RM L18: Issues and debates -

Question 1

What are issues and debates in psychology?

Lesson 18

Answer 1

• Like self reflection of the discipline
• Psychologists and theorists think about the impacts of their research on individuals and wider society

Question 2

What does application to psychology to everyday life mean?

Lesson 18

Answer 2

• Argued that if studies / ideas from psych cannot be used in everyday life they are not useful
• Studies may be done on females only which means they are not useful for explaining male behaviour
• Extent to which smth is useful is debating how findings can be used in everyday life

Question 3

What does individual and situational explinations mean?

Lesson 18

Answer 3

• Individual explanations account for behaviours using factors from within the person (personality)
• Situational explanations account for behaviours using factors from external environment (situations people find themselves in)

Question 4

What is nature VS nurture?

Lesson 18

Answer 4

• Nature refers to behaviours that are thought to be hardwired into people pre - birth (genetic / innate)
• Nurture refers to behaviours that are thought to develop over the lifetime of a person
• Nature > biological factors
• Nurture > social + psychological factors

Question 5

What is uses of children in psychological research?

Lesson 18

Answer 5

• Children under the age of 16 cannot give their own informed consent to take part in the study
• Children under 16 must have parental / guardian informed consent
• Use of appropriate language to ensure children understand what they are doing
• Psychologists believe children are less likely to display demand charecteristics
• Children may get bored / tired faster than adults and need to consider this when designing tasks

Question 6

What is uses of animals in psychological research?

Lesson 18

Answer 6

• Psychologists must follow laws when working with animals
• No. of animals should be kept to a minimum to make statistical analysis meaningful
• Social species should be kept together and non social species should be kept apart
• Housing in cages should not lead to overcrowding or increase stress levels of animals