Psychology Evaluation

Cards (26)

  • Self Disclosure
    Strength: Research Support. Sprecher and Hendrick studied gay and straight couples, finding positive correlations between satisfaction and self disclosure. A follow up study found higher satisfaction with reciprocity. This validates Self Disclosure as well as showing that this applies to a range of communities, with gay and straight.
  • A limitation to Hendrick and Sprecher
    A causational link cannot be formed from this study as satisfaction may have led to self disclosure, or another variable may be causing these features, this weakens self disclosure as a theory as research support can be invalidated
  • Strength, Real world application.
    This theory has real life applications, an idea made by Haas and Stafford, finding nearly 60% of gay and straight couples said self disclosure was a key factor in the deepening and maintenance of their relationships.
  • Evaluation of the emergence of psychology
    Strength: Scientific, Psychology has the same aims as standard sciences, understanding behaviour. For example, the cognitive approach relies on scientific methods in lab studies to investigate theories in an unbiased way. This suggests that psychology can be considered a scientific discipline through the consideration of scientific methods and data
  • Emergence of Psychology, Limitation
    Subjectivity: Not all approaches to psychology take on scientific methods, for example, the humanistic approach rejects science, suggesting behaviour is formed by individual experience and subjectivity. Furthermore, the idea of humans being active participants in psychological research risks natural demand characteristics which make it hard to study psychology as a science
  • Evaluation of the cognitive approach
    One limitation of the cognitive approach is its foundation in machine reductionism, the idea that the brain functions merely in the way of a computer, processing input ideas and outputting this with behaviour. This can be criticised, as this ignores the complexities of the human mind such as the emotional factors that have an effect on our behaviour, seen in the impact of anxiety on eye witness testimony.
  • Cognitive approach evaluation
    The cognitive approach is strengthened through its real life application, with this approach being applied to the development of A.I which revolutionises how people may live in the future, giving clear reasons for the cognitive approach's positive application to the real world
  • Cognitive approach evaluation
    One strength of the cognitive approach is its scientific basis, being formed through standardised, scientific procedures, generating objective data. This validates the cognitive approach as it gives credible reasoning behind the theory
  • Cognitive approach evaluation
    However, a limitation of cognitive approach is that it relies heavily on inferences of the mind, rather than direct observation, meaning research may sometimes suffer from being too abstract or theoretical. Also, research into cognitive approach tends to use artificial stimuli, such as word lists, which are not a typical stimulus, which makes the findings hard to generalise to the real world.
  • Evaluation of localisation in the brain
    One strength of localisation of function in the brain is the links to mental disorders. Surgery, although a last resort, can be performed on the brains of those with OCD, isolating the cingulate gyrus, a process called a cingulotomy. This surgery lessens the impacts of OCD, providing both a clear real life application to this theory, as well as objective data to support localisation of function.
  • Evaluation of localisation of function
    A strength of localisation of function is the use of brain scans to show that everyday activities are performed by specific regions of the brain. For example, Petersen et al used brain scans to show how Wernicke's area was active during a listening task, and Broca's area was active during a reading task. This is an objective set of data, validating localisation of function of the brain
  • Evaluation of localisation of function.
    Lashley's rat study criticises the idea of localisation in the brain, as partial removal of different region of the cortex in rats had no effect on their ability to complete a maze, contradicting theories of localisation.
  • Halo Effect: Physical Attractive
    Strength: Palmer and Peterson found that attractive people are seen as more competent, for example, politicians being voted for due to appearance. This has negative implications as politics Is based on appearance instead of competence.
  • Halo effect: Physical Attractiveness
    Strength: Cultural Validity
    Cunningham found that across Mexicans, Asians and white people, it was universally found that symmetry and high cheekbones were more attractive.
  • Matching hypothesis: Physical Attractiveness
    Limitation: Taylor studied activity logs on dating websites, finding that people looked for better looking options instead of similar level. This holds strength over the original studies as it looks at real life examples instead of preference.
  • Equity theory Research support
    Utne gave a survey to 118 people ranging from 16-45 that had been in a relationship for at least 2 years before marriage. This research found that higher equity had a positive correlation with higher satisfaction.
  • Equity theory limitation
    Counterpoint to Utnes research, Berg found that equity did not increase over time like the theory said, suggesting variables such as self disclosure hold more strength
  • Equity theory limitation
    Cultural factors.
    It was found that in individualist cultures like the US, satisfaction was based on equity, however in collectivist cultures like Jamaica, over benefiting was valued higher, suggesting that equity theory does not apply to all regions and cultures.
  • Rusbult Investment Strength
    Explains abusive relationships.
    Rusbult and Martz studied “battered“ women in shelters and found that those who are most likely to return to their abusive partners had a higher level of investment in the relationship.
    However, this study can be criticised as these women may feel criticised for returning to their abusive partners, raising the issue of cost benefit analysis
  • Duck phase model Strength
    Real world application, the breakdown can be reversed, recognising that repair strategies can be more effective at different stages. For example, in the dyadic phase, a repair strategy could be improvement of social skills, where as in the intra-psychic, partners can be encouraged to look at the positive aspects of relationships. This is useful as it allows counselling to be used on relationships that are breaking down
  • Duck Phase model cultural limitation
    The phase model can be criticised as researchers have suggested that it does not apply to collectivist cultures such as India, as relationships can be obligatory, in which this theory cannot be applied, making its application to other cultures limited.
  • Duck phase model limitation
    The original model can be argued to be incomplete, as Duck and Rollie later added the resurrection phase, suggesting that partners use the experience from the breakdown of their last relationships to improve the quality of their next one. Furthermore, Duck later added emphasis on the idea that the processes within each phase is more important than the shift between phases themselves, suggesting that Duck's original model lacked complexity.
  • Duck phase model limitation
    A limitation of the Duck phase model is the early phases lacking credible research support. This is because all research is retrospective, and therefore is subject to incorrect recollection, particularly with phases such as the dyadic which would have been longer ago than the grave dressing phase. This weakens the Duck phase model as all research to support it is weak.
  • Types of LTM
    HM could not recall stroking a dog but could recall what a dog was showing two different types of long term memory
  • Working memory model Eval
    Strength: Clinical evidence
    Warrington and Shallice studied K.F, who could process visual information normally but had poor auditory processing. This suggested that his phonological loop was damaged but his visuo-spatial sketchpad was damaged.
    This supports the idea for multiple stores within STM
  • Limitation of K.F
    It is unclear if K.F had any cognitive impairments before his brain damage, so the validity of this study is limited.
    Case Studies are hard to have population validity as it is only one person