Psychological debates

Freewill-determinism
1. Determinist = behaviour is caused by factors out of our controll
2. Freewill = behaviour is a product of our own choice
Socially sensitive research
1. A topic that is likely to cause upset so some researchers avoid them
2. Psychologist need to anticipate if their research could have negative effects
Usefulness of research
1. Whether the findings from psychological research can be put to use
2. does it have a practical application
Ethical issues
1. consent
2. withdrawal
3. Confidentiality
4. protection from harm
5. debriefing
6. deception
7. competence
Psychology as a science
1. Replicability - repeated on different people with same results
2. objectivity - based on scientific facts
3. Falsifiability - scientifically tested and proven wrong
Nature-nurture
1. Nurture suggests we are a product of our upbringing
2. Nature suggests we are a product of our genetic inheritance
3. best researched on monozygotic twins
Individual-situational
1. situation = behaviour is best explained by reference to the situation
2. Individual = behaviour is best explained from a persons personality
Reductionism-holism
1. Reductionism = research should be conducted by isolating variables
  1. Good for detail
2. Holism = develop multi-factor models that look at lots of behaviours
  1. doesn't miss out any factors

Resource summary

	Created by Cerys Gill over 8 years ago