Contemporary debates (Section A): applying the five approaches to a current debate such as the ethics of neuroscience, the importance of mothering, conditioning children, the reliability of eyewitness testimony, and the value of positive psychology.

What this dot point is asking

Unit 2 Section A asks you to take a contemporary debate and discuss it by applying the five approaches, the evidence, and the issues on each side, then reach a conclusion. WJEC names example debates including the ethics of neuroscience, the importance of mothering (primary caregiving), the use of conditioning on children, the reliability of eyewitness testimony, and the value (relevance) of positive psychology. The skill is arguing a case from the approaches, not just describing them.

What a contemporary debate question wants

A debate question is an AO3-heavy task. You are not simply describing an approach; you are using approaches and studies as ammunition to argue a position and then to argue against it. The mark scheme rewards:

• a clear statement of what the debate is;
• arguments for, drawing on relevant approaches and evidence;
• arguments against, drawing on relevant approaches and evidence;
• a justified conclusion that weighs the two sides.

The named debates

The ethics of neuroscience

Brain scanning and brain-based interventions can diagnose and treat disorders and may inform fairer treatment of offenders, but risk misuse for surveillance, reduce behaviour to biology, and raise consent and privacy concerns. This debate draws on the biological approach.

The importance of mothering (primary caregiving)

Evidence such as Bowlby (1944) suggests early care shapes later development, supporting investment in mothering, but the focus on the mother is criticised as outdated and as ignoring fathers, multiple carers and culture. This draws on the psychodynamic approach and attachment research.

Conditioning children

Behaviourist principles (rewards, sticker charts, time-out) are effective for shaping behaviour and are widely used in parenting and schools, but critics argue conditioning can be manipulative, may undermine intrinsic motivation, and reduces children to learners of consequences. This draws on the behaviourist approach.

The reliability of eyewitness testimony

The cognitive approach, especially Loftus and Palmer (1974), shows leading questions and schemas distort memory, so testimony can be unreliable; yet careful questioning, the cognitive interview and corroboration can make it useful, so it should be treated with caution rather than dismissed.

The value of positive psychology

The positive approach offers practical, preventive ways to raise wellbeing and a hopeful view of human nature, but its concepts are hard to measure, much evidence is correlational, and it may be culturally biased, so its claims should be applied carefully.

How to structure a debate answer

Linking to the approaches

The strongest debate answers name the approach behind each argument. Eyewitness reliability is a cognitive debate; neuroscience ethics is a biological debate; conditioning children is a behaviourist debate; the importance of mothering draws on the psychodynamic approach and attachment; the value of positive psychology is a positive approach debate. Showing which approach supplies each argument signals the synoptic thinking WJEC rewards.

Examples in context

Example 1. Eyewitness testimony in a real trial. A conviction resting on a single, stressed eyewitness who was asked leading questions is risky, because Loftus and Palmer (1974) showed wording reconstructs memory. The debate concludes that such testimony needs corroboration, illustrating how evidence drives a judgement.

Example 2. Neuroscience and offending. If brain scans (as in Raine et al. 1997) link reduced prefrontal activity to violence, should this reduce an offender's responsibility? The benefit is fairer, more informed treatment; the risk is biological determinism and misuse, showing both sides of the neuroscience-ethics debate.

Try this

Q1. What three parts should a contemporary debate answer contain? [1 mark]

• Cue. Arguments for, arguments against, and a justified conclusion (after stating the debate).

Q2. Outline one argument for and one against the use of conditioning on children. [3 marks]

• Cue. For: reinforcement reliably shapes behaviour and is used successfully. Against: it can undermine intrinsic motivation and treats children as passive responders.

Q3. Explain how the cognitive approach contributes to the debate about the reliability of eyewitness testimony. [4 marks]

• Cue. Loftus and Palmer (1974) show leading questions reconstruct memory, and schemas distort recall, so the cognitive approach argues testimony can be unreliable.