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Issues and debates - Coggle Diagram
Issues and debates
Nature Vs Nurture debate
Nature = inherited factors eg. what we are born with → hair colour, eye colour (a biological approach)
Nurture = environmental factors eg. learning, socialisation, experiences (a behaviourist approach)
Nature - Bowlby's theory of attachment
- We have an innate drive to attach to a primarycaregiver
- Attachment behaviours are naturally selected and are passed on through genetics
Nurture - Learning theory of attachment
- Learning to attach to a caregiver in terms of classical conditioning
- Babies learn to attach to caregiver providing food which they associate with happiness
Concordance rates - 48% between monozygotic (identical twins) for schizophrenia and 50% for IQ
If nature was fully responsible for the development of schizophrenia then concordance rates should be 100%. Shows that nurture has an affect on development.
Interactionist approach - Any behaviour can arise from a combination of nature and nurture
Bowlby stated that attachment is dependent on warmth and parental love
Kagan proposed that a baby’s personality also affects the attachment relationship
Nature can create nurture
Diathesis stress model -
Behaviour is caused by a biological or environmental vulnerability which is only expressed when coupled with a biological or environmental ‘trigger’
Eg. a person who has a genetic vulnerability to OCD may not develop OCD unless the individual is triggered by an environmental factor such as stress
Epigenetics - A change in our genetic activity throughout life without changing the genes itself caused by interaction with the environment
- Aspects of our lifestyle (eg. smoking, trauma) leave marks on our DNA which switch genes on and off so changes the way genes are expressed
- Explains why smoking has lifelong influences (genes have been changed)
Evaluation
- Research suggests that OCD is a highly heritable mental disorder. Nestadt et. al put the heritability rate at 76%. This shows how nature can be held mainly accountable for the development of OCD however environmental factors also have an effect otherwise rates would be 100%. Such understanding can inform genetic counselling because genetic vulnerability does not mean that it is inevitable the individual will develop the disorder. This means that those with genetic vulnerability can receive advice about the likelihood of developing this disorder and how they might prevent this eg. coping with stress. This suggests how behaviour is determined by both an interaction between nature and nurture
- Adoption studies separate the competing influences of nature and nurture to indicate which is more influential in determining a particular behaviour. If adopted children are found to be more similar to their adoptive parents, then nature is to be held responsible as they share no genetic links. Whereas, if adopted children are more similar to their biological parents, nature has a bigger influence on behaviour as adopted children will not be learning and imitating traits from their biological parents. A meta-analysis of adoption studies by Rhee and Waldman (2002) found that genetic influences accounted for 41% of the variance in aggression. They argued that environmental factors have the power to only express predetermined genetic factors
- Research using twin studies to separate the influence of nature and nurture may be misguided because nature and nurture cannot be pulled apart. According to Plomin people create their own ‘nurture’ by actively selecting environments that are appropriate for their ‘nature’. Therefore, a naturally aggressive child is likely to feel more comfortable with those who act in a similar way. Their chosen companions further influence their development. This is known as niche-picking which leads to non-random associations between genetics and the environment in which they live and develop
- Neural plasticity - Brain makes new neural connections throughout life → Can reorganise itself through changes in environment (nurture). Maguire et al investigated the hiccomapi in the brains of taxi drivers. She found that the matter in the brains of taxi drivers was bigger than those of non-taxi drivers. She concluded from this that driving a taxi (nurture) changed parts off the brain (genetics). This suggests that throughout life people behave differently due to experiences that they have (environment) which explains why behaviour may vary for people throughout life
Ethical implications
Informed consent, deception, right to withdraw, confidentiality/privacy, protection from harm
Socially sensitive topics:
- Mental health/illness
- Ethnicity/race
- Phsycial health/illness
- Religion/culture
- Trauma/domestic abuse
- Child development
- Gender
Socially sensitive research: - The topic area being studied can have implications on society/certain groups in society
- Potentially leading to a chnagein the way these groups are treated
- Such research should be carefully considered as it could be seen as giving scientific 'credence' to prejudice and discrimination
Evaluation -
- Despite ethical implications associated with controversial subjects, Sandra Scarr (1988) argued that studies of underrepresented groups and issues may present a greater sensitivity and understanding of these
- Socially sensitive research has benefited society. For example, eye witness testimony has reduced the risks of miscarriages of justice within the legal system. Plays an important role in society
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Holism and reductionsim
Redcutionsim - The belief that human behaviour can be most effectively explained by breaking it down into constituent parts
Biological reductionism - A form of reductionism which attempts to explain human behaviour at the lowest level possible. For example, drugs that increase can be effective in treating OCD. Therefore, those with OCD are assumed to have low levels of serotonin. However, not everyone with OCD has low levels of serotonin so this theory is incomplete.
Environmental reductionism - The attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus and response links that have been learned through experience. For example, the learning theory of attachment only takes one factor (food) into account and not any other factors to have an effect on attachment
Evaluation
- Reductionsit approaches form the basis of scientific approaches
- Reductionist approaches have been accused of oversimplifying complex phenomena, leading to reduced valdity
Holism - Phenomena ar beest unnderstood by looking at the interplay and interaction of many different factors
Humanistic formulates a holistic approach to understanding human behaviour – involves investigating all aspects of the individual, including the effects of interaction with others and wider society. It takes the view that we are all unique, and therefore psychology should concern itself with the study of subjective experience rather than general laws
- The holism approach may lack practical value --> human behaviours are complex so researchers must break them down in order for them to be understood for example, if we accept that there are many factors contributing to depression, we are not aware of the most influential one to prioritise the basis for therapy. Therefore holistic approaches may lack practical value
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Gender bias
- Alpha bias overestimates the difference between sexes
- Beta bias ignores or underestimates the differences between the sexes
One possible consequence of beta bias is androcentrism. If all of our research is based on findings with studies using male samples, then any behaviour that deviates fro this is likely to be seen as abnormal. This leads to females being judges or misunderstood
Evaluation -
- Gender-biased research may create misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to challenge negative stereotyping and validate discriminatory practices. It provides a scientific justification to deny women opportunities in wider societies. Gender bias is not only a methodical problem but it may also have an effect on the lives and prospects for women
- Sexism within the research process → there are a limited number of females at senior research level therefore male psychologist work often gets published more than women. This creates bias in both theory and research.
Cultural bias
The tendency to view and/or judge all people in terms of your own cultural assumptions. This has been an issue across much psychological research
Universaity - any underlying characteristics of human beings that is capably of being applied to all, despite differences of experience and upbringing
Ethnocentrism - Judges other cultures by the standards if one’s own culture
Cultural relativism - Appreciating that behaviour varies between cultures and so cannot be understood unless it is viewed in the context of the culture it originates in.
Emic approach - Functions from inside a culture and identifies behaviour that are specific to the culture (ideal)
Evaluation -
Strengths
- In time of media globalisation, it is argued that there is no longer a division between individualist and collectivist cultures. There research to support this showing how cultural bias may no longer be in issue in more recent times
Some behaviour is actually seen as being universal. For example, in many attachment studies, there was no difference in results between cultures. Patterns of behaviour as well as facial expressions are the same all over the world. Therefore there is a danger of focussing research in cultural relativism and not focussing on behaviour that occurs in all cultures
Limitations
- Many studies in psychology are culturally bias. For example, both Asch and Milgram’s studies took place in the US (individualist culture). Asch went on to look at the results in a collectivist culture where there was higher rates of conformity. This shows how research can only be generalised to the culture it originated in.
- Cultural bias in psychology is concerned with IQ testing and contrasting views of intelligence. In some collectivist cultures, they see intelligence as slow, careful and deliberate thought. The mental quickness required to complete an IQ would be seen as thoughtlessness for them. This calls into question the validity of using an IQ test to measure human intelligence