Issues and Debates Flashcards
What are the 11 types of Issues and Debates?
- Ethics
- Reductionism
- Practical Issues in the design and implementation of research.
- Comparison of ways of explaining behaviour.
- Psychology as a Science
- Culture and Gender
- Nature vs Nurture
- An understanding of how psychology has developed overtime
Issues of Social Control - The use of Psychological knowledge within society
- Issues related to social sensitive research.
What does Issues mean?
Something that could be a problem
What does Debates mean?
Something that’s argumentative.
What does Ethics mean?
Refers to the guidelines that serve to protect participant involved in research to ensure their psychological and physical safety and wellbeing.
What does Reductionism vs Holism mean?
Reductionism- Human mind and behaviour involve complex processes that can be difficult to understand and study without first breaking them down into smaller, simpler components.
Holism- The view that it only makes sense to study the whole rather than its parts.
What does The use of psychological knowledge within society mean?
The application of psychological knowledge is far reaching and touches on many aspects of our everyday lives, and in professional and clinical setting. For example, police interview, helping people with dementia, treating phobias etc.
What does Nature vs Nurture mean?
Whether psychological characteristics are a product of genetic factors and environmental influence.
What does Issues of Social Control mean?
Focusses on the ways in which information obtained from psychological research may be applied to govern or control the behaviour of individuals. Although technology can be employed for the good of society or an individual, it may carry some moral and societal ramifications because it may directly or indirectly manipulate behaviour.
What does Issued related to social sensitive research mean?
It involves taboo topics such as abuse, immigration, deviance, sexuality, death etc. which have the potential to distress, harm or threaten the participants or groups in which they are involved.
What does Culture and Gender mean?
Culture- (Culture Bias), ‘Ethnocentrism’ is where we form judgements about other cultures based on culturally biased research. Cross- cultural research can help investigate cultural variations.
Gender- When research is conducted on primarily male participants but used to apply to all humans, this is known as ‘androcentric’ bias. (Gender bias).
What does An understanding of how psychology has developed over time mean?
How theories have evolved over time as we have developed out understanding of psychological concepts.
What does Comparison of ways of explaining behaviour mean?
When two or more theories could be used to explain the same phenomenon. For example the ‘T’ in your EAST evaluations (alTernative).
What does Practical issues in the design and implementation of research mean?
Researchers must think about validity, reliability and generalisability when designing and implementing research. It can also include factors such as time taken when conducting research.
Never ethical issues!
What does Psychology as a Science mean?
This can be judged by looking at theory, research study, methodology. Science involves; hypothesis testing, gathering empirical evidence, control, objectivity and replication. Can be seen as a strength, however others argue it can prevent certain research from being undertaken, and also studying human behaviour in high control makes it highly reductionist.
