biological approach using drug treatments for mental health issues e.g. OCD/depression

✘ Lab studies tends to treat ppts as a set of scores rather than take into account their experiences and situation. Therefore the nomothetic approach tends to ignore the importance of experiences

✔ Many approaches in psychology adopt both an idiographic and nomothetic approach e.g. psychodynamic and cognitive

Question 7

Idiographic examples

Answer 7

Case study KF in memory - STM of auditory information better than visual, STM consists of multiple components. KF = undermined model of MSM

Question 8

Nomothetic examples

Answer 8

Biological approach e.g. OCD, depression as they pinpoint a biological factor e.g. neurotransmitters that are responsible for these disorders.

Behaviourist approach e.g. Pavlov and Skinner, experiments on animals in order to establish laws of learning (classical/operant) that is generalised to humans

Cognitive approach e.g. MSM applied to everyone

Question 9

Nature definition

Answer 9

view that behaviour is the product of innate biological or genetic factors

Question 10

Nurture definition

Answer 10

behaviour is the product of environmental influences anything outside the body e.g. people, events, physical world

Question 11

Heredity definition

Answer 11

process in which traits are passed down from one generation to the next

Question 12

Interactionist approach to nature vs nurture

Answer 12

where nature and nurture overlap and work together to shape human behaviour.

Question 13

Examples of nature

Answer 13

Bowlby: children come into the world biologically programmed to attach in order to help survival

Question 14

Example of nurture

Answer 14

explaining attachment through classical conditioning where infant attaches as they associate primary caregiver with pleasure e.g. food. Then attachment is maintained via operant conditioning

Question 15

Diathesis Stress Model

Answer 15

suggests that psychopathology is caused by a biological/ genetic vulnerability which is only expressed when coupled with a biological or environmental trigger.

Therefore emphasises the interaction of nature and nurture.

Question 16

Tienali et al

Answer 16

found that in a group of Finnish adoptees those most likely to develop Sz had biological relatives with a history of the disorder (vulnerability) and had relationships with their adoptive families that were defined as ‘dysfunctional’ (trigger)

Question 17

Epigenetics

Answer 17

refers to a change in our genetic activity without changing our genetic code which happens throughout life and is caused by interaction with the environment

Question 18

Dias and Ressler (2014)

Answer 18

Gave male lab mice electric shocks and released a small amount of a chemical with a distinctive smell

The mice showed a fear reaction as soon as the scent was presented

They found that the children and grandchildren who were not conditioned also showed fear of the smell

Question 19

AO3 of Nature vs nurture

Answer 19

✘ Constructivism — Plomin suggested that an individual’s ‘nature’ would determine their ‘nurture’ through niche-picking or niche-building. For example, a naturally aggressive child would be more likely to play with and befriend other aggressive children. This in turn would increase the aggressiveness of the child.

Therefore, the idea of constructivism further emphasises the multi-layered relationship between nature and nurture.

✔ Neural plasticity suggests how life experiences shape our biology

Maguire et al - London taxi drivers had a larger hippocampus size

✘ Diathesis-stress model - born with a biological vulnerability such as a gene for depression but an environmental factor/stressor will trigger it

Research suggests not everyone with the gene will develop the disorder depression

✔ Dias and Ressler

Question 20

Reductionist definition

Answer 20

belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into simpler component parts

Best way to look at behaviour is to break it down and use the simplest explanation to explain how it works

Question 21

Holism definition

Answer 21

Human behaviour should be viewed as whole integrated experiences and not separate parts

Question 22

Biological reductionism

Answer 22

belief that behaviour is biological and so can be explained through neurochemical, neurophysiological, evolutionary and genetic influences.

Question 23

Environmental reductionism

Answer 23

The attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience.

Question 24

Example of Holistic approach

Answer 24

Gestalt Psychologists

declared that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’

supports the holistic view and is shared.

humanistic approach = react to stimuli as a whole

Question 25

Example of the biological approach

Answer 25

OCD is caused by neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin

Question 26

Example of environmental reductionism

Answer 26

behavioural approach to explaining phobias - caused by classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning

Question 27

Levels of explanations and examples

Answer 27

suggests there are different ways of viewing the same phenomena in psychology Biological - Maguire et al found an association between size of hippocampus and memory for spatial navigation Psychological - cognitive psychologists examine particular aspects of memory (Miller capacity of STM) Cultural - research suggests that cultural expectations affect what we remember and how we recall info (Bartlett schema theory)

Question 28

AO3 of holism and reductionism

Answer 28

✔ Psychology as a science experimental reductionism: human behaviour can be studied effectively in simple experiments where complex behaviour is reduced to isolated variables This allows you to study different factors that influence human behaviour in a controlled manner whilst you can establish causal relationship ✘ Approaches tend to be based off non-human animals so it is difficult to generalise as humans live in a complex social world ✔ SSRI for OCD as a biological treatment. Drug therapies that can manipulate levels of hormones to help treat mental health disorders HOWEVER - it isn't always successful and it treats the symptoms but not the cause = chance of relapse. Not always ethical to change people's hormones/genes ✘ Reductionism is limited lead to error in understanding ignores complexity of behaviour e.g. depression. It could be inaccurate to reduce behaviour down as many factors could be involved purely biological treatment may be inadequate as holism attempts to overcome this criticism by looking at all levels of explanations Holistic approaches don't establish cause and effect because they don't investigate behaviour in terms of operationalised variable

Question 29

Androcentric definition

Answer 29

dominated by males. In the past, most psychologists were males and the theories they produce tend to be based around a male view on the world.

Question 30

Beta bias definition

Answer 30

ignored or minimised sex differences. Theories often assume that findings from males can be equally applied to females

Question 30

Alpha bias definition

Answer 30

exaggerate the differences between males and females

Question 31

Universality

Answer 31

that conclusion can be applied to everyone, anywhere, regardless of time or culture

Question 32

Gender bias definition

Answer 32

the tendency to treat one individual or group in a different way from others due to their gender.

Question 33

AO3 of gender bias

Answer 33

✘ gender-biased research may create misleading assumptions about female behaviour and could therefore have damaging consequences ✘ Female researchers are less likely to have their research published compared to male counterparts and lab studies are likely to disadvantage women and studies that find evidence for gender differences are more likely to appear in journal articles than those thta do not. Therefore psychology may be guilty of supporting a form of institutional sexism that can create bias in theories and research

Question 34

Examples of Gender bias

Answer 34

Wilson sociobiological theory of relationship theory (alpha bias) -suggests that it is in the male's interest to try to impregnate as many women as possible -for females, they should ensure healthy survival for the few offspring they produce Therefore promiscuity in males is genetically determined whilst females would be going against their nature. Kohlberg (Beta Bias) -proposed a stage theory of moral development -based on male ppts but claimed it was universal Social influence: Zimbardo's study conducted only on males and assumed conformity to roles is the same for females.

Question 35

Free will definition

Answer 35

idea that we can play an active role and have choice in how we behave. Individuals are free to choose their behaviours and are self determined.

Question 36

Determinism definition

Answer 36

free will is an illusion, our behaviour is governed by internal and external forces over which we have no control

Question 37

Soft determinism definition

Answer 37

suggests that behaviour has causes but behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices

Question 38

Hard determinism definition

Answer 38

forces outside of our control e.g. biological/past experiences shape our behaviour

Question 39

Biological determinism definition

Answer 39

all human behaviour is innate and determined by genes

Question 40

Environmental determinism definition

Answer 40

behaviour is caused by forces outside the individual e.g. previous experiences - learnt through classical and operant conditioning

Question 41

Psychic determinism definition

Answer 41

Claims human behaviour is the result of childhood and innate drives

Question 42

Example of biological determinism

Answer 42

psychopathology - OCD is partly genetic. If 1st degree relative has OCD, 5x more likely to have OCD

Question 43

Example of environmental determinism

Answer 43

psychopathology - phobias acquired through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning

Question 44

Psychic determinist example

Answer 44

gender - gendered behaviours are acquired during the phallic stage or development through the oedipus complex where children identify with the same sex parents

Question 45

Free will example

Answer 45

Within Maslows hierachy of need people are free agents to seek out the stages of the hierachy

Question 46

AO3 of free will vs determinism

Answer 46

✔ Research suggests that people who have an internal locus of control tend to be more mentally healthy. Therefore this suggests that even if we do not have free will, the fact that we think we do may have positive impact on mind and behaviour ✔ Bandura argued that even though environmental factors in learning are key, we are free to choose who or what to attend to and when we perform certain behaviours. Therefore an interactionist view may provide the best compromise ✘ Hard determinism is unfalsifiable because it states that causes of behaviour always exist even if they are yet to be found. Therefore determinism is unscientific

Question 47

Universality definition

Answer 47

Research, theories and explanations often aim to represent universal human behaviour.

Question 48

Cultural bias

Answer 48

If the 'norm' or 'standard' for a particular behaviour is judged only from the standpoint of a particular culture, then any cultural differences in behaviour that deviate from this standard will be seen as abnormal, 'inferior' or 'unusual'

Question 49

Ethnocentrism definition

Answer 49

Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one's own culture. At an extreme it is the belief that there is superiority of one's own culture and this can lead to prejudice and discrimination

Question 50

Cultural relativism definition

Answer 50

The idea that norms, values and ethics and moral standards can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts.

Question 51

AO3 of cultural bias

Answer 51

western psychology has been a tool of oppression and dominance. Cultural bias has also made it difficult for psychologists to separate the behaviour they have observed from the context in which they observed it Indigenous psychologies - development of different groups of theories in different countries Afrocentrism: research in Africa need to be African centred and express African values The increase in travel and community means there is an increase in understanding of other cultures. International conferences where researchers meet and exchange ideas should reduce the bias

Question 51

Example of cultural bias - beta bias

Answer 51

Ainsworth Strange Situation reflects only the values of American culture The idea of a secure attachment was shown as showing moderate distress etc upon separation in USA In germany, they emphasise the independence so they appeared as 'cold'

Question 52

Ethical issues definition

Answer 52

Issues that arise when there is conflict between the rights of the ps and the aims of the researcher

Question 53

Ethical implications definition

Answer 53

Considers the impact or consequences that psychological research has on the rights of other people in wider context, not just the participants

Question 53

Socially sensitivity definition

Answer 53

Socially sensitive to describe studies where there are potential social consequences for the ps or the group of people represented by the research

Question 54

4 things Sieber and Stanley say researchers should consider when conducting socially sensitive research

Answer 54

1) The research question - most consider their question carefully e.g. are there racial differences in IQ? vs is intelligence inherited? 2) The methodology used - researchers needs to consider the treatment of the ps and their rights to confidentiality and anonymity 3)The institutional context - researcher should be mindful of how the data is going to be used and who is funding the researc 4) Interpretation and application of the findings - researcher needs to consider how their findings might be interpreted and applied in the real world

Question 55

Example of socially sensitive research

Answer 55

Milgram - results could be used to ensure that people obey orders, including those they don't wish to follow

Question 56

Ethical implications of Bowlby

Answer 56

Bowlby: has contributed to the development of childcare practices. Encouraged the view that a women's place is at home with her children which could make some mothers guilty for wanting to return to work

Question 57

Ethical issues in socially sensitive research : Privacy

Answer 57

researcher might extract more information than the ps intended to give

Question 58

Ethical issues in SSR: confidentiality

Answer 58

ps may be less willing to give information in the future if confidentiality is breached

Question 59

Ethical issues in SSR: Deception

Answer 59

Self deception: Research can lead to people forming untrue stereotypes which can affect ones own performance Ps are lied to about the true aim or it is covered up

Question 59

Ethical issues in SSR: Valid methodology

Answer 59

Poor methodology leads to invalid findings E.g. MMR linked to autism

Question 60

Ethical issues in SSR: Informed consent

Answer 60

Telling ps what is involved to give them full knowledge on what they're expecting

Question 61

Ethical issues in SSR: Equitable treatment

Answer 61

Must be treated equitably Can't withhold resources that are vital for wellbeing Regardless of scientific usefulness

Question 62

Ethical issues in SSR: Scientific freedom

Answer 62

Duty vs obligation Duty to investigate Obligation not to harm

Question 63

Ethical issues in SSR: Ownership of data

Answer 63

Who really owns the data? researcher? university? funding company

Question 64

Ethical issues in SSR: Values

Answer 64

Psychologists differ in subjective vs objective approach to research Problems arise when researchers and recipient have differing opinions

Question 65

Ethical issues in SSR: Risk/benefit ratio

Answer 65

Risk and costs need to be minimised

Question 66

AO3 of SSR and Ethical implications in research

Answer 66

Some groups in society are missed out of research e.g. elderly, minorities which makes results unrepresentative Minorities could be marginalised and misrepresented. Could mean they miss out on potential benefits of research as well Issues focus on the individual which means SSR has increased potential to have further implications. Not sufficient to safeguard the individual Researchers engaging with the media. It is the responsibility of the researcher to ensure their research is promoted in a socially sensitive way. Need to be aware of the possible uses of their research (abuse, discrimination, etc.)