Debates Flashcards
Define ethics
The guidelines that must be kept by the researchers in order to protect the wellbeing of participants involved in their research
What are the six ethical guidelines
Informed consent
Confidentiality
Deception
Debrief
Right to withdraw
Protection from harm
What is informed consent
Participants must agree to take part and know what the research involves
What is confidentiality
The personal details of participants must be kept confidential
What is deception
Participants must not be tricked in any way during their involvement in the study
What is debrief
Participants must be informed of study details at the end of their participations
What is the right to withdraw
Participants are able to leave at any time and they do not need to say why they wish to leave
What is protection from harm
Participants should not experience mental or physical harm as a result of their involvement
What are the broader ethical principles
Respect
Competence
Responsibility
Integrity
What ethical guidelines are within respect
Informed consent
Right to withdraw
Confidentiality
What ethical guidelines are within competence
Research shouldn’t give advice beyond that which they are competent to give
What ethical guidelines are within responsibility
Protection from harm
Debrief
What ethical guidelines are within integrity
Deception
What are example of studies that break the ethical guidelines
Milgram
Piliavin
What are examples of studies that follow ethical guidelines
What are the benefits of research being ethical
- avoids participants leaving the study in a worse state than they entered
- allows for replication of the study as it is reliable
- enhances the credibility as an academic deisciplime
- researchers are likely to get other participants in the future
What are the drawbacks of research being ethical
- it can place limits on the sort of research carried out
- can reduce accuracy if participants know the aim
- sampling bias can be a problem if participants are able to withdraw
- insisting on participants being confidential could silence them and prevent them from having people know that a particular result in a study related to them
What is the individual/situational debate
It focuses on the extent to which a persons behaviour is the result of their personality as opposed to the context they are in
What are situational explanations
Ones that suggest that behaviour is best explained by reference to the circumstances a person is in
What are individual explanations
Ones that suggest behaviour is explained as arising from a persons own personality or characteristics
Why was milgrams study on the situational side of the debate
- it was held in Yale
- experimenter was watching and providing prods
- they were paid
- there was a fixed lottery
Why was milgrams study on the individual side of the debate
- they volunteered
- they could have been introverted or extroverted
Why was piliavins study on the situational side of the debate
- couldn’t leave the train
- they knew what the problem was
- models prompted to help
- the type of victim
Why was piliavins study on the individual side of the debate
- no diffusion of responsibility
- sex: 90% of first helpers were male
What is nature
That we are a product of genetic inheritance and factors are innate
What is nurture
Products of our upbringing
What are two examples of studies that link to nature
Kohlberg
What are two study that link to nurture
Bandura
What are strengths of the nature argument
Uses scientific measures
Extraneous variables are highly controlled
Cause and effect can be established
What are weaknesses of the nature debate
Implies behaviours are naturally inclined and not at all behaving in a way we choose
Fails to take into account external influences on behaviour
What are weaknesses for the nurture debate
Suggest upbringing and environment directly influence behaviour
Ignores the impact of personality
What are strengths of the nurture side of the debate
Practical and useful applications
Can be used to change and influence behaviour
What are some problems with doing useful research
Findings may be used in negative ways
Ethical guidelines may be broken
Uninteresting research may be conducted
How is milligrams study useful in a positive way
Can be used by legitimate authority figures such as police or teachers to try and encourage following rules
How is piliavins study useful in a positive way
Can be used to highlight to medical staff possible biases there may be
How is banduras study useful in a positive way
Can be used by teachers and parents to ensure they are only displaying behaviours they wish children will imitate
How is kohlbergs study useful in a positive way
Can be used by teachers to identify what stage their students are in and change their teaching tactics accordingly
How is milligrams study useful in a negative way
Can be used by illegitimate authority figures to encourage obedience to their rules
How is piliavins study useful in a negative way
Can be used as a mechanism for scams
How is banduras study useful in a negative way
Can be used to encourage children to display bad behaviours
How is kohlbergs study useful in a negative way
Can be used by extremest group leaders to make their ideas fit with the morals of the person they wish to join
What is objectivity
Findings are matter of fact, rather than opinion
What is falsifiability
It would be possible to prove findings false
What is replicability
If the study is repeated, the same results are obtained
What are two examples of science based studies and why are they considered scientific
Bandura - objective (quantitative data) and falsifiable (standardised)
Loftus and Palmer - objective (mean) and falsifiable (standardised)
What are two examples of non science based studies and why are they not considered scientific
Freud - not replicable (lacks controls), not falsifiable (study of unconscious) and not objective (different interpretations)
Kohlberg - not objective (qualitative data)
What are benefits of scientific psychological research
Quantitative data gathered
Less likely to be affected by researcher bias
Cause and effect can be inferred
Can be replicated easily
What are negatives of non-scientific psychological research
Lack qualitative data - low explanatory power
Often reductionist
Lack of ecological validity
What is socially sensitive research
When the research has wider negative implications for the individuals the sample represents
Benefits of socially sensitive research
Can answer important questions that improve understanding of human behaviour
Lead to practical applications to improve quality of people’s lives
Drawbacks of socially sensitive research
Lead to people beyond the study being stigmatised
Insights a study provides could be used for harmful purposes
How was Yerkes study socially sensitive
Conclusion that some ethnic groups are more intelligent than others
Can lead to racism and discrimination
How was banduras socially sensitive
Parents may receive discrimination
People may blame parents for child’s aggression
How is morays study not socially sensitive
Findings are generalisable to everyone
Cannot discriminate against people who have an international barrier
How is kohlbergs study not socially sensitive
Findings suggest an invariant developmental sequence that is universal
Not targeting one group of individuals, suggesting everyone develops morals in the same way
How was loftus and palmers research not socially sensitive
People are already aware their memories can be flawed
Those with false memories are not being blamed
What is free will
Our behaviour is the product of our own choice
What is determinism
Behaviour is caused by factors out of our control. This can be genetic, upbringing, physical surroundings or social circumstances
How is banduras study deterministic
Children’s behaviour is likely to be influenced by the ways adults behave via social learned imitation
How is loftus and palmers study deterministic
Something as minor as verbs used in questions can have a determining influence
How is milgrams study determined or based on free will
Determined - Yale, volunteering, paid, prods, experimenter prescience
Free will - not everyone went to 450V (35%)
Strengths of free will
Not socially sensitive
Useful as people are held accountable
Has face validity
Drawbacks of free will
Hard to prove
No predictability patterns to behaviour
Socially sensitive
Strengths of determinism
Open to positive uses
Scientific as cause and effect can be established
Recognises people can’t always be accountable
Drawbacks of determinism
Open to harmful uses
Socially sensitive
Can be reductionist
Drawbacks of determinism
Open to harmful uses
Socially sensitive
Can be reductionist
