Issues and debates: socially sensitive (learning)

Question 1

INTRO

Socially sensitive

Answer 1

Socially sensitive research, while potentially problematic, is important for raising awareness of societal issues and addressing them. Researchers must consider potential misuse, misrepresentation, and discrimination when interpreting and reporting findings.

Question 2

A01 & A03 (is)

Answer 2

A01:
- Learning theories suggest aggression is learned through observation and reinforcement, which is sensitive because it places responsibility on parents, teachers, and media for children’s behaviour.

A03:
- Bandura’s Bobo doll study showed children who observed adult models behaving aggressively were more likely to imitate aggression themselves.
- This highlights the importance of role models but can be seen as blaming parents or media for societal violence, which is a sensitive issue.

Question 3

A01 & A03 (isn’t)

Answer 3

A01:
- However, the use of research to demonstrate the principles of classical conditioning (learning through association) and operant conditioning (learning through reward and punishment), especially in animals, is not as socially sensitive.

A03:
- Other areas of learning psychology are not socially sensitive, Pavlov tested the effects of classic conditioning on salivation in dogs which reinforced the theory of learning by association and pairing neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to condition a response.
- This is not socially sensitive and has been informative in our understanding of how phobias are developed and therefore can be treated using systematic desensitisation.

Question 4

Judgment

Answer 4

Mostly learning psychology research is socially sensitive, but the benefits from this research outweigh the issues.