issues and debates Flashcards
Free will and determinism
is our behaviour a matter of free will or are we a product of a set of internal and or external influences that determine who we are and what we do?
hard determinism
suggesting that all human behaviour has a cause and in principle, it should be possible to identify and describe these causes.
such a position always assumes that everything we think and do is dictated by internal or external forces that we cant control,
this is too extreme
soft determinism
whilst it may be the job of scientist to explain what determines our behavior this does not detract from the freedom we have to make rational conscious choices in everyday situations
biological determinism
emphasizes the role of biological determinism in behaviour eg the influence of the ANS on the stress response or the influences of genes on mental health.
modern biological psychologist would recognises the mediating influences of the environment on our biological structures - another determinist influence
environmental determinism
free will is an illusion and argued that all behaviour is the result of conditioning.
although we might think we are acting independently our experiences of choice are merely the sum total of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives
psychic determinism
free will is an illusion but he emphasised the influence of biological drives and instincts.
he saw human behaviour as determined by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood.
there is no such thing as an accident and even something as seemingly random as a slip of the tongue can be explained by the influence of the unconscious.
free will
human beings are essentially self-determining and free to choose their own thoughts and actions.
a belief in free will doesn’t deny that there may be biological and environmental forces that exert some influence on behaviour but nevertheless imply that we are able to reject these forces if we wish because we are in control of our thoughts/ behaviour.
free will is a view of human behaviour that is advocated by the humanistic approach.
the scientific emphasis on causal explanations
basic principles of science are that every event in the universe has a cause and that causes can be explained using general laws (hard determinism).
knowledge of causes and the formulation of laws are important as they allow scientists to predict and control events in the future
the lab experiments are the ideal of science as it enables researchers to demonstrate causal relationships it is like the test tube used in other science where all variables can be controlled.
Everything has a cause
Helps with prediction
Lab is best
practical value
strength- common sense we exercise free will but it can improve our mental health
a study conducted looked at teens who had a strong belief in determinism that their lives were decided by events outside of their control.
the study found that these teens were at significantly greater risk of developing depression.
it seems that people who exhibit an external rather than internal locus of control are less likely to be optimistic
this suggests that even if we do not have free will the fact that we believe we do may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour
research evidence
limitation- brain scan evidence doesn’t support it but does support determinism
ppt chose a random moment to flick their wrist while the psychologist measured the activity of their brain activity.
leading up to the conscious decision to move came around half a second before the ppt consciously feel they had decided to move.
this may be interpreted as meaning that even our most basic experiences of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are aware of them.
counter point
findings showing that the brain is involved in decision making is not surprising and are just as we would expect
just because the action comes before the conscious awareness of the decision to act doesn’t mean that there was no decision to act
just that the decision to act took time to reach consciousness.
our conscious awareness of the decision is simply a readout of our unconscious decision making
this evidence is not appropriate as a challenge to free will
the law
limitation + strength- position of the legal system on responsibility
the hard determinist stance is that individual choice is not the cause of behaviour. this is not consistent with the way in which our legal system operates. in a court of law, offenders are held responsible for their actions. indeed the main principle of our legal system is that a defendant exercised their free will in committing the crime
this suggest that in the real world determinist arguments do not work
idiographic- nomothetic debate
this debate has implications for the type of research method psychologists use whether we study individuals in-depth or study larger groups and discuss averages.
idiographic approach
suggests that psychology should be the study of individuals or groups we can understand human behaviour better
nomothetic approach
suggest that psychology should be the study of large and varied groups to make generalisations about what is typical in different aspects of human behaviour eg establishing norms
Idiographic -Focuses on uniqueness of the individual, in-depth details using qualitative methods (e.g. case studies, unstructured interviews).
Subjectivity- Aims to understand the unique subjective experience of the individual person, rather than uncovering general laws.
Examples- Humanistic approach (e.g. Rogers’ concept of unconditional positive regard) and psychodynamic approach (e.g. Freud’s case of Little Hans’s phobia).
Nomothetic approach- Focuses on groups of people to establish general laws of behaviour using quantitative methods (e.g. lab experiments, structured questionnaires, statistical analyses).
Objectivity- Aims to understand behaviour through unbiased, standardised methods that can be replicated and results generalised.
Examples- Behaviourist approach (e.g. Skinner’s laws of operant conditioning) and biological approach (e.g. Sperry’s split-brain research).
idiographic
small group/ individual case studies
qualitative research-
research on depression would be first hands account from a small number of people
interviewed in-depth and focus may be on human behaviour- unstructured interview
analysed and emergent themes are identified.
examples- humanistic + psychodynamic
little hands- phobia might develop
nomothetic
aims to create laws ie create general principle of behaviour theories which then could be applied in individual situation such as drug therapy
quantitative research-
scientific methods, hypotheses are formulated samples of people or sometimes animals are assessed in some way- structured questionnaire
numerical data produced is analysed for its statistical significance. seeks to quantify count human behaviour.
examples-
behaviourist and biological
small samples
skinner studied animals to develop general laws of learning.
one aspect of behaviour in a few animal but the main aim was establish general laws.
objective vs subjective
the key difference between idiographic and nomothetic- relate to subjectivity and objectivity
objectivity- nomothetic
standardised and objective
true replication occurs across samples of behaviour and removes the contaminating influence of bias
idiographic- people’s individual experiences of their unique context that is important rather than so,e underlying reality out there that is waiting to be discovered
complete account
strength- idio contributes to nomo
idio uses in-depth qualit methods proving a global description of one individual.
complement nomo by shedding light on general laws or indeed by challenging such laws
eg HM, may reveal important insights about normal functioning which may contribute to our overall understanding
the focus is on fewer individuals the idio still may help form scientific laws of behaviour.
counter
weakness-supporters of idio should still acknowlegde the narrow and restricted nature of their work.
meaningful generalisation cant is made without further examples as this means there is no adequate baseline with which to compare behaviour.
methods eg case studies tend to be the least scientific - rely on subjective interpretation of the researcher eg open to bias
difficult to build effective general theories of human behaviour in the complete absence of nomo
scientific credibility
strength- fit with the aims of science
processes in nomo- similar to natural science, establishing objectivity through standardisation control and statistical testing.
researcher using idio seek to objectify their methods
eg triangulation- qualit methods compared as a way to increase their validity.
raise psychology status as a science
losing the person
limitation- nomo loss of understanding of the individual
preoccupied with general laws prediction and control means its been accused of losing the person
there is 1% lifetime risk of developing schizo tells us little about what life is like for someone who has been diagnosed.
understanding the subjective experience of schizo- useful when devising appropriate treatment options
nomo may fail to relate to experience
distinct or complementary?
distinct- appropriate for different situations for different research aims
researcher - universal claims and develop general laws, = nomo methods.
researcher - understand a unique perspective and generate depth and detail= idio
approaches are just two ends of a continuum, better to use them in this way. the two approaches may be used simultaneously and applied to the same individual or research question
eg diagnosing personality disorders
rather than seeing idiographic and nomothetic approaches as either/or alternatives, we can consider the same topic from both perspectives. And, in both cases, the aim may well be to develop general understanding.
Ethical implications
The consequences of psychological research (studies and theories) for individuals, groups and wider society.
Social sensitivity
Research is socially sensitive when it has potentially negative consequences for groups represented in the research (e.g. in terms of social policy).
Implications for research
Research question
Dealing with participants
How findings are used
research questions
phrasing may have a negative impact on groups (e.g. judging homosexual relationships against heterosexual norms).
Dealing with participants
issues like informed consent, protection from harm and confidentiality are especially important (e.g. domestic abuse).
ppt may provide informed consent at the start of the study but not fully understand the effect of the research
How findings are used
may give ‘scientific’ credibility to prejudice and discrimination, used to justify public policy (e.g. ‘racial’ basis of intelligence), and media sensationalism.
benefits for groups
strengths- socially sensitive research is that it can have benefits for the group who have been studied
eg the gays were listed on the DSM-1 listed this as sociopathic personality disorder but removed in 1973.
from a report - anonymous interviews
over 5000 men about sexual behaviour
gays typical expression of human sexual behaviour
data included interviews-6000 women
outrage- because no one discussed it
counterpoint
limitation- negative consequences some could have been anticipated
investigating the genetic basis of criminality has found that there is a criminal gene
if this was true does it mean that someone could be convicted on the basis that they have the gene or should they be excused because they cant be held responsible for any wronging?
need for very careful consideration of possible outcomes and their consequences
real-world application
strength- certain groups eg policy makers rely on research related to socially sensitive issues
gov look to research when developing important social policies eg childcare education crime
preferable to base it on research than politically motivated views
UK has independent groups eg office for national statistics- responsible for collecting analysing and disseminating objective statistics about the UK econ soci and pop
data used in psycho research
important role to play in providing high-quality research on socially sensitive topics
poor research design
limitation- poor research design leads to erroneous findings which continue to have an impact
psychologist who researched intelligence was found to be fraud the 11
+ continued to be used.
it is still a tool used in some parts of the UK
access to independent schools- a child’s performance in an entrance exam taken in year 6
based on the same reasoning- the genetic potential is revealed.
any research on socially sensitive topics needs to be planned with the greatest care to ensure the finding are valid because of the enduring effects on particular groups of people.
to do or not to do
