Essays planned psych
Reductionism
+Social - agency theory. Reductionist as focuses on causation for obedience on
environmental factor of authority figure presence.
Milgram - 65. S as can make predictions on who will be obedient in society. However doesn’t
account for 35% so less useful as may ignore factors like personality.
-bio. Testosterone. Cortisol. By being reductionist ignores nurture so less useful as not a full
explanation
+LTs - SLT. Only focuses on role models. Becker - useful as strategies could be put in place
to reduce exposure to thin role models in media. But SLT may be considered holistic as it
considers both environmental and cog processes.
-Cog - RMM. Less reductionist as individual schema used to fill in gaps. Weakness as higher
validity as explains why people’s memories of the same event differ. Supported by war of the
ghost and individual diff ignored in reductionism so less useful as may miss key factors to
explain memory.
+Clin - NTS and SZ. Carlsson found giving ppt amphetamines more activity in basal ganglia
(movement and cognition) producing SZ symptomsA weakness is Carlsson’s meta analysis
found some SZ patients have normal dopamine levels suggesting treatment should be holistic
and not just focus on bio causes.
-Crim. MPA. Weakness is Maletsky who found reoffending rates the same for those who
took it and those who didn’t so focus on reduction in testosterone less useful - should
combine with CBT too. Also side effects can lead prisoners on release to seek out
testosterone to stop them.
Reductionism useful as you can narrow a behaviour down to one factor and test for cause and
effect to see the influence it has on behaviour. However may lead to social control.
Gender and culture
+Cog - cultural diff can be assessed via research across cultures. SHG - Spanish children
lower digit span and could consider English children having better memory. But research
from Wynn and Logie suggests memories personal to you and not subject to change over
time - shows some behaviour is universal
-Social - beta bias. Sherif. May not be an accurate reflection of gender and animosity.
+Bio - Dabb’s research on saliva samples of males. Alpha bias as exaggerates diff in males
and females, saying only males commit violent crime. Also Eyesenck thought only men
, could be psychopaths. By not assessing the role of test in female aggression not full
explanation of all aggression.
-gynocentric is where females are recorded and it is expected males will act the same. Becker
- only females. May only represent female imitation, not male so less predictive validity for
male EDs.
+clin - diff cultures have diff attitudes towards mental health disorders. Boogra- Afro-
Caribbean’s more likely to be diagnosed with SZ than white people. Suggests cultural bias in
clinicians.
-crim - sex offender treatment varies from culture to culture. MPA in US and Uk but in
Russia and Poland surgical cast ration. Maletsky
In conclusion, practical applications for focussing on specific cultures or genders as can make
predictions for that society or group. But difficult to generalise these results to other genders
and cultures - humans too unique.
Nature/nurture
Agency theory. Focus on nurture - environmental. Milgram - 65%. But also 35% - ignores
individual factors like personality
Bio - testosterone. Reductionist so can establish cause and effect. Ignores nature tho
Crim - labelling theory. Supported by Lieberman who found juveniles more likely to reoffend
after being arrested. However less useful as does not explain why they committed the crime
in the first place - nature may be the cause.
Clin - AN. Lesions. Anand - damage to lateral hypothalamus. But Becker so role models may
be implicated
LTs - classical conditioning. Little Albert. But Gibson and Walk. Bigger sample so fear
innate.
Cog - semantic and episodic memory. Case study of KC. Strength of nature as brain scans
objective. But case studies less reliable as unethical to repeat brain injury
Useful as can lead to combined treatment. But social control.
Ethics
Deception. Rosenhan. Strength as did not show social desirability
Reductionism
+Social - agency theory. Reductionist as focuses on causation for obedience on
environmental factor of authority figure presence.
Milgram - 65. S as can make predictions on who will be obedient in society. However doesn’t
account for 35% so less useful as may ignore factors like personality.
-bio. Testosterone. Cortisol. By being reductionist ignores nurture so less useful as not a full
explanation
+LTs - SLT. Only focuses on role models. Becker - useful as strategies could be put in place
to reduce exposure to thin role models in media. But SLT may be considered holistic as it
considers both environmental and cog processes.
-Cog - RMM. Less reductionist as individual schema used to fill in gaps. Weakness as higher
validity as explains why people’s memories of the same event differ. Supported by war of the
ghost and individual diff ignored in reductionism so less useful as may miss key factors to
explain memory.
+Clin - NTS and SZ. Carlsson found giving ppt amphetamines more activity in basal ganglia
(movement and cognition) producing SZ symptomsA weakness is Carlsson’s meta analysis
found some SZ patients have normal dopamine levels suggesting treatment should be holistic
and not just focus on bio causes.
-Crim. MPA. Weakness is Maletsky who found reoffending rates the same for those who
took it and those who didn’t so focus on reduction in testosterone less useful - should
combine with CBT too. Also side effects can lead prisoners on release to seek out
testosterone to stop them.
Reductionism useful as you can narrow a behaviour down to one factor and test for cause and
effect to see the influence it has on behaviour. However may lead to social control.
Gender and culture
+Cog - cultural diff can be assessed via research across cultures. SHG - Spanish children
lower digit span and could consider English children having better memory. But research
from Wynn and Logie suggests memories personal to you and not subject to change over
time - shows some behaviour is universal
-Social - beta bias. Sherif. May not be an accurate reflection of gender and animosity.
+Bio - Dabb’s research on saliva samples of males. Alpha bias as exaggerates diff in males
and females, saying only males commit violent crime. Also Eyesenck thought only men
, could be psychopaths. By not assessing the role of test in female aggression not full
explanation of all aggression.
-gynocentric is where females are recorded and it is expected males will act the same. Becker
- only females. May only represent female imitation, not male so less predictive validity for
male EDs.
+clin - diff cultures have diff attitudes towards mental health disorders. Boogra- Afro-
Caribbean’s more likely to be diagnosed with SZ than white people. Suggests cultural bias in
clinicians.
-crim - sex offender treatment varies from culture to culture. MPA in US and Uk but in
Russia and Poland surgical cast ration. Maletsky
In conclusion, practical applications for focussing on specific cultures or genders as can make
predictions for that society or group. But difficult to generalise these results to other genders
and cultures - humans too unique.
Nature/nurture
Agency theory. Focus on nurture - environmental. Milgram - 65%. But also 35% - ignores
individual factors like personality
Bio - testosterone. Reductionist so can establish cause and effect. Ignores nature tho
Crim - labelling theory. Supported by Lieberman who found juveniles more likely to reoffend
after being arrested. However less useful as does not explain why they committed the crime
in the first place - nature may be the cause.
Clin - AN. Lesions. Anand - damage to lateral hypothalamus. But Becker so role models may
be implicated
LTs - classical conditioning. Little Albert. But Gibson and Walk. Bigger sample so fear
innate.
Cog - semantic and episodic memory. Case study of KC. Strength of nature as brain scans
objective. But case studies less reliable as unethical to repeat brain injury
Useful as can lead to combined treatment. But social control.
Ethics
Deception. Rosenhan. Strength as did not show social desirability
