Issues and Debates Cue Cards.

Question 1

(ID): Further knowledge of the Unit: Demonstrate an understanding of the key specification requirements for this Unit: Issues and Debates.

Answer 1

demonstrate knowledge and understanding of psychological concepts, theories, research studies, research methods and ethical issues in relation to the specified Paper 3 content

apply psychological knowledge and understanding of the specified Paper 3 content in a range of contexts

analyse, interpret and evaluate psychological concepts, theories, research studies and research methods in relation to the specified Paper 3 content

evaluate therapies and treatments including in terms of their appropriateness and effectiveness.

Issues and debates in Psychology:

Gender and culture in Psychology – universality and bias. Gender bias including androcentrism and alpha and beta bias; cultural bias, including ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.

Free will and determinism: hard determinism and soft determinism; biological, environmental and psychic determinism. The scientific emphasis on causal explanations.

The nature-nurture debate: the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour; the interactionist approach.

Holism and reductionism: levels of explanation in Psychology. Biological reductionism and environmental (stimulus-response) reductionism.

Idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation.

Ethical implications of research studies and theory, including reference to social sensitivity.

Question 2

(ID): T1. Pre-covered approaches and Debates summary: Outline the basic assumptions of the Psychodynamic approach.

Answer 2

The psychodynamic approach has at its roots three main assumptions, which are that:

the unconscious mind drives our behaviour.

instincts or drives motivate our behaviour.

early childhood experiences are influential in creating the psychological self.

The three basic assumptions in context:
As with all the approaches it is important to start with the basic assumptions of the psychodynamic approach. There are three core assumptions:

1. The unconscious mind drives our behaviours. – The psychodynamic approach believes that the driving force behind behaviour is the unconscious mind. The approach argues that if we have problematic or challenging behaviour then we must access the unconscious mind to sort it out.
2. Instincts or drives motivate our behaviours. – This approach argues that it is instincts and drives that motivate behaviour. This means that we are driven by instinct to go through a series of stages in development of our behaviour and personality. For example, this approach believes we have sexual instinct from birth and as we develop we go through a series of five psychosexual stages until we reach the final stage at around 12 year old. (See psychosexual stages on page 227 of textbook).
3. Early childhood experiences are influential in creating the psychological self. - Early childhood is believed to be pivotal in making us the people we are. Most of our psychological development is argued, by this approach, to be formed prior to the age of six.

The psychodynamic approach argues that all behaviour is determined.

Psychodynamic theory is strongly determinist as it views our behavior as caused entirely by unconscious factors over which we have no control.

Unconscious thoughts and feelings can transfer to the conscious mind in the form of parapraxes, popularly known asFreudian slipsor slips of the tongue. We reveal what is really on our mind by saying something we didn’t mean to.

Freud believed that slips of the tongue provided an insight into the unconscious mind and that there were no accidents, every behavior (including slips of the tongue) was significant (i.e., all behavior is determined).

Question 3

(ID): T1. Pre-covered approaches and Debates summary: Outline the basic assumptions of the Humanistic approach.

Answer 3

The basic assumptions:

Humanistic psychology is sometimes referred to as the ‘third force’ in psychology as it views behaviour in a very different way to many of the other approaches. It was founded in the 1950s. There was a questioning of the influence of the first force; psychodynamic psychology, and the way it focused on unhealthy development in psychoanalysis. The movement also arose from dissatisfaction with the deterministic and ‘overly scientific’ way behaviourist psychologists (the second force) regarded behaviour.

Basic assumptions.
According to humanistic psychologists:

Each person is a unique individual different from every other individual.

Each individual has free will to choose what to do and how to behave, subject to social laws and norms.

An individual’s personality and behaviour are affected by a wholerangeof factors – not just by childhood experiences, as inthe psychodynamic approach, for example; this means that we need to adopt a holistic or whole-person approach to individual behaviour.

Individuals behave and think in subjective ways (i.e. unique to themselves) so the scientific way of explaining behaviour is inappropriate.

• This way of viewing people is termedidiographic. = This means ‘relating to individual cases or events, rather than general laws’ and reflects the fact that the humanistic approach focuses on individuals.

1. Every individual is unique:

• Humanists believe that people are all different and should be treated as such. There is no point in trying to generalise to groups as there are so many differences within each group. This approach is therefore unlikely to try generalise to groups of people and subdivide the population into clusters which all share a characteristic such as age or gender. This way of viewing people as unique individuals is called Idiographic, as stated above.

2. Each individual has free will:

• Humanistic psychology begins with the existential assumption that people have free will. - Personal agency is the humanistic term for the exercise of free will. Personal agency refers to the choices we make in life, the paths we go down and their consequences.

3. People should be viewed holistically:

• Humanists argue that there is no point looking at just one aspect of an individual. If only one part is considered then much of what is affecting them could be missed. For example, if someone is very stressed and it is only their work life which is focused upon in therapy, there could be problems in their home life that might be overlooked. - Humanists do not agree with focusing on childhood in therapy – they believe the whole life course should be considered. Humanists believe by seeing someone as elements rather than whole means that much of what is important, and that makes the person who they are, is lost.

4. The scientific method is not appropriate to measure behaviour:

• Humanistic psychology does not describe itself as scientific. It argues the scientific method is too objective (reminder: free from personal opinion and biased) and yet humans are subjective in the way they think and behave. - This therefore means that the methods employed by some approaches in measuring behaviour and thought are inappropriate as they try to measure without acknowledging the subjective experience of the individual.

Question 4

(ID): T1. Pre-covered approaches and Debates summary: (102: Unit 7. Topic 3: Further biopsychology). Explain the role and location of motor, somatosensory, visual, auditory and language centres (Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas) in the brain.

Answer 4

The roles and locations of the different motor centres in the brain:

Motor centres: 1. Motor cortex:

• Movement is centred on the primary motor cortex of the brain which sends messages to the muscles via the brain stem and spinal cord. The motor cortex is particularly important for complex movement is particularly important for complex movement and not basic actions such as coughing, crying or gagging.
• Within the motor cortex there are areas which controls specific parts of the body. (This is shown in Figure 6.10, page 265).
• The diagram illustrates the appropriate position of the neurons designated to specific areas to specific areas of the body. Note that there is no relationship the size of the area of the body and the number of neurons involved. This is due to the complexity of movement in the area dictating how many neurons are needed. For example, although the trunk (torso area) is a large area of the body, it does not need to complete complex movements, just twisting and bending, so therefore does not need much of the brain to control it.
• When the motor cortex instructs an outcome it is the spinal cord and other areas which co-ordinate all the various areas if the body into a movement. Areas of the brain which involve movement are the Spinal cord and brain, premoyor cortex and prefrontal cortex. (See word doc for context example).

Motor centres: 2 Somatosensory centres:

• Somatosensory is referring to the sensation of the body. The Somatosensory cortex lies next to the motor cortex in the brain.
• It perceives touch, so the amount of neuronal connections needed dictates the amount of Somatosensory cortex needed for that area of the body. It is clear from the figure 6.10 in textbook (page N0 above) that touch sensitive areas such as the face require a larger proportion Somatosensory cortex than say the trunk, which again does not require a high level of sensitivity.

Motor centres: 3 Primary visual cortex:

• The brain has two visual cortices, one in each hemisphere.
• The primary visual cortex is in the optical lobe, which is at the back of the brain. This is seen to be the main visual centre. With that centre, it is specifically an area called area V1 – which seems to be necessary for visual perception.
• The visual information is transmitted along two pathways, one containing the components of the visual and the other being involved in the location within the visual field.

Research:
- Occasionally individuals with damage to Area V1 will show ‘blindsight’. – This is a condition where someone appears qualitatively blind, in that they report no vision, but they can locate objects in a visual field by pointing at them. This seems to suggest that some of the processing in the visual cortex is not conscious (Bridgeman & Staggs, 1982).

Motor centres: 4 Auditory centres:

• The human brain has two primary auditory cortices, one in each hemisphere.
• The primary auditory cortex in both hemispheres receives information from both ears via two pathways that transmit information about what the sound is and its location (in a similar way to how the visual information gets passed to the visual cortex). The information from the right ear goes primarily to the left hemisphere but some is transmitted to the left primary auditory cortex too. This happens in the same way with the information the left ear.
• The primary auditory cortex is damaged it does not lead to total deafness. Sounds can still be heard but if they require processing such as music, then this ability is no longer present.

Motor centres: 5 + Language centres – Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas:
- In most people, Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas are in the left hemisphere, and that is where most language processing is situated.

Broca’s area:
- Broca’s work (see classic case study in textbook, page 266) therefore correctly identified the area of the brain responsible for speech production.

• Not all words are affected equally in this area of the brain. Nouns and verbs seem relatively unaffected in some patients with damage in Broca’s area, but other classes of words, such as prepositions and conjunctions, cannot be spoken.
• For example (not generalised), people with Broca’s aphasia can’t read out loud: ‘To be or not to be’ but can say ‘Two bee oar knot two bee’ (Gardner & Zurif, 1975).

Wernicke’s area:

• nWernicke’s areais responsible for the comprehension of language and again this area was identified through the study of patients with brain damage.

+ types of Aphasia:

Note: that there are 2 types of Aphasia – fluent and non-fluent, the first video shows someone suffering from non-fluent and the third (the one right above) shows someone suffering from fluent aphasia. The main differences between the two are:

· Fluent Aphasia: is associated with Wernicke’s area; You can speak in long sentences. However, these sentences have no obvious meaning and can contain unnecessary or even made up words. Trouble with understanding language and with repeating things is also present.

· Non-fluent Aphasia: is associated with Broca’s area; You know what you want to say and can understand others. However, speech is difficult and requires great effort. Short phrases are often used, such as “Want food.” Some weakness orparalysisof the limbs on one side of the body may also be present.

Question 5

(1D): T2. Gender and culture in psychology: Explain how the assumption of universality applies to gender and culture.

Answer 5

How the assumption of universality applies to gender and culture:

Universality= the assumption that all research carried out can be applied equally to all genders and to all cultures.

Universality, when applied engender as a term, means that all research is assumed to apply equally to all genders (all people). A lot of research is very mindful of the gender perspective so some assumptions of universality are underpinned by rigours testing across all genders.
This means that biased research can occur but assumptions of universality are often well researched.

Question 6

(RM): T2. Gender and culture in psychology: Identify what is meant by Gender bias.

Answer 6

AO1

Gender bias results when one gender is treated less favourably than the other, often referred to as sexism and it has a range of consequences including:

Scientifically misleading

Upholding stereotypical assumptions

Validating sex discrimination

Avoiding gender bias does not mean pretending that men and women are the same.

Question 7

(RM): T2. Gender and culture in psychology: Explain the three main types of gender bias.

Answer 7

There are three main types of gender bias:

Alpha bias- this occurs when the differences between men and women are exaggerated. Therefore, stereotypically male and female characteristics may be emphasised.

Beta bias-this occurs when the differences between men and women are minimised. This often happens when findings obtained from men are applied to women without additional validation.

Androcentrism- taking male thinking/behavior as normal, regarding female thinking/behavior as deviant, inferiour, abnormal, ‘other’ when it is different.

Question 8

(RM): T2. Gender and culture in psychology: Outline the positive and negative consequences of Gender biases.

Answer 8

Consequences of Gender Bias

Kitzinger (1998) argue that questions about sex differences aren’t just scientific questions – they’re also political (women have same rights as men). So gender differences distorted to maintain the status quo of male power.

• Women kept out of male-dominant universities.

• Women were oppressed.

• Women stereotypes - Bowlby.

Feminist argue that although gender differences are minimal or non-existent, they are used against women to maintain male power.

Question 9

(RM): T2. Gender and culture in psychology: Give examples of Gender bias in Research/ Research processes.

Answer 9

Examples of Gender Bias in ResearchAO3

Kohlberg & Moral Development

Kohlberg based his stages ofmoral developmentaround male moral reasoning and had an all-male sample. He then inappropriately generalized his findings to women (beta bias) and also claimed women generally reached lower level of moral development (androcentrism).

Carol Gilligan highlighted the gender bias inherent in Kohlberg’s work and suggested women make moral decisions in a different way to men (care ethic vs. justice ethic).

However, her research is, arguably, also (alpha) biased, as male and female moral reasoning is more similar than her work suggests.

Freud & Psychosexual Development

Freud’s ideasare seen as inherently gender biased, but it must be remembered that he was a product of his time. He saw ‘Biology as destiny’ and women’s roles as prescribed & predetermined.

All his theories areandrocentric, most obviously: -‘Penis envy’ – women are defined psychologically by the fact that they aren’t men.

But Freud’s ideas had serious consequences/implications they reinforced stereotypes e.g. of women’s moral Inferiority, treated deviations from traditional sex-role behavior as pathological career ambition = penis envy and are clearly androcentric phallocentric.

Gender Bias in the Research ProcessAO1

Institutional sexism

• Although female psychology students outnumber male, at a seniour teaching and research level in universities, men dominate. Men predominate at seniour researcher level.

• Research agenda follows male concerns, female concerns may be marginalised or ignored.

Use of standardised procedures in research studies

• Most experimental methodologies are based around standardised treatment of participants. This assumes that men and women respond in the same ways to the experimental situation.

• Women and men might respond differently to research situation.

• Women and men might be treated differently by researchers.

• Could create artificial differences or mask real ones.

Dissemination of research results through academic journals

• Publishing bias towards positive results.

• Research that finds gender differences more likely to get published than that which doesn’t.

Question 10

(RM): T2. Gender and culture in psychology:
Explain how gender bias in Psychology can be reduced and describe the Biomedical viewpoint.

Answer 10

Reducing Gender Bias in Psychology(AO3)

Equal opportunity legislation and feminist psychology have performed the valuable functions of reducing institutionalised gender bias and drawing attention to sources of bias and under-researched areas in psychology like childcare, sexual abuse, dual burden working and prostitution.

The Feminist perspective

• Re-examining the ‘facts’ about gender.

• View of women as normal humans, not deficient men.

• Skepticism towards biological determinism.

• Research agenda focusing on women’s’ concerns.

• A psychology for women, rather than a psychology of women.

This view of gender divergence in personality development has implications for other aspects of development. For example, Freud’s view of morality was that it was regulated by the superego, which is an internalisation of the same sex parent that regulates behavior through the threat of punishment. In boys, immoral behavior is regulated through the mechanism of castration anxiety – men obey the rules because of an unconscious fear that their father will take away their penis.

In the Freudian view, the girl has already had to accept her castration as a fait accompli, which raises important questions about the relative moral strength of men and women.

The Biological View of Mental Illness

The biomedical view of mental illness, which approaches behavioral and psychological abnormality as a manifestation of underlying pathological processes on the biological level, dominates discussion of mental illness.

In thebiomedical view, illnesses such as depression can be explained in terms of chemical imbalances causing malfunction in the parts of the brain associated with emotion.

When explaining why twice as many women as men are diagnosed with depression, adherents of the biomedical view tend to suggest that this is due to hormonal differences, and point to the existence of, for example, post-natal depression to show how fluctuations in female sex hormones can lead to abnormalities of mood.

Question 11

(RM): T2. Gender and culture in psychology: Explain culture bias in Psychology.

Answer 11

Culture can be described as all the knowledge and values shared by a society.

Cultures may differ from one another in many ways, so that the findings of psychological research conducted in one culture may not apply directly to another.

Question 12

(RM): T2. Gender and culture in psychology: Explain how culture bias can effect research.

Answer 12

At the same time, people are affected by a range of factors that are specific to the cultural group in which they developed and within which they live. Psychologists should always attempt to account for the ways in which culture affects thinking and behavior.

However, this has not always been the case. Psychology is a discipline that evolved within a very specific cultural context. Psychology is predominantly a white, Euro-American enterprise: - (i) 64% of psychological researchers from US; (ii) in some texts, 90% of studies have US Participants; (iii) samples predominantly white middle class.

Consequently, it has incorporated a particular world-view (that of the industrialised West) into the ways it tries to understand people. This can have consequences. For example:

Psychologists may overlook the importance of cultural diversity in understanding human behavior, resulting in theories that are scientifically inadequate.

They may also privilege their own worldview over those that emerge from other cultures, leading to research that either intentionally or unintentionally supports racist and discriminatory practices in the real world.

We will be looking at how cultural bias can affect psychological theories and research studies, and the sorts of things psychologists can do to avoid the worst effects of cultural bias

Question 13

(RM): T2. Gender and culture in psychology: Explain the Types of Theoretical Constructions for Understanding Cultural Bias.

Answer 13

1.Emics

Anemic

constructis one that is applied to only in one cultural group, so they vary from place to place (differences between cultures).

Anemic approachrefers to the investigation of a culture from within the culture itself. This means that research of European society from a European perspective is emic, and African society by African researchers in Africa is also emic. An emic approach is more likely to have ecological validity as the findings are less likely to be distorted or caused by a mismatch between the cultures of the researchers and the culture being investigated.

Culture biascan occur when a researcher assumes that an emic construct (behavior specific to a single culture) is actually an etic (behavior universal to all cultures).

For example, emic constructs are likely to be ignored or misinterpreted as researchers from another culture may not be sensitive to local emics. Their own cultural ‘filters’ may prevent them from detecting them or appreciating their significance.

Etics

Anetic constructis a theoretical idea that is assumed to apply in all cultural groups. Therefore, etic constructs are considered universal to all people, and are factors that hold across all cultures (similarities between cultures).

Etic constructs assume that most human behavior is common to humans but that cultural factors influence the development or display of this behavior.

Culture biascan occur when emics and etics get mistaken for each other.

Bias can occur when emics and etics get mistaken for each other.

Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrismoccurs when a researcher assumes that their own culturally specific practices or ideas are ‘natural’ or ‘right’. The individual uses their own ethnic group to evaluate and make judgments about other individuals from other ethnic groups. Research which is ‘centred’ around one cultural group is called ‘ethnocentric’.

When other cultures are observed to differ from the researcher’s own, they may be regarded in a negative light e.g. ‘primitive’, ‘degenerate’, ‘unsophisticated’, ‘undeveloped’ etc.

This becomes racism when other cultures are denigrated or their traditions regarded as irrelevant etc.

The antidote to ethnocentrism is cultural relativism, which is an approach to treating each culture as unique and worthy of study.

Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativismis the principle of regarding the beliefs, values, and practices of a culture from the viewpoint of that culture itself.

The principle is sometimes practiced to avoid cultural bias in research, as well as to avoid judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture. For this reason, cultural relativism has been considered an attempt to avoid ethnocentrism.

Question 14

(RM): T2. Gender and culture in psychology: Give Examples of culturally biased research.

Answer 14

Culturally Biased ResearchAO3

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation for Attachment

The strange situation procedureis not appropriate for assessing children from non-US or UK populations as it is based on Western childrearing ideals (i.e. ethnocentric).

The original study only used American, middle-class, white, home-reared infants and mothers therefore the generalisability of the findings could be questioned as well as whether this procedure would be valid for other cultures too.

Cultural differences in child-rearing styles make results liable to misinterpretation e.g. German or Japanese samples.

Takahshi (1990) aimed to see whether the strange situation is a valid procedure for cultures other than the original. Takashi found no children in the avoidant-insecure stage, this could be explained in cultural terms as Japanese children are taught that such behavior is impolite and the would be actively discouraged from displaying it. Also because Japanese children experience much less separation, the SSC was more than mildly stressful.

IQ testing and Research - e.g. Eysenck

An example of an etic approach which produces bias might be the imposition of IQ tests designed within one culture on another culture. If a test is designed to measure a European’s understanding ofwhat intelligence isit may not be a valid measurement of an African’s , or Asian’s intelligence.

Question 15

(RM): T2. Gender and culture in psychology: Explain the consequences of Culture Bias and how to reduce it.

Answer 15

Consequences of Culture BiasAO3

Nobles (1976) argues that western psychology has been a tool of oppression and dominance. Cultural bias has also made it difficult for psychologists to separate the behavior they have observed from the context in which they observed it.

Reducing Culture BiasAO3

Equal opportunity legislation aims to rid psychology of cultural bias and racism, but we must be aware merely swapping old, overt racism for new, more subtle forms of racism (Howitt and Owusu-Bempah, 1994)

One way to deal with cultural bias is to recognise it when it occurs.Smith and Bondfound, in their 1998 survey of European textbooks on social psychology, that 66% of the studies were American, 32% European, and only 2% from the rest of the world. This suggests that much psychological research is severely unrepresentative and can be greatly improved by simply selecting different cultural groups to study.

Contemporary psychologists are significantly more open-minded and well-travelled than previously, and have an increased understanding of other cultures at both a personal and professional level.

Question 16

(RM): T3. Free will and determinism: summarise the free will vs determinism debate.

Answer 16

Free Will & Determinism

The free will/determinism debate revolves around the extent to which our behavior is the result of forces over which we have no control or whether people are able to decide for themselves whether to act or behave in a certain way.

Question 17

(RM): T3. Free will and determinism: Explain what is meant by ‘free will’ in Psychology.

Answer 17

AO1

Free Will suggests that we all have a choice and can control and choose our own behavior. This approach is all about personal responsibility and plays a central role in Humanist Psychology.

By arguing that humans can make free choices, the free will approach appears to be quite the opposite of the deterministic one. Psychologists who take the free will view suggest that determinism removes freedom and dignity, and devalues human behavior.

To a lesser degree Cognitive Psychology also supports the idea of free will and choice. In reality, although we do have free will it is constrained by our circumstances and other people. For example, when you go shopping your choices are constrained by how much money you have.

Question 18

(RM): T3. Free will and determinism: provide strengths/ weaknesses for the Free will side of the debate.

Answer 18

Strengths (AO3)

ADVERTISING

• It emphasises the importance of the individual and studying individual differences.

• It fits society’s view of personal responsibility e.g. if you break the law you should be punished.

• The idea ofself-efficacyis useful in therapies as it makes them more effective.

Limitations (AO3)

• Free will is subjective and some argue it doesn’t exist.

• It is impossible to scientifically test the concept of free will.

• Few people would agree that behavior is always completely under the control of the individual.

Question 19

(RM): T3. Free will and determinism: Explain what is meant by ‘determinism’ in psychology.

Answer 19

AO1

The determinist approach proposes that all behavior is determined and thus predictable. Some approaches in psychology see the source of this determinism as being outside the individual, a position known as environmental determinism.

Others see it from coming inside i.e., in the form of unconscious motivation or genetic determinism – biological determinism.

Question 20

(RM): T3. Free will and determinism: Explain the different variations of determinism.

Answer 20

The different types of determinism:

Biological, environmental and psychic determinism.

If we accept thatdeterminismexists, what are the forces that control our behaviour?

There are several suggestions, including:

> Biological determinism: biological factors such as brain physiology, genetics and biochemistry – this is calledbiologicaldeterminism.

> vEnvironmental determinism: influences such as those shown inobedienceandconformitystudies – this is calledenvironmentaldeterminism; behaviourism (Section 1 Topic 1) advocates a deterministic element in conditioning theory, both classical and operant.

> Psychic determinism: psychicdeterminism, theorizes that all mental processes are not spontaneous but are determined by the unconscious or pre-existing mental complexes ; this arises from Freud’s description of the psyche (Topic 1).

Biological determinism.

The Origin of biological determinism is clear: it is any form of biological influence on the body. Examples of this can be found three main biological mechanisms: genetics, brain physiology and biochemistry:

• Genetic influences on behaviour are apparent in many areas, including aggression and addiction. However, since no single gene has been identified as completely controlling any one behaviour, then softdeterminismhas to be favoured.

· Brain physiology is also a determinant. You looked at brain localisation in Topic 3 and learned how specific areas of the brain might control particular aspects of behaviour.

· Biochemical changes influence behaviour too and this is the basis of much drug therapy. In schizophrenia, for example, an increase in dopamine levels appears to be influential in schizophrenic symptoms. Testosterone promotes aggressive behaviour. The effect that drugs have on and individual is out of their control, although they can alter the levels through drugs, so this becomes less deterministic.

Environmental determinism:

• Environmental determinism is the idea that our behaviour is determined by• environmental influences. The work of the social psychologists in conformity and obedience illustrates that behaviour can be altered by the environment, and in those cases, the people in someone’s environment.

• The learning approach is most often associated with environmental determinism. This is because behaviourism in particular advocates a stimulus/response explanation for behaviour. When you read about classical conditioning in Section 1 Topic 2, you met the idea of an association developing between a new stimulus and an emotional response that already existed. Saying that an external trigger prompts a behaviour from the individual. Watson’s work actually argued that behaviourism could control behaviour on a large scale and this in itself demonstrates a hard deterministic line.

• An example would be classical conditioning, where a strong association is made between a stimulus that was previously neutral and a strong emotional response. Whenever the stimulus is presented, the strong emotional impact is cued and this is out of the individual’s control. This is behaviourism in its purest form and later, more ‘diluted’ versions adhere to a less deterministic line.

• In the same topic you saw how, in operant conditioning, a particular consequence enhances a particular behaviour. However Operant conditioning can be seen as too deterministic, as applying the law of effect means that a particular consequence will make a behaviour more likely in the future. However, the ‘more likely’ does imply that there is an element of mediation by the individual and therefore possibly an element of free will.

• Social learning theory is not as deterministic in that there is a cognitive element involved in moderating the response. – This approach takes a less deterministic line as it acknowledges that reinforcement affects behaviour, but that there are also cognitive processes that moderate the response, I.e. whether the person completes the action.
- For example, if the motivation is not there or they are unable to reproduce the behaviour at that time, it will not automatically occur. This is called reciprocal determinism and is a version of soft determinism.

Psychic determinism:

• The psychodynamic approachrelies heavily on the role of the unconscious in controlling behaviour to the extent that therapists suggest that all behaviour can provide important clues as to the workings of the psyche. Analysis of behaviour is therefore important in uncovering unconscious thoughts and conflicts.
The notion of stages in development also illustrates the input ofdeterminismto explain behaviour. - Much of Freud’s explanation for adult behaviour arises from people’s ability to negotiate the development stages he described.

• Freud also argued that every action we take has a cause. He also argued strongly that the cause often has its origins in the unconscious. As the root cause was emitted from the unconscious mind the individual would not be able to say how they had followed a course of action. This would only become apparent from psychotherapy.

• The main idea of psychic determinism means that all behaviour had relevance for understanding an individual’s unconscious mind. In therapy, Freud stated that everyday behaviour is also governed by the unconscious and so therefore it should also be examined. Freudian slips – when an individual says the wrong word in conversation seemingly by accident and the word actually demonstrates what is going on in the individual’s unconscious mind – are examples of unconscious forces determining everyday behaviour.

Question 21

(RM): T3. Free will and determinism: Identify the difference between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ Determinism.

Answer 21

There are different levels of determinism.

Hard Determinism

Hard Determinism sees free will as an illusion and believes that every event and action has a cause, such as perceiving if an individual acts in a certain way that that behavior has been predetermined and is not down to individual choice.

Soft Determinism

Soft Determinism represents a middle ground, people do have a choice, but that choice is constrained by external factors e.g. Being poor doesn’t make you steal, but it may make you more likely to take that route through desperation.

Question 22

(RM): T3. Free will and determinism: provide strengths/ weaknesses for the determinism side of the debate And explain how science emphasises causal explanations.

Answer 22

Strengths (AO3)

• Determinism is scientific and allows cause and effect relationships to be established.

• It gives plausible explanations for behavior backed up by evidence.

Limitations (AO3)

• Determinism is reductionist.

• Does not account for individual differences. By creating general laws of behavior, deterministic psychology underestimates the uniqueness of human beings and their freedom to choose their own destiny.

• Hard determinism suggests criminals cannot be held accountable for their actions. Deterministic explanations for behavior reduce individual responsibility. A person arrested for a violent attack for example might plead that they were not responsible for their behavior – it was due to their upbringing, a bang on the head they received earlier in life, recent relationship stresses, or a psychiatric problem. In other words, their behavior was determined.

How science emphasises causal explanations:
.

You should remember fromResearch Methods and Techniquesthat when experiments are carried out only one variable should be changed, the independent variable or IV; the effect of this is measured on the dependent variable or DV. If all othervariablesare controlled then you can say that the change in the IV is causing the change in the DV. If this method is used in psychology theaimis to discover factors that are directly causal in controlling behaviour.

However, in psychology it is rare to be able to say that factor X causes behaviour Y, although you might be able to identify a link between them. If you can’t prove causation, then you don’t havedeterminism. There must be some other factor causing the variation in Y, and maybe this is free will.

Casual explanations definition: Where a change in a dependant variable is attributable to the manipulation of an independent variable.

Scientism in psychology is the use of methods from the natural sciences to find casual mechanisms for behaviour and thought.

Regarding psychology as a science means that this employment of the scientific method is commonplace. To examine a psychological phenomenon a psychologist must do the following:

· They must develop a theory followed by a prediction of what might happen (hypothesis).

· Then they must use empirical methods to test that hypothesis.

· If there is shown to be a significant effect, this is considered to be an indication that there is a casual explanation.

This ability to argue that a behaviour is caused by a particular factor occurs throughout psychology. The idea is that if one factor changes a behaviour in an experiment when all others are controlled, then the original factor must be responsible for the change. This can be done only if the research is carried out in a scientifically rigorous way. It is the only way to try to establish causation.

Evaluation.

> Intuitively itfeelsas though we have free will and because of this the debate will continue even if the objective evidence is thatdeterminismexists. The subjective experience is that we are in control of our behaviour, as in the humanistic approach.

> Free will is a non-physical force but since psychology is a science, it is unimaginable to suggest that a non-physical presence can influence behaviour. However, if it is just that the measurement of this presence is not possible at the moment, then future advances might help resolve the debate – unless of course free will is non-measurable because it is non-existent.

Question 23

(RM): T3. Free will and determinism: recap and list the comparison of approaches for this debate.

Answer 23

Comparison of approaches 1: Determism vs Free Will.

1. The Cognitive approach: Free will Vs determinism >The position of the approach is unclear as it argues on one hand that we the way we process information is determined by our past experience (schemas). On the other hand in the therapy derived from the approach (CBT) it argues that we can change the way we think.
2. The Biological approach: Free will Vs determinism >It is strongly determinist as it views our behavior as caused entirely by biological factors over which we have no control.
3. The Learning/ Behaviourist approach: Free will Vs determinism > Strong determinism of the behavioral approach as all behavior is learnt from our environment through classical and operant conditioning. We are the sum total of our previous conditioning. Softer determinism of the social learning approach theory as it recognises an element of choice as to whether we imitate a behavior or not.
4. The Psychodynamic approach: Free will Vs determinism > It is strongly determinist as it views our behavior as caused entirely by unconscious factors over which we have no control.
5. The Humanistic approach: Free will Vs determinism > It is the only approach that explicitly states that people have free will, but its position on this topic is somewhat incoherent as on one hand it argues that people have free will but, on the other hand it argues that our behavior is determined by the way other people treat us (whether we feel that we are valued and respected without reservation by those around us).

Question 24

(1D): T4. The nature nurture debate: Summarise the nature nurture debate.

Answer 24

The central question is the extent to which our behavior is determined by our biology (nature) and the genes we inherit from our parents versus the influence of environmental factors (nurture) such as home school and friends.

This debate asks: ‘Does behaviour stem from the genetic make-up of the person or do they learn it through experience?’. The extreme nature viewpoint is that our behaviour is dictated by our genetic makeup. The extreme nurture viewpoint is that we all learn our behaviour from conception onwards.

Nature:

Nativism is the term used to describe a stance that agrees with the nature side of the debate. It was introduced by René Descartes (1596-1650), who suggested that the human soul, when born, is already equipped with an innate understanding of certain key concepts such as time.

• There was no theory of genetics then, so his ideas were unsubstantiated. However, they did form the basis of the nativist point of view that we are born with predispositions and pre-programmed behaviours. The support for the nativist viewpoint today comes from the field of biology are more specifically genetics. Twin studies also offer some support.

> Nativism (representative of the nature viewpoint) – was a term introduced in the first part of the 17th century to describe the idea of being born with a soul pre-programmed to understand certain concepts. This is the nature side of the debate.

Nurture:

Empiricism is the opposing viewpoint to nativism which says that we are born without any innate mechanisms and that all we become up is due to our experiences. It is therefore another term for the nurture viewpoint.

The British philosopher John Locke argued that we are born a ‘tabula rasa’, (blank slate). He proposed that is it experience that leads to the formation of the self, i.e. when the slate is written on.

• The learning approaches clearly support an empiricist stance. They argue that behaviour is determined by learned experiences and so the role of the environment is all important.

> Empiricism (representative of the nurture viewpoint) – puts forward the opposite view that we are born as a ‘blank slate’ and it is the environment – or nurture – that is important in developing our behaviour, through acquired experiences.

+ An interactionist – view would be that both nature and nurture contribute to the development of behaviour.

Question 25

(1D): T4. The nature nurture debate: Identify the problems in assessing the relative importance of heredity and the environment.

Answer 25

The problems in assessing the relative importance of heredity and the environment:

Hereditary and the environment:

Evolutionary explanations of human behavior exemplify the nature approach is psychology. The main assumption underlying this approach is that any particular behavior has evolved because of its survival value.
E.g., Bowlby suggested that attachment behaviors are displayed because they ensure that survival of an infant and the perpetuation of the parents’ genes. This survival value is further increased because attachment has implications for later relationship formation which will ultimately promote successful reproduction.
Evolutionary psychologists assume that behavior is a product of natural selection. Interpersonal attraction can, for example, be explained as a consequence of sexual selection. Men and women select partners who enhance their productive success, judging this in terms of traits that ‘advertise’ reproductive fitness, such as signs as healthiness (white teeth) or resources.
Physiological psychology is also based on the assumption that behavior can be explained in terms of genetically programmed systems.

Identical twins are genetically the same and so their behaviour should be the same if the nature argument is correct.

On the other hand, non-identical twins share the same environment in terms of diet, education, social experiences, etc. but are no more similar in their genetic make-up than any other pair of siblings.

Therefore, any differences between identical twins’ behaviours can be assumed to be due to environmental experiences. Any difference between identical and non-identical twins is assumed to be genetic.

However, there is a problem in that identical twins are usually treated more similarly by people around them than are non-identical twins. So identical twins not only have the same genetic make-up but may have very similar environmental experiences.

• One way around this problem is to look at the behaviours of identical twins brought up in different environments, for example where they are adopted into different families. This offers an opportunity to study two individuals with the same genetic make-up but living in different environments.

The problems with twin studies have been recognised and so this research needs to be re-evaluated. Twin studies can be problematic due to the assumption that the only difference between MZ and DZ twins in their behaviour is their genetic similarity. – parenting styles differ in that MZ and DZ twins could be treated more similarly than DZ twins. This means that the difference in concordance rates could be due to nurture rather than nature.

There is now a recognition that individuals vary in their susceptibility to environmental influences. Results of research into relative heritability vary enormously due to this and many other factors.

The implications in assessing the relative importance of heredity and the environment:

Jenson (1969) found that the average I.Q. scores of black Americans were significantly lower than white Americans, he went on to argue that genetic factors were mainly responsible – even going so far as to suggest that intelligence is 80% inherited.

• The storm of controversy that developed around Jenson’s claims was not mainly due to logical and empirical weaknesses in his argument. It was more to do with the social and political implications that are often drawn from research that claims to demonstrate natural inequalities between social groups.

For many environmentalists, there is a barely disguised right-wing agenda behind the work of the behavioral geneticists. In their view, part of the difference in the I.Q. scores of different ethnic groups are due to inbuilt biases in the methods of testing.

More fundamentally, they believe that differences inintellectual abilityare a product of social inequalities in access to material resources and opportunities. To put it simply children brought up in the ghetto tend to score lower on tests because they are denied the same life chances as more privileged members of society.

Now we can see why the nature-nurture debate has become such a hotly contested issue. What begins as an attempt to understand the causes of behavioral differences often develops into a politically motivated dispute about distributive justice and power in society.

• What’s more, this doesn’t only apply to the debate over I.Q. It is equally relevant to the psychology of sex and gender, where the question of how much of the (alleged) differences in male and female behavior is due to biology and how much to culture is just as controversial.

Question 26

(1D): T4. The nature nurture debate: Explain the QLT method.

Answer 26

The QTL method:

We have already said that no single gene has ever been identified as responsible for a particular behaviour. But what if multiple genes are involved? This is the basis of thequantitative trait loci(QTL)approach - which argues that, in looking for single genes controlling behaviour (
the OGOD or one gene, one disorder approach, we may have underestimated the genetic effect on behaviour.

Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping is a genome-wide inference of the relationship between genotype at various genomic locations and phenotype for a set of quantitative traits in terms of the number, genomic positions, effects, and interaction of QTL.

The primary purpose ofQTL mappingis to localize chromosomal regions that significantly affect the variation of quantitative traits in a population. This localization is important for the ultimate identification of responsible genes and also for our understanding of genetic mechanisms of the variation.

Mapping QTLcan also help us to understand how many QTL significantly contribute to the trait variation in a population.

How much variation is due to the additive effects of QTL and how much is due to dominant and epistatic effects of QTL? What is the nature of genetic correlation between different traits in a genomic region,pleiotropy, or close linkage?

Do QTL interact with environments? These questions are related to the genetic architecture of quantitative traits in the population, and are intimately related to many applications inquantitative genetics, such as marker-assisted prediction or selection and marker-assisted geneintrogression.

Data formapping QTLconsist of types of a number of polymorphic genetic markers and quantitative trait values for a number of individuals.

Quantitative trait data are usually continuous, such as body weight, but can also be discrete, such as litter size. While marker data contain information about segregation of a genome in a population, quantitative trait data contain information about the variation of traits in the population.

The two data sets are connected by QTL. A part of the trait variation is caused by the segregation of QTL which are linked to some of the markers in the genome. So the statistical task of mapping QTL is to relate quantitative trait variation to genetic marker variation in terms of a quantitative genetic model that includes many genetic architecture parameters such as number, positions, effects, and interactions of genes that affect the quantitative traits of interest.

The relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour:

No genetic cause of behaviour has been found so far.

This means that the extreme nature viewpoint is seen as too extremist. However, there are genes related to behaviours, so the key question is the extent to which genetics affects behaviour, and also how much experience and learning account for what we do.

• This is a tricky issue – placing a numerical value on the contribution on nature and nurture is difficult. This is where the debate currently lies. How important is learning? Are genetics more important? How can we make that decision?

The QTL quantitative trait loci – continued:

Plomin (1994) argues that we are too reductionist when looking for genetic explanations. The OGOD (one gene, one disorder) approach has meant that the level of genetic influence may be underestimated. If only one gene is sought, and none is found, then the role of genes interacting with each other is missed.

The alternative viewpoint of how genetics affects behaviour is called, QTL (quantitative trait loci, as stated above), which involves the search for multiple genes.

Each one of these genes in isolation cannot affect behaviour, when combined with others the genetic influence on behaviour is greater. – Work in this area has increased the potential effect of genetics and environment. Indeed, it is possible that a direct genetic link to behaviour may be found.

The heritability equation:
The equation reports to calculate the contribution that each of the two elements makes to the variance of the behaviour the differences in a population. The formula for this equation is: V = G + E + (G × E). V is variance, G is genetic influence, E is environmental influence and G × E is the interaction between the genetics and environment.

Question 27

(1D): T4. The nature nurture debate: Explain how the interactionist approach can be applied to this debate.

Answer 27

The interactionist approach:

As you may have already guessed, the answer probably lies somewhere between nature and nurture.

This isthe interactionist approachwhich argues that we may be genetically predisposed to a genetics-particular behaviour and the environment then determines whether or how this is expressed.

As you saw earlier in the course, phenotype is the term given to the outcome caused by the environment working with the genotype of an individual.

• An excellent of this is intelligence. The interactionist approach argues that we have a genetic predisposition to attain a certain level of intelligence and that we either reach our potential (if the environment is ideal) or we underperform due to environmental factors such as diet, poor education, brain injury, etc.

Recently psychologists have begun to question whether human behaviour is due to heredity factors (nature) or the environment (nurture). It is now widely accepted that heredity and the environment do not act independently and both nature and nurture are essential for almost all behaviour.

Therefore, instead of defending extreme nativist or environmentalist views, most researchers are now interested in investigating the ways in which nature and nurture interact. Theinteractionist approachis the view that both nature and nurture work together to shape human behaviour.

Theinteractionist approachis best illustrated by the genetic disorderPKU (phenylketonuria):

• PKU is caused by the inheritance of two recessive genes, one from each parent. People with PKU are unable to break down the amino acid phenylalanine which builds up in the blood and brain causing mental retardation.
• However, if the child is diagnosed early, they are placed on a low protein diet for the first 12 years, which helps to avert this potentially lifelong disorder. Therefore, the disorder PKU nature is not expressed, because of an altered environment low protein diet – nurture.

An interactionist approach therefore argues that several levels of explanation are necessary to explain a particular behaviour, ranging from lower (biological) to higher levels (social and cultural).

Question 28

(1D): T4. The nature nurture debate: Provide Strengths/ weaknesses to the Nature side of the debate.

Answer 28

Strengths (AO3):

Bowlby’s explanation of attachment does not ignore environmental influences, as is generally true for evolutionary explanations. In the case of attachment theory, Bowlby proposed that infants become most strongly attached to the caregiver who responds most sensitively to the infant’s needs.
The experience of sensitive caregiving leads a child to develop expectations that others will be equally sensitive, so that they tend to form adult relationships that are enduring and trusting.

Limitations (AO3):

Problem of the transgenerational effect. behavior which appears to be determined by nature (and therefore is used to support this nativist view) may in fact be determined by nurture! e.g. if a woman has poor diet during her pregnancy, her unborn child will suffer.
This means that the eggs with which each female child is born will also have these negative effects. This can then affect the development of her children a whole generation later.

This means that a child’s development may in fact be determined by their grandmother’s environment (transgenerational effect). This suggests that what may appear to be inherited and in born is in fact caused by the environment and nurture.

Question 29

(1D): T4. The nature nurture debate: Provide Strengths/ weaknesses to the Nurture side of the debate.

Answer 29

This supports the idea that personality is determined by nurture rather than nature. This provides us with model of how to behave. However, such behavior becomes part of an individual’s behavioral repertoire through direct reinforcement – when a behavior is imitated, it receives direct reinforcement (or not).

Another assumption of the nurture approach is that there is the double bind hypothesis which explains schizophrenia. They suggest that schizophrenia develops because children receive contradictory messages from their parents.

Strengths (AO3):

Empirical evidence shows that behavior is learnt and can be modified through conditioning.

Limitations (AO3):

Behaviorist accounts are all in terms of learning, but even learning itself has a genetic basis. For example, research has found that mutant flies missing a crucial gene cannot be conditioned (Quinn et al., 1979).

Question 30

(1D): T4. The nature nurture debate: Explain both sides of this debate in psychology.

Answer 30

(AO3)

Instead of defending extreme nature or nurture views, most psychological researchers are now interested in investigating the ways in which nature and nurture interact. It is limiting to describe behavior solely in terms of either nature or nurture, and attempts to do this underestimate the complexity of human behavior.

For example, in psychopathology, this means that both a genetic predisposition and an appropriate environmental trigger are required for a mental disorder to develop. Therefore, it makes more sense to say that the difference between two people’s behavior is mostly due to hereditary factors or mostly due to environmental factors.

TheDiathesis-stress modelof Schizophrenia suggests that although people may inherit a predisposition to Schizophrenia, some sort of environmental stressor is required in order to develop the disease. This explains why Schizophrenia happens in the late teens of early adulthood, times of considerable upheaval and stress in people’s lives e.g. leaving home, starting work, forging new relationships etc.

Question 31

(1D): T4. The nature nurture debate: recap and list the comparison of approaches for this debate.

Answer 31

Comparison of approaches 2: Nature Vs Nuture.

1. The Cognitive approach: Nature Vs nurture > The cognitive approach takes an interactionist view of the debate as it argues that our behavior is influenced by learning and experience (nurture), but also by some of our brains’ innate capacities as information processors e.g. language acquisition (nature).
2. The Biological approach: Nature Vs nurture > The biological approach is firmly on the nature side of the debate; however, it does recognise that our brain is a plastic organ which changes with experience in our social world so it does not entirely deny the influence of nurture.
3. The Learning/ Behaviourist approach: Nature Vs nurture > Behaviorism is very much on the nurture side of the debate as it argues that our behavior is learnt from the environment. The social learning theory is also on the nurture side because it argues that we learn our behavior from role models in our environment. The behaviorist approach proposes that apart from a few innate reflexes and the capacity for learning, all complex behavior is learned from the environment.
4. The Psychodynamic approach: Nature Vs nurture > The psychodynamic approach recognises the influence of social factors as it argues that we are driven by innate biological instincts, represented by the Id (nature), but the ways these instincts are expressed is shaped by our social and cultural environment (nurture).
5. The Humanistic approach: Nature Vs nurture > The approach recognises both the influence of nature and nurture, nurture- the influence of experiences on a person’s ways of perceiving and understanding the world, nature- influence of biological drives and needs e.g. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Question 32

(1D): T5. Holism and reductionism: Explain the meaning of the terms holism andreductionism.

Answer 32

and reductionism explained:

Holism (term):

In psychology, holism is an approach to understanding the human mind and behavior that focuses on looking at things as a whole. It is often contrasted withreductionism, which instead tries to break things down into their smallest parts.This approach suggests that we can only understand the parts when we view them in relation to the whole.

Overview:

In terms of psychology, the holistic view suggests that it is important to view the mind as a unit, rather than trying to break it down into its individual parts. Each individual part plays its own important role, but it also works within an integrated system.

Essentially, holism suggests that people are more than simply the sum of their parts. In order to understand how people think, the holistic perspective stresses that you need to do more than simply focus on how each individual component functions in isolation. Instead, psychologists who take this approach believe that it is more important to look at how all the parts work together.

Examples of Holism in psychology:

Humanistic psychologyinvestigates all aspects of the individual as well as the interactions between people.

Reductionist explanations undermine the indivisible unity of experience. They run counter to and ultimately destroy the very object of psychological enquiry. A holistic point of view is thus in humanist terms the very basis of all knowledge of the humanpsyche.

SocialPsychology looks at the behavior of individuals in a social context. Group behavior (e.g. conformity, de-individualization) may show characteristics that are greater than the sum of the individuals which comprise it.

Psychoanalysis– Freud adopted an interactionist approach, in that he considered that behavior was the results of dynamic interaction betweenid, ego and superego.

Abnormal psychology– mental disorders are often explained by an interaction of biological, psychological and environmental factors. An eclectic approach to therapy is often taken using drugs and psychotherapy.

Reductionism (term):

Reductionism is the belief that human behavior can be explained by breaking it down into smaller component parts.

Reductionists say that the best way to understand why we behave as we do is to look closely at the very simplest parts that make up our systems, and use the simplest explanations to understand how they work.

Overview:

Reductionism is based on the scientific assumption ofparsimony- that complex phenomena should be explained by the simplest underlying principles possible.

Strong supporters of reductionism believe that behavior and mental processes should be explained within the framework of basic sciences (e.g. physiology, chemistry…. ).

However any explanation of behavior at its simplest level can be deemed reductionist. The experimental and laboratory approach in various areas of psychology (e.g. behaviorism, biological, cognitive) reflects a reductionist position.

This approach inevitably must reduce a complex behavior to a simple set of variables that offer the possibility of identifying a cause and an effect (i.e. Reductionism is a form of determinism).

Reductionism works at different levels. The lowest level of reductionism offers physiological explanation: these attempt to explain behavior in terms of neurochemical, genes andbrain structure.

At the highest sociocultural level, explanations focus on the influence on behavior of where and how we live. Between these extremes there are behavioral, cognitive and social explanations.

Examples of reductionism in psychology:

Behaviorismuses a very reductionist vocabulary: stimulus, response, reinforcement, and punishment. These concepts alone are used to explain all behavior.
This is called environmental reductionism because it explains behavior in terms of simple simple building blocks of S-R (stimulus-response) and that complex behavior is a series of S-R chains.Behavioristsreduce the concept of the mind to behavioral components, i.e., stimulus-response links.

Biopsychology- Explanations for the cause of mental illnesses are often reductionist. Genetics, and neurochemical imbalances are frequently highlighted, as being the main cause of these disorders. In the case ofschizophreniafor example excess production of the neurotransmitter dopamine is seen as a possible cause.
- This view clearly has implications for treatment.Gender can also be reduced to biological factors(e.g. hormones). Also, language can be reduced to structures in the brain, e.g.Broca’s Area,Wernicke’s area(butholismcould state: influence of family, education, social class on language). Another example of biological reductionism is aggression – e.g. testosterone levels.

Structuralism– One of the first approaches in psychology. Wundt tried to break conscious experiences down into its constituent (i.e. basic) parts: images, sensations and feelings.

Cognitive psychologyuses the principle of machine reductionism as a means to describe and explain behavior.
- More recent computer innovations, such as the Internet and connectionist networks can be described as holist because the network behaves differently from the individual parts that go to make it up. The whole appears to be greater than the sum of its parts.

The psychodynamic approachis reductionist in so far as it relies on a basic set of structures that attempt to simplify a very complex picture (e.g. id, ego, superego, unconscious mind).

Question 33

(1D): T5. Holism and reductionism: provide strengths/ weaknesses of of the Holism side of the debate.

Answer 33

Strengths:

> Looks at everything that may impact on behavior.
Does not ignore the complexity of behavior.
Integrates different components of behavior in order to understand the person as a whole.
Can be higher in ecological validity.

Weaknesses:

> Over complicates behaviors which may have simpler explanations (Occam’s Razor).
Does not lend itself to the scientific method and empirical testing.
Makes it hard to determine cause and effect.
Neglects the importance of biological explanations.
Almost impossible to study all the factors that influence complex human behaviors.

Question 34

(1D): T5. Holism and reductionism: provide strengths/ weaknesses of of the reductionism side of the debate.

Answer 34

Reductionism - strengths and limitations:

Strengths:

> The use of a reductionist approach to behavior can be a useful one in allowing scientific study to be carried out. Scientific study requires the isolation of variables to make it possible to identify the causes of behavior.

> Breaking complicated behaviors down to small parts means that they can be scientifically tested. Then, over time, explanations based on scientific evidence will emerge.

> For example, research into the genetic basis on mental disorders has enabled researchers to identify specific genes believed to be responsible for schizophrenia.

> This way a reductionist approach enables the scientific causes of behavior to be identified and advances the possibility of scientific study.

> A reductionist approach to studying mental disorders has led to the development of effective chemical treatments
- However, some would argue that the reductionist view lacksvalidity.

> For instance, we can see how the brain responds to particular musical sounds by viewing it in a scanner, but how you feel when you hear certain pieces of music is not something a scanner can ever reveal.

> Just because a part of the brain that is connected with fear is activated while listening to a piece of music does not necessarily mean that you feel afraid.
In this case, being reductionist is not a valid way of measuring feelings.

Weaknesses:

> It can be argued that reductionist approaches do not allow us to identify why behaviors happen.

> For example, they can explain that running away from a large dog was made possible by our fear centers causing a stress response to better allow us to run fast, but the same reductionist view cannot say why we were afraid of the dog in the first place.

> In effect, by being reductionist we may be asking smaller, more specific questions and therefore not addressing the bigger issue of why we behave as we do.

> It has been suggested that the usefulness of reductionist approaches depends on the purpose to which they are put.

> For example, investigating brain response to faces might reveal much about how we recognize faces, but this level of description should not perhaps be used to explain human attraction.

> Likewise, whilst we need to understand the biology of mental disorders, we may not fully understand the disorder without taking account of social factors which influence it.
- Thus, whilst reductionism is useful, it can lead to incomplete explanations.

> Interactionism is an alternative approach to reductionism, focusing on how different levels of analysis interact with one another.

Question 35

(1D): T5. Holism and reductionism: Evaluate Holism and reductionism in Psychology.

Answer 35

Holism and reductionism evaluated:

Scientists (including psychologists) are drawn to reductionist explanations as a method of research.

For example, most experimental psychology is based on the assumption that human behaviour can be studied effectively in relatively simple experiments, where complex behaviour is reduced to isolated variables (known as experimental reductionism).

This allows researchers to study the different factors that influence human behaviour in a controlled manner while establishing a causal relationship. This would not be possible if psychologists attempted to study all of the factors that influence human behaviour at once, as it would be too complex to interpret the findings.

Furthermore, both biological and environmental reductionism are viewed as scientific. Breaking complex behaviours into small constituent parts means that they can be scientifically tested and over time explanations based on scientific evidence will emerge.

In addition, biological reductionism has led to the development of biological therapies, such as drugs.

• For example, SSRIs are more effective than placebos at treating the symptoms of OCD and reduce the symptoms for up to three months after the treatment(Soomro et al., 2008).The use of SSRIs in patients with OCD has helped to reduce the anxiety associated with OCD thus providing relief for some patients.

Criticism of reductionism takes many forms. Some psychologists argue that biological reductionism can lead to errors of understanding because it ignores the complexity of human behaviour.

• For example, to treat conditions like ADHD with drugs in the belief that the condition consists of nothing more than neurochemical imbalances is to mistake the symptoms of the phenomenon for its true cause.

Ritalin may reduce these symptoms, but the conditions which gave rise to the ADHD have not been addressed. Whether or not this is true depends on what one thinks of as causation, but since success rates of drug therapy are so highly variable, the purely biological understanding seems inadequate.

The critique of environmental reductionism is as much methodological as it is substantive. Much of the relevant research in the behaviourist tradition has made use of non-human animals as subjects.

The classic Pavlovian experiments are an iconic example. But is human behaviour simply a scaled-up version of that of dogs or rats? Critics of reductionism point to the social context in which humans are embedded from the earliest moments of life, and to hard-to-measure factors like cognition, emotion, and intentionality.

In this case as well, the reductionist position seems, if not clearly incorrect, then at least inadequate.

The holistic explanation attempts to blend different levels of explanation; holistic theory and approaches attempt to provide a complete and realistic understanding of human behaviour.

However, holistic explanations do not establish causation because they do not examine behaviour in terms of operationalised variables that can be manipulated and measured. This means that holistic explanations are view as unscientific.

Question 36

(1D): T5. Holism and reductionism: Explain biological and environmentalreductionism + Experimental reductionism.

Answer 36

Biological and environmental reductionism:

Biological reductionism.

Most of the reductionist explanations used in psychology are biological in origin, that is, explanations from genetics, physiology, cell biology and biochemistry.

Biological reductionism – in explaining behaviours:

Biological reductionism is explaining behaviour using biological systems. This could be genetics, physiology of the body and brain, or biochemistry. It is called biological reductionism because in terms of the levels of explanation, it is as reductionist as psychology goes. – If you refer to Figure 8.6, (shown above and in the textbook) you will see that the four most reductionist levels used by psychology are biology levels.

The final four explanations for the behaviour of the farther attacking his daughters killer – :

· Genetics.
· Physiology.
· Cellular biology.
· Biochemistry.

When taken in isolation, are biologically reductionist.
- cThis is because they do not take into account the higher levels of explanation such as learned associations and the influence of other people.

An advantage of biological reductionism is that it is more precise and simple explanation, which is a great deal more scientific than the ones at higher and more general levels of explanation.

An explanation that is biologically reductionist can also be tested more easily and more effectively. A desirable consequence is also that it can be used to generate an appropriate treatment, if the condition requires one.

• There are issues with being too simplistic, however, and this means that biological explanations are sometimes viewed as incomplete.

Environmental (stimulus-response) reductionism:

Environmental reductionism can be seen in Figure 8.6 as ‘learned associations’, which is above the biological explanations on the figure.
– Though less reductionist than biological explanations, it is still seen as reductionist because it simplifies a behaviour to a stimulus-response action. This level of explanation is advocated by behaviourist theorists.

Classical conditioning is one such example. Essentially a phobia of snakes, for example as shown above, can be explained as learned through an experience such as a bite from a snake, where fear and pain are associated with the snake. When the individual then sees a snake after that experience they will avoid it as they experience a strong fearful reaction.

It is evident that this level of explanation can explain many behaviours really well, but there are some for which this is too simple. An example of this would be explaining why someone might kill, as illustrated above.

The explanation for this may incorporate many different levels, with a learned association only being one of them.

• The simplicity of explanations based on stimulus-response reactions means that it is easier to test the explanation.

It also has the advantage of parsimony – which means that by being simple it is argued to be more effective than a complex explanation for the same behaviour. However, as with biological reductionism, the simplicity of the explanations is seen as a flaw and the explanations are inadequate for describing the complexities of human behaviour.

The disadvantage is that it can be over simplistic. Humans and their environments are so complex that the reductionist explanation falls short of giving the whole explanation of the behavior. Thus, it lacks ecological validity.

Environmental Reductionismis also known asstimulus-response reductionism.Behaviourists assume that all behaviour can be reduced to the simple building blocks of S-R (stimulus-response) associations and that complex behaviours are a series of S-R chains. For example, behaviourists reduce the complex behaviour of attachment down to a stimulus-response link, where the mother becomes the conditioned stimulus who becomes associated with the pleasure from feeding. Therefore the child comes to feel pleasure (conditioned response) when he or she encounters their mother, leading to the formation of an attachment.
Note: WhileExperimental Reductionismis not detailed in the specification, it is useful to understand this term, as it applies to the Cognitive Approach. However, you should not be asked a specific question on experimental reductionism in your exam.
Experimental Reductionismis where a complex behaviour is reduced to a single (isolated) variable for the purpose of testing. For example, while the Multi-Store Model of Memory suggests that memory consists of three stores and each store has its own coding, capacity and duration, cognitive psychologists often examine memory in terms of isolated variables. For example, Miller (1956) examined the capacity of short-term memory and Peterson and Peterson (1959) examined the duration of short-term memory. Experimental reductionism underpins the experimental approach; complex behaviours are reduced to operationalised isolated variables in order to measure and determine causal relationships.

Question 37

(1D): T5. Holism and reductionism: Describe levels of explanation for human behaviour.

Answer 37

The levels of explanation for human behaviour:

If you look at any one behaviour, there are different levels of explanation you can consider to explain it. Figure 8.6 below, or in text book (page 363) shows the various levels available to consider a behaviour and the realms that psychology deals with. The holism/reductionism debate asks whether it is appropriate to look at one level specifically or whether more than one level is appropriate.

The various levels of explanation available to consider a behaviour:

From Top to bottom.

Top:

• Cultural.
• Socio-political.
• Sub-cultural.
• Social cognition.
• Social groups, family, etc.
• Interpersonal interaction.
• Cognition and emotion.
• Learned associations.
• Genetics.
• Physiology.
• Cellular biology.
• Biochemistry.

Bottom.

Levels of explanation psychology example:

Any one behaviour can be explained at many different levels ranging from very holistic explanations to very reductionist ones. For example I am an obsessive birdwatcher. My behaviour could be viewed at one level as dysfunctional if it prevented me from operating normally as defined by society. At a psychological level I could be said to have obsessive thoughts and where to see new birds satisfies a desire to experience as many bird species as I can. As we move down the level of explanations we will get down to a biochemical explanation. It could be that serotonin levels in my brain might need raising to a satisfactory level and the experience of seeing new birds will do this. I must quickly add that I do not view myself as dysfunctional and I see my hobby as a most interesting and stimulating one!

Aggression example:

The levels of explanation are best illustrated using an example of behaviour: a man physically attacking someone in court who has killed his daughter:

• Taking the levels of explanation most often used in the discipline of psychology, the following explanations can be suggested:

· Social cognition: the father may make a dispositional attribution that the killer is evil and deserves to suffer for what he has done, so he responded with violence.

· Social groups: family, etc.: the father may have witnessed aggressive responses to others who have done wrong as a child, so he responds in a similar way.

· Interpersonal connection: the father may have received threats or jabs from the killer in the past and this prompts him to react aggressively.

· Cognition and emotion: the father reacts with violence because of extreme emotions of anger and grief.

· Learned associations: the farther may have felt that the killer should receive physical punishment for what he has done. Or he may have reacted to an inappropriate comment or action without thinking because he is conditioned to do so.

· Genetics: the father may possess the MAOA or ‘warrior’ gene.

· Physiology: the farther may have brain physiology that means his ability to control himself is diminished, for example frontal lobe damage.

· Cellular biology: the activity in his synapse means that his brain activity with regard to serotonin is affected. Serotonin is implicated in aggression.

· Biochemistry: he may have had alcohol in his bloodstream, which reduced his control and inhibitions.

All these are attempts to explain the behaviour, but a differing levels. Some would have more research evidence to support their suggestion that others, but no one explanation in isolation can be taken as correct, and therefore several explanations at several levels would be more appropriate.

Question 38

(ID): T5. Holism and reductionism: recap and list the comparison of approaches for this debate.

Answer 38

1. The Cognitive approach: Holism Vs reductionism > The cognitive approach tends to be reductionist as when studying a variable it isolates processes such as memory from other cognitive processes. However, in our normal life we would use many cognitive processes simultaneously, so it lacks validity.
2. The Biological approach: Holism Vs reductionism > The biological approach is reductionist as it aims at explaining all behavior by the action of genetic or biochemical processes. It neglects the influence of factors such as early childhood experiences, conditioning or cognitive processes.
3. The Learning/ Behaviourist approach: Holism Vs reductionism > The biological approach is reductionist as it aims at explaining all behavior by the action of genetic or biochemical processes. It neglects the influence of factors such as early childhood experiences, conditioning or cognitive processes.
4. The Psychodynamic approach: Holism Vs reductionism > The psychodynamic approach is determinist as it rejects the idea of free will. A person’s behavior is determined by their unconscious motives which are shaped by their biological drives and their early experiences.
5. The Humanistic approach: Nature Vs nurture > The approach recognises both the influence of nature and nurture, nurture- the influence of experiences on a person’s ways of perceiving and understanding the world, nature- influence of biological drives and needs (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).

Question 39

(ID): T6. Idiographic and nomothetic approaches: Explain the distinction between idiographic and nomothetic approaches.

Answer 39

The difference between Idiographic and nomothetic approaches:

Idiographic approach v. Nomothetic approach – main differences.

Idiographic approach:

· Forces on recognition of uniqueness.
· Uses subjective experiences.
· Based on the study of uniqueness of the individual.
· Uses more qualitative data.

Nomothetic approach:

· Attempts to generalise people.
· Uses objective experiences.
· Based on numerical data or data that can be categorized.
· Uses more quantitative data.

Question 40

(ID): T6. Idiographic and nomothetic approaches: Explain the difference in perspective between idiographic and nomothetic approaches.

Answer 40

Idiographic v nomothetic perspectives:

The idiographic perspective aims to describe the individual’s own situation as unique. It refrains from applying general laws to a person’s behaviour.

This is the premise used by humanistic psychologists. The use of case studies and the collection ofqualitative datalie at the heart of their methodology. Humanistic psychologists use interviews and other self-report methods such as journals, diaries and letters.

• This debate considers whether Idiographic or nomothetic approaches to research in psychology are appropriate. This ultimately asks the question: ‘Is it more important to look at the individual as unique or should you consider them as part of a group and try to establish similarities for that group?’.

The Idiographic perspective:

An Idiographic approach to research considers the individual. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek word ‘idios’, which means one’s own or belonging to one’s self. This shows, quite clearly, that the emphasis is on the self and on the uniqueness of the individual.

This viewpoint does not seek to generalise to others from research. Indeed, strong supporters of the Idiographic stance would be unlikely to conduct large-scale studies or indeed use quantitative methods at all. They believe that an individual is unique and that they should be considered as such.

• It is therefore irrelevant to try to develop universal laws of behaviour.

Case studies are an illustration of an Idiographic approach to research. They document the unique perspective of a person who has in some way illustrated a key behaviour or difference which can be used to help evaluate any theories in the field.

– Case studies are often criticised for their lack of applicability to the general population because of their uniqueness, but they are useful as a test for a theory. They cannot add much weight to support a theory, but they can show any flaws. It takes only one case study to potentially argue that a theory is wrong as a theory should be able accommodate all individuals.

The Idiographic stance also favours qualitative methods of investigation such as interviews. It traditionally opts to use methods that allow for opinion, attitude and self-reflection – such as self-report measures and qualitative sources like diaries, journals and letters.

The nomothetic perspective:

The nomothetic perspective on the other hand, aims to establish general laws which can be applied to people outside of the investigation.

This is the essence of experimental psychology. Investigations using this perspective typically involve large sample sizes to discover similarities between people. This in turn can lead on to finding out how people differ from one another.

The type ofdatagathered tends to be quantitative and the methodology is considered more scientific than the idiographic way of carrying out research.

Radford and Kirby (1975): identified three types of general law:
1. People can be classified into groups.
2. We can establish principle and laws that can be applied to human behaviour.
3. We can establish dimensions or continuums along which individuals can be placed for comparison.

Nomothetic:

The word nomothetic is derived from the Greek term ‘nomos’, which can be translated as ‘law’. – This approach to looking at behaviour is the opposite to Idiographic, as it states we are able to draw conclusions about populations in research. The nomothetic stance seeks to establish general laws about behaviour that can be applied across any given population.

• It is proposed that there are three types of general laws (Radford & Kirby, as shown above), these are classification, establishing principles and establishing dimensions and are detailed below.

1.Classification:
This is the idea that people can be classified into certain groups according to characteristics, attitudes or behaviour. It is also the foundation on which the diagnostic manuals for mental health are based. ICD10 and DSM-5 both attempt to diagnose people with a mental health disorder by the symptoms they present. This is an attempt at classification.

2.Establishing principles:
This is the focus on trying to establish laws and principles that can be applied to human behaviour. Behaviourism features highly and Thorndike is known for his proposed law of effect, which is the principle that underpins operant conditioning. Theories generated under this principle are often weakened by evidence from case studies as a law requires application to all and it takes only one person to whom it does not apply to negate it.

3. Establishing dimensions:
   This is the attempt to document continuums upon which an individual can be placed. This allows comparison with others and also facilitates scientific measurement. This focus on establishing dimensions is widely used in personality research where the trait theories state we have a level of a certain trait (for example extraversion) and it is variation in the levels of those traits that influences behaviour.

• The nomothetic stance means that quantitative methods of data collection and analysis are seen to be appropriate. It is also the stance taken by national sciences. Favoured research methods are those that are more objective, such as measurement of biochemicals. – The preferred choice for psychologists who adopt a more nomothetic stance is the use of laboratory conditions where variables can be carefully controlled.
• The approaches are mostly nomothetic as they seek to apply research across large numbers of people. However, the humanistic approach celebrates the uniqueness of each person and for that reason is seen to be Idiographic. (For a comparison of the approaches with regard to this debate, see page 245 in textbook).

Question 41

(ID): T6. Idiographic and nomothetic approaches: Provide strengths/ weaknesses to the Idiographic approach.

Answer 41

Carl Rogers, a Humanist psychologist, has developed a method of doing this, a procedure called the “Q-sort”. First the subject is given a large set of cards with a self-evaluative statement written on each one.
For example “I am friendly” or “I am ambitious” etc. The subject is then asked to sort the cards into piles. One pile to contain statements that are “most like me”, one statements that are “least like me” and one or more piles for statements that are in-between.
In a Q-sort the number of cards can be varied as can the number of piles and the type of question (e.g. How I am now?
How I used to be? How my partner sees me? How I would like to be?) So there are a potentially infinite number of variations. That, of course, is exactly as it should be for an idiographic psychologist because in his/her view there are ultimately as many different personalities as there are people.

Strengths:

A major strength of the idiographic approach is its focus on the individual. Gordon Allport argues that it is only by knowing the person as a person that we can predict what the person will do in any given situation.
Findings can serve as a source of ideas or hypotheses for later study.

Limitations:

The idiographic approach is very time consuming. It takes a lot of time and money to study individuals in depth. If a researcher is using the nomothetic approach once a questionnaire, psychometric test or experiment has been designed data can be collected relatively quickly.

Question 42

(ID): T6. Idiographic and nomothetic approaches: Provide strengths/ weaknesses to the nomothetic approach.

Answer 42

Strengths:

Regarded as scientific as it is: precise measurement; prediction and control of behavior; investigations of large groups; objective and controlled methods allowing replication and generalisation.

Has helped psychology as a whole become scientific by developing laws and theories which can be empirically tested.

Limitations:

Predictions can be made about groups but these may not apply to individuals.

Approach has been accused of losing sight of the ‘whole person’.

Question 43

(ID): T6. Idiographic and nomothetic approaches: Explain how idiographic and nomothetic perspectives are applied to psychological investigations.

Answer 43

How Idiographic and nomothetic perspectives are applied to psychological investigations:

(ID): T6. Idiographic and nomothetic approaches:

The term “nomothetic” comes from the Greek word “nomos” meaning “law”.
Psychologists who adopt this approach are mainly concerned with studying what we share with others (i.e. similarities between people).
Therefore, the nomothetic approach involves establishing laws or generalizations that apply to all people.

Laws can be categorised into three kinds:

(1) Classifying people into groups (such as the DSMIV for classifying people withmood disorders);
(2) Establishing principles (Such as thebehaviorist laws of learning), and
(3) Establishing dimensions (such as Eysenck’s personality inventory which allows for comparisons between people).

This approach typically uses scientific methods such asexperimentsand observations to obtainquantitative data. Group averages are statistically analysed to create predictions about people in general.

Personality: - A Nomothetic Approach:

The psychometric approach to the study of personality compares individuals in terms of traits or dimensions common to everyone. This is a nomothetic approach and two examples are Hans Eysenck’s type and Raymond Cattell’s 16PF trait theories.

The details of their work need not concern us here. Suffice to say they both assume that there are a small number of traits that account for the basic structure of all personalities and that individual differences can be measured along these dimensions.

In the past 20 years a growing consensus has begun to emerge about what those traits are. The “big 5” are considered to be extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness to experience.

From a nomothetic point of view these are considered to adequately describe the psychologically significant aspects of any personality.

Idiographic and nomothetic approaches should not be seen as conflicting. It is more helpful to see them as complementary. The insights from an idiographic approach can shed more light on the general principles developed using the nomothetic approach.

For example,Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivationsuggests that extreme maternal deprivation is irreversible. This theory was developed using a nomothetic approach.

However, the case ofKoluchova’s twins, which showed that, given the right sort of loving and caring environment and the opportunity to develop an attachment to a sensitive caregiver, the effects of privation may be reversibledemonstrates that in this single, idiographic, case maternal deprivation was overcome. Bowlby’s theory can therefore be challenged.

As always, it is best to take a combined approach. Millon & Davis (1996) suggest research should start with a nomothetic approach and once general ‘laws’ have been established, research can then move to a more idiographic approach. Thus, getting the best of both worlds.

Evaluation:

· Most psychology operates on a nomothetic basis as this means that patterns can be ascertained, which allows interventions to be formed that can assist many people, like those with mental health problems.

· Conversely, a nomothetic stance means that theories often adopt a one-size fits all approach. This makes them inappropriate for some. This argument can be applied to interventions, which means that people are forced to use interventions that may have only moderate success for them.

· An Idiographic stance, such as a case study, is often the seed that prompts an idea for further research. It is looking at behaviour or a phenomenon in detail from an Idiographic, in-depth perspective that leads to research ideas. Inevitable, though, a nomothetic stance will be adopted at some point.

[Important] debate main point (as stated above):

An Idiographic stance, such as a case study, is often the seed that prompts an idea for further research. It is looking at behaviour or a phenomenon in detail from an Idiographic, in-depth perspective that leads to research ideas. Inevitable, though, a nomothetic stance will be adopted at some point, so that it may reach a wonder range of people.

Question 44

(ID): T6. Idiographic and nomothetic approaches: recap and list the comparison of approaches for this debate.

Answer 44

1. The Cognitive approach: Idiographic Vs nomothetic > It is nomothetic approach as it focuses on establishing theories oninformation processingthat apply to all people.
2. The Biological approach: Idiographic Vs nomothetic > It is nomothetic approach as it focuses on establishing laws and theories about the effects of physiological and biochemical processes that apply to all people.
3. The Learning/ Behaviourist approach: Idiographic Vs nomothetic > It is a nomothetic approach as it views all behavior governed by the same laws of conditioning.

However, it does account for individual differences and explain them in terms of difference of history of conditioning.

4. The Psychodynamic approach: Idiographic Vs nomothetic > Freud argued that human behavior is governed by universal processes that apply to everyone e.g. the tripartite structure of the mind nomothetic however, he also proposed that the ways in which these processes manifest themselves in the individual is unique idiographic.
5. The Humanistic approach: Idiographic Vs nomothetic > As this approach views the individual as unique it does not attempt to establish universal laws about the causes of behavior, it is an idiographic approach.

Question 45

(ID): T7. Ethical implications and socially sensitive research for Psychological research studies: Identify how these issues can be applied to psychological investigations.

Answer 45

AO1

There has been an assumption over the years by many psychologists that provided they follow the BPS guidelines when using human participants and that all leave in a similar state of mind to how they turned up, not having been deceived or humiliated, given a debrief, and not having had their confidentiality breached, that there are no ethical concerns with their research.
But, consider the following examples:

a) Caughy et al 1994 who found that middle class children put in daycare at an early age generally score less on cognitive tests than children from similar families reared in the home.
Assuming all guidelines were followed, neither the parents nor the children that participated would have been unduly affected by this research. Nobody would have been deceived, consent would have been obtained, and no harm would have been caused. However, think of the wider implications of this study when the results are published, particularly for parents of middle class infants who are considering placing their young charges in day care or those who recently have!

2. IQ tests administered to black Americans show that they typically score 15 points below the average white score.

When black Americans are given these tests they presumably complete them willingly and are in no way harmed as individuals. However, when published, findings of this sort seek to reinforce racial stereotypes and are used to discriminate against the black population in the job market etc.

Question 46

(ID): T7. Ethical implications and socially sensitive research for Psychological research studies: outline the 4 main groups that may be affected by psychological research.

Answer 46

Sieber & Stanley (1988) (the main names for Socially Sensitive Research (SSR) outline 4 groups that may be affected by psychological research: It is the first group of people that we are most concerned with!

1) Members of the social group being studied such as racial or ethnic group. For example early research on IQ was used to discriminate against US Blacks.

2) Friends and relatives of those taking part in the study, particularly in case studies, where individuals may become famous or infamous. Cases that spring to mind would include Genie’s mother. Genie (born 1957) is thepseudonym of an Americanferal childwho was a victim of severe abuse, neglect, and social isolation.

3) The research team. There are examples of researchers being intimidated because of the line of research they are in.

4) The institution in which the research is conducted.

Sieber & Stanley (1988) also suggest there are 4 main ethical concerns when conducting SSR:

• The research question or hypothesis.
• The treatment of individual participants.
• The institutional context.
• The way in which the findings of research are interpreted and applied.

Question 47

(ID): T7. Ethical implications and socially sensitive research for Psychological research studies: Identify the wider ethical implications of research studies and theory.

Answer 47

Wider ethical implications of research studies and theories:

Ethical Issues in Psychology:

Informed Consent

Debrief

Protection of Participants

Deception

Confidentiality

Withdrawal

Implications are effects or consequences, and in this section you need to understand the consequences of research studies and theory.

In year one you studied ethical issues in psychological research, for example deception, informed consent, protection from harm, etc.

• These are examples of ethical implications/consequences for the participants who take part in the research and psychologists are required to balance the rights of the individual participants against the need to produce research that is useful for society. However, the term ethical implications also refers to other people, and psychologists should consider the implications of their findings in a wider context.

Ethical Implications of Research Studies:

If you consider Milgram’s (1963) research, you need to consider whether the ‘ends justify the means’. The participants were deceived and were unable to give fully informed consent.

The experiment also caused significant distress, and the participants were told or coerced to continue against their will. On the other hand, the participants were debriefed after the experiment and a follow-up interview took place a year later. The outcome of these follow-up interviews suggested that the participants had suffered no long-term effects.

Ethical Implications of Theories:

Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment suggests that children form one special attachment bond, usually with their mother, which must take place within a critical period.

Bowlby also suggested that this attachment bond affects their future relationships through an internal working model.

While Bowlby’s theory has contributed to the development of childcare practices, it has also encouraged the view that a women’s place is at home with her children, which could make some mothers feel guilty for wanting to return to work, following childbirth.

~ Exam Tip: If you are set an essay on ethical implications of research studies and theories, you can draw on what you know about ethical issues from your year one topics. However, there are also wider consequences that psychologists should also consider relating to the communication and publication of their findings. This is especially prevalent with research that is ‘socially sensitive’.

Question 48

(ID): T7. Ethical implications and socially sensitive research for Psychological research studies: Outline the further ethical guidelines for carrying out socially sensitive research (SSR).

Answer 48

Ethical Guidelines For Carrying Out SSR:

AO1

Sieber and Stanley suggest the following ethical guidelines for carrying out SSR. There is some overlap between these and research on human participants in general.

Privacy: This refers to people, rather than data. Asking people questions of a personal nature (e.g. about sexuality) could offend.

Confidentiality:This refers to data. Information (e.g. about H.I.V. status), leaked to others, may affect the participant’s life.

Sound & valid methodology: This is even more vital when the research topic is socially sensitive. Academics are able to detect flaws in method but the lay public and the media often don’t. When research findings are publicised, people are likely to take them as fact and policies may be based on them. Examples are Bowlby’s maternal deprivation studies and intelligence testing.

Deception: Causing the wider public to believe something, which isn’t true by the findings, you report (e.g. that parents are totally responsible for how their children turn out).

Informed consent: Participants should be made aware of how taking part in the research may affect them.

Justice & equitable treatment: Examples of unjust treatment are (i) publicising an idea, which creates prejudice against a group, & (ii) withholding a treatment, which you believe is beneficial, from some participants so that you can use them as controls. E.g. The Tuskergee Study which withheld treatment for STIs from black men to investigate the effects of syphilis on the body.

Scientific freedom: Science should not be censored but there should be some monitoring of sensitive research. The researcher should weigh their responsibilities against their rights to do the research.

Ownership of data: When research findings could be used to make social policies, which affect people’s lives, should they be publicly accessible? Sometimes, a party commissions research with their own interests in mind (e.g. an industry, an advertising agency, a political party, the military). Some people argue that scientists should be compelled to disclose their results so that other scientists can re-analyse them. If this had happened in Burt’s day, there may not have been such widespread belief in the genetic transmission of intelligence. George Miller (Miller’s Magic 7) famously argued that we should give psychology away.

The values of social scientists: Psychologists can be divided into 2 main groups: those who advocate a humanistic approach (individuals are important and worthy of study, quality of life is important, intuition is useful) and those advocating a scientific approach (rigorous methodology, objective data). The researcher’s values may conflict with those of the participant/institution. For example, if someone with a scientific approach was evaluating a counselling technique based on a humanistic approach, they would judge it on criteria which those giving & receiving the therapy may not consider important.

Cost/benefit analysis: If the costs outweigh the potential/actual benefits, it is unethical. However, it is difficult to assess costs & benefits accurately & the participants themselves rarely benefit from research.

Question 49

(ID): T7. Ethical implications and socially sensitive research for Psychological research studies: Outline the responsibility requirements for Researchers carrying out SSR.

Answer 49

Sieber & Stanley advise: Researchers should not avoid researching socially sensitive issues. Scientists have a responsibility to society to find useful knowledge.

• They need to take more care over consent, debriefing, etc., when the issue is sensitive.

• They should be aware of how their findings may be interpreted & used by others.

• They should make explicit the assumptions underlying their research, so that the public can consider whether they agree with these.

• They should make the limitations of their research explicit (e.g. ‘the study was only carried out on white middle class American male students’, ‘the study is based on questionnaire data, which may be inaccurate’, etc.

• They should be careful how they communicate with the media and policymakers.

• They should be aware of the balance between their obligations to participants and those to society (e.g. if the participant tells them something which they feel they should tell the police/social services).

• They should be aware of their own values and biases and those of the participants.

Question 50

(ID): T7. Ethical implications and socially sensitive research for Psychological research studies: Provide fors and against points for SSR.

Answer 50

Arguments for SSR (AO3):

• Psychologists have devised methods to resolve the issues raised.

• SSR is the most scrutinised research in psychology. Ethical committees reject more SSR than any other form of research.

• By gaining a better understanding of issues such as gender, race and sexuality we are able to gain a greater acceptance and reduce prejudice.

• SSR has been of benefit to society, for example EWT. This has made us aware that EWT can be flawed and should not be used without corroboration. It has also made us aware that the EWT of children is every bit as reliable as that of adults.

• Most research is still carried out on white middle class Americans (about 90% of research quoted in texts!). SSR is helping to redress the balance and make us more aware of other cultures and outlooks.

Arguments against SSR (AO3):

• Flawed research has been used to dictate social policy and put certain groups at a disadvantage.

• Research has been used to discriminate against groups in society such as sterilisation of people in the USA between 1910 and 1920 because they were of low intelligence, criminal or suffered from psychological illness.

• The guidelines used by psychologists to control SSR lack power and as a result are unable to prevent indefensible research being carried out.

Question 51

(ID): T7. Ethical implications and socially sensitive research for Psychological research studies: Provide a justified argument for SSR.

Answer 51

Do you think the research was justified?

The Raine study (1996) which used brain scans of violent criminals to examine their levels of impulse control, can be used to explain the justify on non-justify debate.

Raine suggested that children could be scanned to help find the potential violent criminals of the future. – the suggestion that children should have brain scans is problematic. What would happen if a child was identified as having this pattern of brain activity? What does the child, their parents and society then do with that knowledge?

• These are questions that must be asked in order to see if the research can be justified, similarly with the psychopath brain case study.

Many would argue that if the benefits outweigh the limitations then the research is justified, such as there being a possible decline in criminal activity in the future, as a benefit, and possible family ridicule as a limitation. Extensive research should be carried out and several contradictions should be underlined before any wider action of the research is carried out, and justified in its entirety.

A discussion on of the social sensitivity of studies by Latané and Darley (1968) and Milgram (1974), carried out in the 1960s.

Major points:

Some psychologists argue that some research should be done even if there is the potential for harm.

• An example of this is some of the work conducted in the 1960s on bystander behaviour. This work was developed following the horrific murder of a young American woman called Kitty Genovese, who was killed in front of reportedly more that 30 witnesses, though the exact number is disputed.

None of the witnesses tried to intercept or call for help and Kitty died. The media at the time asked why this might happen in a society and this led to research (Latané and Darley, 1968a, 1968b) – to investigate how or why this could have occurred.

Work such as Milgram’s electric shock study on obedience has caused controversy over the years for ethical reasons. Justification for conducting a study that deceives and causes harm is problematic, but the argument of the benefits to knowledge it could confer is considered to outweigh the disadvantages.

There is some research that necessarily requires deception to work, and Milgram is prime example of this.

Research is now conducted under strict ethical guidelines by ethics committees within an institution. It is their job to decide who might be affected by the research and how much they may be affected. This is always the main focus of their decision and they try to minimise risk by asking for modifications of the design. – However, they have to decide if there is any potential ethical risk, and whether the knowledge gained from the research outweighs the risk involved.

Sieber and Stanley (1988) have identified a number of research considerations:

Implications. For example, research findings could lead to prejudice. This might be the case, for instance, in studies of racial characteristics or the inheritance of intelligence.

Use of the researchdata. Governments might use the results of research to inform or support their policies. For example, the results ofattachmentstudies could direct childcare policies. This could be to the benefit of childcare users but equally it could be to their detriment.

Validity of the research. There is a danger that research is portrayed as objective and value-free when in fact it is heavily biased. It is important therefore that there is honesty and questioning of researchers’ preconceptions and biases.

Question 52

(ID): T7. Ethical implications and socially sensitive research for Psychological research studies: Explain the significance of social sensitivity in psychological research.

Answer 52

The significance of social sensitivity:

Sieber and Stanley (1988) used the term social sensitivity to describe studies where there are potential social consequences for the participants or the group of people represented by the research.

Social sensitivity applied:

Team work is the norm in major development projects and industry is continually striving to improve team effectiveness.

Researchers have established that teams with high levels of social sensitivity tend to perform well when completing a variety of specific collaborative tasks. Social sensitivity is the personal ability to perceive, understand, and respect the feelings and viewpoints of others, and it is reliably measurable.

However, the tasks in recent research have been primarily short term, requiring only hours to finish, whereas major project teams work together for longer durations and on complex tasks.

Our claim is that, social sensitivity can be a key component in predicting the performance of teams that carry out major projects. Our goal is to determine if previous research, which was not focused on students or professionals in scientific or technical fields, is germane for people in computing disciplines.

This paper reports the results from an empirical study that investigates whether social sensitivity is correlated with the performance of student teams on large semester-long projects. The overall result supports our claim that the team social sensitivity is highly correlated with successful team performance.

It suggests, therefore, that educators in computer-related disciplines, as well as computer professionals in the workforce, should take the concept of social sensitivity seriously as an aid or obstacle to productivity.

Evaluation:

Although strict guidelines for research have been put in place through the British Psychological Society’s code ofethics, it is not always possible to foresee the effects of research and so socially sensitive research continues to remain an issue. On the other hand, some would argue that the guidelines are too strict and potentially prevent useful research from taking place.

Main summary points:
> The code of ethics governed by the British Psychological society together with university ethics boards means that ethical implications of research have to be considered if research is to be conducted. Stringent guidelines protect all people who may be involved in the process. The guidelines have become more careful as time has passed so the chances of research causing problems have been reduced.

> Sometimes it is not possible to see what the effects of research might be on the researcher, the participants and society. This makes it hard to judge. It is also not an objective decision, so there is potential for bias from within the decision makers. This means that socially sensitive research still causes problems from time to time.

> The ethical guidelines set for research permission are seen by some to be too strict. There are areas of research which could elicit helpful findings that could benefit a lot of people. However, the research cannot be conducted due to the research process potentially causing issues for the participants or the researcher. Reaching a balance is therefore problematic.

Question 53

(ID): T8. Further comparison of approaches: Summarise the five approaches.

Answer 53

The five approaches summarised:

~ for easier reference use the revsion table in the gallery psych page, printed out and in revision folder and on the drive revision folder doc.

Now that you have covered all the issues and debates outlined in the specification, you are in a position to make an informed comparison of the five approaches to psychology:

The learning approach

The cognitive approach

The biological approach

The psychodynamic approach

The humanistic approach.

There are various approaches in contemporary psychology:

An approach is a perspective (i.e., view) that involves certain assumptions (i.e., beliefs) about human behavior: the way they function, which aspects of them are worthy of study and what research methods are appropriate for undertaking this study.

There may be several different theories within an approach, but they all share these common assumptions.

The five major perspectives in psychology are biological, psychodynamic, learning, cognitive and humanistic.

Behaviorist (learning) Perspective:

If your layperson’s idea of psychology has always been about people in laboratories wearing white coats and watching hapless rats try to negotiate mazes in order to get to their dinner, then you are probably thinking aboutbehavioral psychology.

Behaviorism is different from most other approaches because they view people (and animals) as controlled by their environment and specifically that we are the result of what we have learned from our environment. The behaviorist perspective is concerned with how environmental factors (called stimuli) affect observable behavior (called the response).

The behaviorist perspective proposes two main processes whereby people learn from their environment: namely classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning involves learning by association, and operant conditioning involves learning from the consequences of behavior.

Classical conditioning(CC) was studied by the Russian psychologistIvan Pavlov. Though looking into natural reflexes and neutral stimuli he managed to condition dogs to salivate to the sound of a bell through repeated associated with the sound of the bell and food.

The principles of CC have been applied in many therapies. These includesystematic desensitizationfor phobias (step-by-step exposed to a feared stimulus at once) and aversion therapy.

B.F. Skinner investigatedoperant conditioningof voluntary and involuntary behavior. Skinner felt that some behavior could be explained by the person’s motive. Therefore behavior occurs for a reason, and the three main behavior shaping techniques are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment.

Behaviorism also believes inscientific methodology(e.g., controlled experiments), and that only observable behavior should be studied because this can be objectively measured. Behaviorism rejects the idea that people have free will, and believes that the environment determines all behavior. Behaviorism is the scientific study of observable behavior working on the basis that behavior can be reduced to learned S-R (Stimulus-Response) units.

Behaviorism has been criticized in the way it under-estimates the complexity of human behavior. Many studies used animals which are hard to generalize to humans, and it cannot explain, for example, the speed in which we pick up language. There must be biological factors involved.

Psychodynamic Perspective:

Who hasn’t heard ofSigmund Freud? So many expressions of our daily life come from Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis - subconscious, denial, repression and anal personality to name only a few.

Freud believes that events in our childhood can have a significant impact on our behavior as adults. He also believed that people have little free will to make choices in life. Instead, our behavior is determined by the unconscious mind and childhood experiences.

Freud’s psychoanalysis is both a theory and therapy. It is the originalpsychodynamic theoryand inspired psychologists such asJungandEriksonto develop their own psychodynamic theories. Freud’s work is vast, and he has contributed greatly to psychology as a discipline.

• Freud, the founder ofpsychoanalysis, explained the human mind as like an iceberg, with only a small amount of it being visible, that is our observable behavior, but it is the unconscious, submerged mind that has the most, underlying influence on our behavior. Freud used three main methods of accessing theunconscious mind: free association, dream analysis and slips of the tongue.

He believed that the unconscious mind consisted of three components: the ‘id’ the ‘ego’ and the ‘superego.’ The ‘id’ contains two main instincts: ‘Eros’, which is the life instinct, which involves self-preservation and sex which is fuelled by the ‘libido’ energy force. ‘Thanatos’ is the death instinct, whose energies, because they are less powerful than those of ‘Eros’ are channeled away from ourselves and into aggression towards others.

The ‘id’ and the ‘superego’ are constantly in conflict with each other, and the ‘ego’ tries to resolve the discord. If this conflict is not resolved, we tend to usedefense mechanismsto reduce our anxiety. Psychoanalysis attempts to help patients resolve their inner conflicts.

An aspect of psychoanalysis is Freud’s theory ofpsychosexual development. It shows how early experiences affect adult personality. Stimulation of different areas of the body is important as the child progresses through the important developmental stages. Too much or too little can have bad consequences later.
The most important stage is the phallic stage where the focus of the libido is on the genitals. During this stage little boys experience the ‘Oedipus complex,’ and little girls experience the ‘Electra complex.’ These complexes result in children identifying with their same-sex parent, which enables them to learn sex-appropriate behavior and a moral code of conduct.

However, it has been criticized in the way that it over emphasizes the importance of sexuality and under emphasized the role of social relationships. The theory is not scientific, and can’t be proved as it is circular. Nevertheless, psychoanalysis has been greatly contributory to psychology in that it has encouraged many modern theorists to modify it for the better, using its basic principles, but eliminating its major flaws.

Humanistic Perspective:

Humanistic psychologyis a psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of the whole person (know as holism). Humanistic psychologists look at human behavior, not only through the eyes of the observer, but through the eyes of the person doing the behaving.

Humanistic psychologists believe that an individual’s behavior is connected to his inner feelings andself-image. The humanistic perspective centers on the view that each person is unique and individual, and has the free will to change at any time in his or her life.

The humanistic perspective suggests that we are each responsible for our own happiness and well-being as humans. We have the innate (i.e., inborn) capacity for self-actualization, which is our unique desire to achieve our highest potential as people.

Because of this focus on the person and his or her personal experiences and subjective perception of the world the humanists regarded scientific methods as inappropriate for studying behavior.

Two of the most influential and enduring theories in humanistic psychology that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s are those ofCarl RogersandAbraham Maslow.

Cognitive Perspective:

Psychology was institutionalized as a science in 1879 byWilhelm Wundt, who found the first psychological laboratory.

His initiative was soon followed by other European and American Universities. These early laboratories, through experiments, explored areas such as memory and sensory perception, both of which Wundt believed to be closely related to physiological processes in the brain. The whole movement had evolved from the early philosophers, such as Aristotle and Plato. Today this approach is known ascognitive psychology.

Cognitive Psychology revolves around the notion that if we want to know what makes people tick then the way to do it is to figure out what processes are actually going on in their minds. In other words, psychologists from this perspective study cognition which is ‘the mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired.’

The cognitive perspective is concerned with “mental” functions such asmemory,perception,attention, etc. It views people as being similar to computers in the way we process information (e.g., input-process-output). For example, both human brains and computers process information, store data and have input an output procedure.

This had led cognitive psychologists to explain that memory comprises of three stages: encoding (where information is received and attended to), storage (where the information is retained) and retrieval (where the information is recalled).

It is an extremelyscientific approachand typically uses lab experiments to study human behavior. The cognitive approach has many applications includingcognitive therapyandeyewitness testimony.

Biological Psychology:

The biological perspective states that all thoughts, feeling & behavior ultimately have a biological cause. It is one of the major perspectives in psychology and involves such things as studying the brain, genetics, hormones, and the immune and nervous systems.

Theorists in the biological perspective who study behavioral genomics consider how genes affect behavior. Now that the human genome is mapped, perhaps, we will someday understand more precisely how behavior is affected by the DNA we inherit. Biological factors such as chromosomes, hormones and the brain all have a significant influence on human behavior, for example,gender.

Thebiological approachbelieves that most behavior is inherited and has an adaptive (or evolutionary) function. For example, in the weeks immediately after the birth of a child, levels of testosterone in fathers drop by more than 30 percent. This has an evolutionary function. Testosterone-deprived men are less likely to wander off in search of new mates to inseminate. They are also less aggressive, which is useful when there is a baby around.

Biological psychologists explain behaviors in neurological terms, i.e., the physiology and structure of the brain and how this influences behavior. Many biological psychologists have concentrated on abnormal behavior and have tried to explain it. For example, biological psychologists believe that schizophrenia is affected by levels of dopamine (a neurotransmitter).

These findings have helped psychiatry take off and help relieve the symptoms ofmental illnessthrough drugs. However, Freud and other disciplines would argue that this just treats the symptoms and not the cause. This is where health psychologists take the finding that biological psychologists produce and look at the environmental factors that are involved to get a better picture.

Evolutionary Psychology:

A central claim of evolutionary psychology is that the brain (and therefore the mind) evolved to solve problems encountered by our hunter-gatherer ancestors during the upper Pleistocene period over 10,000 years ago.

The Evolutionary approach explains behavior in terms of the selective pressures that shape behavior. Most behaviors that we see/display are believed to have developed during our EEA (environment of evolutionary adaptation) to help us survive.

Observed behavior is likely to have developed because it is adaptive. It has been naturally selected, i.e., individuals who are best adapted to survive and reproduce. behaviors may even be sexually selected, i.e., individuals who are most successful in gaining access to mates leave behind more offspring.
The mind is therefore equipped with ‘instincts’ that enabled our ancestors to survive and reproduce.

A strength of this approach is that it can explain behaviors that appear dysfunctional, such as anorexia, or behaviors that make little sense in a modern context, such as our biologicalstress responsewhen finding out we are overdrawn at the bank.

Perspectives Conclusion:

Therefore, in conclusion, there are so many different perspectives in psychology to explain the different types of behavior and give different angles. No one perspective has explanatory powers over the rest.

Only with all the different types of psychology, which sometimes contradict one another (nature-nurture debate), overlap with each other (e.g. psychoanalysis and child psychology) or build upon one another (biological and health psychologist) can we understand and create effective solutions when problems arise, so we have a healthy body and a healthy mind.

The fact that there are different perspectives represents the complexity and richness of human (and animal) behavior. A scientific approach, such as Behaviorism or cognitive psychology, tends to ignore the subjective (i.e., personal) experiences that people have.

The humanistic perspective does recognize human experience, but largely at the expense of being non-scientific in its methods and ability to provide evidence. The psychodynamic perspective concentrates too much on the unconscious mind and childhood. As such, it tends to lose sight of the role of socialization (which is different in each country) and the possibility of free will.

The biological perspective reduces humans to a set of mechanisms and physical structures that are clearly essential and important (e.g., genes). However, it fails to account for consciousness and the influence of the environment on behavior.

Question 54

(ID): T8. Further comparison of approaches: Summarise the six criteria.

Answer 54

Mind Body Debate:

One of the central questions in psychology (and philosophy) concerns themind/body problem.
Is the mind part of the body, or the body part of the mind? If they are distinct, then how do they interact? And which of the two is in charge?

Nature vs. Nurture:

This debatewithin psychology is concerned with the extent to which particular aspects of behavior are a product of either inherited (i.e. genetic) or acquired (i.e. learned) characteristics.
Nature is that which is inherited / genetic. Nurture which refers to all environmental influences after conception, i.e. experience.

Reductionism vs. Holism:

Reductionismis the belief that human behavior can be explained by breaking it down into smaller component parts.

Reductionists say that the best way to understand why we behave as we do is to look closely at the very simplest parts that make up our systems, and use the simplest explanations to understand how they work.

In psychology, the term is most appropriately applied to biological explanations (e.g. genetics, neurotransmitters, hormones) of complex human behaviors such as schizophrenia, gender and aggression.

Holismrefers to any approach that emphasizes the whole rather than their constituent parts. In other words ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.

Idiographic vs. Nomothetic:

The term “nomothetic” comes from the Greek word “nomos” meaning “law”. Psychologists who adopt this approach are mainly concerned with studying what we share with others. That is to say in establishing laws or generalizations.
The term “idiographic” comes from the Greek word “idios” meaning “own” or “private”. Psychologists interested in this aspect of experience want to discover what makes each of us unique.

Psychology as a Science:

Science is a particular approach to studying the world that emphasises objectivity i.e. the experimenter is clearly separated from what they are studying.
Key features of scienceinclude: objectivity (all sources of bias are minimized); collection of empirical data to support or refute a hypothesis; and predictability.

Free-will vs. Determinism:

Thefree will/determinism debaterevolves around the extent to which our behavior is the result of forces over which we have no control or whether people are able to decide for themselves whether to act or behave in a certain way.
The determinist approach proposes that all behavior is determined and thus predictable.

Free will assumes that we are free to choose our behavior, in other words we are self determined e.g.. people can make a free choice as to whether to commit a crime or not (unless they are a child or they are insane).

Animal Research:

This raises the issue of whether it’s morally and/or scientifically right to use animals. Main criterion is that benefits must outweigh costs.

But benefits are almost always to humans and costs to animals. If chimpanzees are subjected to research with drugs and possibly surgery, and the result is a cure for schizophrenia, then many would say that the means (experimenting with chimpanzees) are justified, or made acceptable by the ends (the cure to a horrible, life-shortening disease).

Animal research also raise the issue of extrapolation. Can we generalise from studies on animals to humans as their anatomy & physiology is different from humans? Animals cannot think about their experiences and invoke reason, patience, memory or self-comfort.

Gender Issues:

If research is biased towards men or women, it does not provide a clear view of the behavior that has been studied. A dominantly male perspective is known as an androcentric bias, and this can have two forms.

An alpha-bias is an androcentric bias in which the differences between males and females are recognised and exaggerated and so stereotypically male and female characteristics may be emphasised. For example, Freud’s psychosexual development theory saw women as less moral than men.

A beta-bias is seen when the differences between males and females go are minimised or ignored so that only the male view is considered and applied to both genders. This means life experiences which are unique to female experience are ignored.

Question 55

(ID): T8. Further comparison of approaches: Briefly Explain how debate continuums work and how the approaches take on different positions along the continuum - either between one side or interactionist.

Answer 55

Debate continuum explanation:

Continuum description:

Figure 5.21 in the textbook - shows the continuum for the free will vsdeterminismdebate. At the free will end of the continuum isthe humanistic approach– an approach based on the idea that each individual is unique and has free will to control his or her behaviour.

At the opposite end we have the psychodynamic and biological approaches, which argue that our behaviour is determined by our childhood experiences stored in our unconscious mind and our genotype, respectively.

The learning approach is towards thedeterminismend of the continuum, because behaviourism argues that behaviour is determined by a stimulus–response reaction, which means that it is determined by experience. Social learning offers a choice as to whether we imitate or not (free will), but that in itself may depend on experience.

Cognitive therapy relies on the individual exercising free will to change their thoughts. On the other hand, we process information from the environment on the basis of experience so to that extent our behaviour is determined by experience. The cognitive approach is therefore interactionist and lies in the middle of the continuum.

Additions:

> We should think of the various debates less in terms of extreme positions and more in terms of a continuum between these positions. Some approaches lie at one or other end of the continuum for particular debates; others take an interactionist position and lie somewhere along the continuum.

> As you worked through the various debates, you noted in each case that the various approaches do not necessarily operate in an either/or way. Sometimes they do – for example,the humanistic approachis strongly idiographic and strongly holistic. In other cases, though, you can identify elements of both poles of the debate – the interactionist view. For that reason, we have to be more subtle in our approach of discussing them and think of each criterion as lying on a continuum between the two extremes of the debate.

Question 56

+ The Test paper > Further information.

Answer 56

Psychology test 7: Approaches and debates.

Lucia /J Suleiman.

Part 1 Approaches

Briefly explain one strength and one limitation of the humanistic approach. (4 marks)

The humanistic approach stems from a psychological perspective of viewing a person holistically, as a ‘whole person’. Humanistic psychologists believe that an individual’s behaviour is based and connected to their inner thoughts and self-image, and the humanistic perspective centres on the view that each person is unique and has individuality as well as free will over their lives and the actions that subsequently effect their life.
A strength of this approach is that it’s main source of gathering data is qualitatively, which gives greater insight and more holistic information into understanding behaviour. Psychologists can then use this data to outline the differences between individuals as well as their similarities, and also help assess the distinction between the two. This holistic method of gathering data satisfies most people’s idea of what being human means because it values ideals and individuality above data profiling and other nomothetic attempts of research gathering.
However, this method of studying all parts of the individual also contains weaknesses, because the approaches focus on the person and her or his personal experiences and subjective perception on the world, the humanists regard scientific methods as inappropriate for studying behavior. This can make the validity of the research less provable as subjective concepts are far harder to test.

Outlinethe psychodynamic approach. (4 marks)

The Psychodynamic approach is a cognitive theory that was first created by the well known Psychologist Sigmund Freud and his later followers in research, such as Carl Jung and Anna Freud – applied to explain the origins of human behaviour.
The psychodynamic approach is particularly based on the focus of the unconscious mind, however the approach also includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon not just the unconscious, but also the interaction of drives and forces within the person, as well as the different structures of the personality.
Freud believed that events in our childhood can have a significant impact on our behaviours as adults. He also believed that people have little free will to make choices in life. Instead, our behaviour is determined by the unconscious mind and childhood experiences, taking on a more deterministic perspective rather than holistic one.
It was through this studying of the inner subconscious and unconscious parts of the mind that Freud founded Psychoanalysis, which, in part, explained the human mind like an iceberg, with only a very small amount of it actually visible – as our observable behaviour. Freud claimed that it is the unconscious and submerged part of the mind that has the most underlying influence on our behaviour.
Though it has acted as a base structure for a lot of other psychological theories and research to be built upon, the psychodynamic approach has also been criticised for placing too much emphasis on the psychological factors of understanding the mind, without considering the biological and genetic factors that also contribute to mental health problems. – Using a singular direction of study as well as simplifying the mind into three main personality components and using the five psychosexual stages in explaining human behaviour has been seen to make this approach somewhat reductionist.

Discuss two similarities betweenthe humanistic approachandthe psychodynamic approach. (4 marks)

Upon first look the Humanistic approach and the Psychodynamic approach compared to each other may appear starkly different; with the Humanistic approach taking on a far more holistic perspective than the Psychodynamic approach. However there are also similarities to be found between the two approaches.
One such similarity would be the lack of scientific validity. The Psychodynamic approach has been criticized in the way that it over emphasizes the importance and involvement of sexuality and under emphasizes the role of social relationships. Furthermore its focus on the unconscious means that it is not scientific, and cannot be proved. This lack of scientific evidence is also present in the Humanistic approach, which believes free will is in opposition to the deterministic laws of science. Where the Psychodynamic approaches lack of scientific relativity falls into what it focuses on, the Humanistic approaches lack of scientific relativity falls into the method of its focusing. Both approaches would be placed onto the unscientific side of the scientific to non-scientific debate continuum.
Another similarity is that both theories bring forward the notion that individuals are at the forefront of development. They both state that personality development is absolutely all to the individuals and how they satisfy their needs and wants instead of saying that it is consequently all or mostly an external occurrence.

Explain how the balance of the three parts of the personality influences adult personality. (4 marks)

Through Psychoanalysis, Freud believed that the unconscious mind consisted of three main personality components: the ‘id’ the ‘ego’ and the ‘superego’.
The id could be described as the impulsive part of the human personality, which is usually repulsed by pain and driven by pleasure, whereas the Superego is the morally correct, judging part of the personality. And lastly the ego, is the conscious part of the mind which mediates between the id and the Superego and keeps them in check. – It must be noted that although each part of comprises unique features, they do interact to form a whole as each part makes a relative contribution to an individual’s behaviour.
These three elements of the personality are formed and shaped through experience and will affect how someone behaves and who they subsequently become. This way of looking at the personality suggests that much behaviour originates from the conflict and imbalance between the three, especially in an individual’s early life.
An imbalance between the three was believed by Freud, to eventually create a maladaptive personality. For example, an individual with a dominant id could turn into an impulsive adult with uncontrollable and even criminal actions. These individuals could act upon their most basic urges with very little to no concern to whether their behaviour is appropriate. On the other hand a dominant Superego might lead to a personality which is extremely judgemental and moralistic.
It is the ego which must act as a levelling between these two personalities, as for an adult individual to function adequately in daily life, neither the id nor Superego should become dominant.

David is usually a happy, sensible teenager. He has recently developed a toothache which is causing him a great deal of pain, but he keeps forgetting his dental appointment.
Discuss the explanation a psychodynamic psychologist would give for David’s behaviour compared to that of a behavioural psychologist. (8 marks)

As a beginning of the explanation in understanding the differences between a psychodynamic psychologist’s view compared to a behavioural psychologist, it should firstly be stated the psychodynamic approach would initially view David’s unhappy behaviour as a result of underlying unconscious activity and would explore the effects that this would have had on David to keep making him forget his dental appointments. Whereas a behavioural psychologist would instead focus on the response cues that David has acted on as a result of the toothache itself, stating that David has developed an ‘avoidance behavioural response’, as an answer to why he has forgotten his appointments.
The two main core assumptions of the Psychodynamic approach are that the majority of psychological processes take place outside conscious awareness (unconscious), and that many of our mental activities – memories, feelings motives etc – are largely inaccessible to consciousness. And the second assumption being the critical importance of early experiences, strongly emphasising that early childhood events play a role in shaping personality development and dynamics. And it is in these assumptions that a Psychodynamic psychologist would explain David’s behaviour.
One such aspect of explaining David’s behaviour through Psychodynamics would be to suggest that a reason as to why he keeps forgetting his appointments, would be rooted in an early experience that David may have had involving the dentists, or a similar appointment. An early and possibly traumatic experience could have been pushed into David’s unconscious mind, explaining his avoidance in attending his appointments and irregular behaviour. Another aspect and view of explaining David’s behaviour would be that, instead of an early experience, David is using a defence mechanism, most certainly denial to avoid his appointments. He could be somewhat scared to have the problem confronted and has so used denial to ignore this problem and treat it as if it was not really happening.
The behavioural perspective however, while similar in also focusing on early experiences would not let it’s explanation lie in the unconscious, as the behaviourist approach states that behaviour is learnt from the environment.
The main assumptions of the behaviourist approach are that: behaviour should be explained through looking at observable behaviour, as opposed to internal events like thinking, behaviour is a result of stimulus-response cues no matter how complex, and that behaviour is determined by the environment (e.g. conditioning, nurture).
Out of these assumptions a behavioural psychologist would most likely use the explanation of response conditioning to explain David’s behaviour. Explaining that David has associated a particular neutral stimulus (the dentist) with an aversive unconditional response (the growing pain he is suffering from with his toothache and the pain he may suffer at the dentists). This has process has been negatively reinforced by David. Where his behaviour (forgetting to go to the dentist) is strengthened, because the unpleasant consequences has been removed (the fear of further pain at the dentists). A behavioural psychologist would suggest David would be likely to repeat this behaviour (avoidance) as it would somewhat reduce the fear and anxiety he feels.
Both of these explanations would most likely claim that David is either unconsciously or consciously avoiding his dentist appointments as a result of the anxiety he feels. Which a Psychodynamic psychologist would argue is centred around an initial fear born from an early event, or which a behavioural psychologist would argue was a result of fear avoidance.

Part 2 Biopsychology

Briefly describe two pieces of evidence for the role of exogenous zeitgebers in the sleep–wake cycle. (4 marks)

Exogenous zeitgebers are an external stimuli from the environment that influence our biological cycles and rhythms – such as light.
The importance of exogenous zeitgebers as a biological mechanism and their impact on biological circadian rhythms, such as the sleep-wake cycle has been discussed by psychologists for many years.
The psychologist Siffre (1975), found that the absence of external cues significantly altered his circadian rhythm: When he came back from staying underground with no lights or time-keeping, he believed the date to be a month earlier than it was. Suggesting that his sleep-wake cycle was increased and fastened by the lack of external cues, making him believe one that one day was longer than it actually was, eventually leading to him thinking that fewer days had passed. Supporting the role of exogenous zeitgebers in the sleep-wake cycle.
Another piece of research evidence suggesting the role of exogenous zeitgebers in the sleep-wake cycle would be the research carried out by Aschoff et al (1960s). Which studied participants living in a bunker that had only electric light an no windows, the participants were allowed to turn the lights on and off as they so wished, so that the light source fitted with their body clocks. And eventually their body clocks settled into a sleep-wake cycle of about 25 to 28 hours.
This seems to suggest, like with the study above, the present role of exogenous zeitgebers in the sleep-wake cycle and that absence natural external stimuli from the environment can effect our bodily cycles which are then altered through adjustment and retrainment.

Identify one difference and one similarity between Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas of the brain. (2 marks)

Areas such as Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas of the brain are associated with language processing and comprehension, and as a similarity – are both located on the left side of the brain, in the left hemisphere as is where most language processing is situated.
The major difference between these two areas of similar language processing is that Broca’s area is responsible for producing coherent speech, whereas Wernicke’s area is responsible for speech processing and understanding language.
These two distinctions can been seen through Aphasia studies, in which people suffering from fluent Aphasia would commonly be connected to then Wernicke’s area of the brain, as these people could usually speak in long and uninterrupted sentences but these sentences lacked obvious meaning and even contained unnecessary words, showing that their speech processing was damaged. People suffering from non-fluent Aphasia however showed the opposite, where speech production and sentences structuring was affected. Even though these people knew exactly what they meant to say, this type of Aphasia is associated with Broca’s side of the brain, as it is their ability to form coherent speech which is damaged, not their ability to put meaning into their sentences.

Split-brain research has helped in the understanding of the functions of the cerebral hemispheres. Summarise how two pieces of evidence have been useful in this context. (4 marks)

The two hemispheres of the brain are now known to be connected by the corpus callosum, and it is in this section of the brain which people with drug resistant epilepsy are treated. – With this treatment one option is to sever the corpus callosum so that that the epilepsy is then contained to one side of the brain, reducing the severity of the epileptic attacks.
One such example of this is the case study of Karen Bryne. Karen suffered from severe epilepsy, and in her late twenties she decided to operate and have the connection cut between the two hemispheres, severing the corpus callosum. However after waking from the operation, it became clear that Karen’s hand functioned separately from the rest of her body and was out of her control. This was very unfortunate for Karen as the detachment of control over the hand is a very rare condition which does not usually occur when the corpus callosum is cut in surgery.
Another example of Split-brain research highlighting the functions of the cerebral hemisphere is the work by Sperry (1970s). Sperry documented the subsequent effects on the functioning of the cerebral hemispheres on individuals after they had undergone surgery. He found a collection of evidence which supported the idea of different functioning of roles between the two hemispheres, as some individuals found it very hard to perform unfamiliar functions, such as stringing beads together but had little to no problem with familiar actions such as trying shoelaces, opening and shutting doors etc. He also found that the lack of connectivity between the two hemispheres was very apparent for the individuals, so much so that in the first few weeks after surgery the hemispheres acted separately, making the persons feel like two people in one body.
These pieces of evidence illustrate the way that the brain is separated into two hemispheres, and how the two hemispheres react to the cutting of the connection between them. It also shows how the movement on each side of the body is lateralised into the two hemispheres. Though there is still much that is not understood about the functioning of the cerebral hemispheres, as most Split-brain patients managed to ensure that their two hemispheres acted well enough and that their limbs acted in a coordinated way and yet this was not the case for all, like Karen Bryne, who suffered quite severely from the splitting of the hemispheres.

Mary has suffered from an extremephobiaof birds all her life and wishes to receive treatment for her condition. Her therapist needs to identify exactly what it is that elicits her fears.
Describe the use of ERPs in investigating Mary’sphobia.
Describe one advantage of using ERPs, compared to the use of aquestionnaire, in this case. (6 marks)

ERPs are event-related potentials – that are a method of measuring brain activity in response to a stimulus being introduced. This stimulus is introduced by the researcher, and is often specific to the context in which the individuals situation applies.
In Mary’s case, it would be most likely that her therapist would present Mary different phobia related stimulants to determine the exact root cause of her fear of birds, and whether there is a specific direction that her phobia takes, for instance the size or birds or their movements when in flight compared to when they are still.
ERPs are a specifically useful way of assessing the cause or direction to fears and phobias, like in Mary’s case. Because they reach beyond the patients own self assessments and assumptions about themselves, and even how they therapist may then interpret those assumptions. Self-report techniques such as questionnaires are liable to false information being given out, sometimes not even directly by the patients, which in comparison shows that ERPs have a greater scientific validity in determining causes compared to self-report methods.
This area of research into Mary’s phobia of birds would benefit greatly from the use of ERPs over the use of a questionnaire, as Mary herself may interpret her phobia of birds differently to how it actually is. Especially of she is very sensitive over the topic as feels like her phobia is a weakness in some way, making her answers perhaps fall into the trap of social desirability bias.
Using ERPs would eliminate any elements of bias and other extraneous variables, which other scanning techniques and research methods may fail to do, and are the most likely treatment for identifying what is eliciting Mary’s extreme phobia of birds.

Part 3 Issues and debates

State which descriptor in the table matches each of the approaches (a) to (d).

1.
Aphobiais explained based on a conditioning event in early childhood.
2.
A person is seen as striving to achieveself-actualisation.
3.
A person’s mental illness is studied by looking at the social context of their life.
4.
A person’s adult personality is seen as a consequence of fixation in the anal psychosexual stage.

Holism

Reductionism

Determinism

Idiographic

.(4 marks)
“A phobia is explained based on a conditioning event in early life” = c. Determinism.
“A person is seen as striving to achieve self-actualisation” = a. Holism.
“A person’s mental illness is studied by looking at the social context of their life” = d. Idiographic.
“A person’s adult personality is seen as a consequence of fixation in the anal psychosexual stage” = b. Reductionism.

Identify the main difference between alpha and beta bias in gender research. Give one example of each.(4 marks)

Gender bias is the differing treatment or representation of men and women, based on untrue stereotypes and false differences which are often exploited by societal ideals. Alpha and beta bias are examples of these stereotypes in gender research.
Firstly, Alpha bias is the attempt to actually exaggerate the differences between the two genders. An example of this in psychological research is much of Sigmund Freud’s work, for this case specifically, Freud’s theory of moral development, where he argued that women have weaker moral codes because their do not fully develop their superegos (the moralistic personality component). This meant that he thought that a woman’s conscience and ability to stop certain behaviours is weaker, and more liable to immoral behaviour. However this statement can not be generalised and seen as correct as though this could be case for some women it could also be the case for some men as well and that women in truth are no more likely to display this type of behaviour than men. – The time period and presumptions that were around then, when Freud conducted his research could certainly have played a major part on the nature of his findings.
Beta bias on the other hand, is the downplay the differences between the genders. One such example of this is some the research surrounding the flight-or-fight response, which was documented as being universal. However, some research conducted indicated that women have slightly different reaction and that they are less likely to act so strongly on the fight impulse. But it was found that there was more angles to this that just acting less strongly to an instinct, as later research indicates that women are more likely to foster social support and befriend others in response to a stressful situation. Showing a whole different way of reacting rather than just a minimised response.
The major differing problem between these two biases is that while Alpha bias focuses too much on the differences between the genders, leading to the implication of similarity within in the gender groups, and ignoring the many ways different women differ from each other. Beta bias draws too much attention away from the power of the differences between men and women.

A recent laboratory study investigating negative health effects due to stress showed that African-Americans have a heightened ‘flight-or-fight’ response compared to white Americans. They concluded that this explains why African-Americans exhibit higher levels of heart disease.
With reference todeterminism,cultural relativismand the nature-nurture debate discuss the above statement. (16 marks)

The flight-or-fight response is largely known to be a common response cue to heightened stress, the response itself has evolved as a survival mechanism, enabling people and other mammals to react quickly to life threatening situations and experiences. Over the years, research has come forth conveying the long-term effects of chronic stress on the physiological and physical health, showing that over time a repeated activation of this stress response would take its toll on the body. It is in this explanation that the laboratory study example given above has rooted its understanding in explaining the physical differences (negative health effects due to stress) between races through the flight-or-fight response.
The study firstly explains that African-Americans have a heightened fight-or-flight response compared to white Americans. Which that statement in itself could give way to some controversy, as this could be seen as a over generalisation and not an accurate representation of the stress response between the races, as this could vary greatly between states and districts in America, as well as different communities, such as the poor and rich. This could have been further supported if the statement had gone on to explain why exactly the distinction between the races is the way that it is, instead of later plainly indicating that African-Americans exhibit a higher level of heart disease than white American because of heightened stress, without connecting the two together and without mentioning how, as said above, representative activation of stress is the leading factor is physical health problems.
Without making that distinction clear, the statement could give way to the presumption that African Americans have a naturally occurring heightened fight-or-flight response compared to white Americans and that is why they exhibit higher levels of heart disease. However, other research exploration into the long-term effects of stress has shown that this is not the case. And that it is mostly likely that African-Americans experience more stressful situations in their average life compared to white Americans and that is why they are more liable to higher levels of heart disease.
Another route that this research statement could have taken in conveying its findings could have been to use the example of cultural relativism, explaining the vitality of context within their research. Displaying that social norms are culturally relative, and that the there are cultural differences between African-Americans and white Americans, such as the oppressing influence of racism on African Americans in American, which would have certainly been a key component into why their stress levels are higher than white Americans. It is important to always consider the effects, differing influences and behaviours of the individual within their culture before producing or not fully explaining a judgement.
A similar way of explaining the dissimilarity in stress between the races in America is through the nature-nurture debate. Producing an answer into whether the African-Americans heightened fight-or-flight response is primarily caused by nature or by nurture plays a key factor in understanding the research on a whole a determining whether their higher levels of heart disease is caused by inherited genetic factors or the result of heightened stress brought on by external factors.
Looking at it from a relative standpoint, one would argue that there is more evidence indicating that the higher levels of heart disease are caused by nurture examples more than by nature. As nurture relates to all environmental influences and experiences which ties in with the fight-or-flight response, which is known to be an automatic psychological reaction response brought on by a stressful or frightening situation, which is of course external.
The deterministic perception of this case would be that It is in the influence of the environment that forms their behaviour, therefore suggesting that it is the environment of which the African Americans are living in which is causing them to experience more heightened stress and not genetic influences, producing an example of external (environmental) determinism, seeing the cause of the individual’s behaviour to be outside the individual’s control of themselves.
Though the example: heightened fight-or-flight response, explains the consequence: higher levels of heart diseases, the laboratory study experiment statement does not act to create a vital bridge of context between these two components in the explanation. Merely stating that heightened flight-or-fight response has caused higher levels of heart disease in Africa Americans, without explaining whether this is determined genetically or environmentally.