Issues and Debates  Ethnocentrism  Nature-nurture  Ethics  Individual and situational explanations  Reductionism and holism  Psychology as a science  Determinism and free will  The usefulness of psychological research

Individual vs Situational Issues and Debates

Learning intentions Question A:  Briefly outline what is meant by individual explanations of behaviour.  Briefly outline what is meant by situational explanations of behaviour. Question B:  Describe two pieces of research that support a situational explanation of psychology.  Describe two pieces of research that support a individual explanation of psychology. Question C:  Discuss the strengths and limitations of situational explanations of behaviour.  Discuss the strengths and limitations of individual explanations of behaviour.  Discuss the strengths and limitations of individual/ situational debate.

Question D:  Compare methods used to study individual and situational explanations of behaviour. Questions E:  Discuss the usefulness of situational explanations of behaviour

Studies SituationalIndividual AS (1) AS (2) A2 (1) Health/ Forensic

Studies SituationalIndividual AS (1) Migram: Behavioural Study of Obedience Loftus & Palmer: Reconstruction of automobile destrtuction. Reicher & Haslam: Rethinking the psychology of tyranny Piliavin: Good Samaritanism: an underground phenomenon. Bandura, Ross & Ross: Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. Thingpen & Cleckley: A case of multiple personality. Freud: Analysis of a phobia of a five-year old boy A2 Studies

Situational StrengthsWeaknesses If the situation affects our behaviour then that suggests that behaviour is predictable so cause and effect can be determined. Explaining behaviour in a situational way is reductionistic as it reduces behaviour down to situational factors. If behaviour is due to the situation – it suggests that there is room for improvement and behaviour can be changed by improving one’s environment and getting support from others (lots of practical applications). Tends to rely on observational methods which means that this approach can be subject to experimenter bias in terms of the way in which they interpret the participant’s behaviour.

Individual StrengthsWeaknesses Element of free will which gives people the moral responsibility to change themselves. Difficulties generalising as everyone is different. Holism: Takes into account individual differences – the fact that people are different. Doesn’t make generalisations about behaviour. Reductionist: only views the behaviour being caused due to the person themselves and not what it happening in the wider environment.

Strengths and weaknesses of the individual/situational debate? StrengthsWeaknesses (Individual) Element of free will which gives people the moral responsibility to change themselves. It is difficult to separate whether human behaviour is caused by the individual or the situation as sometimes it is a combination of both. Both viewpoints on its own are reductionist as they limit behaviour to one explanation. (Situational) If the situation affects our behaviour then that suggests that behaviour is predictable so cause and effect can be determined. The individual/situational debate is reductionist in that the individual debate says all behaviour is determined by the individual in control of their behaviour whereas the situational debate says that our surroundings.

How can the debate be related to everyday life?  Point: The situational side of the debate is useful because it helps us understand the reasons as to why individuals may behave in the way they do e.g. obey authority figures.  Evidence:  Explain:  However:

How can the debate be related to everyday life?  Point: The debate is also useful as it suggests that individuals can change their way of lives if their situation is changed. This provides them with some hope.  Evidence:  Explain:  However:

Conclusion  The individual and situational perspectives are too simplistic: reality is more complex. In reality, different situations affect different people in different ways.  It is an interaction between personality and situation which affects individual’s behaviour.

Compare the debate with other debates Free will and determinism debate. Behaviour is ‘determined’ by individual characteristics or the situation. Also behavior explained by individual characteristics suggests that individuals may have some free will to control how they act and behave. nature/nurture debate. Behaviour is explained by individual characteristics (personality) which suggests that some individuals may be born with certain characteristics (aggression?) implying nature contributes to their behaviour. Behaviour which is explained by the situation implies that nurture contributes to their behaviour. Reductionism: as it puts human behaviour down to simple explanations and in reality our behaviour is a lot more complex and can be explained by both individual and situational.

Links to perspectives and approaches?  Individual: individual differences psychodynamic  Situational: behaviourist social

#1#2 EthnocentrismBriefly describe NatureDescribe two studies NurtureStrengths EthicsWeaknesses Individual explanationIssues /debates/perspectives Situational explanationMethods used to study this.