issues and debates

Question 1

implied biases

Answer 1

everyone has unconscious biases due to experiences

Question 2

free will v determinism

Answer 2

free will - a person is self determined - able to make every decision of their own choice - choices are influenced by factors not pre determined
hard determinism / fatalism - every choice is made by forces outside of our control - internal and external forces
soft determinism / Compatibilism - we have free will but the number of choices are limited by internal and external factors
biological determinism - behaviors are a direct result of genetics
environmental determinism - the environment and our prior experiences determine decisions
psychic determinism - psychological make up and unconscious influences determine decisions
AO3:
+ practical value - robert et al 2000 - teens with external locust of control more likely to develop depresion
- libert et al 1983 - movment decided on .5 sec before concsious urge to do so
+ hard determinism has real world uses

Question 3

nature v nurture

Answer 3

nature - pescarts 1896 - humans born with innate set of key understandings
interactionist approach - behaviors a result of both genetics and environment - genotype and phenotype
heratibility - how much a certain trait is determined by genetics vs environment - eye colour 80% genetic
diathesis stress model - to develop an abnormality a person must have a genetic vuln and stressors which trigger it
epigenetics - changes in genetic behaviors as a result of the environment
Ao3
+ adoption studies - rhee and waldon 2002 - aggression 41% genetic influence
- plomin 1994 - people with a similar trait surround themselves with the same trait - echo chamber
+ real world applications - nestadt et al 2010 - OCD has high heratibility but not 1
- leads to eugenics

Question 4

holism v reductionism

Answer 4

holism - viewing the a person as a whole rather than individual functions
reductionist - breaking behavior down to its individual functions
levels of reduction;
socio-cultural - examining social relationships
psychological - psychological symptoms
physical - movements
environmental - experiences
physiological - abnormal functions in the brain
neurochemical - abnormal regulation of neurotransmitters

biological reductionism - neurochemical, physiological, evolutionary and genetic influences
environmental - all behaviors learned from environment
AO3:
+ scientific -
-simplifies complex behaviors
- ignores behaviors that can only be experienced at high level socio-cultural levels

Question 5

idiographic v nomothetic

Answer 5

idiographic - treats everyone as an individual - research cannot be generalized - qualitative results
nomothetic - establishes general rules - can generalize - objective and scientific - quantitive
AO3:
+ complete understanding of individual
+ satisfies aims of science
+ both approaches work together - idiographic pilot study, nomothetic establishes general rule
+ valid individual
- difficult to genralised
- non scientific

Question 6

gender biases

Answer 6

64% of psychologists men (1992) - 75% of psych undergrads women - majority of lecturers men
alpha bias - exaggerating differences in genders
beta bias - under exaggerating differences in genders

Question 7

cultural bias

Answer 7

ethnocentrism - research based off of cultural norms specific to the researchers own culture not all cultures
research may not be globally relevant