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4.8 Issues and debates in Psychology

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What are the ethical implications of psychological research?

Ethical implications of research studies and theory, including reference to social sensitivity.
Covers AQA 4.8 ethical implications of research and theory, including socially sensitive research, its wider impact, and the issues researchers must consider.
10 min answer →

Do we have free will or is our behaviour determined?

Free will and determinism: hard determinism and soft determinism; biological, environmental and psychic determinism. The scientific emphasis on causal explanations.
Covers AQA 4.8 free will and determinism: hard and soft determinism, biological, environmental and psychic determinism, free will, and the scientific emphasis on causal explanations.
10 min answer →

How do gender and culture bias affect psychological research?

Gender and culture in psychology: universality and bias. Gender bias, including androcentrism and alpha and beta bias; cultural bias, including ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.
Covers AQA 4.8 gender and culture bias: universality, alpha and beta gender bias, androcentrism, cultural bias, ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.
10 min answer →

Should behaviour be explained by breaking it down or studying it as a whole?

Holism and reductionism: levels of explanation in psychology; biological reductionism and environmental (stimulus-response) reductionism.
Covers AQA 4.8 holism and reductionism: levels of explanation, biological reductionism, environmental (stimulus-response) reductionism, and the holistic approach.
10 min answer →

Should psychology study individuals or seek general laws?

Idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation.
Covers AQA 4.8 idiographic and nomothetic approaches: studying the individual in depth versus seeking general laws, with examples and evaluation.
10 min answer →

Is behaviour the product of nature or nurture?

The nature-nurture debate: the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour; the interactionist approach.
Covers AQA 4.8 the nature-nurture debate: heredity versus environment, the concept of heritability, the interactionist approach and concepts like diathesis-stress and epigenetics.
10 min answer →