approaches issues and debates - evaluation grid

8/12/2019 Approaches Issues and Debates - Evaluation Grid

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For use withA2 Level Psychologyby Michael W. Eysenck

Published by Psychology Press. Copyright 2009 Psychology Press

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 withoutconsiderable skill in using evaluation.

Issuesinclude bias (culture- or gender-based), ethics (for human and non-human animal participants), methodology. Debatesinclude nature/nurture, free will and determinism, reductionism. Approachesinclude 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 youare 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.


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PSY3: BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS AND SLEEP

Sub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you! Further resources

Biological Rhythms Culture biasmany

cultures have a siesta so

their sleep rhythm is not

circadian; case studiesand small samples are

not generalisable; animal

studies might or might

not be generalisable

The siesta behaviour

suggests nurture as well

as nature is involved in

the circadian sleeprhythm

Very biological, but

some research suggests

individual differences

Try writing a 15-minute

evaluation of the

research into biological

rhythms using theseand/or other ideas

Check the online

chapters on Approaches,

Issues, and Debates for

additional material to useas evaluation

Sleep States Can we assume that

researchers see normalsleep states when

participants are wired up

and in a laboratory? Isthere a validity or

mundane realism issue

here?

Endogenous and

exogenous control showsnature and nurture

This reductionist stages-

of-sleep approach doesnot explain the

differences between how

long people sleep, orhow sleep for an

individual varies

In what ways can non-

human animal studieshelp our understanding

of sleep, and what are the

ethical issues of usinganimals in this way?

Check out what validity

means, e.g. in Searle, A.(1999)Introducing

Research and Data in

Psychology(Routledge),p. 75

Disorders of Sleep What issues are there

when researching a

disorder? What are the

ethical concerns for sucha sensitive topic?

Is insomnia a genetic

condition (nature), or

learned (nurture)? What

sort of research couldhelp answer this

question?

Can you contrast what

the psychodynamic

approach might say

about somnambulismwith the biological

approach?

Consider what factors

can affect a persons

sleep. Can you write a

10-minute answer onhow psychological

knowledge could be

applied to support an

individual withinsomnia?

Go to www.bbc.co.uk

and search for sleep

disorders


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PSY3: RELATIONSHIPSSub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you Further reading

The Formation,

Maintenance, and

Breakdown of

Romantic

Relationships

Culture bias shows up

here, also zeitgeist; very

northern European view

of romantic relationshipsi.e. individualist, and

very mid twentieth

century

Do we have free will in

choosing romantic

partners, or are we

influenced or constrainedby our social group,

social/economic status,

and expectations?

Social factors would

support several theories,

but the cognitive

approach is alsosuggested e.g. for equity

theory

Pick one of these ideas,

or choose another, and

write a 20-minute

evaluation of the theoriesof romantic

relationships, including

discussion, evidence, and

explanations

Check out the section on

free will (and

determinism) in the

online Debates inPsychology chapter

Human

Reproductive

Behaviour

What could be more

socially sensitive thanthis? Private behaviour

will always be difficult

to research; areparticipants likely to be

representative of the

population?

Free will does not seem

to feature here.Behaviour is determined

by our genes, reduced to

our biological drive tomate and reproduce

The evolutionary or

biological approachignores culture, social

norms, emotions, and

more

Write a 10-minute

discussion of the prosand cons of the

evolutionary approach or

explanation of thisbehaviour, identifying

strengths and

weaknesses

Jarviss (2000)Theoretical Approaches

in Psychology(Routledge), has an

interesting short sectionon mate selection and

evolutionary psychology

Effects of Early

Experience and

Culture on Adult

Relationships

Adolescence and

childhood are sensitive

topics to many; looking

back from the adult statealso has methodological

issues

The topic title suggests

that nurture may be more

influential than nature,

but this ignorestemperament, which is

mainly genetic

Both psychodynamic and

behavioural approaches

can apply

Construct a mind map, or

other detailed plan, of

how you could discuss

the ethical issuesinvolved in researching

early experiences

relating to adult

relationships

The excellent, and very

interesting, chapter on

socially sensitive

research in Banyard andFlanagans (2005)

Ethical Issues and

Guidelines in

Psychology(Routledge),is well worth reading


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PSY3: AGGRESSIONSub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you Further reading

Social Psychological

Approaches to

Explaining

Aggression

Aggression is anti-socialbehaviour, so

researching it is

sensitive; also, whatcounts as aggression

varies from one cultural

group to another

If aggression is learnedas a child from the

domestic environment, is

this behaviourdetermined by that

environment as well as

the effect of nurture?

Learning theory, faultycognition? What about

genes, hormones,

neurochemicals?

Mind map, or plan insome other way with

detailed discussion

points, the debates aboutaggression

Clarke (2003) has aninteresting section on

personality and

aggression in Pro-Social

and Anti-Social

Behaviour(Routledge)

Biological

Explanations of

Aggression

Research suggests the

brains limbic system has

a causal function; alsothe pre-frontal cortex and

amygdala. But can we

generalise from animalstudies to humans; or

from murderers to the

population?

Some biological

evidence suggests

aggression could bepartly innate, so is this

determinism? Does this

absolve those peoplefrom censure?

This biological approach

ignores alternative or

additional explanationsand factors such as

cognitive, emotional, and

social

Write a 10-minute

discussion of the

alternative or additionalfactors ignored by the

biological approach

The online chapter

Approaches in

Psychology has a sectionon the biological

approach which is really

useful reading

Aggression as an

Adaptive Response

We cannot test

evolutionary biologicalexplanations, and evenlooking at current very

non-industrial cultures

cannot compensate for

this lack of empiricalevidence, however

appealing the

evolutionary explanation

This is an extreme nature

explanation, with littlenurture; it is alsodeterministic and

reductionist, which

makes it a narrow

explanation when oneconsiders the complexity

of human behaviour

The evolutionary

approach is part of thebiological approach, andignores many social and

other factors, though

learning theory and

identity do support someof the explanations

Write a 15-minute

discussion on the issuesaround evolutionaryexplanations, giving

clear explanations

The online chapter

Approaches inPsychology has a sectionon the evolutionary

approach which is really

useful reading


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PSY3: EATING BEHAVIOURSub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you Further reading

Eating Behaviour Food and eating areemotive and sensitive

issues. To some, food

can equate to love; tothose who have

insufficient food, it

means life. Westernresearch assumes no

shortage of food, so this

is a bias issue

Clearly the need to eat isnature (innate), but what,

and how, and when we

eat is nurture. In somewealthy cultures,

individuals can choose

what and when they eat,

which could illustratefree will, but in other

cultures there is nochoice

Several approachescould explain this

behaviour, such as the

psychodynamic,behavioural, and

biological views; there

are also social factorsthat could affect eating

behaviours

Discuss, in a 15-minutewritten answer with clear

explanations and

examples, how cultureaffects eating behaviour

Access the BBCswebsite www.bbc.co.uk

and search food and

mood

Biological

Explanations of

Eating Behaviour

Much of the empirical

evidence is based onnon-human animals,

which involves at least

two issues, the ethical

issue and the

generalisation issue

The common preference

across many, but not all,cultures for alcohol,

could suggest some

biological determinism

Biological explanations,

including evolutionaryones apply strongly, with

their strengths and also

their weaknesses

Mind map, or use

another strategy, to makea detailed plan of how

you would organise a

discussion on the use of

non-human animals in

this researchEating Disorders Main issues with any

disorder are the social

sensitivity; the ethics

such as gaining informed

consent to studyparticipants with

disorders; the small

sample size, and genderand cultural bias

Neither free will nordeterminism explain why

some and not the

majority of people do not

develop these disorders.Nature, and also nurture,

might be able to go some

way to explaining this

Biological andpsychodynamic

explanations do not deal

with the effect of culture

here; also the majority ofWestern girls do not

develop these disorders,

which most approachesdo not explain

Write a 15-minutediscussion explaining

why/how the debates

relate or do not relate to

these disorders

Banyard and Flanagan(2005) inEthical Issues

and Guidelines in

Psychology(Routledge),

have an interestingsection on dealing with

cultural sensitivity


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PSY3: GENDERSub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you Further reading

Psychological

explanations of

Gender

Development

The social sensitivity of

gender issues, e.g.

gender stereotyping and

prejudice; genderdifference studies and

sample size

Nature and nurture

why is there little

difference in IQ but

much larger differencesin school achievement

between the sexes?

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 debateidentified here

Abbots (2001) Social

and Personality

Development(Routledge), has goodsections on gender

development

Biological Influences

on Gender

An issue here is that

seeing gender-relatedbehaviours as

biologically driven canlead to bias if an

individual does not show

the typical genderbehaviour expected

The biological

determinism of theevolutionary explanation

does not allow for thevariety of behaviours

seen within each gender

in everyday life

Learning theory vs.

evolutionary explanation

For either the biosocial

or the evolutionaryexplanation, draw up a

list of discussion pointsfor and against the

theory, including

evidence andexplanations

The evaluation of the

evolutionary explanationis covered very clearly in

the online chapterApproaches in

Psychology

Social Contexts of

Gender Role

Cross-cultural studies

give global and valid,rather than ethnocentric,

data about gender roles

Social factors show the

importance andinteraction of nature and

nurture

Social factors are clearly

important but thebiological approach is

also relevant and should

not be ignored

Mind map, or use

another strategy, to planan essay discussing the

effects of social

influence and culture on

gender development

Search the BBC site

www.bbc.co.uk, forgender development

for more information


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PSY3: INTELLIGENCE AND LEARNINGSub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you Further reading

Theories of

Intelligence

Different groups and

cultures define

intelligence differently,

yet research focuses on anarrow definition

The cultural aspects of

intelligence suggest that

much research is

wrongly determinist inits assumptions

Cognitive vs.

behaviouralthough

neither addresses

emotional IQ

Mind map, or use

another strategy, to

produce a detailed plan

for an essay discussingone theory of

intelligence, including

evidence and

explanations

Banyards (1999)

Controversies in

Psychology(Routledge),

has a good section onpsychometric tests, such

as IQ tests

Animal Learning

and Intelligence

A main ethical issue is

the use of non-humananimals in research, even

in research about

themselves

Conditioning studies

have quite a reductionistbasis, as in A follows or

leads to B; this is

challenged by theecological explanation

because of e.g. instinct

The behavioural

approach is challengedby studies showing self

recognition and social

learning

Write a 10-minute

answer discussing theevidence for animal

learning and what this

tells us

Search for octopus +

IQ tests onwww.bbc.co.ukand read

the CBBC report, then

watch the videos todecide whether you think

the tests are valid

Evolution ofIntelligence

It is impossible to gathersignificant amounts of

empirical evidence for an

evolutionary theory,

even though the fossilrecord does provide

some such

The ongoing debate hereis that we can only guess

the influences of nature

and nurture, because of

lack of evidence, plus thefact that we are unable to

assess the genetics of

intelligence; only brain

size and structure

Evolutionary, alsocognitive and social

explanations, join here

Write a 15-minutediscussion of the

influence of ecological

demands OR social

complexity and brainsize on the evolution of

human intelligence

If you Google humanevolution you can

watch the video clip

Human Evolution: The

Evidence


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PSY3: COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENTSub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Approach(es) Over to you Further reading

Development of

Thinking

Methodological issues

include sample size and

experimenter bias

Assuming that all

children develop

cognitively in the same

way implies adeterminist view, which

other evidence

challenges

Biological and cognitive

explanations combine

with social factorsthey

are not mutuallyexclusive

Map out in detail the

support and the

challenges you could use

in a discussion of onetheory of cognitive

development

There is an interesting

section on Issues in

Oakleys (2004)Cognitive Development(Routledge)

Development ofMoral

Understanding

Ethical issues relate tohaving children as

participants, especiallywhen judgements are

being made about other

sensitive areas such asmorality

Kohlbergs view can beregarded as reductionist

in that the focus is oncognition, with human

emotions being ignored

The cognitiveexplanation is useful, but

emotions also play animportant part

Write a 15-minutediscussion of the

challenges to one theoryof moral development,

including evidence and

explanation

Oakley (2004) has astimulating section on

gender and moraldevelopment in

Cognitive Development(Routledge)

Development of

Social Cognition

Researching a disorder is

always highly sociallysensitive, especially if

there is a suggestion of a

genetic input or a gender

issue

Theories can be regarded

as biologicallydeterministic, because

cognitive factors are

emphasised, based on

brain function, andmotivation tends to be

overlooked

Both biological and

cognitive explanationscontribute here, but other

factors are also needed in

the explanations

Compare the theory of

mind and theperspective-taking

theories, looking for

points in common and

points of difference.Organise your points into

a table

Search the BBC website

www.bbc.co.ukforarticles on Theory of

Mind


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PSY4: PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Sub-topic Issue(s) Debate(s) Over to you Further reading

Clinical

Characteristics +

Issues Surrounding

Classification and

Diagnosis

Ethical issues are concerned with

the sensitivity of researching

disorders, such as the giving ofinformed consent. There are also

the methodological issues, such

as the artificiality of criteria and

the cut-off between normal anddisordered; and there are cross-cultural differences in what is

considered abnormal behaviour

The classification systems

could be argued to be

determinism in action

Write a 10-minute discussion

on the three issues identified

here, including examples andexplanations

Jarvis (2000) section on the

importance of language and

culture in Theoretical

Approaches in Psychology(Routledge) is short, but makes

key points

Biological

Explanations and

Therapies

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?

Nature and nurture is an

obvious debate, linking to the

cross-cultural issues; geneticexplanations also link to

biological determinism

Write a 10-minute answer

discussing evidence about the

validity of these therapies

Caves (1999) Therapeutic

Approaches in Psychology

(Routledge) is worth dipping intofor extra information

Psychological

Explanations and

Therapies

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?

Nature and nurture is an

obvious debate, linking to the

cross-cultural issues. Geneticexplanations also link to

biological determinism,

whereas social and culturalfactors are nurture, and couldindicate some free will

Mind map, or use another

strategy, to plan a detailed

discussion about cultural andsocial effects in explanations

of abnormality

Caves (1999) Therapeutic

Approaches in Psychology

(Routledge) is worth dipping intofor extra information


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For use withA2 Level Psychologyby Michael W. EysenckPublished by Psychology Press. Copyright 2009 Psychology Press

PSY4: MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY


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 pro-

social behaviour,

including evidence

and evaluation

The section on media

influences is worth

reading in Clarkes

(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 communicatorare 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 non-

cognitive 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 thatwhich 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 researchidentifies innate

characteristics (e.g.

personality and

intelligence) as

relevant factors

Several approaches

could contribute

explanations; biologicalfor personality;

cognitive for obsessive

thinking; but emotional

and attachment factors

also seem pertinent

Write a 15-minute

discussion of the

AbsorptionAddiction model,

including evidence

and evaluation

Search the BBC site

for celebrity

worshipwww.bbc.co.uk


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PSY4: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOUR


Models ofAddictive

Behaviour

There is no clear, accepted definitionof addiction. Also, addiction and

addicts are examples of a socially

sensitive research area, and so extra

ethical concerns apply

The biologicalexplanations 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-minutediscussion including

evidence of either

the biological or the

behavioural

explanation of

addiction

Search theNewScientistwebsite 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

biopsychosocialapproach or Davies

stage model

AnotherNew Scientist

article looks at a case

study of gambling,

titledHooked: Why

your brain is primed

for addictionwww.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 ofresearch comparing therapies if this

shows that any have little usefulness

Do addicts have free

will over their

addiction? Is

addictive behaviour

determined eitherbiologically or

socially?

Clearly the cognitive

approach has impact on

reducing addictive

behaviour, but many

other factors areinvolved, such as

emotions, and social

and environmental

barriers

Choose one

biological and one

psychological

therapy and write a

15-minute discussionincluding evidence

and evaluation of the

two therapies

The BBC website has

some alternative ideas

on addiction therapy,

but is there research

evidence?


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PSY4: ANOMALISTIC PSYCHOLOGY


Theoretical and

Methodological

Issues in the

Study of

Anomalous

Experience

Pseudoscience, reliability, and validity

of evidence, fraudall 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 earlychildhood experiences

Construct a simple

table of the evidence

for differences

between

superstitious and

non-superstitious

people

Searching theNew

Scientistwebsite for

near death

experience gives

some interesting

articles on, for

example, producingsimilar experiences in

the laboratory

www.newscientist.co

m

Belief in

Exceptional

Experience

Considerable sensitivity should be

shown when researching, and

therefore questioning, participantsbeliefs. 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, andwhere any belief is

involved, as these

are the result of the

individuals

environment

Cognitive explanations

are relevant, modified

by personal experienceand possible innate

factors

Write a 15-minute

discussion and

evaluation of theevidence supporting

the validity of

exceptional

experiences

New Scientisthas a

good article on the

Power of Belief

www.newscientist.co

m

approaches issues and debates - evaluation grid

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