Debates

• Nature

  Nature arguments suggest individuals are born with an innate set of abilities and characteristics, which are from biological influences such as the brain, chemicals and genetics.
• Nurture

  Nurture arguments suggest that individuals are a product of their upbringing and the socialisation process in the environment they are nurtured in.
• A strength of nurture is that if we can understand that behaviours are learned, rather than innate, we have the possibility of changing them and benefiting society with practical applications. This makes it useful.
• A strength of nature is that if we know that behaviour is innate, rather than learned, we can recognise that people cannot be blamed for it. Rather than punishment, we could create treatments that allow us to help individuals.
• A weakness of both nurture and nature is that it is difficult to separate out the effects of heredity and the environment because these two influences often overlap.
• Individual

  An individual explanation is when behaviour is explained by being caused by something within a person. For example personality, biology and maturation.
• Situational

  A situational explanation is when behaviour is explained as being caused by environmental factors outside / external of a person. For example, responding to stimuli in the environment or interactions with others in a situation.
• A positive of both individual and situational explanations is that it may be possible to develop practical applications to change undesirable/ unhealthy behaviour, by identifying a cause of behaviour (can be individual or due to the environment a person is in).

  This benefits individuals and society.
• A weakness of individual and situational explanations is that they are both deterministic as we are saying behaviour is either due to a person or the environment. This removes an individual's responsibility for their actions and therefore raises problems in whether individuals can be blamed and punished for things they cannot control.
• A weakness of individual and situational explanations is that they are too simplistic and can be reductionist. It ignores the possibility that a few factors could be affecting behaviour at any one time.

  This limits how useful the explanations are.
• Reductionsim

  Reductionism refers to when psychologists break complex behaviour down to one single explanation, so that all other factors are ignored. It often involves researchers studying factors that affect behaviour one by one to create a simple explanation.
• Holism

  Holism refers to when psychologists look at reasons for behaviour using a combination of factors (and how these factors interact) to explain a person's behaviour.
• A strength of reductionism is that by breaking behaviour down into component parts and isolating one explanation of behaviour, it becomes possible to investigate different aspects of behaviour separately. This ability to see relationships may provide practical solutions for behavioural problems, so they are easier to treat.
• A strength of holism is it takes multiple factors into account. This explains behaviour in a better way than only looking at one cause, as human behaviour is complex.

  Therefore, it is more useful as it gives us better understanding.
• A weakness of reductionism is that oversimplification of an issue can limit how successful practical applications are. If there are other reasons for a behaviour, a treatment might not work for everyone and leave us with incomplete explanations of behaviour.
• A weakness of holism is that it is hard to isolate causes of behaviour when looking at too many variables.

  Practical applications would therefore be limited as we cannot directly treat a cause of behaviour as we cannot suggest one single factor.
• Determinism

  Determinism/ deterministic arguments suggest that an individual's behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal and external influences beyond an individual's control.
• Free-will

  Free-will is used to refer to when an individual is seen as capable of taking an active role in controlling their behaviour.

  They are free to choose and are not acting in response to any internal or external pressures.
• A strength of determinism is it identifies a clear cause. This means practical applications can be created, benefiting individuals and society.

  we could also predict behaviour, meaning we could prevent or change unwanted behaviours.
• A strength of determinism is explanations are scientific, as it attempts to establish a cause and effect and general laws for behaviour. This means that psychology is a credible subject- which in turn puts psychology is a "good light". This ultimately means more funding and more study into the subject.
• A strength of free will is it makes people accountable for their actions. This means we know who to blame and how to punish or react to behaviour which is acceptable and not acceptable.
• A weakness of determinism is it is too simplistic and so can become reductionist. It ignores the possibility that several factors could be affecting behaviour at any one time.

  This limits how useful this explanation of behaviour is.
• A weakness of determinism is it may remove an individual's responsibility for their actions and therefore raises problems in whether people can be blamed and punished for their actions.

  It is socially sensitive.
• A weakness of free will is it limits practical applications. It is hard to predict behaviour when there is no clear cause for behaviour as everyone behaves due to their own free will. This means changing or improving behaviours would be difficult.