issues and debates

• definition of ethics


  guidelines that protect ppts physchological and physical safety in research
• what are the ethics we consider

  . deception

  . debrief

  . right to withdraw

  . informed consent

  . privacy

  . protection from harm
• ethics - links to cognitive cons

  1 - in lab experiments: info is withheld to avoid demand characteristics - deception and lack of informed consent

  2 - S+HG: used children = implications for consent

  3 - HM = issues with informed consent and over-testing (protection from harm)
• ethics - link to cognitive pros/CA

  1 lab experiments: debriefs were used and ppts not subject to distress in memory tasks = good protection from harm

  3 - HM (+ case studies): confidentiality used by using initials to refer to patient
• what are practical issues

  decisions that affect a study's validity, reliability, and generalisability
• practical issues - link to cognitive pros

  1 - lab experiments eg Baddeley: high control so ability to establish cause and effects = high validity

  2 - case studies eg HM: in depth and multi-sided so shine light on aspects of human memory and behaviour that would be unethical or impractical to study in other ways
• practical issues - link to cognitive cons

  1 - lab experiments: lack mundane realism with use of artificial tasks = lacks ecological validity , elements of memory are difficult to measure and quantify eg central executive

  2 - case studies: only one person so cannot generalise findings to wider population
• what is reductionism


  breaking behavioural phenomenon down into parts - isolating behaviour, simplifying parts of behaviors
• what is holism


  looking at many aspects of a phenomenon/ levels of explanations and how they interact with one another
• examples of cognitive studies that are reductionist

  1 - MSM dividing memory into simple unitary stores

  2 - isolating memory into variables to provide a method of quantifying them and making them measurable eg Baddeley = reductionist
• examples of things that aren't reductionist within cognitive psychology

  1 - case studies: range of methods used to gather in depth knowledge - more holistic

  2 - cognitive approach argues behaviour is result of both nature and nurture = studies behaviour in a more holistic way

  3 - Bartlett: recognised this in his research where he took into account the impact of schemas
• what is meant by psychology as a science

  looking to see if psychology is scientific by looking into methods, research, etc used in theories and studies
• what are the elements of psychology as a science (FORCE)

  falsifiable, objective, reliable, credible, empirical
• what is meant by falsifiable

  are concepts measurable - can we support a null hypothesis or reject it
• what is meant by objective

  is data based on opinion or fact - qualitative or quantitative data
• what is meant by reliable

  if studies are controlled they are more likely to be reliable
• what is meant by credible

  if theories have empirical evidence to support them then they are considered credible
• what is meant by empirical

  is the topic area based on a body of evidence to support its theories and concepts
• parts of cognitive that are considered scientific

  1 - use of controls: lab experiments, hypothesis testing = scientific bc of the controls used to establish causality

  2 - replicability and reliability: use of lab exps and standardised procedures means we can replicate experiments

  3 - reductionist: isolating variables can improve scientificness as we can measure them independently
• parts of cognitive psychology that are considered not scientific

  1 - empiricism: elements of cognitive psych are difficult to measure physically

  2 - empiricism and reliability: use of case studies = non scientific as they rely on biographical info which is difficult to test scientifically

  3 - reliability and validity: Bartlett considered less scientific as WOG study lacked control
• what is culture bias

  bias resulting from research conducted in industrialised western societies so this view is over emphasised within current psychological thinking
• what is eurocentrism


  when we form judgements about other cultures based on culturally biased research
• what is gender bias

  when research either exaggerates differences between men and women (alpha-bias) or minimised them when differences do exist (beta-bias)
• what is androcentric bias

  when research is conducted on primarily male ppts but used to apply to all humans
• where is cultural bias seen

  S+HG - used western societies only

  Baddeley - used western cultured ppts
• where is gender bias seen

  HM - a man, used to apply to others who are women
• what is nature and nurture

  whether psychological characteristics are a product of genetic factors or environmental influence
• where is the role of nature seen in cognitive psychology

  1 - it assumes we are born with the hardware to make memories and recall them

  2 - we all have seperate memory stores in our memory

  3 - S+HG development of phonological loop with age
• where is the role of nurture seen in cognitive psychology

  1 - experiences shape the way that we process them (episodic)

  2 - schemas (our experiences influence how we encode and retrieve information from our memory)

  3 - state dependent recall
• what is understanding psychology developing over time

  understanding the historical situation in which an approach, theory, or research has been developed or been a dominant way of thinking
• where is understanding psychology developing over time seen in cognitive

  1 - MSM and research supporting it: Baddeley developed more comprehensive memory models over time (MSM unitary stores to in depth description of STM)
• what is the issue of social control

  concerns how knowledge derived from psychological research can be used to regulate or control peoples behaviour - can be used to benefit society or an individual but can have certain social and moral implications as can involve or imply direct behaviour manipulation
• where can issues of social control be seen within cognitive psychology

  EWT - research suggesting it is unreliable has been used as a form of social control, dictating who can testify and under what conditions they can give an accurate testimony
• what is meant by the use of psychological knowledge within society

  psychological knowledge has practical use within society. the application of it is far reaching and touches on many aspects of our everyday lives and in professional and clinical settings
• how has the use of psychological knowledge within society seen in cognitive

  1 Alzheimer's - WMM suggests issues with episodic buffer and difficulty using stores

  2 - education - using effective ways to revise and teach
• what is meant by issues related to socially sensitive research

  many studies have wider implications for society, researchers should consider: implications of researching controversial topics, the uses of psychological findings in society, the amount of influence the psychologist has on public policy, the interpretation of the data that they publish
• where are issues related to socially sensitive research seen in cognitive

  HM: can be argued hi treatment could be disadvantageous to epilepsy sufferers