mid topic test ao3 Flashcards
strength of holism
P- One strength of holism is that it considers the wider context of the individual
E- e.g. conformity to social roles and deindividualisation of the prisoners and guards in the Stanford prison experiment can not be understood by studying the participants as individuals, it was the interaction between people and the behaviour of the group that was important.
E- therefore, it was imperative that a holistic approach was taken to understand how people conform to social roles and the power of the situation.
L- shows holistic approach is more suitable to understand the complexities of human behaviour in some areas of psychology
limitation of holism
P- often adopts unscientific approaches
E- e.g. humanistic approach is less scientific as it doesn’t study cause and effect behaviour through empirical methods; to do this requires reductionism. By being holistic the approach focuses on the whole person and uses qualitative methods
E- reduces credibility of ‘psychology as a science’ and makes it harder to understand human behaviour due to methodological limitations
limitation to biological reductionism
P- Limitation of reductionism is that some psychologists argue that biological reductionism can lead to errors of understanding because it ignores the complexity of human behaviour.
E- to treat conditions like ADHD with drugs in the belief that the condition consists of nothing more than neurochemical imbalances is to mistake the symptoms of the phenomenon for its true cause.
E- whether or not this is true depends on what one thinks of as causation, but since success rates of drug therapy are so highly variable, the purely biological understanding seems inadequate
L- more likely that a holistic explanation of disorders is needed which would allow for more effective treatments to be given
limitation of environmental reductionism
P-limitation of environmental reductions is that it uses lab experiments
E- much of the relevant research in the behaviorist tradition has made use of non-human animals as subjects. The classic Pavlovian experiments on dogs are an iconic example.
E- critics of reductionism point to the social context in which humans are embedded from the earliest moments of life.
L- in this case, the reductionist approach seems inadequate
limitation of idiographic ( less scientific)
P- less scientific than nomothetic approach
E-emphasis on in depth data collection but the purpose of science is to explain the most variations in fewest possible terms so behaviour can be controlled.
E- idiographic approach unable to produce general laws about human behaviour
L- idiographic researchers respond to these criticisms by emphasising evidence based nature of their descriptions and conclusions
limitation of ideographic (time consuming)
P-time consuming and unrepresentative to wider population
E-emphasis on in depth data
E-takes more time to develop theories about human behaviour and also have limited usefulness in making assumptions about wider populations
L-severe criticism of using the methods and would be best using ideographic approach as the beginning of theory development and then to use a nomothetic approach to create universal theories
strength of nomothetic
P-scientific and makes use of quantitative methods to allow replication to increase reliability
E-biological psychologists use nomothetic approach when explaining OCD and claim OCD is caused by high levels of dopamine and low serotonin
E- drug therapies such as SSRI are developed on basis of nomothetic research to redress biological imbalance
L-helped psychology establish scientifically
limitation of nomothetic (individual differences)
P-no individual differences
E-drug treatments not successful for all patients. Some psychologists argue that CBT is more suitable for treating individuals with OCD or depression
E-approach seeks to understand and explain disorder from a patients point of view
L- shows ocd and depression can’t be purely down to abnormal levels of serotonin got else SSRI would be 100% effective
limitation of nomothetic (can’t predict individual behaviour)
P-can’t predict individual behaviour due to fixation on quantitative data
E-milligram found 65% of ppts obeyed an authority figure and inflicted 450V shock. Results didn’t show why each person obeyed and may be different reasons
E-idiographic would say milgrams research only allows predictions on groups and not individuals.
L-allport (1937) argued it is only by fully understanding an individual we can make accurate predictions on individual behaviour
strength of SSR (better understanding of issues like gender and sexuality)
P-strength . Socially sensitive research (SSR) allows better understanding of issues like gender race and sexuality.
E- example of SSR beneficial for society is research from Kinsey et al (1948). Led to removal of sociopathic personality disorder in 1973 from 1952 version of DSM.
E- Sexuality research is therefore helping to redress the balance and make us more aware of other cultures and outlooks and society is able to gain a greater acceptance and reduce prejudice.
L – This means that despite the research being sensitive we have a duty to continue researching these topics to help marginalised groups.
strength of SSR (resolve ethical issues)
P- strength of SSR is psychologists developed methods to resolve ethical issues
E- 50 % acceptance of research studies by ethics committee compared to 95% of non SSR studies
E- greater awareness of social issues and consequences of SSR than in the past and problems such as Burts research on IQ should not happen again
L- SSR can be carried out in socially ethically manner meaning benefits if the findings will outweigh the potential costs involved.
limitation of SSR (dictate social policy)
P-A limitation of SSR is that in the past flawed research has been used to dictate social policy and put certain groups at a disadvantage.
E – Research has been used to discriminate against groups in society such as those with low IQ. In the USA between 1910 and 1920 there was enforced sterilisation under laws, of some individuals because they were of low intelligence, criminal or suffered from psychological illness.
Explain – This a serious ethical issue because this research led to severe discrimination without informed consent.
Link – This shows that the costs of the research greatly outweigh the benefits of certain research. Clearly some research in in the past should not have been allowed to be published.
limitation of SSR (question about who gains of SSR)
Point – A limitation of some SSR is that there is a question about who gains from SSR.
Evidence – Socially sensitive research has been used by governments and other institutions to shape social policy and people’s behaviour, despite the sometimes dubious nature of its findings
Explain – Other research has socially sensitive consequences, when Coca-Cola started using subliminal messages their sales increased significantly. Although there is little damage done, this has ethical implications because we question who is benefiting from such research and how it may be managed once released into the public.
Link – Therefore, SSR of this nature should be carefully managed within society and the intentions behind it should be clear.
