Transcript Document 7658485

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A spectrum of two concepts.
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A disagreement about a range of issues.
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The different positions lead to different
approaches.
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Holism
Emphasis on the
whole person.
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Gestalt Psychology.
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Reductionism
Breaking down
complex issues into
simpler parts
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Biological
Reductionism.
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Hierarchy of
sciences.
Interactionist
Approach.
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Human behaviour is
complex.
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It should be looked
at as a whole rather
than in parts.
1915-1945.
 Gestalt – German, meaning ‘whole
configuration’.
 “The whole of behaviour and experience
is more than the sum of its parts”.
 Kohler (1925) demonstrated insight
learning in chimpanzee’s.
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Explains human
behaviour in terms of
links or interactions
between different
levels of
explanations.
 Takes biological,
psychological, social,
etc factors into
account to build a
better understanding.
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Provides a complete picture.
 Does not ignore the complexity of
behaviour.
 The person is seen as an entity to be
considered in its own right.
 Seeks to integrate different components
in order to understand the person as a
whole.
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Does not lend itself to scientific inquiry
and empirical testing.
 Tends to neglect the importance of
biological explanations specifically the
role of genes.
 More hypothetical than lower-level
reductionist explanations and theories
lack the predictive power of a scientific
explanation.
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Complex
phenomena can
be explained by
breaking them
down into separate
simpler
components.
Attempts to explain
all behaviour in
terms of biology.
 Assumes continuity
of behaviour
between animals
and humans.
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Less precise, more
general sciences at
the top.
More narrowly
focused and
precise sciences at
the bottom.
Watson: “There is
only one science,
Physics: the rest is
just social work”.
Sociology
Psychology
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Has brought with it both analytic and
scientific ways of attempting to
understand and explain behaviour.
 Scientific investigation allows for
empirical investigation.
 Demonstrates how biology is for
understanding and explaining
behaviour.

May lead to an over simplistic view of
behaviour – the complexity is missed.
 Many theories have been developed
but no attempt has been made to
combine the theories.
 Some physicists argue it suffers from an
infinite regress – parts can be reduced
endlessly.
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Schizophrenia – in terms of
neurotransmitters and genes
(Reductionist) – in terms of socio-cultural
explanations (higher level; more holistic).
 Humanistic – a person can only be
understood as a whole (Holistic).
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Idiographic
 Focus on the individual
and recognition of
uniqueness.
 Private, subjective and
conscious
experiences.
 Qualitative methods of
investigation.
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Nomothetic
Attempts to establish
laws and
generalisations about
people.
Three kinds of laws.
Objective knowledge
through scientific
methods.
Quantitative methods
of investigation.
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Suggests everyone is
unique and
therefore every one
should be studied in
an individual way.
No general laws are
possible because of
chance, free will and
the uniqueness of
individuals.
Tends to include quantitative data,
investigating individuals in a personal
and detailed way.
 Methods of research include: case study,
unstructured interviews, self-reports,
autobiographies and personal
documents.

Provides a more complete or global
understanding of the individual.
 Satisfies key aim of science – description
and understanding of behaviour.
 Findings can serve as a source of ideas
or hypotheses for later study.
 The focuses mean the individual feels
valued and unique.
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Difficult to generalise from detailed
subjective knowledge about one person.
 Often regarded as non-scientific as
subjective experience cannot be
empirically tested.
 Largely neglects biological, especially
genetic, influences.
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Focuses on similarities between people.
 Attempts to establish laws and
generalisations about people.
 Laws can be categorised into three
kinds: classifying people into groups;
establishing principles and establishing
dimensions.
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Classifying people into groups:
› Such as the DSMIV for classifying people with
mood disorders.
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Establishing principles:
› Such as the behaviourist laws of learning.
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Establishing dimensions:
› Such as Eysenck’s personality inventory
which allows for comparisons between
people.
Uses scientific and quantitative data.
 Usually uses experiments and
observations.
 Group averages are statistically
analysed to create predictions about
people in general.
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Regarded as scientific as it is: precise
measurement; prediction and control of
behaviour; investigations of large groups;
objective and controlled methods
allowing replication and generalisation.
 Has helped psychology as a whole
become scientific by developing laws
and theories which can be empirically
tested.
 Combines biological and social aspects.
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Predictions can be made about groups
but these may not apply to individuals.
 Approach has been accused of losing
sight of the ‘whole person’.
 Gives a superficial understanding –
people may act the same but for
different reasons.
 Extensive use of controlled laboratory
experiments creates a lack of
generalisation to everyday life.

Both have a role but relative value of
each depends on the purpose of the
research.
 Two approaches can be
complementary – idiographic can
further develop a nomothetic law.
 Both can contribute to scientific
approach – idiographic suited to
description; nomothetic to predictions.
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Child development – Bowlby’s maternal
deprivation theory (Nomothetic).
 Memory – case studies on how memory
is affected by brain damage
(Idiographic complemented
nomothetic, furthering general laws).
 Humanistic – emphasises individual
(Idiographic)
 Psychodynamic – use of case studies
(Idiographic).
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Free Will
The ability to make
decisions and
choose behaviours
freely.
How is it tested?
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Determinism
All behaviour is
caused by prior
events.
Internal and
external.
Hard and soft
determinism.
Biological, psychic
and environmental
determinism.
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Dictionary – A
hypothetical and
often reified internal
agency that
functions
independently of
externally imposed
forces.
Cannot meet the rigours of scientific
testing due to the lack of an operational
definition.
 Abstract and hypothetical concepts
have to be turned into measureable and
observable operations.
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Allows individual differences and the
uniqueness of a person.
 Observable that some people choose to
act in a way different to others.

Difficult to measure/prove.
 Difficult to accept an explanation of
behaviour if we follow free will.
 Not scientific.
 Nearly always there are some sort of
forces in making a decision.
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All behaviour is
caused by
underlying factors.
Internal Determinism
 Internal causes of
behaviour are seen
as causes of
behaviour.
 Such as biological
factors and mental
processes.
External Determinism
 Behaviour occurs
because there is a
cause in the
environment.
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Hard Determinism
Behaviour is caused
by events outside
one’s personal
control.
See’s free will as an
illusion as behaviour
is always predictable
and therefore
determined.
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Soft Determinism
Behaviour is
determined or
caused by a
person’s own
character, wishes or
conscious desires.
A compromise – free
will plays a part but
there are always
other forces.
Includes the controlling role of different
parts of the brain, hormonal system and
genetics on behaviour.
 Some studies have indicated a genetic
predisposition towards some behaviours.
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Represented by Freud’s psychodynamic
theory.
 Human behaviour, thoughts and feelings
are caused by the life and death
instincts and by repressed conflicts,
wishes and memories in the unconscious
mind.
 Because it is unconscious people believe
they are free.
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Behaviour is caused by factors within the
external environment.
 The power of the situation (as
demonstrated by Asch and Milgram)
and how social factors can have a
strong effect on behaviour.
 Free will is seen as an illusion.
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More scientific as it can be measured.
 Has a compromise for free will and
explains why it seems as if it is free will
when in reality it is not.
 Can be applied to many areas of
psychology.
 Helps Psychology be seen as a science
as it means all behaviour is predictable
and can be controled.
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Some behaviour is unpredictable and
does not follow the
conventions/predictions.
 Takes away individuals choices and
uniqueness.
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Obedience – Milgrim’s participants felt
that had to obey him (Deterministic).
 Offending behaviour – most theories
include some elements of determinism.
 Humanistic – people direct their own
lives and goals (Free will).
 Cognitive – people select what they
want (Soft determinism).
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Nature
The effect of genes.
Methods of
investigating effect
of Nature.
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Nurture
The effect of the
environment.
Types of
environmental
influence.
Levels of
environment.
Methods of
investigating effect
of Nurture.
Nature - Introduction
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Concerned with how
genes influence
behaviour.
Genes are passed to
offspring from the
parents.
Genotype.
Nature – Methods of
Investigating
Twin Studies – Using MZ twins; if they have
a high concordance nature must play a
part.
 Adoption studies – If the offspring act the
same as their biological parents rather
than adoptive parents nature must play
a part.
 Largely scientific.
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Nature – Strengths
Can be seen in many studies that Nature
has a large part.
 Experiments have influenced useful
applications for treatments.
 Scientifically tested.
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Nature - Limitations
Neglects the role of the environment.
 Often hard to find twins or adoption
studies to relate to the topic of interest.
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Nurture - Introduction
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Concerned with the
role of the
environment.
The environment
shapes all of a
persons personality
and behaviours.
Phenotype.
Nurture – Types of
Environmental Influence
External and individual.
 Post-natal.
 Acting on a passive individual.
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Nurture – Levels of Environment
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Lerner (1986).
The influence of the
environment can be
narrow, such as prenatal, or more
general, such as
sociocultural
environment.
Sociocultural-historical level
Physical Environmental Level
Individual Psychological Level
Inner Biological Level
Mother’s Psychological state During Pregnancy
Mother’s Psychological State
Postbirth Experiences
Where and when born
Nurture – Methods of
Investigation
Twin studies – Using MZ twins reared
apart; if there is low concordance
nurture may play a large part.
 Adoption studies – If there is a high
concordance between adoptive
parents and low concordance between
biological parents nurture may play a
large part.
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Nurture – Strengths
Takes the environment into
consideration.
 Has created useful treatments such as
behaviour therapy.
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Nurture - Limitations
Neglects the biological impact on
behaviour.
 Often hard to find twins or adoption
studies that satisfy the needs of a
relevant topic of interest.
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Nature/Nurture Relating to
Topics
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Biological – all behaviour is due to innate
forces (Nature).
Behaviourist – all behaviour is due to
environmental forces (Nurture).
Gender – Batista Boys; hormones overtook
upbringing (Nature).
Schizophrenia – Family and twin studies show
high concordance rates (Nature).
Child Development – Harlow’s Monkeys; they
attached because of external forces (Nurture).