2/ Issues and Debates - debates: free will-determinism, nature-nurture, holism-reductionism & ideographic-nomotheic

Question 1

what are the 4 debates we need to know?

Answer 1

1. free will - determinism
2. nature - nurture
3. holism - reductionism
4. ideographic - nomothetic

Question 2

what is meant by determinism?

Answer 2

behaviour is controlled by external or internal factors over which we have NO control.

Question 3

give two examples of determinism in psychology.

Answer 3

1. biological determinism -(internal factors) influence of genes, brain structure, biochemistry - OCD
2. environmental determinism - External factors) influence situational explanations e.g. aggression in prisons, locus of control for obedience.

Question 4

what is a strength of deterministic approaches?

Answer 4

easily generate research evidence e.g. brains scans - schizophrenia, case studies e.g. in psychodynamic approaches, twin studies in biological approaches.

Question 5

what is a weakness of deterministic approaches?

Answer 5

ethical implications - provides potential excuse for criminals as it removes responsibility for their actions e.g. claims people make saying ‘born to kill’

Question 6

what is meant by free will?

Answer 6

we play an active role in our behaviour - we are responsible for our own actions.

Question 7

give an example of free will in psychology.

Answer 7

• humanistic approach - we are able to direct our lives towards self-chosen goals -self actualisation. also client centred therapy, you dictate where the conversation goes.

Question 8

what is a strength of free will approaches in psychology?

Answer 8

produced lots of practical applications - client centred therapy, CBT - you have control over your mental illness, YOU can make yourself better.

Question 9

what is a weakness of free will approaches?

Answer 9

more research findings suggest we are controlled by biological factors e.g. found that motor regions of the brain become active when making a decision. a decision to press the button left or right was pre-determined action of the brain - behaviour is predictable.

Question 10

what is meant by a nature approach?

Answer 10

roots of the approach come from biology, philosophy, evolution. caused by genes, brain, hormonal influences.

Question 11

what is an example of the nature approach?

Answer 11

• biological approach explaining OCD, gender identity, genes and hormones in aggression.

Question 12

what is meant by nurture?

Answer 12

roots of approach - behaviourism, SLT, mind is regarded as a black slate at birth - behaviour is from learning from the environment.

Question 13

what is an example of the nurture approach?

Answer 13

• behaviourist approach explains phobias, SLT is aggression and gender.

Question 14

from nature to nurture, name the order in which the approaches go in.

Answer 14

1. biological
2. psychodynamic
3. cognitive
4. humanism
5. behaviourist

Question 15

what is meant by the interactionist approach in the nature-nurture debate?

Answer 15

both nature and nurture work tighter to shape human behaviour.

Question 16

give an example of the interactionist approach.

Answer 16

PKU - caused by the inheritance of two recessive genes from each parent (nature) - PKU patients are unable to break down amino acid which builds up in blood and causes retardation. however if child is diagnosed early they are put on a low protein diet for 12 years and helps avert this poetical life long disorder (nurture)

Question 17

what is meant by reductionism?

Answer 17

theories that oversimplify complex human behaviour and cognitive processes.

Question 18

what is biological reductionism and give an example?

Answer 18

behaviour is reduced to a physical level in terms of genes, hormones, brain structure. e.g. OCD comt and sert gene although twin studies not 100%

Question 19

what is environmental reductionism and give an example?

Answer 19

assumed behaviour is reduced down to simple building blocks - stimulus and response. phobias - classical and operant conditioning.

Question 20

what is strength of reductionist approaches?

Answer 20

helps break down complex behaviours so they can be scientifically and precisely tested e.g. OCD drug therapy.

Question 21

what methodological issues is there reductionism?

Answer 21

lots of supporting evidence for behaviourist has used animals e.g. pavlovs dogs and skinners rats - cannot extrapolate reducing our behaviour and cognitive processes down to the same as rats.

Question 22

what is meant by holism?

Answer 22

the idea that human behaviour should be view as a whole integrated experience and not as separate parts. it is not compatible with science.

Question 23

what is an example of holism?

Answer 23

humanistic approach - humans react to stimuli as an organised whole rather than a set of stimulus-response links. uses qualitative methods to investigate all aspects of individual.

Question 24

explain how gestalt adopts a holism approach?

Answer 24

when we something as a whole it makes sense rather than the individual elements that make up our vision. e.g. vision illusions

Question 25

what is strength of holism?

Answer 25

helped establish complex human behaviours - conditions of worth in humanistic approach.

Question 26

what is weakness of holism?

Answer 26

• unscientific e.g. self actualisation is impossible to measure
• not clear PA - client centred therapy e.g. not easy when treating aggression bc its caused by many factors.

Question 27

from high to low of reductionism what are they?

Answer 27

1. high - social and cultural explanations
2. mid - psychological explanations
3. low - biological explanations

Question 28

what is meant by idiographic approaches?

Answer 28

investigating individuals in depth e.g. case studies

Question 29

what is meant by nomothetic approaches?

Answer 29

investigates groups of people to try and find general laws of behaviour that apply to everyone.

Question 30

where has idiographic approaches been used?

Answer 30

• gender e.g. David reimer
• psychodynamic appraoch - little hans
• memory case studies KF also helped generate further research.

Question 31

where has nomothetic approaches been used?

Answer 31

• conformity - Asch

- obedience - Milgram

Question 32

what is a strength of idiographic approaches?

Answer 32

argued they are more valid than scientific - provide more in depth research.

Question 33

what is a weakness of idiographic approaches?

Answer 33

• time consuming e.g. little hans

- unscientific

Question 34

what is a strength of nomothetic approaches?

Answer 34

useful for predicting behaviour

Question 35

what is 2 weaknesses if the nomothetic approaches?

Answer 35

1. drug therapy isn’t successful for everyone - better to go in as a ideographic approach
2. only account for everyone as a whole not specific individuals - 65% in milligrams study but doesn’t state why each pps obeyed - it could have been bc of different circumstances.

Question 36

give an example of where the idiographic and nomothetic approach have been combined?

Answer 36

working memory model (general law of cognitive processes) also take advantage of case studies e.g. patient KF.