Week 2.4 Flashcards
Power/dominance of scientific psychology: Scientist-Practitioner Model (4)
- 1949 Boulder conference defined the model as a training model for graduate programs that aspires to train psychologists (practitioners) with a foundation of research and scientific practice
- Allowed evidence-based practice through academic research
- Unsuccessfully tried to impose these academic practice guidelines on practitioners - but unsuccessful as not practical/realistic and with no compulsion (little uptake)
- Practitioners want ‘practice-based evidence’ but academic researchers are ignoring these calls
Issues with the scientist-practitioner model (3)
- Statistics on patients: measure behaviour before and after and see if there is a difference - but in practice this is not done
- It’s generally one-way - hence the arrows (arrow from researchers to practitioners but a half arrow from practitioners to researchers)
- Don’t really get feedback from practitioners on whether models/strategies are effective or not
Which psychological theory has the biggest impact on you/the profession
- Cognitive behaviourism - are empirically realizable
- Then social psychological theories, humanistic theories, Freudian theories, cognitive theories, life span development, evolutionary theory, biopsychosocial health, neo-Freudian theory
- Other therapies don’t have the benchmarks
What still needs to change in terms of psychology’s contribution to society?
- Mental health/stigma (behaviour change: why do we have stigma associated with mental health - if we aren’t experts at changing behaviour we are all lost)
- Discrimination (racism, sexism)
- Impact of incarceration
- Accepting diversity
- Gender roles (including domestic violence)
- Social disorder (crime)
- Inequality (including homelessness)
- Limitations of psychotherapy
- Role of social media
Psychology contribution to the world (3)
- Where is psychology’s “non stick frying pan” [or suitcases with wheels]?
- There has been extensive debate within psychology about major world changing contributions made by disciplines
- Eg quantum physics has revolutionized the general field of science versus psychology = ?
List of major contributors (6)
- B.F Skinner
- Jean Piaget
- Sigmund Freud
- Albert Bandura
- Leon Festinger
- William James
What is interesting about this list? (6)
- All dead [or very close] - no modern day current contributors [focus on quantitative deductive science versus inductive ground-breaking research] –
- What is preventing new ideas [education of the next generation of psychologists]
- All European [white] males [when 90% of students and practicing psychologists are female]
- Oldest contributor - not a psychologist and his theory is more influential in literature than current psychology [mainly refuted]
- Second oldest contributor - dismissed from his University for [sexual] misconduct after performed ethically suspect research on little Albert [classical conditioning of fears]
- None of them are universal enough to explain all behaviour - not ‘correct’ theory then if can’t explain all behaviour
What is claimed as positive contribution (3)
1) The very definition of psychology (science of human behaviour) is at the very heart of human welfare
2) Other core sciences focus on the lower levels of Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs” [of physiological and safety needs], whereas modern technological societies are shifting focus further up the hierarchy to levels of self-esteem and self-actualization
3) Changing paradigms from:
- Increasingly moving from the theory and laboratory research to real-world settings
- Increasing research emphasis on everyday life, quality of life, and the whole person
Psychology… (3)
- Considered one of the major four areas (biology and medicine; environmental science; physical science and engineering; psychology and social sciences)
- Should be a central scientific forces in society
- Typically seen as more important by other scientists
Problem with psychology - focuses on… (2)
- Focus on the “worried well” rather than those with true psychological problems
- See remarkable increases in 1) suicide rates for young people; 2) Age - standardized death rates for mental health conditions
Suicide rates
Suicide rates for young people [increased from a low of 5 [per 100,000] to a high of 25 in young males] - no change for other age cohorts (see graph)
Age
Premature death for mental health problems - going up (e.g. schizophrenia and have brain cancer, breast cancer)
The claim of changing paradigms is problematic, because… (4)
- There are no APAC approved courses dedicated to these areas
- Psychology of Everyday Thinking and Psychology of Social Life are the only ones in Australia [one other in New Zealand]
- Psychology of Everyday Life - a number in USA/Canada
- Psychopathology of Everyday Life - one [at Melbourne University]
Conclusion of contribution of psychology
Here is what the President of the British Psychological Society indicated in 2018 when asked for psychology’s contribution:
“I have argued that ‘psychology can play a role in tackling the issue of crime in our cities, litter on out streets, pollution in our atmosphere, breakdown in our atmosphere, breakdown in our international relations, obesity in our children and perhaps ultimately, oppression and injustice in our world’ and it has already made a very significant scientific contribution in all of these and in many other areas”
However…
However, evaluative research in all these errors questions how successful Psychology has been in remediating any of these [or other] personal or social issues
