Issues and Debates

Question 1

Free will

Answer 1

the ability to make a meaningful choice between possible behaviours
We can choose at the point of action

Question 2

determinism

Answer 2

the idea that all behaviours depend on situational factors
Behaviour is fixed before the point of action

Question 3

hard determinism

Answer 3

Direct causality (A causes B)

Question 4

soft determinism

Answer 4

Indirect causality (A causes B, when C is present)

Question 5

reciprocal determinism

Answer 5

Interactive causality (A, B and C contribute to causing each other)

Question 6

biological determinism

Answer 6

Certain genes mean you WILL turn out a certain way. Eg. MAOA - violence. which ignores other factors such an environmental

Question 7

environmental determinism

Answer 7

Experiences shape who you are and what you do. Eg. Pavlov/Skinner. ignoring nature/nurture, or biological

Question 8

psychic determinism

Answer 8

Internal unconscious factors decide our behaviour. Eg. Phallic fixation causing mis-assigned gender identity (oedipus/electra complex).

Question 9

scientific determinism

Answer 9

All events MUST have a cause - IV leads to changes in DV. Eg. All the different suggestions for why attachment happens.

Question 10

humanistic approach

Answer 10

believes in free will
Rogers (1959) said taking personal responsibility for our own outcomes was the only way to achieve high congruence and self-worth
REBT was about taking responsibility away from your parents, who had set your conditions of worth

Question 11

moral responsibility

Answer 11

another important free-will argument
This says we’re personally responsible for our actions - a statement that can only be true if we have free will
This is especially important when dealing with criminals and the mentally ill. If we don’t have free will, criminals cannot be guilty.

Question 12

Nature

Answer 12

Genotype - Inherited genetic information determines who we are
Eg. high SERT and low COMT activity => OCD

Evolution - Adaptive pressures from natural selection are behind all our characteristics
Eg. attachment behaviour evolved for better survival, IWM formation & more healthy development

Question 13

nurture

Answer 13

Behaviourism/ Tabula Rasa - We’re 100% shaped by experience (Eg. Skinner)
Eg. Phobics must have an original trauma

Social Learning Theory - Our behaviour is learned & reinforced vicariously through observation of role models (Eg. Bandura)
Eg. Phobics may learn extreme fear from parent models

Environment - Our families/friends/school causes behavioural outcomes (Eg. Beck’s “Negative Triad”)
Eg. Repeated failure can leads to withdrawal & hopelessness

Question 14

Nature vs Nurture vs Reality

Answer 14

Genes and environment both contribute to development of illnesses

The environment changes the expression of genes to produce a phenotype that is different from the genotype

Many environmental factors can contribute to this process

Question 15

Diathesis-Stress Model of Disease

Answer 15

Your health is like a road surface on a suspension bridge

Good health requires the right conditions (strong supporting cables)

Adding risky cables decreases the road’s efficiency under load (stress)

Severe stress on a risky bridge will lead to a complete breakdown of the surface

Question 16

Holism

Answer 16

viewing people as indivisible beings consisting of a “self” that can only be studied in context

Question 17

Reductionism

Answer 17

viewing people as a complex system that consists of many small parts we should study separately

Question 18

nomothetic

Answer 18

In modern psychology, most experiments use nomothetic designs

Large samples
Numerical data
Comparing mean, variance, SD, etc.

These make accurate predictions due to the law of large numbers
This states that accuracy improves as you test more people
Differences become averaged out in large samples, giving results closer and closer to the population average

Question 19

idiographic

Answer 19

Tends to include qualitative data, investigating individuals in a personal and detailed way.
Methods of research include: case study, unstructured interviews, self-reports, autobiographies and personal documents.

Question 20

ethics

Answer 20

Scientific & Academic Freedom
Data ownership (GDPR)
Equitable treatment
Value freedom
Fully informed consent
Cost-benefit analysis
Deception
Validity (to reduce misunderstanding)
Confidentiality
Privacy

Question 21

alpha bias

Answer 21

Exaggerating gender differences (Eg. Freud, due to historical context).

Question 22

beta bias

Answer 22

Ignoring gender differences; assuming male results apply to females.

Question 23

Androcentrism

Answer 23

Psych is male-dominated, both in terms of researchers and participants. Their research might represent only a male world view.

Question 24

Ethnocentrism

Answer 24

findings have limited generalizability because they’re generated by a theory/sample that relies on aspects of a particular culture. (eg. Ainsworth)