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Summary Edexcel A Level Psychology Notes - Issues and Debates
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1ISSUES AND DEBATES
Synoptic Areas Issues and Debates
Methodology - Ethical issues
- Practical issues
Psychology as a Science - Reductionism
- Psychology as a science
Nature and Nurture - Cultural and gender issues
- Role of nature and nurture
Emphasis on the Use of Psychology for - Social control
Society and the Individual - Psychological knowledge in society
- Socially sensitive research
Building a Body of Knowledge in Psychology - Development over time
- Comparisons using different themes
Methodology
Ethical Issues in Research – Animal and Human
Approach/Application Ethics to Study
Social Psychology - BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct
2009
- Risk management
Learning Theories - Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act
1986
Clinical Psychology - HCPC guidelines for psychologists
Criminological Psychology - BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct
2009
- HCPC guidelines for psychologists
Ethics and Humans:
- Ethics involves informed consent, debrief, right to withdraw, no deception, privacy
and no harm
- Research involving vulnerable groups, sensitive topics or deception must be
reviewed first by an ethics committee
Studies Discussing Ethics of Using Humans:
- Milgram 1963
o No right to withdraw, no informed consent, psychological harm was caused
o Full and careful debrief as well as follow-up a year later
- HM case study
o Vulnerable so needed to take special care when experimenting
o Confidentiality in initials used
- Capafóns et al 1998
o Control group not given the treatment, but placed on a waiting list
o May have caused control group psychological harm
, 2
- Williams et al 2013
o Informed consent was obtained
o Control group received treatment at the end of the study – using waiting list
is effective way of have control group but still being ethical
Ethics and Animals:
- Clearly laid down regulations on using animals in research by both BPS and APA
- Must have competence to deal with animals, minimise discomfort/pain
- Alternative methods should be studies before using painful procedures and be sure
that the results are of sufficient benefit to justify the ‘cost’ to the animal
- Some research cannot be done with humans, e.g. drug treatment testing, so findings
from animal studies must be applied to humans – lacks generalisability though
Studies Discussing Ethics of Using Animals:
- Pavlov 1927
o Used apparatus to collect dogs’ saliva – invasive
o Less focus on ethics than there is today
o Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 first legislation in the world protecting animals in
science but not as detailed laws as today
o Scientists had to be licensed to use animals
o Pavlov used evolution theories to say that animal findings could be
generalised to humans and were justifiable using cost-benefit analysis
- Van den Oever et al 2008
o Looked at effects of cues on rats brains when rats became addicted to heroin
o Focus on cues when addiction was introduced and then reintroduced after
addiction extinguished
o Rats given a heroin addiction by letting them ‘nose-poke’ for heroin
o Addiction extinguished by removing heroin
o Cues reintroduced and the rat’s brain studied
o Researchers used this study to try to develop an injection therapy to replace
lowering of a substance in the brain
o Would apply this to humans so that they would not relapse when
encountering cues after an addiction to heroin had been extinguished
o Felt that benefits outweighed costs – would have passed ethics committee
- Skinner 1948
o Superstitious pigeons
o Looked at whether rewarding or punishing their behaviour would increase or
decrease the likelihood of it happening again
o Only used 8 pigeons which satisfies requirement to use a small number of
animals in a study
o Starved the pigeons to an extent which could have caused harm
o Believed that findings could be applied to humans so benefits outweighed
costs
- Carlsson et al 1999
o Used evidence from animal studies and human studies
, 3
o Cited a study which used rodents to show that NMDS antagonists are
psychostimulants which stimulate behaviour and activity
o It is hard to see psychotic behaviour in animals – erratic behaviour is
observed which may not be the same as psychotic behaviour in humans
o Thought to be sufficient similarity in neurotransmitter functioning between
humans and animals for results from animal studies to be used to explain
psychosis in humans
Practical Issues in the Design and Implementation of Research
- Practical issues must be ethical
- Usually considered after the research questions and methods have been chosen
Report Sections Steps Involved in Carrying Out Research
Title
Abstract
Introduction - Examine area of interest to find a focus
- Develop one or more research questions
- Choose a research design and method that suits the design and
research questions
Method – Sampling - Work out how the study will run in practice, including enough
Method – Design information to make informed decisions
Method – Materials/Apparatus - Make notes throughout so that decision-making can be
Method – Procedure discussed and the process recorded
- Collect the data and prepare it for analysis
Results - Analyse and interpret the data
Discussion - Report and disseminate the findings
Referencing
Design Decisions:
- Depend on the research questions
- May be exploratory if not much is known about that area of interest – case study
with in-depth and qualitative data may be used so a more focused study can take
place
- A focus on description of an area of interest may require an observation or
questionnaire
- An experiment might be suitable if the research question requires explanation of an
area of interest – cause-and-effect conclusion can be generated, quantitative data
shows statistical significance to conclusions
- When improving something for someone, a treatment may be used so a treatment
and control group design chosen
Variables:
- Measured or controlled
- Exploratory study looks for themes which will reveal variables of interest
- Explanatory study needs controlled variables so cause-and-effect conclusions can be
drawn
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