Issues & Debates Flashcards
(21 cards)
What is meant by the term determinism
The view that an individual’s behaviour is controlled by internal or external forces
What is meant by the term free will
The idea that individuals have a role in controlling their behaviour, they can make their own choices
What is meant by hard determinism
That there is no free will and behaviour can be predicted
What is biological determinism
States behaviour is determined by biological functions such as genetic influences (dopamine hypothesis for schizophrenia)
What is environmental determinism
That behaviour is caused by previous, environmental experience (classical and operant conditioning)
What is psychic determinism
Suggests that behaviour is determined by a mix of innate drives and early experience (psychosexual stages)
What is scientific determinism
The belief that behaviour occurs due to causal relationships (IV is manipulated to observe the causal effect on a DV)
What is soft determinism
A version of determinism that allows for some element of free will and choice
What is meant by an idiographic approach in psychological investigation
A research approach that focuses on an individual case as a means of understanding behaviour
What is meant by nomothetic approaches in psychological evaluation
A research approach that attempts to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws
An example of an idiographic approach in research
The case study of HM, Milner and Scoville 1957, who suffered epileptic seizures and in result had his hippocampus removed which impacted his memory and damaged his long term memory.
An example of a nomothetic approach in research
Behaviourist psychologists produced general laws of behaviour - classical and operant conditioning.
What is meant by ethical implications
Ethical implications consider the effects of research on society or a group of people
What is social sensitive research
This is any research that might have direct social consequences for the p’s in the research or group that they represent
What 4 aspects did Seiber and Stanley identify in the research process at which ethical issues with social consequences may occur
The research question - asking a question may be damaging to particular p’s
Conduct of research - the main concern is confidentiality and treatment of p’s
The institution context - research may be funded by private institutions that may misuse the data, media may report invalid findings
Interpretation and application of findings - research findings may be used for purposes other than originally intended
Criticisms of determinism (genes)
Doubtful that 100% genetic determination will be found for any behaviour. E.g. studies comparing identical twins found about 80% similarity on intelligence. Therefore genes do not entirely determine behaviour
Criticism of determinism (Dennett)
Dennett argues that there is no such thing as total determinism. The Chaos theory concludes that causal relationships are probable rather than determined. Suggests free will has a role in the explanation of behaviour
Strength of the idiographic approach
They provide rich in-depth data as they are based on qualitative methods such as case studies which are very specific
Limitation of the idiographic approach
This approach is time consuming as it relies on qualitative methods such as observations and interviews which take time to analyse and conduct.
Advantage of the nomothetic approach
Nomothetic approaches are said to be more scientific as they focus more on quantitate data which is easier to analyse and is reliable.
Disadvantage of nomothetic approach
Predictions can be made about groups but these may not apply to individuals. Can create a beta bias
