issues and debates

Question 1

<div><strong>What is Hard Determinism? (which approaches)</strong></div>

Answer 1

“<p class>All the actions we make are predetermined and the law of causality dictate our actions - this is driven by external and internal forces we do not control.</p><ul class=""><li style="">Psychodynamic</li></ul><ul class=""><li style="">Biological</li></ul>”

Question 2

<div><strong>What is Soft Determinism? (which approaches)</strong></div>

Answer 2

“<p class>Most events are beyond the control of the individual however the chooses that lead to the final destination, even if the conclusion is the same, for an aspect of free will.</p><ul class=""><li style="">Social Learning Theory</li></ul><ul class=""><li style="">The Cognitive Approach</li></ul>”

Question 3

<div><strong>What is Biological Determinism? (which approaches)</strong></div>

Answer 3

“<p class>States that the actions we make are completely determined by our genetics, evolution or other natural forces we cannot control.</p><ul class=""><li style="">The Biological Approach</li></ul>”

Question 4

<div><strong>What is Environmental Determinism? (which approaches)</strong></div>

Answer 4

“<p class>States that the situations, culture and people who surround us control the behaviour we behave. </p><ul class=""><li style="">Social Learning Theory</li></ul><ul class=""><li style="">Behaviourists</li></ul>”

Question 5

<div><strong>What is Psychic Determinism?(which approaches)</strong></div>

Answer 5

“<p class>States that we are controlled by internal mental processes that we are not consciously aware of.</p><ul class=""><li style="">Psychodynamic Approach</li></ul><ul class=""><li style="">The Cognitive Approach</li></ul><ul class=""><li style="">(Social influence)</li></ul>”

Question 6

<div><strong>What approach breaks this idea?</strong></div>

Answer 6

“<p class>Humanists do not believe that there is any form of determinism because every individual is unique and therefore cannot be the product of prior experiences or biological factors otherwise we would have mirrors to ourselves in the world.</p>”

Question 7

<div><em><strong>The case FOR Determinism...</strong></em></div>

Answer 7

“<p class>One support is that determinism is consistent with the empirical scientific findings. In psychology, much of the research activities on the basis that behaviour is predictable in order to draw hypotheses about the outcome of research/studies and for this conclusion to then be generalisable on a wider scale in order for developed treatments or therapies to be beneficial and effective. For example conditions such as schizophrenia are biologically determined - nobody chooses to have the condition and therefore there must be a lack of free will.</p>”

Question 8

<div><em><strong>The case AGAINST Determinism...</strong></em></div>

Answer 8

“<p class>The issue is that if the hard determinist stance is correct then this would lead to a breakdown of our legal systems as those who had committed crimes could blame it on biology or their environment - even their parents. Therefore it is not a pragmatic or effective system for society to employ. </p><p class>Another issue is that determinism is unfalsifiable, we can neither prove its existence nor prove its non-existence and therefore circular reasoning becomes apparent and this departs from the scientific reasoning that is important to psychology. </p>”

Question 9

<div><em><strong>The case FOR Free Will...</strong></em></div>

Answer 9

“<p class>The experiences we have in the day to day provide face value for the proof that free will exists and due to its apparent cognitive sense. This is backed up by research demonstrating that we have an internal locus of control (Roberts 2000) who demonstrated adolescents who have a strong belief in fatalism were at more significant risk of depression. Therefore this suggests that the concept of free will is not only evident in day to day life but also essential to the positive experiences of the individual. </p>”

Question 10

<div><em><strong>The case AGAINST Free Will...</strong></em></div>

Answer 10

“<p class>There are many neurological studies however that go against the concept of free will. For example, Libet (1985) and later Chung Sion Soon et al (2008) that brain activity seems to demonstrate we are aware of the choice we are eventually making before we actually choose that option. They found that pressing either a button on the left or right could be determined in the brain activity up to 10 seconds before the p/pant was consciously aware they were making that choice. Therefore free will may be limited by highly objective and empirical biological evidence. </p>”

Question 11

<div><strong>What are the 10 ethical guidelines for psychology?</strong></div>

Answer 11

“<ol class=""><li>General</li></ol><ol class=""><li>Informed Consent</li></ol><ol class=""><li>Deception</li></ol><ol class=""><li>Debriefing</li></ol><ol class=""><li>Withdrawal</li></ol><ol class=""><li>Confidentiality</li></ol><ol class=""><li>Protection of P/pants</li></ol><ol class=""><li>Observational Research</li></ol><ol class=""><li>Giving Advice </li></ol><ol class=""><li>Colleagues</li></ol>”

Question 12

<div><strong>What is an example of socially sensitive research being blocked?</strong></div>

Answer 12

“<p class>At Bath university research into the dissatisfaction of post-transgender individuals was blocked by the ethics committee after objections were raised by the LGBTQ+ community. This was because the research was deemed to be too socially sensitive. This research, had it concluded that the dissatisfaction of many post-transgender individuals was significant enough, could have led to an increased reluctance to perform these operations in the future. </p>”

Question 13

<div><strong>How is Zimbardo's study an example of socially sensitive research?</strong></div>

Answer 13

“<p class>When Zimbardo testified at the hearing of the Abu Ghraib prison guards he argued a bad barrel theory rather than that they were just bad apples. He argued also that the US army had even used his research to negative aims. Therefore socially sensitive research should not be carried out as it can lead to atrocities. </p><p class>However people such as Aronson (1999) suggest that it is instead our duty to carry out this research. Ie Loftus’ research has allowed her to give testimony that stops witnesses from giving an inaccurate guilty verdict that would have had someone wrongly imprisoned.</p>”

Question 14

<div><strong>What do S&S (1988) say we should consider when we do socially sensitive research?</strong></div>

Answer 14

“<p class>Sieber and Stanley (1988) suggest the following considerations:</p><ul class=""><li style="">Implications - you should consider whether the research will lead to negative outcomes.</li></ul><ul class=""><li style="">Uses/Public Policy - you should look at what uses this study might have in the future and who might use it.</li></ul><ul class=""><li style="">The validity of the research - whether there is a risk of bias or prejudice. </li></ul>”

Question 15

<div><em><strong>How can understanding be a benefit of this research?</strong></em></div>

Answer 15

“<p class>While research may be socially sensitive, Scarr (1988) suggests that research of these minority groups may spread awareness and understanding as more is known in the wider sphere in society. Therefore going ahead with the research may have more practical value than blocking research. </p>”

Question 16

<div><em><strong>How can the questions be an issue?</strong></em></div>

Answer 16

“<p class>Sieber and Stanley (1988) did point out however that the wording of the question matters, especially when it comes to cross-cultural research and the impact of ethnocentrism. How the question is worded can affect how the research is interpreted, for example, Kitzinger and Coyle (1995) noted that research into alternative relationships can increase the presence of heterosexual bias when homosexual relationships are being compared to the supposed ‘norm’ of heterosexuality. Therefore researchers must account for this when designing their studies and must prepare to take the opposite finding even if it undermines their expectations of minority groups. </p>”

Question 17

<div><em><strong>How is funding an issue?</strong></em></div>

Answer 17

“<p class>Often the money behind certain research comes from governments or large corporations who have certain interests and want to aid specific efforts within their own aims. For example, large companies have sponsored research into Neurolinguistic programming and subliminal advertising in an attempt to influence their target audience while many different governments used research to justify the systematic sterilization of mentally weak or disabled people for decades. Therefore although psychology needs funding in order to carry out research sometimes where money is being prioritised by certain organisations may be another way of pinpointing socially dubious research.</p><p class>(eg. Coca cola sales and popcorn sales increased when images were flashed on the screen but not so long that the individuals could notice - Packard (1957)</p>”

Question 18

<div><em><strong>How should socially sensitive research not be possible to fund?</strong></em></div>

Answer 18

“<p class>The structures in place, such as an ethics committee within the review process before a study takes place, should be enough to filter any research before it is carried out and has wider ranging consequences in society. Therefore there needs to be an increase in the security of these procedure so that long-term effects do not occur. </p>”

Question 19

<div><strong>What is an idiographic approach? (focus + approaches)</strong></div>

Answer 19

“<p class>This is an individual-focused approach in psychology that uses in-depth research methods as a way of understanding people.</p><ul class=""><li style="">This is often used in case studies or self-report methods where qualitative data is being used. </li></ul><ul class=""><li style="">This focuses on the individuality of each person and so does not use overarching theories. </li></ul><p class>The Humanist approach is an example of an idiographic approach as it focuses on the individual as unique rather than as a generalizable factor under the scientific eye. </p>”

Question 20

<div><em><strong>For the Idiographic approach...</strong></em></div>

Answer 20

“<p class>Because of its highly qualitative measures, the idiographic approach manages to have a global account of the individual and can compliment the nomothetic approach by adding to or challenging certain laws. The understanding of one individual in the form of a case study can lead to more areas that need to be researched. Therefore the idiographic approach proves its pragmatic ability. </p>”

Question 21

<div><em><strong>Against the Idiographic approach...</strong></em></div>

Answer 21

“<p class>This approach is however restricted in the way it can collect certain research. For example, the research backing Freud’s Oedipus complex which is only a handful of single individual case studies. These can not be generalised due to the small sample size and other scientific issues with this form of research. Therefore the idiographic approach is limited to a lack of scientific research and subjective reasoning. </p>”

Question 22

<div><strong>What is a nomothetic approach?</strong></div>

Answer 22

“<p class>This looks to establish general laws/theories that can be applied to the target population beyond those in the originally collected evidence. </p><ul class=""><li style="">This approach aims to conduct experiments in order to test theories or establish principles. A hypothesis is essential to a nomothetic approach. </li></ul><ul class=""><li style="">Data produced will be quantitative.</li></ul><p class>Examples of approaches include the behaviourist, cognitive and biological approaches.</p>”

Question 23

<div><em><strong>For the Nomothetic approach...</strong></em></div>

Answer 23

“<p class>The nomothetic approach is inherently more scientific as it follows the same guidelines as the natural sciences, testing under standardised conditions, using data sets, statistical analysis etc. This means that psychologists are able to establish well research and support claims for the ‘typical’ behaviour of a population and is therefore highly pragmatic.</p>”

Question 24

<div><em><strong>Against the Nomothetic approach...</strong></em></div>

Answer 24

“<p class>A problem with the nomothetic approach is that the individual can be lost when looking at the larger picture. For example, we know that there is a 1% chance of getting schizophrenia in our lifetime but this does nothing to help those who actually have the condition. The systematic ignoring of the individual subjective experience can also have an effect on the results and lead researchers to discard what may be key insights. Therefore the nomothetic approach lacks the key anthropocentric view that could arguably make psychology less human as well as missing key aspects while researching. </p>”

Question 25

<div><strong>What are the 3 general laws suggested by research? (+who)</strong></div>

Answer 25

“<p class>Radford and Kirby (1975):</p><ol class=""><li><em>Classifying people by groups</em>…ei DSM groups people by common characteristics.</li></ol><ol class=""><li><em>Establishing principles of behaviour</em>…laws that can be applied to everyone.</li></ol><ol class=""><li><em>Establishing dimensions</em>…scales along which people can be placed.</li></ol>”

Question 26

<div><em><strong>A complimentary approach...</strong></em></div>

Answer 26

“<p class>It is not always necessary however to consider this approach from either a nomothetic or idiographic approach as it is possible to consider a topic or issue from both perspectives. This is as both approaches are equal as pragmatic for their specific aspects </p>”