Issues & Debates

Question 1

free will

Answer 1

idea that humans are self determining and free to choose thoughts and actions
not controlled by biological or external forces
cannot be tested scientifically
-advocated by humanistic approach

Question 2

free will ao3

Answer 2

idea of fw has face validity as it seems that in our everyday lives we have free will in deciding what to do
fw can have a positive impact on us as high internal LOC- direct their own behaviour- are more likely to be mentally healthy
not scientific and cant be studied empirically

Roberts et al found that adolescents who had strong beliefs in fatalism (events that occur are out of their control) were at greater risk of developing depression
-external LOC are less likely to be optimistic

Question 3

determinism

Answer 3

idea that behaviour is controlled/shaped by internal or external factors
every behaviour has a cause

Question 4

biological determinism

Answer 4

idea that human behaviour is innate and controlled by genes/hormones/brain activity
eg mental illnesses are due to lack of serotonin or certain neurotransmitter

Question 5

environmental determinism

Answer 5

behaviour controlled by features in external environment such as reinforcemnent and punishment
eg behaviourist approach

Question 6

psychic determinism

Answer 6

Freud emphasised the influence of repressed conflicts from childhood
unconciously affect behaviour
inability to pass through psychosexual stages
oral fixation- chewing pens, biting nails
anally retentive- very tidy, stubborn, in control
genital stage- inability to form relationships/ make friends

Question 7

hard determinism

Answer 7

no action or behaviour is free, it has a cause so it must occur
predicted by events entirely outside a persons control

Question 8

soft determinism

Answer 8

people have a choice but behaviour is predicted to an extent
constrainted by the environment but only to a certain extent

Question 9

determinsim ao3

Answer 9

is consistent with the aims of science so has led to development of treatments, therapies eg as we know the cause
hard determinsim stance isnt consistent with the legal system as it still puts blame of behaviour on p even if behaviour is determined by factors we can’t control
offenders are held morally accountable
unfalsifiable as it is impossible to prove wrong as there are so many factors that can affect behaviour

Question 10

idiographic

Answer 10

describes the nature of the individual, people are studied as unique entities
doesn’t attempt to compare individual to a larger group
associated with in depth qualitative data eg case studies, unstructured interviews

Question 11

approaches idio

Answer 11

humanistic- concerned with investigating unique experience of a person, emphasis on the self
psychodynamic- freud used case studies when detailing lives of patients (but he did try to generalise)

Question 12

idiographic ao3

Answer 12

qualitative methods provide an in depth, complete account of the individual
offers a narrow perspective so ideas may struggle to be generalised, reducing ecological validity
methods eg case studies lack scientific rigor and rely on subjective interpretation- open to bias
lacks replicability

Question 13

nomothetic

Answer 13

attempts to establish general laws and generalisations about human behaviour
allow people to be compared, classified and measured
uses scientific methods- has a testable hypothesis and collects quantitative data using structured interviews/questionairres, scans, controlled lab/field exps

Question 14

approaches nom

Answer 14

behaviourists- studied hundreds of animals to establish laws of learning
cognitive- measure performance in memory in tests of large samples
biological- studied lots of human brains to make generalisations of localisation of functions

Question 15

nomothetic ao3

Answer 15

can develop laws which can be used to predict behaviour and predict how people will respond to treatments
methods are scientific so high internal validity
can generalise data
overlooks richness of human behaviour and may miss important parts of behaviour
cannot find in depth info about people

Question 16

ethical implications

Answer 16

consequences that psychological research may have on those that participate and on the wider society
may change/justification to the way groups are treated

eg studies into depression that show depressed people don’t recover can be harmful for their employment

Question 17

socially sensitive

Answer 17

research that may have direct social consequences for the ps in the research or the groups they represent

if research is socially sensitive it is more likely to have ethical implications

Question 18

research process

Answer 18

research question- ways in which qs are phrased + investigated mat influence the way findings are interpreted
methodology used- need to consider treatment of ps, their right to confidentiality and annonymity
institutional context- how the data is going to be used + who is funding the research eg private insti. and why they would want to fund it
interpretation + application of findings- findings may be used for purposes that were not originally intended eg IQ test led to sterilisation

QMCF

Question 19

ethical ao3

Answer 19

may disadvantage marginalised groups as they may not be correctly represnted in research but results still generalised or they may be excluded from research

but can benefit some groups eg homosexuality was seen as a personality disorder until 1973 when a report found that homosexuality is a typical expression of human behaviour

some socially sensitive research is useful as govts must use it to create policies etc in terms of childcare, mental health provision etc

ethical guidelines may be too strict and some areas of research could elicit helpful findings eg by deceiving ps (EWT and milgram)

data may be used for social control and to prop up discriminatory practices eg sterilisation of people with low iq

sometimes it may not be possible to see effects of research on ps so may be subject to bias from researcher- may try and justify it

Question 20

idio and nomo together

Answer 20

both are needed for a complete understanding of psychology
different aims of science refer to nomo and idio
eg describe (I) , predict (N), understand, control

both have a role but relative value depends on purpose of research
idiographic can serve as a source of ideas/ hypotheses for later studies conducted in nomo way

Question 21

ethical guidelines in SSR

Answer 21

confidentiality eg of results (HIV) of a test shouldn’t be published with their name
valid methodology- if there are issues with the method and results are published, the public aren’t going to notice this and will likely believe the research
deception- deceiving the public by saying something that isn’t necessarily true eg parents are responsible for how their children turn out
informed consent- ps must be aware of how their data is used and how it will affect them
equitable treatment- example of it not would be withholding treatments from a group so that you can use them as controls or publishing work that creates prejudice