issues and debated AO3 Flashcards
free will evaluation
free will has face validity, personal experience suggests we make our decisions and act after conscious thought. however, determinists argue this is an illusion and decisions are made before we are consciously aware of them
deterministic evaluation
deterministic argumentes for behaviour such as aggression has important implications for the justice system, undermining the principle that the individual is fully accountable for their actions
psychic deterministic evaluation
psychologically determined theories also have implications for our understanding of correct child - rearing, provision of education and blame for addiction
free will vs deterministic approaches
scientific approaches to psychology are deterministic, behaviourist, biological, and cognitive (soft), with only humanistic supporting free will, humanism also rejects the scientific process suggesting free will is incompatible with science
- high concordance rates in twins for disorders like schizophrenia indicate causality, however, not 100% so potentially soft determinism, or multiple deterministic factors that have not been fully identified
- neurological EEG research by Libert demonstrates brain regions decide to act before consciousness is aware of making the decision suggesting no free will, this has been backed up with fMRI, Hynes 2008
nomothetic strengths
replication - nomothetic techniques with clear procedures are replicable, using statistical methods psychologists are able to generalise findings and predict future behaviour and create reliable treatments
nomothetic weaknesses
superficial - nomothetic criteria tested do not give a full picture of the individual. two people with an OCD diagnosis are likely to have had very different personal experiences even if they have the same gene in common
ideographic strengths
hypothesis generation - ideographic case studies cannot demonstrate the validity of a hypothesis, due to the small sample. however, unusual cases can generate new interesting areas of research, or overturn old incorrect theories
ideographic weaknesses
subjectivity - ideographic researchers’ intensive data collection techniques such as longitudinal case studies can result in the researcher losing objectivity and introducing bias into the interpretation of the data collected
strength of both ideographic and nomothetic
complementary - the strengths of both methods mean each is more appropriate in particular circumstances, using ideographics can give depth and description to established nomothetic laws of behaviour that provides high predictive value
examples of socially sensitive research
Bowlby’s (effects on working mothers)
diagnosis of mental health, do cognitive explanations blame the victim?
biological theories on crime and aggression, giving excuses to criminals?
evolutionary explanations for relationships, legitimising a gender double standard?
not considering the public responses to socially sensitive research can lead to negative effects on psychology as an area of study, research by milgram, zimbardo and harlow damages psychology’s reputation and this can lead to less funding
how researchers can deal deal with ethical implications
suggested by sibeler and stanley -
carefully choosing the research question methodology,
how the info is going to be used in the institutional content and by society.
this is a process of reflexivity, the researcher carefully considers their own role, responsibilities and influential position
weakness of using ethical implications
excessive concern over socially sensitive research can lead to research topics such as ethnicity, gender or sexuality, leading to these groups becoming under-represented in psychological research
