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Psychology > Debates, Areas, Perspectives > Flashcards

Debates, Areas, Perspectives Flashcards

1
Q

Biological area

A

How your biology affects your behaviour

Genetics, brain, nerves, hormones (internal factors)

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2
Q

Biological area strengths and weaknesses

A

S- understanding of our physiognomy

  • scientific
  • internally reliable
  • internally valid

W-limitations on data collection rely on self report

  • reductionist
  • not ecologically valid
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3
Q

Studies that relate to biological area

A

Sperry - separate brain hemispheres and their functions
Blakemore and Cooper - visual cortex and brain plasticity
Maguire - hippocampus and brain plasticity
Casey - roles of the inferior frontal gyrus and ventral striatum

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4
Q

Biological area points for comparison

A 
Lab experiments 
Low ecological validity 
High internal reliability 
High internal validity 
Scientific 
Biological determinism 
Nature side of the debate 
Reductionist
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5
Q

Cognitive area

A

Mind works like a computer - Inputting, processing, storing and retrieving information
Focus on internal mental processes (memory, attention, perception etc) can influence our behaviour
People make decisions based on how they behave

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6
Q

Strengths and weaknesses of cognitive area

A

S-understanding and improving mental processes

  • extraneous variables are controlled
  • highly replicable

W-rely on self report

  • demand characteristics
  • lacks ecological validity
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7
Q

Studies to in cognitive area

A

Moray - auditory attention, internal process
Loftus and Palmer - reconstructive memory
Grant - context-dependent memory
Simons and Chabris - visual attention

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8
Q

Cognitive area points of comparison

A 
Lab experiments 
Lack ecological validity 
Relies on self report 
Adult participants 
Both sides of individual and situational debate 
Ethical
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9
Q

Developmental area

A

Behaviour is learned from environment
Early experiences affect later behaviour
Assumes behaviour changes over time

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10
Q

Strengths and weaknesses of developmental

A

S- useful for child care

  • both quantitative and qualitative data
  • reduce participant variables - study same ps over time

W-children so ethical issues

  • research is constrained to time
  • usually small samples
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11
Q

Studies in developmental area

A

Bandura - behaviour affected by a model
Kohlberg - changes in morality with age
Chaney - influence of funhaler on behaviour
Lee - differences in truth and lie telling across cultures

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12
Q

Developmental points for comparison

A 
Holistic view 
Focuses on children 
Cross-cultural 
Both quantitative and qualitative data
Nurture 
Unethical - children 
Situational
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13
Q

Social area

A

We behave differently depending on social roles or presence of Others
Other people and the environment influence our behaviour
Relationships with people influence our behaviour

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14
Q

Strengths and weaknesses of social area

A

S- practical applications

  • explains real life events
  • understand human behaviour better

W- ethnocentric

  • time restricted
  • socially sensitive
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15
Q

Studies in social area

A

Milgram - influence of authoritative figure on obedience
Piliavin - influence of people on helping others
Bocchiaro - obedience and whistle blowing with an authoritative figure
Levine - helping people who are struggling

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15
Q

Social points for comparison

A 
Field experiments 
Lack ecological validity sometimes 
Mainly quantitative data
Free will - determinism 
Situational 
Reductionist
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16
Q

Individual differences

A

Looks at why people fall out of the normal range
Looks at why people differ and how
Develop understanding of disorders

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17
Q

Strengths and weaknesses

A

S- looks at all normal and abnormal behaviours
-treatment of abnormalities

W- socially sensitive
-hard to generalise from unique samples

19
Q

Studies in individual differences

A

Freud - phobias
Gould - intelligence and mental ages
Baron-cohen - autism, Tourette’s and normal Theory of mind
Hancock - psychopaths

20
Q

Individual differences points for comparison

A 
Case studies 
Low population validity 
Individual side 
Socially sensitive 
Ecological validity 
Useful
21
Q

Behaviourist perspective

A

Humans are born with a blank slate (tabula rasa) and everything’s learnt after birth
Classical conditioning (learn through association)
Operant conditioning (learn through rewards and punishment)
Social learning theory (learn through observation and imitation)

22
Q

Behaviourist perspective strengths and weaknesses

A

S-nurture

  • useful for child care
  • scientific

W- reductionist - ignores nature

  • hard to apply to adults
  • low ecological validity
23
Q

Studies in behaviourist perspective

A

Bandura - social learning theory influence of observing aggressive model
Chaney - operant conditioning rewards of funhaler

24
Q

Behaviourist perspective comparison points

A 
Controlled lab experiments 
Useful
Children
Nurture
Useful
Scientific
25
Psychodynamic perspective
3 levels of consciousness - conscious mind (personality) pre conscious (distant memories) unconscious (hidden desires) 3 parts of the personality - Id ego superego Revealing unconscious mind - Freudian slips, dream analysis, free association, projective tests
26
Strengths and weaknesses of psychodynamic
S- mental disorders as result of unconscious - suggestions for treatments - case study method = detail W- unscientific -small samples means low population validity
27
Studies in psychodynamic
Freud - unconscious as explanation of phobias and fantasies | Hancock - language of psychopaths comes from unconscious, drives and ego defence mechanisms
28
Points for comparison for psychodynamic
``` Case study methods Low internal reliability Low Population validity Unscientific Free will - determinism Nature ```
29
Nature / nurture
Nature - behaviour due to genetics e.g. sperry moray Nurture - behaviour due to upbringing and experiences e.g. Bandura blakemore and Cooper
30
Strengths and weaknesses of nature / nurture
Nature S- useful for genetic modification, not ethnocentric W- limited usefulness cant change genetics, socially sensitive Nurture S- useful W- socially sensitive, ethnocentric, blame environment, reductionist
31
Reductionism / holism
Reductionism - behaviour explained by 1 factor e.g. milgram maguire Holism - behaviour explained by multiple factors e.g. lee Levine
32
Strengths and weaknesses of reductionism / holism
Reductionism S- find cause and effect, scientific, replicable W- human behaviour too complex to reduce down, low ecological validity Holism S- more complete overview of behaviour W- turns reductionist in finding most important factor
33
Psychology as a science
Replicability, objectivity, falsifiability to be a science Is - piliavin, milgram Not - Freud
34
Strengths and weaknesses of psych as a science
S- less vulnerable to researcher bias, cause and effect, increases psychology reputation and credibility W- lacks qualitative data, reductionist, low ecological validity
35
Socially sensitive research
Topics which may have negative effects on sample or target population and that can cause upset Is - Gould Not - cognitive area
36
Usefulness debate
Whether the findings have practical applications Is - Bandura loftus and Palmer Isn’t - blakemore and Cooper
37
Strengths and weaknesses of usefulness
S- Positive applications to improve people’s lives - improve reputation of psychology - increases fundings for research W- can be put to bad uses - ethical guidelines broken to make findings useful - could cancel out if two people have the same idea on different sides
38
Ethical considerations
Strict guidelines over how participants should be treated Respect - consent, withdraw, confidentiality Competence - done by someone with official skills - qualified Integrity - deception Responsibility - protection from harm, debrief E.g is Chaney Isn’t piliavin
39
Strengths and weaknesses of ethics
S-increases credibility of psychology - more likely to get more participants next time W- limits research being carried out - reduce validity if know aim - demand characteristics - withdraw may create a weak sample
40
Free will / determinism
Free will - choice over our own actions E.g. milgram Determinism - caused by external factors (biological = genetics, environmental = upbringing/ social factors) E.g. Bandura Maguire
41
Strengths and weaknesses of free will determinism
Free will S- not socially sensitive, useful people held accountable W- unscientific, socially sensitive Determinism S- useful can cause behaviours to occur, scientific W- reductionist, open to negative uses, socially sensitive
42
Individual/ situational
Individual - behaviour due to personality, characteristics E.g. milgram Freud Situational - people’s behaviour changed in different situations E.g. Bandura
43
Strengths and weaknesses of individual situational
Individual S- better understanding of behaviour, useful - jobs W- hard to change people’s behaviour, reductionist Situational S- helps understand changing behaviour, alter behaviour W- socially sensitive, reductionist

Psychology (13 decks)

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