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Psychology > Areas, perspectives and debates > Flashcards

Areas, perspectives and debates Flashcards

1
Q

Social Area principles

A
  • Investigates how the social context such as the surrounding environment and the presence of others affects our behaviour, thought processes and emotions
  • Also considers how individuals think about other people – social cognition – as it can involve behaviours such as stereotyping, prejudice, helping behaviours (piliavin/bocchiaro) and aggression
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2
Q

strengths of the social area

A
  • Research aims to explain real world phenomena so research is often reported to the media, increasing the publics understanding of psychology
  • High ecological validity as field experiments are used often
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3
Q

weaknesses of the social area

A
  • As society changes, results may only apply to one time period
  • Research can be considered ethnocentric as only one group of people are studied
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4
Q

application of the social area

A
  • People commit atrocities
  • Why people receive or don’t receive help
  • The power that other people have over individuals
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5
Q

principles of the cognitive area

A
  • Looks at internal mental processes and how these affect and impact our behaviour
  • Memory, language, attention, problem solving etc.,
  • Based on the analogy the brain works like a computer as individual receives, processes and responds to information
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6
Q

strengths of the cognitive area

A
  • Considered scientific as it uses controlled methods and standardised procedures
  • Practical applications for professions such as police officers
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7
Q

weaknesses of the cognitive area

A
  • Relies on the use of self-report as researchers can only ask what a person is thinking as they cannot directly observe thoughts reducing the validity
  • Lab experiments lack ecological validity and can cause demand characteristics
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8
Q

application of the cognitive area

A
  • Can help police officers understand the validity of eyewitness accounts and informs the police to not use leading questions
  • Can be used by students to improve their revision due to context dependent memory
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9
Q

principles of the biological area

A
  • It assumes that behaviour can be explained in terms of biological functions e.g the brain, nervous system, neurotransmitters and gene
  • what was once biological is now psychological
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10
Q

strengths of the biological area

A
  • leads to a greater understanding of the brain, how we are learning and how the brain works and how it impacts on our behaviour
  • uses scientific methods, such as lab experiments, to investigate mental processes. it enables researchers to establish cause and effect between variables
  • easy to test for reliability because the studies are controlled
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11
Q

weaknesses of the biological area

A
  • demand characteristics may be a problem because they often have to rely on self-report data to gather data and it can’t always be done objectively
  • methods used to measure the brain objectively have their limitations
  • explanations of human behaviour based on biology alone are often too reductionist. it is influenced by a range of factors from all areas
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12
Q

applications of the biological area

A
  • Abnormal psychology (mental health and criminal behavior)
  • Plasticity of the brain (helping stroke victims)
  • Mapping brain function (explain dysfunctions)
  • rehabilitation for those who have undergone brain surgery
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13
Q

principles of the developmental area

A
  • It focuses on how behaviour develops throughout a human life, from birth to death. (Includes changes in cognitive, social and emotional abilities and behaviours)
  • an assumption is that there are identifiable, systematic changes that occur in an individuals behaviour from birth to death
  • early experiences can affect our development
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14
Q

strengths of the developmental area

A
  • These studies often study how participants change over time, giving rich and detailed data without participants variables affecting results.
  • Studies have practical applications for childcare which are useful to parents and teachers
    -uses a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods so will gain useful data.
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15
Q

weaknesses of the developmental area

A

-research with children may arise ethical issues, such as consent and protection
-using children as participants can highlight practical issues, such as making inferences from observed behaviour as they cant tell us
- research may be constrained by time or culture due to changes in early year environments and cultural differences in child rearing
- samples are often small and may be unrepresentative

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16
Q

applications of the developmental area

A

Education systems have developed the curriculum to teach children in the same order that development occurs in

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17
Q

principles of the individual differences area

A
  • looks at why people fall out of the ‘normal’ range
  • focuses on why people differ and the reasons for these differences
  • develop an understanding for disorders
  • also concerned with how to measure differences between people
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18
Q

strengths of the individual differences area

A
  • it enables psychologists to find out about a wider range of human behaviours because all behaviours are studied
  • it can have a social benefit by improving our understanding of mental disorders and suggesting treatments
  • it can help to inform the free will-determinism debate, suggesting the extent to which we have control over our behaviour
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19
Q

weaknesses of the individual differences area

A
  • lacks a defining set of belief about how people behave so leads to more disagreements within this area than others
  • socially sensitive due to potentially harmful uses
  • low validity due to tools used to measure differences
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20
Q

applications of the individual differences area

A
  • helped to develop psychoanalysis therapy
  • helped to develop strategies to cope with situations that arise due to a lack of theory of mind
  • Once the differences between people are established these structural differences can be used to identify individuals who may be more likely to become a psychopath and they can be worked with to prevent offending behaviour.
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21
Q

Nature

A

sees genetic and biological factors as the explanations for thinking and behaviour

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22
Q

strengths of nature

A
  • unlikely to be ethnocentric as biological factors will affect people in the same way no matter where they are from
  • scientific as studies typically use objective measures
  • useful for drug intervention
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23
Q

weaknesses of nature

A
  • could be socially sensitive if identifying a problem that someone can’t change about themselves
  • reductionist as it suggests only one factor (biology) affects our behaviour
  • deterministic as it suggests we are only controlled by our genes
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24
Q

studies that link to nature

A

Sperry
- the brain is wired to function a certain way, and the corpus callosum’s transfers information to hemispheres
Baron - Cohen
- people are born with or without autism/ theory of mind and this affects their behaviour

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25
Q

Nurture

A

Sees behaviour as learned or acquired from experience in the environment

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26
Q

strengths of nurture

A
  • can be scientific as it is a way of investigating the extent to which one variable can change someone’s behaviour
  • high in ecological validity/replicability when using studies to replicate real life situations
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27
Q

weaknesses of nurture

A
  • reductionist as it only takes into account the environment affecting behaviour and no other factor
  • deterministic as it implies were are controlled by our environment
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28
Q

studies that link to nurture

A

Milgram
- behaviour was a result of the environment the participants were in, felt pressured to shock the student
Bandura
- when children observed the violent behaviour they exhibited violent behaviour; they were influenced by their environment

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29
Q

Freewill

A

The idea that humans are entirely free to act as they choose and bear the responsibility for the outcome of their actions

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30
Q

strengths of freewill

A
  • not socially sensitive - people will often like to feel that they have control over their behaviour
  • makes a person take accountability for their actions
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31
Q

weaknesses of freewill

A
  • not very scientific as free will is not much of an explanation for behaviour
  • no clear definition of what freewill is and you cannot be sure the person acted on their own and were not influenced
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32
Q

studies that link to freewill

A

Kohlberg
- children are free to chose how they would act in the moral dilemas
Milgram
- people had the choice whether to continue following the destructive orders and shock the student

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33
Q

determinism

A

Suggests a lack of control over our behaviour and are controlled by our genes or past experiences

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34
Q

strengths of determinism

A
  • scientific as determinist explanations often arose from controlled experiments in which cause and effect have been established
  • supports psychology as a science due to the use of scientific and objective measures when studying behaviour
  • interventions to prevent behaviours
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35
Q

weaknesses of determinism

A
  • lack of responsibility as people will excuse away their behaviour claiming they have no control over it
  • reductionist as it implies behaviour is only affected by out genes and previous experiences
36
Q

studies that link to determinism

A

Simons and Chabris
- cognitive processes such as visual perception have an influence on our behaviour and people have no control over this suggesting behaviour is not freely chosen
Casey et al
- participants could not choose to respond/not respond to stimuli as delay of gratification is controlled by the ventral striatum and the inferior frontal gyrus

37
Q

Reductionism

A

The breaking down of behaviour into its individual parts and using single factor explanations such as individual genes or particular hormones to account for a particular action

38
Q

strengths of reductionism

A
  • allows research to be more scientific as only one variable is being tested at one time and establish cause and effect
  • can define behaviour and provide treatments e.g., low serotonin = depression
39
Q

weaknesses of reductionism

A
  • studies which take a reductionist approach are often highly controlled and can lack ecological validity
  • ignores complex interactions between multiple factors which influence our behaviour such as the environment interacting with our genes
40
Q

studies that link to reductionism

A

Casey et al
- study only considers delay of gratification to be affected by the size of the inferior frontal gyrus and the ventral striatum
Maguire et al
- only the hippocampus is considered to control spatial navigation and memory

41
Q

holism

A

Holistic approach sees behaviour as too complex to be reduced to a single explanation, and humans are seen as more than the sum of all their individual parts

42
Q

strengths of holism

A
  • taking a holistic approach can lead to explanations of behaviour that are high in face validity
  • better reflects human behaviour as it takes into account the interactions between different factors
43
Q

weaknesses of holism

A
  • it can be difficult for researchers to pin down which factor has the greatest effect on behaviour
  • cannot be tested scientifically due to overcomplication and too intricate for empirical testing
  • cannot determine cause and effect relationships due to multiple factors affecting behaviour
44
Q

studies that link to holism

A

freud
- case studies view behaviour in a holistic way, and Freud considers many reasons for Han’s phobias
Lee et al
- investigates different factors that affect lying and truth telling such as age, cultural upbringing, and what country they’re from (china/canada)

45
Q

individual explanation

A

Individual explanations look to the person as a cause of behaviour, specifically their personalities and dispositions

46
Q

strengths of the individual explanation

A
  • research tends to be scientific
  • free will as individual explanations emphasise a personal responsibility
47
Q

weaknesses of the individual explanation

A
  • difficult to generalise results to populations as findings are individual
  • reductionist as it leads to oversimplification of complex behaviours
48
Q

studies that link to the individual explanation

A

Maguire et al
- the taxi drivers have a larger hippocampal size due to their job as a London taxi driver which involves memorisation and spatial awareness
Hancock et al
- language differences are individual between psychopaths and non-psychopaths when describing the murder they committed

49
Q

situational explanation

A

Situational explanations draw on circumstances around individuals for example their culture or environmental context

50
Q

strengths of the situational explanation

A
  • supports the idea that environmental factors impact on behaviour
  • predictability as it suggests behaviour can be understood and influenced by improving the environment
51
Q

weaknesses of the situational explanation

A
  • socially sensitive: it could be used as an excuse to explain any bad behaviour
  • reductionist as oversimplification can occur when explaining how the environment affects behaviour
  • deterministic as it suggests only the environment affects behaviour
52
Q

studies that link to the situational explanation

A

loftus and palmer
- behaviour is due to the wider context of the environment and results take into account other situational factors that impact eye witness testimony
Milgram
- behaviour was a result of the situation the participants were placed in

53
Q

Psychology as a science

A

Research should include:
- Assumptions/hypothesis
- Scientific methods
- Terminology
- No theory in science is final

54
Q

arguments for psychology as a science

A
  • Based on research and investigation
  • Scientific methods used
  • Has theories that generates hypothesis and then tested
55
Q

arguments against psychology as a science

A
  • Psychology studies humans and they cannot be investigated like chemistry or physics
  • People know they’re being studied – demand characteristics
  • Can only infer what happens in the mind
  • Many aspects of the mind are not visible
56
Q

strengths of psychology as a science

A
  • quantitative data is often gathered which can be analysed to see significant effects
  • controlled laboratory experiments can be replicated to see if findings are reliable
57
Q

weaknesses of psychology as a science

A
  • scientific research is often lacking in qualitative data (and therefore explanations are limited)
  • scientific studies are often conducted in tightly controlled laboratory settings, which can reduce the ecological validity of the findings
58
Q

4 main ethical concerns when conducting research
SSR

A
  • The research question or hypothesis
  • The treatment of individual participants
  • The institutional context – harm to the researchers/institution
  • The way the findings are interpreted and applied
59
Q

SSR BPS guidelines

A

BPS provides guidelines for a study to not have ethical issues
- All participants leave in a similar state of mind
- No one is deceived or humiliated
- Participants are debriefed
- No confidentiality breaches

60
Q

groups affected by SSR

A
  • Members of the social group being studied
  • Friends and families of those taking part
  • The research team
  • The institution in which the research is conducted
61
Q

strengths of SSR

A
  • Useful knowledge can be obtained from SSR
  • Can reduce prejudice and discrimination
  • Insight into human behaviour
62
Q

weaknesses of SSR

A
  • Groups may be offended by the results
  • Ethical concerns such as whether the research causes harm to participants
63
Q

what makes a study useful

A
  • Useful results are reliable
  • Understanding of behaviour
  • Practical applications to manage behaviour
  • High validity/ecological validity
  • Quantitative data allows comparison
  • Qualitative data allows procedures to be put in place
64
Q

strengths of usefulness

A
  • Improves society and peoples lives
  • Enhances the value of psychology as a subject/science
  • practical applications of useful research
65
Q

weaknesses of usefulness

A
  • Only useful if ethical
  • Needs high ecological validity to be useful
  • Should use a representative sample
  • Should not be ethnocentric
66
Q

similarities between the psychodynamic perspective and the behaviourist perspective

A

nurture
- they both recognise how the environment can develop someone’s behaviour
deterministic:
- psychodynamic perspective is based on subconscious desires so beyond free will
- behaviourist perspective is based on environmental influences so beyond free will
ethical considerations:
behaviourism leads to more manipulation of their behaviour
- psychodynamic brings up past traumas from their childhood
usefulness:
- both are optimistic in terms of the potential for changes in behaviour and theories
social sensitivity:
- both can be accused of stigmatising certain types of families/family dynamics

67
Q

similarities between the individual differences area and the psychodynamic perspective

A
  • both tend to be socially sensitive
  • both are deterministic
68
Q

differences between the psychodynamic perspective and the behaviourist perspective

A

reductionism/holism:
- behaviourist is more reductionist as it focuses on one stimulus response
- psychodynamic reduces down explanations to the unconscious mind but it does also interact with childhood experiences making it more holistic
usefulness:
- behaviourism focuses more on here and now, whereas psychodynamic focuses more on the past
social sensitivity:
- behaviourism manipulates behaviour to make people more normal whereas with psychodynamic there are issues around the sexualisation of children
psychology as a science:
- behaviourism is more objective. use of experiments vs. case studies
validity:
- use of animals by behaviourists raises issues of generalisability (they may also lack ecological and construct validity) whereas qualitative data from psychodynamic has more validity
reliability:
- easier to replicate behaviourists’ research and it produces more consistent outcomes

69
Q

differences between the individual differences area and the psychodynamic perspective

A
  • ID area collects qualitative and quantitative data but psychodynamic only collects qualitative
  • ID is more reductionist but psychodynamic is more holistic
70
Q

similarities between the individual differences area and the behaviourist perspective

A
  • both tend to be socially sensitive
  • both are deterministic
71
Q

differences between the individual differences area and the behaviourist perspective

A
  • behaviourist looks at nurture, individual differences looks at nature
  • behaviourist looks at situational, individual differences is individual
72
Q

similarities between the biological area and the psychodynamic perspective

A
  • both collect quantitative data
  • both are deterministic
  • both are reductionist
73
Q

differences between the biological area and the psychodynamic perspective

A
  • biological is more situational and psychodynamic is more individual
  • biological area is more scientific
74
Q

similarities between the biological area and the behaviourist perspective

A
  • both collect quantitative data
  • both are deterministic
  • both are reductionist
75
Q

differences between the biological area and the behaviourist perspective

A
  • biological area tends to follow ethical guidelines, behaviourist does not
  • biological looks as nature, behaviourist looks at nurture
76
Q

similarities between the developmental area and the psychodynamic perspective

A
  • both are deterministic
  • both collect qualitative data
77
Q

differences between the developmental area and the psychodynamic perspective

A
  • developmental is situational and psychodynamic is individual
  • developmental looks mainly at nurture and psychodynamic at nature
78
Q

similarities between the developmental area and the behaviourist perspective

A
  • both collect qualitative and quantitative data
  • both are deterministic
79
Q

differences between the developmental area and the behaviourist perspective

A
  • behaviourist perspective tends to be more scientific
  • behaviourist perspective tends to be more situational and developmental more individual
80
Q

similarities between the cognitive area and the psychodynamic perspective

A
  • both are deterministic
  • both look at nature
81
Q

differences between the cognitive area and the psychodynamic perspective

A
  • cognitive area tends to collect quantitative data and psychodynamic collects qualitative
  • cognitive area is situational and psychodynamic is individual
82
Q

similarities between the cognitive area and the behaviourist perspective

A
  • both are reductionist
  • both are deterministic
  • both are ethnocentric
  • both are scientific
83
Q

differences between the cognitive area and the behaviourist perspective

A
  • cognitive looks at nature but behaviourist looks at nurture
  • cognitive is situational but behaviourist is individual
84
Q

similarities between the social area and the psychodynamic perspective

A
  • both collect qualitative data
  • both are deterministic
85
Q

differences between the social area and the psychodynamic perspective

A
  • social looks at situational factors but psychodynamic looks at past experiences and traumas (individual)
  • social area is reductionist but psychodynamic is holistic
86
Q

similarities between the social area and the behaviourist perspective

A
  • both are unethical
  • both tend to collect quantitative data
  • both look at nurture
  • both are deterministic
87
Q

differences between the social area and the behaviourist perspective

A
  • behaviourist perspective is more scientific
  • behaviourist perspective is ethnocentric

Psychology (2 decks)

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