Key Words Flashcards
Free will
The notion that humans can make choices and their behaviour/thoughts are not determined by biological or external forces
Determinism
The view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual’s will to do something
Hard determinism
The view that all behaviour is caused by something (internal or external factors), so free will is an illusion
Soft determinism
The view that behaviour may be predictable (caused by internal/external factors) but there is also room for personal choice from a limited range of possibilities (restricted free ill)
Biological determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by biological (genetic, hormonal, evolutionary) influences that we cannot control
Environmental determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment (such as systems of reward and punishment) that we cannot control
Psychic determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious psychodynamic conflicts that we cannot control
Idiographic approach
An approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour, rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behaviour (the nomothetic approach
Nomothetic approach
Aims to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws
Ethical implications
The consequences of any research (studies and/or theory) in terms of the effects on individual participants or on the way in which certain groups of people are subsequently regarded. There may also be consequences on a wider societal level
Social sensitivity
Sieber and Stanley define socially sensitive research as, ‘studies in which there are potential consequences or implications, either directly for the participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research;
