L9 - Discursive Psychology Flashcards
What type of conversation does Discursive Psychology include?
Written text and talk
e.g. Written transcripts, parliamentary talk, written transcripts
Is DP viewed as a qualitative methodology?
Yes, but not simply, it is fundamentally different from the positivist and realist epistemology of mainstream psychology
What does social constructionist mean?
It is not a realist approach to understanding human experience.
What does ‘non-cognitivist’ mean for discursive psychology?
It refrains from making cognitive assumptions
What features are involved in discursive psychology?
Social constructionist,
non-cognitivist,
fundamentally reworks topics central to traditional psychology such as (self and identity, attitudes, attributions, memory, prejudice/racism)
Describe the topics that DP includes
Whose philosophy is DP based on?
Wittgenstein
What did Wittgenstein mean when he talked about ‘the interactive nature of language’?
Language is interactive - it is a form of social practice rather than a fixed system of meanings
“Language is not a fixed system of meanings, but a flexible system of meaning.” - people can play language games and people can use words differently depending on what they want to achieve with the word.
How is Wittgenstein’s view of language different from the ‘dominant view’?
The dominant view is that there are two parallel systems, cognition and language - that cognition finds expression through language.
Wittgenstein - “Language is itself the vehicle of thought”
Describe John Austin’s speech act theory
1. Action orientation of talk or situated discourse
Emphasizes how people use language ‘to do things’ and to ‘get things done’
2. People use language to persuade, argue, blame, excuse, justify etc.
- Language is therefore functional*
- People view language as a form of communication that expresses thoughts and feelings, but analysing conversation shows that language is the primary medium of which things get done. Language enables people to get on with their lives*
John Austin says that language is _______ and _______.
Action-Oriented and Functional
Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis focuses on…
the language and syntax in everyday life and conversation
What is conversation analysis (CA) - ‘talk-in-interaction’?
How does CA analyse this?
Everyday conversation is orderly in its sequential turn-by-turn organization.
CA attends to the ways in which participants talk is oriented to the practical concerns of the social interaction
How participants treat the interaction, what they treat as relevant, how they display understanding, disagreement etc. in their talk
What did Foucault say about ‘disciplines of knowledge’
Disciplines of knowledge have developed into powerful ‘discourses’ that regulate our behaviour and experiences
What did Foucault say about ‘Discourses’?
They shape our everyday understandings of the world and our subjectivities - the very people we ultimately become
What does Foucaults ‘subjectivities’ refer to?
Our identity, the very people we ultimately become
Whats the first core principle in DP
Discourse is constitutive
What criticism of traditional psychology regarding how it sees the world does DP have?
It criticises the perceptual-cognitive metatheory at its core that treats objects in the world or ‘reality’ as an unproblematic given.
The words and language we use depicts events in particular ways, so language doesn’t objectively shape the world
Describe the perceptual cognitivism metatheory that underpins the theoretical framework that psychology is based on
World exists (reality) -> we percieve the world (perception) -> this leads to discussion of the world (discourse)
Treats language or discourse as reflecting the world ‘out there’
Language is seen as neutral and transparent medium, passive and ‘doing nothing’.
Language is seen as ‘reflective’ and not ‘real’
What does DP believe is the true structure of the world rather than perceptual cognitivism?
Language (discourse) leads to - what we see (perception) - and this shapes our reality (reality)
DP believes ____ actively constructs and builds versions of the world
Language
What is the second core principle in DP?
Discourse is functional
What is the third core principle in DP?
Discourse is put together with discursive resources and practices
What are interpretive repertoires?
Recurrently used set of metaphors, arguments and terms to describe actions and events
What are “discursive strategies” and devices?
Descursive strategies and devised are used in talk to build accounts as factual, objective and disinterested
What are rhetorical commonplaces?
Clinchin arguments premised on commonsense notions and idioms
What is the 4th core principle in DP?
Discourse constructs identities for speakers
How is DP’s 4th principle ‘discourse constructs identities for speakers’ different from traditional psychological models of identity?
Traditional models studies identity through questionnaire scales.
DP thinks we have multiple and shifting identities are brought into being through discourse.
- DP believe that psychologists search for a ‘core identity’ is wrong and people change their identities based on the environment that they are in.*
- People can choose to change their identity depending on who they are talking to.*
- To try and find ‘who the real Max is’ is seen as reductionist in DP as my identity is constantly changing*
