Paper 3 - Issues and Debates Flashcards
Determinism
Belief that behaviour is controlled by external/internal factors acting upon the individual and beyond their control.
3 types of- biological, environmental and psychic
Biological Determinism
Behaviour is always caused by internal biological forces beyond their control (influence of genes).
Genes that affect brain structure and neurotransmitter production (serotonin and dopamine) may determine our behaviour e.g CDH-13 and MAOA Gene being candidate genes for criminality.
Environmental Determinisim
Behaviour is caused by previous experience through classical and operant conditioning.
I.e, Phobias are result of conditioning - Watson’s study on Little Albert and Skinner’s Box (operant condition determining the behaviour of lab rats)
External Forces = we have no control
Psychic Determinism
Freud’s theory of personality suggests adult behaviour is determined by a mix of innate drives and early experiences.
Result in unconscious conflicts over which we have no control
E.g. Freud’s psychosexual stages of development suggest each stage is characterised by a conflict which, if unresolved, leads to a fixation in adulthood e.g, anal expulsive personalities being the result of fixation at the anal stage.
Free Will
Each individual has the power to make choices about their behaviour
Common feature of the human approach
Hard determinism
View that all behaviour can be predicted, according to the action of internal + external forces beyond their control, so no free will.
E.g. Behaviourism suggest that all behaviour is the product of classical and operant conditions -
Biological approach sees behaviour as product of genes and neurochemistry
SLT - product of vicarious reinforcement and mediational processes.
Soft determinism
Allows for some element of free will + suggests that all events, including human behaviour, has a cause.
E.g. Cognitive approach suggest that individuals can reason and make decisions within the limits of their cognition system.
Importance of scientific research
Based on belief that all events have a cause.
Independent variable is manipulated to have an effect on the dependent variable.
Through repeating research under controlled conditions (lab experiments) + performing statistical tests, a “cause and effect” relationship can be established between two variables. Increases scientific credibility of psychology, through enabling the prediction and control of behaviour.
Evaluation of determinism (A03)
- 100% genetic determinism is unlikely to be found for any behaviour = Studies that compare MZ twins - 80% similarity for intelligence + 40% for depression. Genes do not entirely determine behaviour and supports interactionist standpoint. Concordance rates for MX twins are often higher than for siblings, despite both sharing 50% of genes - twins being more likely to share same environment.
- Simplifies human behaviour = human behaviour is less rigid + influenced by many factors e.g cognitive factors which override biological impulses. E.g. aggression cannot be simplified to action of endocrine system and adrenaline. There are cognitive factors + accompanying emotions which are just as, or more important than the biological aspects.
- A determinist position may be used for people to try and justify behaviours if they have committed a crime = Undesirable as it excuses their behaviour. A hard deterministic stance is not in line with principles of the judicial system, sees individuals as taking moral responsibility for their actions. Led to treatment methods for mental disorders, such as depression through control of serotonin by using SSRIs and SNRIs. However, biological deterministic approach does not allow the use of other treatments which are not based on biological mechanisms e.g. CBT
Free Will - Humanistic Approach
Argues that self-determinism is a necessary part of human behaviour.
Roger’s (1959) as long as an individual remains controlled by other people/other things they cannot change it. Only when an individual takes self responsibility is personal growth or ‘self actualisation’ possible.
Humanism praised as positive approach - seeing people as good and free to ‘better themselves’
Free Will - Moral responsibility
An individual is in charge of their own actions. Law states that children and those who are mentally ill do not have responsibility.
Assumption that normal adult behaviour is self determined.
Humans are accountable for behaviour regardless of innate factors/early experience
Evaluation of Free Will - A03
- Illusion of Free will = person may choose to do something but choices are determined by previous reinforcement contingencies, suggested by behaviourist approach. Hard deterministic stance.
- Challenge to idea of free will = Benjamin Libet at al (1983) recorded activity in motor areas of brain before person had a conscious awareness to move their finger. Chun Soon eat al (2008) found activity in prefrontal cortex up to 10 seconds before a person was aware of their decision to act. Suggest motor activity preceding movement occurred before conscious decision was made - implies all behaviour is predetermined by up to 10 seconds.
+ Good face validity = Everday scenarios, appear to make our own decisions. Therefore, the idea of free will has a good face validity because we appear to have free will in our day to day lives.
+ High internal validity = Robert et al - adolescents with an internal locus of control are less likely to develop depression and more likely to have better mental health compared to external locus of control. Differences in LOC and mental health states supports the idea that free will can be used to help us determine what controls our life events so we can make conscious decisions
Idiographic approach
Method of investigating behaviour which focuses on individuals and emphasises their uniqueness.
Subjective and rich human experience is used as a way of explaining behaviour, without the aim of developing general principles and unifying laws (nomothetic)
Associated with methods that produce qualitative data - studying individual E.g. HM and KF - used in the form of case studies and informed further research into different types of long term memory.
Examples of Idiographic Approach
- Psychodynamic - Freud used case studies and in depth interviews to collect qualitative data from Little Hans - later formed basis of the Oedipus and Electra complexes.
- Humanistic - A holistic and ‘phenomenological’ approach to research - focuses on experience of individual. Such research methods were used to develop the client centred approach to therapy and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Evaluation of Idiographic - A03
+ Qualitative data produces an in depth and more complete account of an individual = May support existing theories/challenge general laws and lead to development of improved psychological theories, process of deduction. E.G. HM and and Clive Wearing demonstrated that diff types of long term memory are located in diff areas of brain - led to further research of localisation and memory
- Offers a narrow and restrictive perspective = Theories developed form case studies may struggle to be generalised beyond the individual - reducing ecological validity. E.g. humanism widely used idiographic but still viewed by many as a set of rather loose. abstract concepts - lacks empirical evidence as well as being specific to individual. Generalisations cannot be made without further examples to act as a baseline comparison - approach doesn’t improve scientific credibility of psychology.
- Research methods used (case studies and unstructured interviews) lack scientific rigour = rely heavily on individual and subjective interpretation. Conclusions are open to researcher bias - reduces reliability of findings and the extent to which they can be generalised to other individuals. Lack of validity when developing theories and assumptions upon the idiographic approach
Nomothetic Approach
Seeks to formulate general laws of behaviour based on study of groups and use of statistical, quantitative techniques. Attempts to summarise differences between people through generalisations, whilst developing general laws and unifying principles which can be used to accurately predict and control behaviour
What 3 general laws have the nomothetic approach produced in psychology according to Radford and Kirby.
- Classifying people into groups
- Establishing the principles of behaviour that can be applied to people in general
- Establishing dimensions along which people can be placed, compared, measured
Examples of nomothetic approach
- Behaviourists explain all behaviour in terms of simple stimulus-response links - learnt through experience. Lab experiments- strict control upon extraneous and cofounding variables allows for a “cause and effect” relationship between variables to be established.
2.Cognitive - objective methods of measuring brain activity (EEG and PET scans). This allows cognitive psychologists to draw inferences about workings of mental processes.
3.Biological - use of brain scams to make inferences about localisations of brain function. E.g. PET scans by Tulving et al helped to establish semantic memories were recalled from left prefrontal cortex whilst episodic = right prefrontal cortex
Evaluation of Nomothetic Approach - A03
+ Highly scientific methods = research methods objectively produce reliable data through adopting standardised conditions and a high level control of extraneous and cofounding variables. Constituent parts of the target behaviour can be reliably measured through the use of operationalised behavioural categories - increases internal validity of findings. Findings won’t be influenced by researcher bias = greater scientific credibility due to method of collection
+ Enables unifying laws and general principles to be reliably established = Focus on objectively collecting reliable data - led to certain ‘norms’ to be established e.g. average IQ score being 100. Such norms act as a good baseline comparison for intellectual abilities and mental disorders.
+ Nomothetic and Idiographic may be complementary to each other = E.g. Milton and Davis (1996) suggest research should start with a nomothetic approach and once general laws have been produced the focus switch to idiographic to develop understanding and theories. Therefore either approach can be used depending on the aims and nature of research
- May undervalue impact of individual experiences = can be criticised as ‘losing the whole person’ due to such an emphasis on establishing universal norms. E.g. research into frequency of depression tells us little about experiences of sufferers and so little about what treatments may be beneficial. Done little to improve people’s lives in comparison to idiographic
Holism
With respect to a behaviour such as memory/mental disorder, perceiving the whole experience rather than individual feature and or relations between them.
Gestalt psychologists suggest ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ so doesn’t not make sense to break down target behaviours into their constituent parts but rather study behaviours as part of an indivisible system
Reductionism
Breaks complex phenomena into more simple components and implies that this is desirable because complex phenomena = best understood in terms of a simpler level of explanation. E.g. a reductionist explanation of depression would be consequence of low levels of serotonin in the brain - biological reductionism and a neurochemical viewpoint.
Levels of explanation
Different ways of viewing the same phenomena in Psychology. Reductionism suggests lower level explanations will eventually replace lighter level explanations, according to the reductionist hierarchy of science. Explanations begin at the highest level and progressively reduce down to the bottom of hierarchy
Highest level
Cultural + social explanations of behaviour e.g. depression being explained by a withdrawal from social activities, low energy levels and insomnia - viewed as odd by society .
Lower level
Biological explanations of behaviour e.g. depression being explained by the action of candidate genes and neural factors
Middle Level
Psychological explanations of behaviour e.g. depression being explained by Beck’s cognitive theory and Ellis’ ABC model
Biological reductionism
Reducing behaviour to biology as it is based on the premise than we are biological organisms i.e. depression can be explained biochemically as a result of low levels of serotonin in the synaptic gaps between neurons.
Environmental reductionism
Behaviourists explanations suggest that all behaviour can be explained in terms of simple stimulus response links i.e. phobias are obtained and maintained using classical and operant conditioning.
Evaluation of Holism - A03
+ Provides a more complete picture = some examples of behaviour can only be understood at a holistic level e.g. conformity and deindividuation of Zimbardo’s prisoners and guards in his Stanford Prison Experiment. Research into resisting conformity, such as Gamson’s work into role of social support in groups, makes use of holistic explanations by looking into interactions within and between groups. Therefore, holistic explanations may provide a more ‘complete’ picture of behaviour
- Difficult to investigate the many differing types of levels of explanations = Practicak problem for researchers who attempt to combine many higher level explanations - becomes more difficult to identify which explanation is most influential therefore which explanation is most useful to base treatment upon. Therefore holistic explanations may not lead to the development of effective treatments for mental health disorders.
- More hypothetical and not based on empirical evidence = Frequently used by humanistic approach. However, lack of empirical evidence associated with higher level explanations and holistic viewpoints may simplify complex phenomena too far. Humanism is still seen as a set of rather loosely- joined abstract concepts. Therefore holistic explanations may not be suited towards more complex behaviours.
Evaluation of Reductionism - A03
+ Consistent with scientific approach = Scientific psychology aims to predict and control behaviour. Reductionism is consistent with aims of science because it allows for this. Smaller, constituent parts of behaviour are easily measured and manipulated under strict laboratory conditions and so “cause and effect” relationships between variables can be reliably established. Hence reductionism raises the scientific credibility of psychology.
+ Practical application in development of drug therapy = Reductionist approach toward researching and explaining mental disorders - led to development of powerful and effective drug therapies e.gs SSRIs to treat depression, based on view that a deficiency in serotonin causes depression (biological). Also reduces need for institutionalisation, sufferers can continue their day to day lives through the use of non-invasive treatment. Positive impact on people’s lives.
- Ignores complexity of behaviour = May lead to a loss of validity - ignore the social context where behaviour occurs which often gives behaviour its meaning. E.g. Reductionist viewpoint - act of speaking would be the same across all scenarios due to each individual having the same biological mechanism for this. However, such a view ignores social context of this speaking, such as with aim to alert someone, voicing an opinion etc. Therefore, reductionist explanations may simplify complex phenomena too much.
