ISSUES AND DEBATES Flashcards
How does the social approach apply to ethical issues?
During the 1950s and 1960s, social psychologists conducted experiments that would be considered ethically and morally wrong (eg Milgram)
Obedience research carries the risk of causing psychological harm
Eg Milgram’s study made participants believe they were harming another person as they were administering fatal electric shocks (450V)
Removal of right to withdraw as they ordered to comply yet this was necessary to ensure ecological validity, as in real life situations where you are ordered to obey you can’t withdraw yourself from the situation
Milgram’s participants were deceived as they thought it was a study on memory not obedience
However, the issues with ethics were essential to gain the results they needed validly - cost benefit analysis - and helps us understand behaviour (prejudice and obedience)
How does the cognitive approach apply to ethical issues?
Case studies such as HM raise difficult ethical issues around confidentiality, gaining informed consent and the right to withdraw
Eg the use of pseudonyms to anonymise the identities of the patients
Research using individuals with brain damage is often criticised for violating a right to privacy law but they are rare and unique
Most research in cognitive psychology rarely goes against BPS guidelines for research with human participants, as it typically gains informed consent
Yet deception may have to occur to ensure demand characteristics doesn’t influence the research, misguide the participants as to the true nature of the experiment but offer the right to withdraw
Laboratory experiments involved people being taken out of their natural environment and being put in a strange situation which can be stressful
However, Baddeley’s study was ethical
How does the learning approach apply to ethical issues?
The Animals (Scientfic Procedure) Act (1986) is used to protect animals - there are ethical principles when using animals, such as thinking about caging, their care and minimising their distress
Skinner electrifies the floor of a cage/box with rats and might have restricted the rat’s food in order to give them motivation to press the lever (goes against ethical guidelines of food deprivation)
Watson and Rayner’s study on Little Albert caused harm and was made worse by the fact that his mother withdrew him from the study, and the fact it was clear Little Albert was distressed, as his fear was operationalised as him crying
Bandura has been criticised on ethical groups for exposing children to aggressive models, and for causing distress to the children by frustrating them when tol not to play with the toys, although this did make the study more valid as they all had equal levels of frustration before the observation
How does the clinical approach apply to ethical issues?
Clinical trials are an essential part of testing therapies and treatments but participants may be subjected to side effects and will feel vulnerable
Eg side effects of typical antipsychotics (treatment of schizophrenia) include dizziness, restlessness, nervousness, increased appetite and weight gain, decreased sexual ability, dry mouth and difficulty urinating
HCPC is the body that governs psychologists and their competence levels, this makes the process more ethical as it makes psychiatrists consider different issues, for example respecting confidentiality and being honest and trustworthy
Use of placebos in research is deceiving, and also unethical because they’re not in a treatment group, which could have improved their condition or quality of life
Ability for us to gather fully informed consent from participants who are suffering from schizophrenia, as they are vulnerable and care must be taken so no unnecessary harm is done
If a person is detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act (1983), treatment can be given without their consent if deemed necessary
What approaches can be used for ethical issues?
Social approach - Milgram
Cognitive approach - case studies (HM), Baddeley
Learning approach - testing on animals, Skinner, Watson and Rayner, Bandura
Clinical approach - clinical trials, HCPC, placebos
How does social approach apply to practical issues in the design and implementation of research?
People tend to mask their prejudice and results may be affected by social desirability - however, deception is often used to help prevent this and gain more valid results
Demand characteristics in social psychology studies are an issue so psychologists go to great lengths to reduce their likelihood
Eg Milgram deceived his participants as he told them that the study was on memory when it was actually on destructive obedience, yet this was essential for the validity of the study to ensure there were no demand characteristics
Laboratory studies (eg Milgram) lack ecological validity but are high in internal validity
Field studies (eg Sherif) have issues with extraneous variables but have high ecological validity
Eg the young boys’ prejudice and hostility reflected real life behaviour as they believed they were at a summer camp
How does the cognitive approach apply to practical issues in the design and implementation of research?
Typically involves laboratory experiments that lack mundane realism and ecological validity
Eg Baddeley’s study where pps had to recall a random list of ten words doesn’t reflect the way memory is used everyday
Laboratory experiments are necessary to study memory without variables that could affect findings (eg doing it in a controlled environment stops noise or distractions effecting memory)
Although internal validity is gained and causation is established through controlled procedures, ecological validity is lost
How does the biological approach apply to practical issues in the design and implementation of research?
The brain is hard to measure and even scanning methods cannot measure all that is required
Raine et al used PET scans which are scientifically credible and allowed them to look at the brain live, however it lacks ecological validity as the participants had to lie very still which doesn’t reflect the brain in a real life situation
Yet it is objective and empirical, although it’s expensive and requires an expert
Generalising from case studies is difficult as cases may be unique so people with similar damage in different circumstances may react differently (eg Phineas Gage, Charles Whitman)
How does clinical approach apply to practical issues in the design and implementation of research?
Qualitative data is mainly used from clinical interviews of experiences of illnesses and treatments, which can be difficult and subjective to analyse and draw conclusions
Majority of studies will be field or natural, which have issues with establishing and isolating the cause and effect relationship due to lack of control of confounding variables
Rosenhan’s classic study was a field study, which meant it had high ecological validity as the confederates and participants were in their natural environment of a psychiatric hospital therefore behaviour reflects real life situations
However, Seymour Ketty argued that because the pseudopatients were faking an unreal mental condition, it doesn’t tell us anything about how people with genuine mental conditions are diagnosed
Issues with self report methods include patients not telling the truth or withholding information, which makes the results less valid as it doesn’t show the true thoughts and opinions
What approaches can be used for practical issues in the design and implementation of research?
Social approach - Milgram, Sherif
Cognitive approach - laboratory experiments (Baddeley)
Biological approach - brain scanning (Raine et al), case studies (Phineas Gage, Charles Whitman)
Clinical approach - Rosenhan, self report, qualitative data
How can cognitive approach be applied to reductionism?
The multi store model is considered reductionist for splitting short term memory and long term memory, and it underplays the interconnections between different memory systems
Eg DeGroot found that expert chess players used their long term memory to aid their short term memory
Working memory model divides short term memory into slave systems without recognising the connections between them
Breaking up areas of cognition and memory into separate parts can be considered reductionist as what we remember is based on what we perceive and perception is affected by previously stored knowledge (schemas)
Reconstructive memory isn’t as reductionist as it considers people’s personal experiences and how this impacts their memory
How can the learning approach be applied to reductionism?
Skinner explains behaviour as an outcome of all previous learning, he argues that we behave due to the sum of our experiences
Learning theories like classical and operant conditioning explained learned behaviour as a result of stimulus-response connections being formed which is reductionist, ignores individual differences and social experiences
Explaining human behaviour as a et of learned responses makes the study of behaviour less complicated because each stimulus response link can be isolated and causation can be established
This is only a partial explanation because it ignores other factors that affect how and what we learn
Bandura’s social learning theory addresses this because it takes into account both behaviours and cognitive factors associated with learning through observations and imitation
Animal studies reduce what is being studied to a small piece of brain functioning (eg by only looking at how drugs works in animal brains we don’t take into consideration peer pressure in drug taking)
How can the biological approach be applied to reductionism?
Focusing on aggression when studying the brain means reducing behaviour to individual structures like the prefrontal cortex or the amygdala
This view neglects the whole person/other environmental factors for behaviour and so is less valid
It reduces the production of aggressive behaviour and focuses on biological factors, ignoring other possible causes (eg social learning theory)
There are cultures that show higher aggressions than others, this is more likely to be due to SLT than biological factors
How can the clinical approach be applied to reductionism?
Simplifies a complex behaviour by purely focusing on biological factors at the expense of looking at both biology and environment
Eg the dopamine hypothesis for schizophrenia only looks at the biological cause for schizophrenia, which is the increase in dopamine in the brain, yet it ignores other possible causes for schizophrenia
Some therapies take into consideration the joint effectiveness of drugs and therapies (eg CBT) as it looks at the cognitive dysfunctions that can lead to mental health disorders
Using a classification system can be said to reduce MHD into a list of features and symptoms, which can lead to treatment that is thought to fit the symptoms but can mean a less holistic view of the individual is taken
What approaches can be used for reductionism?
Cognitive approach - multi store model (DeGroot), working memory model, reconstructive memory
Learning approach - Skinner, Bandura, animal studies
Biological approach - brain structure
Clinical approach - dopamine hypothesis, drug therapy, classification systems
