2/ Issues and Debates - debates: free will-determinism, nature-nurture, holism-reductionism & ideographic-nomotheic Flashcards
what are the 4 debates we need to know?
- free will - determinism
- nature - nurture
- holism - reductionism
- ideographic - nomothetic
what is meant by determinism?
behaviour is controlled by external or internal factors over which we have NO control.
give two examples of determinism in psychology.
- biological determinism -(internal factors) influence of genes, brain structure, biochemistry - OCD
- environmental determinism - External factors) influence situational explanations e.g. aggression in prisons, locus of control for obedience.
what is a strength of deterministic approaches?
easily generate research evidence e.g. brains scans - schizophrenia, case studies e.g. in psychodynamic approaches, twin studies in biological approaches.
what is a weakness of deterministic approaches?
ethical implications - provides potential excuse for criminals as it removes responsibility for their actions e.g. claims people make saying ‘born to kill’
what is meant by free will?
we play an active role in our behaviour - we are responsible for our own actions.
give an example of free will in psychology.
- 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.
what is a strength of free will approaches in psychology?
produced lots of practical applications - client centred therapy, CBT - you have control over your mental illness, YOU can make yourself better.
what is a weakness of free will approaches?
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.
what is meant by a nature approach?
roots of the approach come from biology, philosophy, evolution. caused by genes, brain, hormonal influences.
what is an example of the nature approach?
- biological approach explaining OCD, gender identity, genes and hormones in aggression.
what is meant by nurture?
roots of approach - behaviourism, SLT, mind is regarded as a black slate at birth - behaviour is from learning from the environment.
what is an example of the nurture approach?
- behaviourist approach explains phobias, SLT is aggression and gender.
from nature to nurture, name the order in which the approaches go in.
- biological
- psychodynamic
- cognitive
- humanism
- behaviourist
what is meant by the interactionist approach in the nature-nurture debate?
both nature and nurture work tighter to shape human behaviour.
give an example of the interactionist approach.
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)
what is meant by reductionism?
theories that oversimplify complex human behaviour and cognitive processes.
what is biological reductionism and give an example?
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%
what is environmental reductionism and give an example?
assumed behaviour is reduced down to simple building blocks - stimulus and response. phobias - classical and operant conditioning.
what is strength of reductionist approaches?
helps break down complex behaviours so they can be scientifically and precisely tested e.g. OCD drug therapy.
what methodological issues is there reductionism?
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.
what is meant by holism?
the idea that human behaviour should be view as a whole integrated experience and not as separate parts. it is not compatible with science.
what is an example of holism?
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.
explain how gestalt adopts a holism approach?
when we something as a whole it makes sense rather than the individual elements that make up our vision. e.g. vision illusions
what is strength of holism?
helped establish complex human behaviours - conditions of worth in humanistic approach.
what is weakness of holism?
- 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.
from high to low of reductionism what are they?
- high - social and cultural explanations
- mid - psychological explanations
- low - biological explanations
what is meant by idiographic approaches?
investigating individuals in depth e.g. case studies
what is meant by nomothetic approaches?
investigates groups of people to try and find general laws of behaviour that apply to everyone.
where has idiographic approaches been used?
- gender e.g. David reimer
- psychodynamic appraoch - little hans
- memory case studies KF also helped generate further research.
where has nomothetic approaches been used?
- conformity - Asch
- obedience - Milgram
what is a strength of idiographic approaches?
argued they are more valid than scientific - provide more in depth research.
what is a weakness of idiographic approaches?
- time consuming e.g. little hans
- unscientific
what is a strength of nomothetic approaches?
useful for predicting behaviour
what is 2 weaknesses if the nomothetic approaches?
- drug therapy isn’t successful for everyone - better to go in as a ideographic approach
- 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.
give an example of where the idiographic and nomothetic approach have been combined?
working memory model (general law of cognitive processes) also take advantage of case studies e.g. patient KF.
