L10 - Discursive Psychology

Question 1

What is discursive psychology (DP) concerned with examining?

Answer 1

The ‘constitutive’ nature of discourse

(written text and talk)

Question 2

What ‘Doise’ level of analysis does DP look at?

Answer 2

level 4: ideological

the way we engage with each other at a broader ideological level of analysis

Question 3

Does DP use ‘qualitative methodology’?

Answer 3

No

• It is fundamentally different from mainstream psychology in the way it views language*
• Preference for ‘naturally occurring’ data (i.e. comments and media)*

Question 4

Is discursive psychology (DP) social constructionist or cognitivist?

Answer 4

Social constructionist

(non-cognitivist)

Question 5

What is reality according to discursive psychology (DP)?

Answer 5

Reality is constructed through the meaning we give to words and is constructed through interaction.

Question 6

Does DP believe that objects in the world are reality?

Answer 6

No

All objects, events, people etc. are constructed as they are talked about in interaction

Question 7

What is the behaviour that DP focuses on?

Answer 7

Talk (conversation)

Question 8

Are DP researchers interested in beliefs?

Answer 8

No

They are interested in how the ‘talk’ about their so-called beliefs

Question 9

What is ‘situated discourse’ in DP?

Answer 9

The ‘action orientation of talk’

how people use language to ‘do things’ or ‘get things done’

Question 10

Why is language ‘functional’ according to DP?

Answer 10

People use language to do things

persuade, excuse, justify etc.

Question 11

DP History

Wittgenstein (1953) believed that language is a form of ‘social practice’ rather than a fixed system of meanings that are represented in the world.

True or False

Answer 11

True

Question 12

Did Wittgenstein believe that there are two cognitive phenomena - cognition and language?

Answer 12

No

• He thought ‘language itself is the vehicle of thought’*
• (thinking happens through talk)*

Question 13

DP history

John Austin’s speech act theory (1962) argued that because people use language to persuade, argue, blame, excuse etc language is therefore ______

Answer 13

functional

Question 14

History of DP

What does ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (CA) study?

Answer 14

The use of language and conversation in its everyday natural settings

focused on the ordering of everyday language and the practical consequences for people

Question 15

Which type of analysis looks at the minute details of conversation (including when a breath is taken, pauses in conversation, sequential turn ordering of conversation)

Answer 15

conversation analysis

Question 16

History of DP

Who was it who argued that the historical emergence of disciplines and knowledge which develop into powerful ‘discourses that regulate our behaviour and experience?

Also, that ‘discourses’ shape our everyday understandings of the world and our subjectivities - the very people we ultimately become?

Answer 16

Michel Foucault

Question 17

What did Foucault believe about the truth of ‘disorders’?

Answer 17

What is deemed as a ‘disorder’ is a social construct that has been given legitimacy by those in power and the knowledge institutions and is not necessarily ‘true’.

Question 18

What are the 4 core principles of discourse psychology (DP)?

Answer 18

1. Discourse is constitutive
2. Discourse is functional
3. Discourse is put together with discursive resources and practices
4. Discourse constructs identities for speakers

Question 19

Explain the DP principle that ‘discourse is constitutive’.

2) How does this contrast to traditional psychology?

Answer 19

Objects, events, people etc are constructed as they are talked about in interaction.

2) Traditional psychology treats objects in the world as ‘reality’ and is seen as an unproblematic given.

Question 20

reality -> perception -> discourse

What type of psychological theory sees discourse this way?

Answer 20

Perceptual cognitivism

(cognitive psychology)

Question 21

discourse -> perception -> reality

What psychological theory sees discourse this way?

Answer 21

Discursive Psychology

Question 22

Explain the DP principle that discourse is functional.

Answer 22

Talk is a social practice that accomplishes social actions in the world

(focus is on the discourse itself; how it is organized and what it is doing)

Question 23

The third core principle in DP of discourse is put together with discursive resources and practices.

What are the three discursive resources and practices?

Answer 23

1. Interpretative repertoires - (recurrently used set of metaphors, arguments and terms to describe actions and events)

2. Discursive strategies and devices - (which are used in talk to build accounts as factual, objective and disinterested

3. Rhetorical commonplaces - (clinching arguments premised on commonsense notions and idioms)

Question 24

Explain the core principle in DP of discourse constructs identities for speakers.

Answer 24

We create our identities through discourse. We have many identities that shift depending on the context.

People are positioned (in terms of power) by particular ways of talking, but people also make active choices about the identities they mobilise in particular settings.

Question 25

What does ‘fact construction’ refer to in DP?

Answer 25

How we represent reality

Question 26

What does ‘out-there-ness’ refer to in DP?

Answer 26

Refers to the description or account of how we put together descriptions in order to appear factual or objective

(i.e. reflecting reality rather than subjective)

Question 27

What are the 6 parts of Hepburn’s (2003) reality production ‘toolkit’

(discursive technique strategies to construct ‘factuality’)

Answer 27

1. Category entitlement
2. Stake inoculation
3. Corroboration and consensus
4. Active voicing
5. Vivid description
6. Systematic vagueness

Question 28

Explain ‘category entitlement’ in the ‘reality production toolkit’.

Answer 28

To warrant the validity of a particular claim, speakers can emphasise their membership (or that of others) to a particular category which entitles them to speak authoritatively about certain things.

(e.g. Professor Brown, who has been a doctor for 15 years says that X)

Question 29

Explain ‘stake inoculation’ in the ‘reality production toolkit’.

Answer 29

Speakers can construct their talk as coming from someone whose stake in that talk is counter to what you would expect.

• (e.g. as a feminist, i used to be skeptical about differences between girls and boys, but my experience as a mother has taught me otherwise)*
• (indicates that because you don’t have a stake in it, you’re not biased)*

Question 30

Explain ‘corroboration and consensus’ in the ‘reality production toolkit’.

Answer 30

Construct your description or account as corroborated by an independent witness, and/or something that everyone agrees on

(e.g. ‘his behaviour intimidated everyone who was there’ or ‘everyone knows that men and women are different’)

Question 31

Explain ‘active voicing’ in the ‘reality production toolkit’.

Answer 31

Use reported speech to present views and impressions as a reliable and accurate record of what took place

(e. g. Mary then said to me “why have you been avoiding me?” and then I said, “I haven’t i’ve just been real busy”)
* increases believability of claim because it makes it seem like it has been something that has already been said*

Question 32

Explain ‘vivid description’ in the ‘reality production toolkit’.

Answer 32

Rich and vivid detail, careful observation and noticing can enhance the reliability of an account or event.

(e.g. ““That morning was especially wet
and windy, and the traffic lights were
working intermittently. When I passed
by my neighbour’s house, I noticed that
his newspaper was still on the front lawn”.)

More description is supposed to demonstrates that it is true (builds the idea that it happened and it shows that he remembers)

Question 33

Explain ‘systematic vagueness’ in the ‘reality production toolkit’.

Answer 33

Descriptions or accounts which are systematically vague about details and particular features draw attention away from one’s own stake or interest in the account.

• (e.g. “there are many causes for poverty and economic hardship, but at the end of the day, the poor need to help themselves)*
• “bottom-line argument”* sweeping over it - meant to be self evidently true

Question 34

What are ‘extreme case formulations’ (ECFs)?

Answer 34

Maximising claims to convey truthfulness

(e.g. ‘everyone believes this’, ‘no one believed him’)

Question 35

1) How does ‘use of lists’ convey truthfulness?
2) How many parts do you need in a list to be seen as truthful?

Answer 35

1) Demonstrate the comprehensiveness of claims
2) 3 part lists are commonly used to convey truthfulness.

Question 36

How do ‘contrast structures’ convey truthfulness in conversation?

Answer 36

Compares two concepts are contrasted against one another to prove a statement.