issues and debates paper 3 quo

Question 1

One limiation of the nonmthetic approach?

Answer 1

cannot find out rich / in-depth information about single cases
*  less meaningful as tends to use quantitative measures.

Question 2

How did milligram decivice his participants?

Answer 2

Milgram deceived participants into believing that they had an equal chance of being the teacher or learner, when in fact it was rigged.

Question 3

How could deception have been dealt with?

Answer 3

For example, deception could be dealt with by debriefing the participant. It would have to be explained why it was necessary to deceive them and answer any questions that they might have wanted to ask, as well as reassuring them.

Question 4

Explain why it is sometimes necessary to deceive participants in social influence research.

Answer 4

For example, deception is necessary because if participants knew the aim, they might change their behaviour (1 mark). Second mark for elaboration eg this might affect validity

Question 5

Psychologists have carried out research into the use of cognitive interviews. One possible ethical issue which might arise during this research is protection of participants from harm. Explain how psychologists could deal with this ethical issue.

Answer 5

Participants should be reminded of their right to withdraw from the research (2 marks)
If participants are showing signs of distress, the psychologist should remind the participants of their right to withdraw (3 marks).

Question 6

What is meant by the ‘nature-nurture debate’ in psychology?

Answer 6

for the possibility that behaviour is governed by nature (genes etc) and by nurture (eg environment, experiences etc) and reference to the debate being about the relative contribution of each of these influences.

Question 7

Briefly outline what psychologists mean by ‘levels of explanation’.

Answer 7

outline which explains how explanations vary from those at a lower or fundamental level focusing on basic components or units to those at a higher more holistic multivariable level.

Question 8

Briefly suggest one way in which psychologists might address the problem of beta bias in their research.

Answer 8

including participants of both sexes in their research
*making it clear in reporting that any conclusion relates only to the gender of the sample.

Question 9

Explain one strength and one limitation of a reductionist approach in psychology.

Answer 9

Possible strengths:
*  studying basic units of behaviour underpins the scientific approach / adds weight to scientific research
*  more objective to consider basic components of behaviour
*  leads to greater clarity of understanding, e.g. at the chemical, cellular level
*  better able to isolate cause when studying basic units of behaviour, e.g. can see which chemicals are implicated in certain behavioural disorders, then may be able to effect treatment
*  parsimonious – the simplest explanation is often the best.
Possible limitations:
*  simplistic and ignores the complex interaction of many factors
*  leads to us losing sight of behaviour in context
*  less able to understand the behaviour because we do not understand its meaning - loss of validity
*  ignores emergent properties / distracts from a more appropriate level of explanation.