issues and debates

Question 1

what is the idiographic approach

Answer 1

the study of unique experience where people are treated as individuals not part of a group.

Question 2

what is the nomophetic approach

Answer 2

the production of general laws. it is scientific and generalised to the whole population

Question 3

what types of methods does the idiographic approach use

Answer 3

qualitative methods
case studies unstructured
interviews
self report

Question 4

give an example of the idiographic approach

Answer 4

humanistic and psychodynamic

Question 5

what types of methods are used for the nomophetic approach

Answer 5

questionnaires
psychological tests
scientific procedures like FMRIs

Question 6

give examples of the nomophetic approach

Answer 6

biological approach
cognitive approach
behaviourist approach

Question 7

evaluate the idiographic approach

Answer 7

it can complement the nomothetic approach by providing more information on the general laws.
lacks scientific rigour of the nomophetic approach making it lack validity.

Question 8

evaluate the nomophetic approach

Answer 8

the scientific rigour of this approach gives it validity.

loses the whole person in psychology and makes it less personal and in depth.

Question 9

universality

Answer 9

an underlying characteristic of all humans that can be applied to all people despite their inherent differences.

Question 10

gender bias

Answer 10

psychological research that does not adequately represent the views and experiences of both sexes

Question 11

androcentrism

Answer 11

taking a male centred approach - EG Asch’s research had only male participants - any difference in behaviour is therefore abnormal

Question 12

alpha bias

Answer 12

theories that suggests there are real and enduring differences between the sexes that cannot be overlooked EG sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour

Question 13

Beta bias

Answer 13

theories that ignore or minimise differences between the sexes EG using animals animals when researching fight or flight and uassuming there would be no difference - women inhibit the response.

Question 14

the evaluation of gender bias

Answer 14

there are large implications of gender bias - Men being at top of research, stereotyping
the research process may negatively affect gender bias as men and women respond to stimuli in different ways.
there is a publication bias in psychology which may only publish results which reinforce stereotypes

Question 15

cultural bias

Answer 15

tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all results through ones own culture

Question 16

ethnocentrism

Answer 16

judging all other culture by the standard of your own. can become extreme in the sense that you believe your own culture to be superior
EG Ainsworth strange situation

Question 17

cultural relativism

Answer 17

idea that norms and values as well as ethics can only be understood by looking at the specific cultural context

Question 18

etic and emic in regards to cultural relativism

Answer 18

Etic is looking at behaviour from outside of a culture EG Ainsworth
Emic focuses on the specific cultural context

Question 19

evaluation of cultural bias

Answer 19

culture bias is almost ingrained in our society - over diagnosing of african americans of schizophrenia.
attempts to account for culture are too simplistic EG individualist/collectivist. what about within?
cultural relativism needed but we must be aware that there are some universal behaviours

Question 20

free will

Answer 20

the idea that humans can make their own choices and are not determined by biological or external forces

Question 21

determinism

Answer 21

an individuals behaviour is shaped and controlled by either internal or external forces rather than an individuals free will

Question 22

hard determinism

Answer 22

free will is not possible because our behaviour is 100% down to forces outside our control

Question 23

soft determinism

Answer 23

all events and behaviours have causes outside our control but we also have some choice in the absence of coercion.

Question 24

biological determinism

Answer 24

behaviour is controlled by biological influences we have no control over

Question 25

environmental determinism

Answer 25

behaviour is caused by features of the environment - conditioning/ stimulus-response

Question 26

psychic determinism

Answer 26

behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we do not even know about or control

Question 27

casual explanations

Answer 27

every event has a cause and these causes can be explained by using general laws
in psychology this is established through lab studies.

Question 28

evaluation of determinism

Answer 28

determinism is consistent with science meaning psychologists can establish treatments due to the casual explanations. EG schizophrenia and drug therapy
determinism is not consistent with our own systems of authority or beliefs EG murder is an action to which we are held morally accountable
determinism is not falsifiable as determinism believes that even though the cause has not been found it still exists.

Question 29

evaluation of free will

Answer 29

free will has face validity as our everyday experience gives the impression that we do.
people with a high internal LOC are generally more mentally healthy. Roberts et al found that adolescents with a strong degree of fatalism were more likely to develop depression
Libet and siong found that in an activity where you had to press either a left or right button our brain had already decided up to 10 seconds before we are consciously aware of our decision

Question 30

the nature - nurture debate

Answer 30

this is concerned with the extent to which aspects of our behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired ability

Question 31

heredity

Answer 31

the genetic transmission of products or qualities from one generation to another.

Question 32

environment

Answer 32

any influence on behaviour which is non-genetic. this is from pre-natal influences in the womb through to cultural and historic influences of society

Question 33

the interactionist approach to nature-nurture

Answer 33

the idea that we cannot separate nature-nurture as they are linked together and work together.

Question 34

heritability coefficient

Answer 34

used to asses heredity. It is numerical ranging from 0 - 1.0. The general figure in most research is around 0.5 suggesting an interaction of both nature and nurture.

Question 35

epigenetics

Answer 35

A change in genetic activity without changing the genetic code due to interaction with the environment

Question 36

dias and ressler research into epigenetics

Answer 36

gave male mice shocks when they smelt acetophenone. The mice then grew afraid of the smell. When the mice had children they were also scared.

Question 37

evaluation of the nature-nurture debate

Answer 37

both end of the scale have large implications. Nativists have lead to controversy such as suggesting a link between IQ and race. Empiricists could lead to authoritarian govt
we must consider shared and unshared environments Dunn and Plomin suggest that even siblings raised together have differences due to other factors.
constructivism suggests that we build our nurture around our nature. EG a naturally aggressive child would choose aggressive sports like boxing and violent friends.

Question 38

holism

Answer 38

Argues that we should only study behaviour by looking at an indivisible system and the whole picture rather than its smaller constituent parts like reductionism

Question 39

reductionism

Answer 39

behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts

Question 40

levels of explanations

Answer 40

the idea that there is different ways of viewing the same phenomena. it essentially goes down a list of both social and biological ways of looking at behaviour.
socio-cultural
physiological
psychological
neurochemical

Question 41

biological reductionism

Answer 41

A form of reductionism which attempts to explain behaviour and phenomena as a result of lower biological functions

Question 42

environmental reductionism

Answer 42

attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus response that have been learned through experience.

Question 43

evaluation of holism

Answer 43

there are some behaviours which must be looked at within a holistic context such as the group behaviour of conformity and de-individuation in both aggression and in zimbardos prison experiment
holistic explanations lack scientific credibility and cannot be falsified like the humanistic approach.
higher level explanations that combine different factors pose a difficulty within the debate as it is hard to know which side is more influential.

Question 44

evaluation of reductionism

Answer 44

often forms the basis of scientific research as to create operationalised variables we must first break down behaviour.
has been accused of oversimplifying behaviour leading to a loss of validity. biological reductionism does not consider social or cultural aspects of behaviour.

Question 45

ethical implications

Answer 45

impact that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of both participants and other people.

Question 46

social sensitivity

Answer 46

studies in which there are potential consequences or implications wither directly for participants or for the class of individuals it affects.

Question 47

outline the social sensitivity of Burt’s research into IQ

Answer 47

Burt had done research into the genetic heritability of intelligence and the creation of the 11+.
he citied a heritability of .77 in twin studies
his data was later found to be mainly false or faked with him even creating two fake assistants.
his research is socially sensitive as the 11+ is what allowed children into grammar schools and this obviously affects chances in later life.

Question 48

evaluation of ethics and socially sensitive research

Answer 48

there are benefits to socially sensitive research - helps reduce prejudice about under represented groups. research into eyewitness testimonies helped to fix miscarriages of justice. however Burt …
there has been talk around how we frame research Qs and research EG research into alt relationships being compared to heterosexual norms.
is socially sensitive research worth it? often this research is accepted without proper thought (like the 11+) it can lead to damaging social consequences leading to nobody benefiting at all. EG coca cola research into subliminal messages which turned out to be fake