Introduction

Question 0

Behaviour is difficult to predict

Answer 0

The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour

Question 1

Ten things that make psychology challenging

Answer 1

1) behaviour is difficult to predict
2) behaviour is multiply determined
3) psychological influences are rarely independent of one another
4) psychological influences are often unknown
5) people affect each other
6) many psychological concepts are difficult to define
7) the human brain didn’t evolve to understand itself
8) people in psychological research usually know that they are being studied
9) people differ from one another
10) culture influences people’s behaviour

Question 2

Behaviour is multiply determined

Answer 2

The worry with single variable explanations

-> actions are multiply determined

Question 3

Psychological influences are rarely independent of one another

Answer 3

• > multicollinearity

- overlap a,omg different causes of behaviour (difficult to identify which cause is operating)

Question 4

Psychological influences are often unknown

Answer 4

What if we are simply not looking for the right answer

Question 5

People affect each other

Answer 5

• > reciprocal determinism
• learning from environment every day
• we’re effecting each other mutual
• difficult to determine what’s causing what

Question 6

Many psychological concepts are difficult to define

Answer 6

• and so different measures of supposedly the same construct

- ‘jangle fallacy’

Question 7

The human brain didn’t evolve to understand itself

Answer 7

• how accurate are we about the reasons behind our behaviour?
• main thought: survival

Question 8

People in psychological research usually know that they are being studied

Answer 8

• unlike rocks etc, so this is likely to influence their behaviour
• limits on broad generalisation

Question 9

Culture influences people’s behaviour

Answer 9

• so does cultural values and beliefs

- limits on broad generalisation