issues and debates Flashcards
holism
the idea that behaviours and individuals should be researched and looked at as a whole
reductionism
the idea that behaviours/ individuals can be split into different parts and explained in the simplest form
environmental reductionism
explaining all behaviour in terms of stimulus and response links that have been learned through experience
biological reductionism
attempts to explain social and psychological things at a lower biological level such as genes
+ holism
some behaviour only happen in group settings. eg conformity. provides complete global understanding of behaviour
- holism
does not go through scientific testing. lack of empirical evidence difficult to narrow down the most influential aspect of things. simple solution is more appropriate
+ reductionism
basis of scientific research. you have to break down behaviour to make operationalised variables. means you can do experiments. psych has greater cred
- reductionism
over simplifying ideas so loosing validity. does not include social analysis when coming from genes etc. does not tell us why, only how. only shows part of the explanation
nature
human characteristics and aspects of knowledge are innate.
nurture
the environmental influence. eh. culture/ social situations
rene descartes
people posses ideas they are born with and characteristics occur without environmental influence - nature. he is know as a natavist
john locke
emphasises the role of the environment and social experiences as fully contributing to human development - nurture. he is known as a empiricist
heritability coefficient
numerical scale from 0-1 seeing if something is nature or nurture. 1 being nature
interactionist approach
nature creates nurture so two must interact. may get characteristics from our parents but this can change your environment
diathesis stress model
genetic vulnerability= nature which can be triggered by an event in the environment. when they interact we develop disorders such as schizophrenia.
epigenetics
we leave marks on our dna without changing genetics. our body can highlight genes to pass/ ignore. interactions w environment causes this eg. smoking
+ nurture
real world application of therapy. behaviour can be changed by altering patients environment. we can reinforce positive behaviours. useful when designing therapy programmes
- nature
believe genetic makeup determines behaviour. socially sensitive research says there are genetics reasons for lower intelligence in certain races. this is scientific racism
- separating nature and nurture
issues w separating the two. ideal candidates= MZ twins as 100% same genetic makeup however the often grow up in same environment but experience life differently. it is hard to separate the influence of the two
free will
we have full control over our behaviour and are free to make choices we want to make
- humanistic approach
determinism
all human behaviour has a cause. we have no control over our actions everything is down to internal and external factors
- cognitive approach
nomothetic
studying human behaviour as a whole to make general laws
idiographic
focusing on individual behaviour and cases
psychic determinism
behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts we cannot control
- psychodynamic
soft determinism
human behaviour has causes but can also be determined by our conscious mind in the absence of coersion
- SLT
biological determinsim
behaviour is caused by biological influences we cannot control e.g. genes
- biological approach
environmental determinsim
behaviour caused by features in the environment we cannot control.
- behaviourist approach
hard determinism
free will is not possible as our behaviour is caused by internal and external factors out of our control
do scientists believe in free will ro determinism?
determinism because it shows a cause and effect relationship