THE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE 5 AREAS

Question 1

Social area principles/assumptions

Answer 1

• All human behaviour occurs in a social context and is influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.
• Other people and the surrounding environment influence our behaviour, thought processes & emotions.
• Major influence on peoples behaviour is situation we are in and how this has effect on behaviour- we don’t act accordingly to our own free will meaning environment determines our behaviour, may act in a way deemed ‘acceptable’ in society.

Question 2

Cognitive area principles/assumptions

Answer 2

• Internal, mental processes are important in understanding behaviour. e.g our memory and interpretation of previous events.
• Humans are like information processors i.e computers- input, processes, output. Output/behaviour is due to mental processing which occurs.
• Mental processing can be tested scientifically.

Question 3

Developmental area principles/assumptions

Answer 3

• Interested in psychological processes of development. Change & development are an ongoing processes which continues throughout our lifetime.
• Cognitive, emotional and behavioural dev is ongoing process, changes result from interaction of nature & nurture.
• Behaviour can be learned (nurture) or innate (nature/ biological)
• Development may happen in pre-determined stages.

Question 4

Biological area principles/ assumptions

Answer 4

• Assumes all thoughts, feelings & behaviours have a biological cause; genes, hormones, brain structure…
• ‘All that is psychological must first be biological’
• Human genes have adapted our physiology and behaviour to the environment- genetic factors influence behaviour (differences in cognition, emotion and behaviour genetically controlled)
• Psychology should investigate the brain, nervous system and genes.
• Behaviour is controlled by the nervous system, specifically brain, neurones and neurotransmitters.

Question 5

Individual areas principles/ assumptions

Answer 5

• Individuals differ in their behaviour & personal qualities so no-one is ‘average’
• Everyone is genetically unique- this uniqueness is displayed through their behaviour- everyone behaves differently.
• All behaviour can be measured.
• Everyone unique, differ in terms of intelligence, personality, lifestyle…
• These diffs make hard to categorise behaviour- some normal, some abnormal- often hard to define.