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Issues and Debates, Longstanding debate in Psychology about relative…
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Longstanding debate in Psychology about relative contributions of genetic inheritance (nature) and environmental factors (nurture) to human development and behaviour
Nature -
. Concerns itself with genetic and biological influences
. Inherited traits, genetic predispositions and biological processes
. Aspects of mental health e.g. depression
Nurture -
. Concerns itself with environmental factors and experiences of individuals
. Upbringing, culture, education and life experiences
. Behaviour tendencies has impacts on people
The debate questions which is more significant. Most contemporary perspectives appreciate both interact with human behaviour
Bowlby claimed that a baby's attachent is determined by warmth and continuity of parental love (envionmental / nature ) whereas Kagan said the parents response (nurture) has a hereditary impact
Idiographic claims that Psychology should be the study of the indiidual because we can gather meaningful information to help understand human behavour better.
- Small number of participants
. Qualitative research
Approaches include; Humanistic and Psychodynamic appraoch
. Believes objectivity is not possible
Nomothetic claims that Psychology should be the study of a large and varied group of people to be able to make generalisations about what typical human behaviour is.
- Typically scientific
- Aims to make generalisations to make 'laws'
- Quantative data
- Appraoches includes; behaviourist and biological
Is the question whether Hollism or Reductionism is the better approach when trying to understand human behaviour
Hollism looks at the system as a whole. It focuses on an indivudals experiences, they can't be reduced. Uses qualitative methods. Biological reductionism - all behaviour on some level is biological
Reductionism seeks to analyse behaviour by breaking it down into constituent parts - everything should be simply explained. Environmental reductionism - all behaviour is learning through interactions and environment
Free will -
. humans are self determining but free to choose their own thoughts and actions
. There are biological and environmental influences but we can choose to reject them.
. Dosen't mean that there are external forces that dont influence use, we can just choose to look past them.
Hard determinism -
. Human behaviour has a cause and we can identify these causes
. Everything we do is dictated by 'internal' or 'external' factors' e.g. behaviourist approach
Soft determinism -
. Can identify potential causes of behaviour - we do have freedom to make our own choices.
Universality and bias - Gender bias including androcentrism, alpha and beta bias
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Alpha bias - Differences between the two sexes are exaggerated Beta bias - Differences between the two sexes are ignored
Androcentrism - means being centered on, or dominated by males - can be conscious or unconscious. Most of the past psychologists were males and so, results tend to represent a male view of the world
EI - Consequences of any research in terms of the effects of indivudal particpants / the way in which certain groups are subsequently regarded
Social sensitivity - studies in which there are potential consequences or implications either for the participants / for the individuals represented by the research
ETHICAL ISSUES - deception, privacy / confidentiality, informed consent and protection from harm.