Issues And Debates

Question 1

A01
Explain nomothetic approaches and what they aim to do

Answer 1

• try to establish general laws for everyone by assuming criteria’s for certain behaviour
• objective knowledge through scientific methods e.g lab experiments, structured observations
• seen as scientific as making general laws help develop predictions for behaviour
• quantitative methods used

Question 2

A01
Explain idiographic approaches and what they aim to do

Answer 2

• focus on individual differences and uniqueness
• qualitative methods used e.g case studies, unstructured interviews
• case study example is patient HM and KF where research was discovered for different types of LTM
• seen as unscientific as the individuals experiences are subjective

Question 3

A01
Which of the approaches primarily have a nomothetic approach?
(However some use idiographic methods e.g case studies)

Answer 3

• behaviourist
• social learning theory
• biological
• cognitive
• psychodynamic

Question 4

A01
What approach is only ever idiographic

Answer 4

• Humanistic approach

Question 5

A01
What are examples of nomothetic methods?

Answer 5

• lab experiments and controlled observations
• nomothetic methods as they gather quantitative data and focus on explaining and predicting general patterns of behaviour rather than focusing on details of individual people

Question 6

A01
Name two idiographic methods of data collection

Answer 6

• open ended questions and unstructured interviews as they gather qualitative data, in words

Question 7

A01
What methodology combines both idiographic and nomothetic methods

Answer 7

• Q methodology
• questions are given in a survey where ppts rank their answers accordingly
• this gives detail about the individuals and also can be done by large sample size

Question 8

A03
Explain Gordon Allports position on the idiographic vs nomothetic debate

Answer 8

• his argument was that the predictions of nomothetic methods were usually predictions about how people tend to behave on average. These predictions state that a certain percentage of people behave one way, and the rest behave another way. However, Allport argued that nomothetic methods do not give us any way of knowing whether a particular individual will fall into one category or the other. Idiographic methods like case studies and interviews, on the other hand, provide much richer detail, which allows us to make more accurate predictions of an individual

Question 9

A03
What is a strength of nomothetic methods

Answer 9

• seen as scientific
• aims to create general laws of behaviour, therefore allows predictions for behaviour to be made
• subjective bias is removed through standardised methods and measurements
• data is also easier to replicate, making it more generalisable

Question 10

A03
What is a weakness of nomothetic methods

Answer 10

• misinterpretation: general trends may not accurately represent every individual in a group
• superficial: fixed criteria does not give complete picture of individual. E.g two ppl with depression diagnosis have different experiences

Question 11

A03
What are weaknesses of idiographic methods

Answer 11

• unscientific, conclusions are open to researcher bias, reducing reliability of findings
• however Allport argued, by providing greater insight into an individual, idiographic methods might allow better predictions

-time consuming: due to depth and detail can be a very time consuming process

Question 12

A03
What are strengths of idiographic methods

Answer 12

• rich detailed data, argued to provide more valid perspective on human behaviour e.g patient HM and diff types of LTM
• hypothesis generation- while unusual cases are not generalisable, they can generate new interesting areas of research or overturn incorrect theories

Question 13

A01
What is reductionism

Answer 13

• studying behaviour by breaking them down into smaller components e.g biological approach doesn’t take into account environmental factors

Question 14

A01
What is holism

Answer 14

• behaviour can be understood by analysing the person and behaviour as a whole
• behaviour must include all an individuals experiences and factors influencing behaviour

Question 15

A01
What are the levels of explanation for reductionism and holism (1 being the most holistic, 3 being the most reductionist)

Answer 15

1) social/cultural
2) psychological/cognitive
3) biological

Question 16

A01
What is biological reductionism

Answer 16

• explains behaviour using biological systems, including genetics, hormones and neurotransmitters
• seen in the biological approach

Question 17

A01
What is environmental reductionism

Answer 17

• explains behaviour in terms of stimulus-response relationships from the environment
• seen in the behaviourist approach

Question 18

A01
Explain where all the approaches lie on the levels of explanation

Answer 18

• cognitive and social learning theory are somewhat reductionist but are more holistic than the behaviourist approach
• psychodynamic approach is somewhat holistic as it breaks personality down into 3 parts, but says we need to look at all aspects of behaviour to understand how these parts interact
• the humanistic approach is the most holistic as it says that we can’t break down behaviour at all

Question 19

A03
What are the strengths of reductionist explanations

Answer 19

• scientific: reduces behaviour down into cause and effect relationships that are empirically testable, therefore falsifiable.
• supports the development and empirical testing of treatments like drug therapies. These therapies have helped millions of ppl manage mental health symptoms
• e.g ppl with schizophrenia from a biological perspective have either too high/low levels of dopamine, therefore drugs are made to target the dopamine system , however, treatment resistant + holistic explanations may be more useful for long term

-supported by the principle of parsimony which says that we should choose the simplistic explanation, as reductionism says that we can break down explanations into their simplest parts

Question 20

A03
What are the weaknesses of a reductionist explanation

Answer 20

• overly simplistic: oversimplifies complex behaviour leading to a loss of validity. Genetic explanations don’t analyse the social context within which the behaviour occurs

Question 21

A03
What are the strengths of a holistic explanation

Answer 21

• led to development of therapeutic approaches such as ‘client centred therapy’
• they aim to provide more personalised treatment options than alternatives like drug therapies

Question 22

A03
What are weaknesses of a holistic explanation

Answer 22

• taking into account multiple factors/ variables makes it difficult to establish causation as it’s hard to isolate specific variables for empirical testing
• might overlook the importance for a specific element by focusing too broadly on the whole. Holism fails to acknowledge the importance of individual components
  (Same strengths and limitations of the humanistic approach)

Question 23

A01
What is the principle of parsimony

Answer 23

• if we have different explanations which completely explain the same thing, we should always choose the simplest one
• e.g not using higher levels of explanation if a lower level of explanation will do

Question 24

A01
What is meant by interactionism in holism and reductionism

Answer 24

• the interaction between levels of explanations

Question 25

A01 What are the problems with interactionism for holism and reductionism

Answer 25

- interactionism involves more holistic levels of explanation, which are difficult to test scientifically - it violates the principle of parsimony

Question 26

A01 What is meant by the term empirical

Answer 26

- knowledge is gathered from observational studies that rely on measurable data

Question 27

A01 What is meant by free will

Answer 27

- the belief that humans are essentially self-determining - we have control over our behaviour

Question 28

A01 What is meant by soft determinism

Answer 28

- traits and behaviours to an extent are dictated by internal and external factors. However we do have some level of control (free will) behaviour through conscious thought processes

Question 29

A01 What is meant by hard determinism

Answer 29

- personality traits and behaviour are set by forces outside of our control with no role for free will .This states that all behaviour has a cause

Question 30

A01 Label what each of the approaches are in terms of either free will, soft determinism or hard determinism

Answer 30

- biological approach (hard determinism) - behaviourist approach (hard determinism) - cognitive approach (soft determinism) - psychodynamic (soft determinism) - humanistic approach (free will)

Question 31

A01 Describe what is meant by environmental determinism

Answer 31

- our experiences shape our behaviour - we have learned to behave in specific ways based on factors like operant and classical conditioning - behaviourists are usually considered hard determinism as behaviour can be fully explained by stimulus-response

Question 32

A01 Describe what is meant by biological determinism

Answer 32

- our behaviour is sort by our genetics and biological processes such as hormones, neurotransmitters and brain structure

Question 33

A01 How can twin studies be used to disprove biological determinism

Answer 33

- mz twins (share 100% of genes), dz twins (share 50% of genes) therefore any similarities between mz twins can be attributed to genetic factors - however concordance rate is never 100% for any trait, therefore genetic determinism can be refuted as behaviours are not solely determined by our genes - e.g in ODC concordance rate is 70% and in depression concordance rate is 40%, highlighting the importance of environmental factors as well

Question 34

A01 Explain how the cognitive approach is seen as soft determinism

Answer 34

- accepts the influence of biological factors on human behaviour, however they also believe in a significant role for cognitive processes involving choice and decision making - e.g CBT (client based therapy) shows how changing thought patterns can alter emotional responses and behaviours

Question 35

A01 Explain what is meant my psychic determinism

Answer 35

- Freud believed innate drives, shaped by childhood experiences form unconscious forces that determine behaviour - e.g include conflicts among id, ego and superego, fixations during psychosexual stages and defence mechanisms shielding conscious mind from anxiety - though psychoanalytical therapy, individuals can become aware of unconscious motivations and gain conscious control over their behaviour

Question 36

A01 Explain how the humanistic approach is free will

Answer 36

- argues that humans have agency; capable of making free choices and are responsible for those choices - humanistic theories focus on the human capacity for self actualisation and psychological growth as expressions of free will

Question 37

A01 Explain how a deterministic approach is seen as scientific

Answer 37

- based on the belief that all behaviours have cause and effect relationships - through repeating research under controlled conditions, a cause and effect relationship can be established between two variables - increases scientific credibility of psychology as, research is falsifiable, as the hypothesis can be tested - this links to a deterministic approach - however determinisms is unfalsifiable as we can only falsify claims about specific causes for behaviour, and cannot falsify the general idea that behaviour has a cause

Question 38

A03 What are the strengths of determinism (with a counter point: treatment resistant)

Answer 38

- application: based on cause and effect relationships. Has led to the development of drug treatments, as for certain conditions it is assumed that low/high neurotransmitter levels are the cause of that condition, e.g low dopamine levels cause depression - therefore by understanding cause and effect relationships, treatments can be made accordingly to reduce symptoms of mental illnesses - however 1/3 of patients suffer with treatment resistance, showing that it isn’t determinist as there must be multiple factors affecting behaviour as it isn’t due to the supposed cause e.g dopamine cannot be the sole cause of depression bc if it were then the drugs targeting the dopaminergic system should in theory demonstrate 100% efficiency rate

Question 39

A03 What are the weaknesses of determinism

Answer 39

- simplifies human behaviour: human behaviour is influenced by many factors, so arguing that behaviour is due to a single determining factor is an oversimplification. E.g depression cannot be simplified to solely the action of dopamine as there are environmental factors such as upbringing which accompany the chances of developing depression - may be used for people to justify behaviours if they have committed a crime, e.g in criminal cases murderers may claim their behaviour is determined by inherited aggressive genetics or tendencies and therefore should not be punished or help accountable for their behaviours

Question 40

A03 What are strengths of free will

Answer 40

- aligns with our everyday subjective experiences, in everyday scenarios we tend to be making our own decisions, therefore we appear to have free will in our day to day lives - if we treat everyone as if they have free will then they are likely to believe they have free will, and develop an internal locus of control, improving their mental health

Question 41

A03 What is a weakness of free will

Answer 41

- assuming free will can unfairly blame people for behaviour that wasn’t their fault - assuming free will we cannot study cause and effect relationships, so can’t make predictions about behaviour, both of which are necessary for a scientific approach to psychology

Question 42

A01 For the nature v nurture debate what is a way of studying the influence of genes on behaviour (twin studies and adoption studies)

Answer 42

-twin studies: MZ single egg that splits into 2, sharing 100% of genes, DZ two separate eggs, sharing 50% of genes - if MZ twins are more similar to one another in a phenotype/behaviour then we can assume that there is a genetic component to behaviour - adoption studies: if child is more similar you adoptive parents then there is and environmental influence (adopted child is living with adoptive parents) - if child is more similar to biological parents then there is a biological influence

Question 43

A01 Explain the diathesis stress model

Answer 43

- suggests that a combination of genetic and environmental (gene environment interaction) can cause an extreme outcome - suggests that individuals with a genetic vulnerability are more likely to develop a psychological disorder if they are exposed to an disadvantageous environment - e.g some ppl who experienced childhood maltreatment may be more likely to develop depression - however those who don’t develop depression may not have the genetic vulnerability for depression - some do have this genetic vulnerability but do not experience childhood maltreatment - e.g while schizophrenia has a strong genetic component, some individuals with genetic susceptibilities to the disorder remain healthy - therefore the view help by psychiatrists is that schizophrenia requires a genetic predisposition in combination with stress later on in life, which triggers the emergence of the disorder

Question 44

A01 Give examples of interaction between nature and nurture

Answer 44

- Maguire et al, studied London taxi drivers and found that their hippocampus, which is responsible for spatial memory, had gotten larger as a result of having to memorise and learn many routes and streets to complete the ‘knowledge exam’ - everyone is born with a static hippocampus, but from plasticity, it shows how nurture/ experiences can alter the capacity - PKU (phenylketonuria), ppl with this can’t break down the amino acid phenylalanine, which builds up in their blood and brain - main treatment is a low protein diet (argument for nurture) environmental impact - however, to inherit PKU you need both recessive alleles to get it - supports nature argument as it’s biological determinism, which both recessive alleles you are bound to inherit PKU

Question 45

A03 Why is it difficult to test the contributions of nature and nurture

Answer 45

- interactions between them are often very complex - Ripke et al found that there are 100 risk alleles associated with schizophrenia - since different people carry a different combination of these risk alleles, it’s very difficult to test a cause and effect relationships between each particular allele, or each combination of alleles and schizophrenia - therefore it’s difficult to determine the overall contribution of heredity to schizophrenia

Question 46

A01 What is the ethics criteria

Answer 46

Can- consent Do- deception Can’t- confidentiality Do- debrief With- withdrawal Ppts- protection from harm

Question 47

A01 What is meant by the cost benefit analysis in ethics

Answer 47

- ethics committees undergo a cost benefit analysis where the benefit of the research is compared to the cost of breaching ethical guidelines

Question 48

A01 What is meant by socially sensitive research as an ethical implication

Answer 48

- studied in which there are potential consequences either directly for the ppts in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research

Question 49

A01 What is the impact of socially sensitive research

Answer 49

The public- being influenced by the psychological findings Groups studied- may suffer bias or discrimination due to public awareness of research Government- may use research to develop policies and legislation

Question 50

A01 What is an example of socially sensitive research

Answer 50

1)Bowlby’s ideas on monotropy and maternal deprivation - places pressure on mothers to create a strong bond with their baby, women may sacrifice work to provide care for child 2) genetic basis of aggression- criminals could use this argument to avoid taking responsibility for their actions, allowing criminals to avoid justice

Question 51

A01 What are the ways of dealing with socially sensitive research

Answer 51

- cost benefit analysis - peer review, make sure harmful or misleading research isn’t produced - researchers need to ensure they explain their findings objectively and clarify any misunderstandings

Question 52

A01 What is meant by the term universality in gender bias

Answer 52

- aim to develop theories that apply to all people regardless difference in gender, biology or cultural background - when psychologists discover a behaviour they often claim or assume universality, suggesting its universal

Question 53

A01 What is meant by the term universality in gender bias

Answer 53

- aim to develop theories that apply to all people regardless difference in gender, biology or cultural background - when psychologists discover a behaviour they often claim or assume universality, suggesting its universal

Question 54

A01 What is meant by the term gender bias

Answer 54

- psychological research may offer a view that doesn’t justifiably represent the experience/behaviour of men and women - this leads leads to misinterpretation of male and female behaviour

Question 55

A01 What is meant by adrocentrism

Answer 55

- male centred, when normal behaviour is judged according to a male standard. Reflect and support of male centric view - this bias is because most psychologists who develop these theories were male - lacks validity, reliability (androcentric bias)

Question 56

A01 What is meant by alpha bias in psychology

Answer 56

- tendency to exaggerate differences between men and women and present these differences as fixed and inevitable - can lead to theories that devalue one gender in comparison to - e.g the difference in the evolutionary factor that males impregnate women to ensure they pass down their genes whereas women are choosy and seek males to provide and ensure their child survives.

Question 57

A01 What is meant by beta bias

Answer 57

- assumption that there are no differences between the behaviour of males and females. Often happens when findings obtained from men are applied to women without additional validation - e.g Aschs study was conducted with only male ppts, using males ignores possibility of gender specific differences, as applied to females too - leads to lack of generalisability and population validity

Question 58

A01 What is meant by cultural bias

Answer 58

- happens when human behaviour is interpreted and judged through the lens of one culture and their norms. -Doesn’t consider behaviours outside the observers cultural context

Question 59

A01 What is meant by cultural relativism

Answer 59

- the view that behaviour, morals, standards and values cannot be judged properly unless they are viewed in the context of the culture in which they are originate - behaviours must be understood from the perspective of a specific culture - most studies are considered ‘weird’ (western, educated, industrialised, rich, democratic) - 60% of ppts come from the the USA - 96% of ppts were from western industrialised nations…)

Question 60

A01 What is meant by ethnocentrism

Answer 60

- assumption that are one ethnic or cultural group is superior to other cultural groups as a basis for judgement of others - e.g strange situation - developed within an American context, may not accurately reflect the attachment types in others cultures - studies have shown that China has the least secure at 50%. Germans are more likely to be insecure-avoidant and Japanese infants as insecure-avoidant

Question 61

A01 What is meant by deviation from social norms

Answer 61

- behaving in a way that doesn’t fit what society expects - ppl from Afro-Caribbean heritage who were now living in the UK where 7 times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia - for these cultures, spiritual practices including hearing voices are part of their culture, and typical behaviours rather than abnormal

Question 62

A01 What theories align with the nature perspective in psychology

Answer 62

- genetic explanation for OCD - MAOA gene of aggression - genetic basis of schizophrenia - Bowlby’s monotropic theory - evolutionary theories

Question 63

A01 What theories align with the nurture perspective in psychology

Answer 63

- love theory of attachment - Ainsworth attachment styles - Behaviourist theories on phobias - social learning theory - cognitive theories

Question 64

A01 Does Milgrams obedience study display alpha or beta bias

Answer 64

Beta bias, assumes men and women will obey in the same way despite only using male ppts

Question 65

A01 How does original research on fight or flight response suffer from androcentric beta bias

Answer 65

- original research was only carried out on male animals but made conclusions about all animals - now we understand that female hormones or different and so is their endocrine system - so it suffered from beta bias as made conclusions about both genders but only studied male animals - females have tend and befriend

Question 66

A01 How can beta bias lead to awful consequences

Answer 66

- a study testing sleeping pills (stilnox) only tested on males - when females tried it it led to consequences such as falling asleep while driving

Question 67

A01 What is meant by gynocentrism in gender bias

Answer 67

- women centred research, applying these female standards to males - seen in Ainsworth strange situation (looking at attachment with mothers) - seen in Moscovici’s minority influence study (gynocentric beta bias) , only female ppts, assumed findings applied to both male and female - when females perspective leads to lack of validity and reliability its called gynocentric bias

Question 68

A03 What is a consequence of gynocentrism

Answer 68

- Bowlby’s research into attachment focuses on females bc of his assumption that mothers are biologically programmed to form a unique bond with child - Ainsworth only looking at mother and child attachment - reinforcing idea that babies attachment to female caregivers are the most important - as a result government and court cases prioritise mothers over fathers when deciding who should be more more involved in bringing up children

Question 69

A03 What are the consequences of ethnocentrism

Answer 69

1) decreases validity and reliability, assumes other cultures will react same as own, cultural differences means results looking at one culture won’t generalise to all cultures, means studies lack external validity and reliability 2) can lead to misdiagnosis- e.g using deviation of social norms, in USA seen as normal to make eye contact, so according to DSM one symptom of autism is reduced eye contact, but in other cultures it’s not deemed a norm to maintain eye contact it’s actually rude. - so if we follow DSM some ppl from other cultures may be misdiagnosed with autism, where they are behaving normal in their culture 3) ppl from other cultures may be devalued, can lead to harmful stereotypes, where other cultures are seen as worse because they are different

Question 70

A01 What studies in psychology have ethnocentric bias

Answer 70

- in attachment, strange situation, found most common was secure attachment - but Ainsworth studied middle class American mothers so may not generalise to different cultures as there are cultural differences in attachment - e.g America is individualistic, collectivist cultures such as China are more likely to have insecure resistant attachment

Question 71

A03 What are limitations of cultural relativism

Answer 71

- may exaggerate differences between cultures, e.g looking at working memory in Canadians isn’t universal, however we are all the same species so have similar brain functions no matter the culture - therefore cultural relativism may lead to cultural alpha bias, and can prevent psychologists from making universal theories - may ignore differences within a culture, just bc they are form same culture, won’t be same individual, form of beta bias

Question 72

A03 What is a strength of cultural relativism

Answer 72

1) prevents ethnocentric bias, which devalues and can reinforce negative stereotypes for other cultures as their norms are deemed abnormal, cultural relativism assumes that no one culture is normal and that we need to understand behaviours from the perspective of that persons culture which prevents prejudice and discrimination

Question 73

A01 What is meant by cross cultural research

Answer 73

- research is carried out in different cultures using local researchers, then conclusions are made