Approaches, Issues, and Debates for AQA A2 Psychology These are areas that are essential for good evaluation for the skills known as AO2 and AO3. You need to know which are relevant to each sub-topic, and then practise using them on sample/past questions. You cannot do well in A2 without considerable skill in using evaluation. Issues include bias (culture- or gender-based), ethics (for human and non-human animal participants), methodology. Debates include nature/nurture, free will and determinism, reductionism. Approaches include cognitive, biological/physiological, behavioural/learning, and psychodynamic. You need to practise using these to comment on, to evaluate, to identify strengths and weaknesses, and to explain the points you are making. Below is a set of grids, one for each A2 topic, with suggestions about appropriate/relevant issues, debates, and approaches to use in evaluation. Checking these out and doing the Over to you! sections will help you score good marks in your exam answers. NOTE: Only some, not all, issues/debates/approaches apply to any one sub-topic or essay question.
PSY3: BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS AND SLEEP Sub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you! Further resources Biological Rhythms Culture bias many cultures have a siesta so their sleep rhythm is not circadian; case studies and small samples are not generalisable; animal studies might or might not be generalisable Sleep States Disorders of Sleep Can we assume that researchers see normal sleep states when participants are wired up and in a laboratory? Is there a validity or mundane realism issue here? What issues are there when researching a disorder? What are the ethical concerns for such a sensitive topic? The siesta behaviour suggests nurture as well as nature is involved in the circadian sleep rhythm Endogenous and exogenous control shows nature and nurture Is insomnia a genetic condition (nature), or learned (nurture)? What sort of research could help answer this question? Very biological, but some research suggests individual differences This reductionist stagesof-sleep approach does not explain the differences between how long people sleep, or how sleep for an individual varies Can you contrast what the psychodynamic approach might say about somnambulism with the biological approach? Try writing a 15-minute evaluation of the research into biological rhythms using these and/or other ideas In what ways can nonhuman animal studies help our understanding of sleep, and what are the ethical issues of using animals in this way? Consider what factors can affect a person s sleep. Can you write a 10-minute answer on how psychological knowledge could be applied to support an individual with insomnia? Check the online chapters on Approaches, Issues, and Debates for additional material to use as evaluation Check out what validity means, e.g. in Searle, A. (1999) Introducing Research and Data in Psychology (Routledge), p. 75 Go to www.bbc.co.uk and search for sleep disorders
PSY3: PERCEPTION Theories of Perceptual Organisation Development of Perception Some research studies are based on deception, such as the visual illusions. When or why might such deception be ethically acceptable? The majority of research in this area is based on western individuals and groups. What assumption did the researchers make which leads to criticism that they showed cultural bias? Face Recognition Studies of brain damage and Visual Agnosias can give valuable information, but to what extent would you consider such a patient capable of giving fully informed consent? How might this issue be dealt with? Emotional and motivational factors are ignored in theories of perception, so these could be described as being reductionist Cross-cultural and other studies have shown that both nature and nurture are involved in the development of perception Research suggests that the ability to recognise faces (as opposed to other stimuli) is determined by the brain, in the right fusiform face area, which would make this biological determinism Gregory s theory is cognitive, and includes the importance of memory. How does this differ from Gibson s theory? The importance of the eyes and brain support a biological approach to perceptual development, but this goes hand-inhand with environmental factors, so that we make sense of what we see Both the cognitive and biological approaches must apply here; cognitive for memory of faces, and biological for recognition and processing of visual input Pick one of the issues, debates, or approaches points and write a 10- minute evaluation based on your choice Plan, using a mind map or other technique, how you could write a 20- minute answer on nature and nurture and perceptual development, evaluating each approach with examples and explanations The very small number of people with visual agnosia means that research is inevitably biased. Does this mean the research has little value? Write a 10-minute answer to this question giving your arguments, justification, evidence, and explanations Check out experimental reductionism in the online Debates in Psychology chapter The visual illusion section of the Nature Nurture chapter in Bell s (2002) Debates in Psychology (Routledge), is worth a close look The neurophysiology section in Jarvis (2000) Theoretical Approaches in Psychology (Routledge), is a very useful and quite detailed account of brain structure and function
PSY3: RELATIONSHIPS The Formation, Maintenance, and Breakdown of Romantic Relationships Human Reproductive Behaviour Effects of Early Experience and Culture on Adult Relationships Culture bias shows up here, also zeitgeist; very northern European view of romantic relationships i.e. individualist, and very mid twentieth century What could be more socially sensitive than this? Private behaviour will always be difficult to research; are participants likely to be representative of the population? Adolescence and childhood are sensitive topics to many; looking back from the adult state also has methodological issues Do we have free will in choosing romantic partners, or are we influenced or constrained by our social group, social/economic status, and expectations? Free will does not seem to feature here. Behaviour is determined by our genes, reduced to our biological drive to mate and reproduce The topic title suggests that nurture may be more influential than nature, but this ignores temperament, which is mainly genetic Social factors would support several theories, but the cognitive approach is also suggested e.g. for equity theory The evolutionary or biological approach ignores culture, social norms, emotions, and more Pick one of these ideas, or choose another, and write a 20-minute evaluation of the theories of romantic relationships, including discussion, evidence, and explanations Write a 10-minute discussion of the pros and cons of the evolutionary approach or explanation of this behaviour, identifying strengths and weaknesses Check out the section on free will (and determinism) in the online Debates in Psychology chapter Jarvis s (2000) Theoretical Approaches in Psychology (Routledge), has an interesting short section on mate selection and evolutionary psychology Both psychodynamic and Construct a mind map, or The excellent, and very behavioural approaches can apply other detailed plan, of how you could discuss the ethical issues involved in researching early experiences relating to adult relationships interesting, chapter on socially sensitive research in Banyard and Flanagan s (2005) Ethical Issues and Guidelines in Psychology (Routledge), is well worth reading
PSY3: AGGRESSION Social Psychological Approaches to Explaining Aggression Biological Explanations of Aggression Aggression as an Adaptive Response Aggression is anti-social behaviour, so researching it is sensitive; also, what counts as aggression varies from one cultural group to another Research suggests the brain s limbic system has a causal function; also the pre-frontal cortex and amygdala. But can we generalise from animal studies to humans; or from murderers to the population? We cannot test evolutionary biological explanations, and even looking at current very non-industrial cultures cannot compensate for this lack of empirical evidence, however appealing the evolutionary explanation If aggression is learned as a child from the domestic environment, is this behaviour determined by that environment as well as the effect of nurture? Some biological evidence suggests aggression could be partly innate, so is this determinism? Does this absolve those people from censure? Learning theory, faulty cognition? What about genes, hormones, neurochemicals? This biological approach ignores alternative or additional explanations and factors such as cognitive, emotional, and social This is an extreme nature The evolutionary explanation, with little nurture; it is also deterministic and reductionist, which makes it a narrow explanation when one considers the complexity of human behaviour approach is part of the biological approach, and ignores many social and other factors, though learning theory and identity do support some of the explanations Mind map, or plan in some other way with detailed discussion points, the debates about aggression Write a 10-minute discussion of the alternative or additional factors ignored by the biological approach Write a 15-minute discussion on the issues around evolutionary explanations, giving clear explanations Clarke (2003) has an interesting section on personality and aggression in Pro-Social and Anti-Social Behaviour (Routledge) The online chapter Approaches in Psychology has a section on the biological approach which is really useful reading The online chapter Approaches in Psychology has a section on the evolutionary approach which is really useful reading
PSY3: EATING BEHAVIOUR Eating Behaviour Biological Explanations of Eating Behaviour Eating Disorders Food and eating are emotive and sensitive issues. To some, food can equate to love; to those who have insufficient food, it means life. Western research assumes no shortage of food, so this is a bias issue Much of the empirical evidence is based on non-human animals, which involves at least two issues, the ethical issue and the generalisation issue Main issues with any disorder are the social sensitivity; the ethics such as gaining informed consent to study participants with disorders; the small sample size, and gender and cultural bias Clearly the need to eat is Several approaches nature (innate), but what, could explain this and how, and when we behaviour, such as the eat is nurture. In some psychodynamic, wealthy cultures, behavioural, and individuals can choose biological views; there what and when they eat, are also social factors which could illustrate that could affect eating free will, but in other behaviours cultures there is no choice The common preference across many, but not all, cultures for alcohol, could suggest some biological determinism Biological explanations, including evolutionary ones apply strongly, with their strengths and also their weaknesses Discuss, in a 15-minute Access the BBC s written answer with clear website www.bbc.co.uk explanations and and search food and examples, how culture mood affects eating behaviour Mind map, or use another strategy, to make a detailed plan of how you would organise a discussion on the use of non-human animals in this research Neither free will nor Biological and Write a 15-minute determinism explain why psychodynamic discussion explaining some and not the explanations do not deal why/how the debates majority of people do not with the effect of culture relate or do not relate to develop these disorders. here; also the majority of these disorders Nature, and also nurture, Western girls do not might be able to go some develop these disorders, way to explaining this which most approaches do not explain Banyard and Flanagan (2005) in Ethical Issues and Guidelines in Psychology (Routledge), have an interesting section on dealing with cultural sensitivity
PSY3: GENDER Psychological explanations of Gender Development Biological Influences on Gender Social Contexts of Gender Role The social sensitivity of gender issues, e.g. gender stereotyping and prejudice; gender difference studies and sample size An issue here is that seeing gender-related behaviours as biologically driven can lead to bias if an individual does not show the typical gender behaviour expected Cross-cultural studies give global and valid, rather than ethnocentric, data about gender roles Nature and nurture why is there little difference in IQ but much larger differences in school achievement between the sexes? The biological determinism of the evolutionary explanation does not allow for the variety of behaviours seen within each gender in everyday life Social factors show the importance and interaction of nature and nurture Cognitive theories apply here, but so also do social factors Write a 15-minute discussion on how a named theory can or cannot explain the debate identified here Learning theory vs. For either the biosocial evolutionary explanation or the evolutionary explanation, draw up a list of discussion points for and against the theory, including evidence and explanations Social factors are clearly important but the biological approach is also relevant and should not be ignored Mind map, or use another strategy, to plan an essay discussing the effects of social influence and culture on gender development Abbot s (2001) Social and Personality Development (Routledge), has good sections on gender development The evaluation of the evolutionary explanation is covered very clearly in the online chapter Approaches in Psychology Search the BBC site www.bbc.co.uk, for gender development for more information
PSY3: INTELLIGENCE AND LEARNING Theories of Intelligence Animal Learning and Intelligence Evolution of Intelligence Different groups and The cultural aspects of cultures define intelligence suggest that intelligence differently, much research is yet research focuses on a wrongly determinist in narrow definition its assumptions A main ethical issue is the use of non-human animals in research, even in research about themselves It is impossible to gather significant amounts of empirical evidence for an evolutionary theory, even though the fossil record does provide some such Cognitive vs. behavioural though neither addresses emotional IQ Conditioning studies The behavioural have quite a reductionist approach is challenged basis, as in A follows or by studies showing self leads to B ; this is recognition and social challenged by the learning ecological explanation because of e.g. instinct The ongoing debate here is that we can only guess the influences of nature and nurture, because of lack of evidence, plus the fact that we are unable to assess the genetics of intelligence; only brain size and structure Evolutionary, also cognitive and social explanations, join here Mind map, or use another strategy, to produce a detailed plan for an essay discussing one theory of intelligence, including evidence and explanations Write a 10-minute answer discussing the evidence for animal learning and what this tells us Write a 15-minute discussion of the influence of ecological demands OR social complexity and brain size on the evolution of human intelligence Banyard s (1999) Controversies in Psychology (Routledge), has a good section on psychometric tests, such as IQ tests Search for octopus + IQ tests on www.bbc.co.uk and read the CBBC report, then watch the videos to decide whether you think the tests are valid If you Google human evolution you can watch the video clip Human Evolution: The Evidence
PSY3: COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT Development of Thinking Development of Moral Understanding Development of Social Cognition Methodological issues include sample size and experimenter bias Ethical issues relate to having children as participants, especially when judgements are being made about other sensitive areas such as morality Researching a disorder is always highly socially sensitive, especially if there is a suggestion of a genetic input or a gender issue Assuming that all children develop cognitively in the same way implies a determinist view, which other evidence challenges Kohlberg s view can be regarded as reductionist in that the focus is on cognition, with human emotions being ignored Biological and cognitive explanations combine with social factors they are not mutually exclusive The cognitive explanation is useful, but emotions also play an important part Map out in detail the support and the challenges you could use in a discussion of one theory of cognitive development Write a 15-minute discussion of the challenges to one theory of moral development, including evidence and explanation Theories can be regarded Both biological and Compare the theory of as biologically cognitive explanations mind and the deterministic, because cognitive factors are contribute here, but other perspective-taking factors are also needed in theories, looking for emphasised, based on brain function, and motivation tends to be overlooked the explanations points in common and points of difference. Organise your points into a table There is an interesting section on Issues in Oakley s (2004) Cognitive Development (Routledge) Oakley (2004) has a stimulating section on gender and moral development in Cognitive Development (Routledge) Search the BBC website www.bbc.co.uk for articles on Theory of Mind
PSY4: PSYCHOPATHOLOGY Sub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Over to you Further reading Clinical Characteristics + Issues Surrounding Classification and Diagnosis Biological Explanations and Therapies Psychological Explanations and Therapies Ethical issues are concerned with the sensitivity of researching disorders, such as the giving of informed consent. There are also the methodological issues, such as the artificiality of criteria and the cut-off between normal and disordered; and there are crosscultural differences in what is considered abnormal behaviour Perhaps the main issue here is to what extent the therapy works and produces long-term benefit; also the question of validity, i.e. are the symptoms or the actual underlying cause being treated? A main issue here is to what extent the therapy works and produces long-term benefit; also, is there any cultural or social bias in the explanation? The classification systems could be argued to be determinism in action Nature and nurture is an obvious debate, linking to the cross-cultural issues; genetic explanations also link to biological determinism Nature and nurture is an obvious debate, linking to the cross-cultural issues. Genetic explanations also link to biological determinism, whereas social and cultural factors are nurture, and could indicate some free will Write a 10-minute discussion on the three issues identified here, including examples and explanations Write a 10-minute answer discussing evidence about the validity of these therapies Mind map, or use another strategy, to plan a detailed discussion about cultural and social effects in explanations of abnormality Jarvis (2000) section on the importance of language and culture in Theoretical Approaches in Psychology (Routledge) is short, but makes key points Cave s (1999) Therapeutic Approaches in Psychology (Routledge) is worth dipping into for extra information Cave s (1999) Therapeutic Approaches in Psychology (Routledge) is worth dipping into for extra information
PSY4: MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY Sub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you! Further resources Media Influences on Social Behaviour One ethical issue is giving participants media experiences, which might increase their anti-social tendencies The suggestion of media influences is clearly nurture, but temperament (which is nature) is a possible factor too Behaviourism or Learning Theory (including social learning) applies here, but social factors and biological ones also play a part Mind map, or use another technique, to plan a detailed discussion of media influences on prosocial behaviour, including evidence and evaluation The section on media influences is worth reading in Clarke s (2003) Pro-Social and Anti-Social Behaviour (Routledge) Persuasion, Attitude, and Change An important ethical issue is how psychological knowledge could be used; deliberately influencing attitudes is a good example of this. There are also methodological issues, such as self-reporting and correlational findings Nature and nurture are involved, as cognitive ability and personality are nature, but judgements about the communicator are likely to be more socially- or culturally-based, and therefore nurture Much of this is very cognitive in its approach, but other factors such as emotions and personality are also involved Write a 10-minute discussion including evidence on the noncognitive factors involved in persuasion and attitude change The BBC website search for persuasion links to an interesting article and video clip on how to persuade www.bbc.co.uk The Psychology of Celebrity Research has to be careful to make the distinction between celebrity worship which is not pathological, and that which is. There is also the issue of when fandom becomes intense, as this distinction is an artificial construct and could be a matter of opinion, thus questioning reliability and validity Nature could be more important than nurture, as research identifies innate characteristics (e.g. personality and intelligence) as relevant factors Several approaches could contribute explanations; biological for personality; cognitive for obsessive thinking; but emotional and attachment factors also seem pertinent Write a 15-minute discussion of the Absorption Addiction model, including evidence and evaluation Search the BBC site for celebrity worship www.bbc.co.uk
PSY4: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOUR Sub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you! Further resources Models of Addictive Behaviour There is no clear, accepted definition of addiction. Also, addiction and addicts are examples of a socially sensitive research area, and so extra ethical concerns apply The biological explanations suggest nature, whilst the learning or behavioural explanations involve nurture Behavioural, cognitive, and biological approaches all have contributions, as do social factors Write a 10-minute discussion including evidence of either the biological or the behavioural explanation of addiction Search the New Scientist website for an interesting comment on internet addiction www.newscientist.co m Factors Affecting Addictive Behaviour There are cultural issues as to which behaviours (and their extent) count as addictions Nature and nurture interact, as some factors are innate (such as personality) and others are environmental (such as advertising and social norms) Cognitive explanations are important (e.g. in attributional style), but there are many factors involved as the biopsychosocial explanation suggests Mind map, or use another technique, to produce a detailed plan of discussion including evidence of the factors in either the biopsychosocial approach or Davies stage model Another New Scientist article looks at a case study of gambling, titled Hooked: Why your brain is primed for addiction www.newscientist.co m Reducing Addictive Behaviour The social sensitivity of this psychopathology means that many addicts cannot accept that they are addicted, and/or feel powerless as well as ashamed. There is also the issue of research comparing therapies if this shows that any have little usefulness Do addicts have free will over their addiction? Is addictive behaviour determined either biologically or socially? Clearly the cognitive approach has impact on reducing addictive behaviour, but many other factors are involved, such as emotions, and social and environmental barriers Choose one biological and one psychological therapy and write a 15-minute discussion including evidence and evaluation of the two therapies The BBC website has some alternative ideas on addiction therapy, but is there research evidence?
PSY4: ANOMALISTIC PSYCHOLOGY Sub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you! Further resources Theoretical and Methodological Issues in the Study of Anomalous Experience Pseudoscience, reliability, and validity of evidence, fraud all important issues Write a detailed plan, such as a mind map, linking Ganzfeld studies to the three basic principles of science The BBC website has a video clip demonstrating how easy it is to produce fake results. Search for ESP in www.bbc.co.uk Factors Underlying Anomalous Experience Sensitivity is needed towards social or cultural norms in paranormal beliefs, such as superstitions and near-death experiences, or paranormal explanations of physiological states, such as sleep paralysis Nature is involved if the biological explanations are valid, but nurture is also a factor for norms and experiences The cognitive and biological approaches are important here, with possible cultural factors and psychodynamic explanations, such as the effects of early childhood experiences Construct a simple table of the evidence for differences between superstitious and non-superstitious people Searching the New Scientist website for near death experience gives some interesting articles on, for example, producing similar experiences in the laboratory www.newscientist.co m Belief in Exceptional Experience Considerable sensitivity should be shown when researching, and therefore questioning, participants beliefs. Methodologically there is an issue in that much exceptional experience has to be studied retrospectively, and that sample sizes are small and biased Nurture is clearly involved where a belief is cultural, and where any belief is involved, as these are the result of the individual s environment Cognitive explanations are relevant, modified by personal experience and possible innate factors Write a 15-minute discussion and evaluation of the evidence supporting the validity of exceptional experiences New Scientist has a good article on the Power of Belief www.newscientist.co m