Definitions

Question 1

Define the term ‘determinism’

Answer 1

The view that our behaviour is controlled by factors out of our control which are either biological or environmental

Question 2

Define the term ‘free will’

Answer 2

The view that a person has the mental capacity to chose how to behave so as a result we are responsible for our own actions

Question 3

Define the term ‘reductionism’

Answer 3

the idea that to explain human behaviour it should be broken down into its simplest form in order to explain it

Question 4

Define the term ‘holism’

Answer 4

the view that human behaviour is complex and should be studied as a whole rather than being reduced to singular explanations

Question 5

Define the term ‘nature’

Answer 5

the view that behaviour is a product of our inherited or biological factors, therefore i determined by our biology and not our experiences
ie. genes or brain chemistry

Question 6

Define the term ‘nurture’

Answer 6

the idea our behaviour is learned through our experiences in the environment
ie. upbringing, learning

Question 7

Define the term ‘individual’

Answer 7

the view that our behaviour is the result of factors from within
ie. personality and disposition

Question 8

Define the term ‘situational’

Answer 8

the view that our behaviour results from factors within the situation the person is in
ie. other people and the social situation

Question 9

Define the term ‘socially sensitive’

Answer 9

refers to psychological research that has ethical implications that go beyond the research and effect society in terms of stigma, political consequences or harm.

Question 10

Define the term ‘usefullness’

Answer 10

measuring to what extent the research has practical applications or theoretical usefulness, whilst also considering factors that may detract from usefulness i.e validity, reliability, ethnocentrism

Question 11

Define the term ‘ethics’

Answer 11

judging whether a piece of research adheres to moral principles, which inform the research guidelines, protection of participants, right to withdraw, deception, informed consent, confidentiality, debrief

Question 12

Define the term ‘psychology as a science’

Answer 12

the extent to which research adheres to the scientific principles ie, follows scientific method, quantifiable measurements, controlled, replicability, cause and effect etc.

Question 13

Define in term of psyc as a science ‘quantitative data’

Answer 13

Quantifiable measurements

ie. numerical ones help to ensure that the DV is being assessed in an objective way

Question 14

Define in term of psyc as a science ‘objective data’

Answer 14

taking an unbiased external perspective that is not effected by individual or personal viewpoints, so should be consistent between researchers

Question 15

Define in term of psyc as a science ‘controls and standardisation’

Answer 15

essential so that extraneous variables could not account for changes in the DV, which would make any apparent effect on the IV invalid, the use of set procedures for collecting data across different conditions and participants to limit the effect of uncontrolled variables

Question 16

Define in term of psyc as a science ‘replicability’

Answer 16

being able to repeat the procedure in exactly the same way

Question 17

Define in term of psyc as a science ‘falisifiability’

Answer 17

being able to demonstrate something is not the case

i.e that a hypothesis is false

Question 18

Define in terms of psyc as a science ‘cause and effect’

Answer 18

a link between two variables such that a change in one variable can be demonstrated to be responsible for a change in the other variable

Question 19

Define in terms of psyc as a science ‘induction’

Answer 19

a scientific method that uses observations to generate a testable hypothesis , which are developed into theories

Question 20

Define in terms of psyc as a science ‘deduction’

Answer 20

a scientific method that develops hypotheses from theories, then tests theses hypotheses by observation

Question 21

Define in terms of ethics ‘protection of participants’

Answer 21

Risk to psychological and physical health should be no more than in participants everyday life

Question 22

Define in terms of ethics ‘informed consent’

Answer 22

researchers should tell participants anything that may affect their willingness to take part in the study before they do

Question 23

Define in terms of ethics ‘deception’

Answer 23

researcher should not withhold information from or mislead participants during or after the research has taken place

Question 24

Define in terms of ethics ‘right to withdraw’

Answer 24

participants can withdraw their data at any tie within or after the study and for any reason

Question 25

Define in terms of ethics ‘confidentiality’

Answer 25

all participants should be anonymous and unidentifiable

Question 26

Define in terms of ethics ‘debrief’

Answer 26

after the research has just taken place the researcher must inform participants of the true nature of the research they have just taken part in

Question 27

Define in terms of socially sensitive ‘stigma’

Answer 27

psychologists should be aware that individuals or groups may experience feeling of shame and exclusion due to sensitive issues explored in research
ie. gender, culture, illness

Question 28

Define in terms of socially sensitive ‘harm’

Answer 28

investigating some issues may be controversial for participants as they are too private or cause distress

Question 29

Define in terms of socially sensitive ‘political consequences’

Answer 29

in some circumstances the outcome of a piece of research may have implications for the government policy and change the lives of people involved with or affected by research

Question 30

Define in terms of usefulness ‘practical applications’

Answer 30

the extent to which the results from a piece of research can be used in real life situations to improve behaviour

Question 31

Define in terms of usefulness ‘theoretical usefullness’

Answer 31

the extent to which results from a piece of research can add to our existing knowledge to explain behaviour

Question 32

Define in terms of usefulness ‘ecological validity’

Answer 32

the extent to which the results from a piece of research can be generalised to real life behaviour in terms of the setting and the task

Question 33

Define in terms of usefulness ‘population validity’

Answer 33

the extent to which the results from a piece of research can be generalised to the target population/ the sample used is representative of the target population

Question 34

Define in terms of usefulness ‘internal validity’

Answer 34

the extent to which the researcher is measuring hat they set out to measure through appropriated operationalisation of the DV and control of extraneous variables

Question 35

Define in terms of usefulness ‘ethnocentrism’

Answer 35

the tendency to perceive the world from our own cultural or ethnic group and in doing so to view others who behave differently as inferior

Question 36

Define in terms of usefulness ‘reliability’

Answer 36

the extent to which the measure used in a piece of research is consistent within itself a produces consistent experience for all participants