Interpretivist sociologists would choose to not use lab experiments because they lack ecological validity as they are conducted within an environment that is artificial to the participant. This means that the results don’t reflect true-life behaviour because of both the environment they conducted the task in, and the nature of the task wasn’t true to real life and can also be said to not be generalisable to a population because of their small sample sizes in which lab experiments are conducted. Furthermore, participants might have been aware that they were being studied and so might not act normally, which is called the Hawthorne effect. Another reason why interpretivist sociologists don’t choose to use lab experiments is that they say human behaviour cannot be measured or explained in terms of cause and effect, and instead humans act in terms of feeling, choices and also individual motives. Society doesn’t lend itself to be studied in a laboratory and this is because it is so complex and cannot be artificially created.
If they do something wrong then they get punished for it and get told to do the right thing which will make them learn and remember the right behaviour. On the other hand, if they do something right and show good behaviour then they will get praised for it. This will teach them the good and right behaviour because they will remember what they have done to get praised and do it again. These two theories have similarities and differences within them when comparing them to each other. First of all, they are both all to do with behaviour and focuses on how our behaviour is learnt.
Our environment shapes how our genes affect us though. Genes work in mysterious ways and we may not enjoy what the give to us. Good or bad, genes are what turn on nurture so our environment can shape who we are, how we behave, and possibly who we love. Ridley certainly backs his theories with much evidence and this book strongly displays his opinion of how nature brings about nurture. From the text, I gathered that Ridley wrote The Agile Gene from a biological perspective of psychology.
This type of research is often utilized in situations where conducting lab research is unrealistic, cost prohibitive or would unduly affect the subject's behaviour. One of the advantages of this type of research is that it allows the experimenter to directly observe the subject in a natural setting, therefore allowing a truer insight into the subject’s natural behaviours. The main advantage of a naturalistic experiment is that it uses a naturally occurring situation, therefore it is valid. The disadvantages of naturalistic observation include the fact that it can be difficult to determine the exact cause of behaviour and the experimenter cannot control for outside variables. Furthermore untrue generalisations may be made using the information gathered on one subject and using this as a consensus for all subjects falling into that bracket.
They observe the response individuals make to different situations or different conditions. Like behaviorist, cognitivists believe the environment has an impact upon a learner and what happens in one’s life. Lastly, they both hold that our experiences impact the way we learn. In conclusion, these two schools of psychology clearly have their differences and similarities. Behaviorism and cognitivism in my opinion are one of the most important schools of
Using relevant research, discuss how and why particular research methods are used at the sociocultural level of analysis There are several different research methods used in psychology such as experimentations (lab, field and quasi), naturalistic observations, and studies (case, cross-cultural). The most favourable in SCLOA are naturalistic observations in order to achieve more qualitative research. This is important in social-cultural psychology as the aim is to investigate the influences of social environment on behaviour and thoughts and to do this most effectively high ecological value is desirable. Despite this, there has been some very famous research obtained through the experimental method. The experimental method is a study of cause and effect.
Most of the 'undesirable' traits were not heritable, they came from environmental conditioning. Even if they were heritable traits, sterilizing these people would not purge the defective genes from our gene pool. The reason for this is because there is a spontaneous pattern of mutations in our genetic make up. Mutations can be caused by numerous environmental factors also and not just from the existing gene pool (Crow, 200). To support this misuse of evolutionary theory, this paper will argue against eugenic programs and sterilization by proving that behavior is not solely heritable, how gene pool size discredits an ideal gene pool, and how deleterious mutations can occur to even the most genetically fit people.
A stimulus load theory proposes a theory of stance restriction to explain the fundamental phenomenon between stimuli and performance. Research is important in the field of environmental psychology because it brings about homeostatic balance between humans and nature by gathering facts from correlational studies, field experimentation, and laboratory experimentations (Stewart, 2007). Theoretical Approaches Environmental psychologist theories of individual psychology help to understand the fundamental interaction between behavior, experience, and environment. To that end, the theories that underlie the principles of EP borrow from the fields of psychology, anthropology, sociology,
In other words, they answer the question What drives behaviour? It is important to remember that the following are theories, none of which have been conclusively shown to be valid. Nonetheless, they are helpful in providing a contextual framework for dealing with individuals Process theory is a commonly used form of scientific research study in which events or occurrences are said to be the result of certain input states leading to a certain outcome (output) state, following a set process. Another theory that attempts to explain human behavior is Content theory. Process theory holds that if an outcome is to be duplicated, so too must the process which originally created it, and that there are certain constant necessary conditions for the outcome to be reached.
Sane, Not Sentimental Krauthammar points out different arguments in his essay. He states that in order to really distinguish if the environment claim is worthy of doing or not, is by identifying if it is an environmental necessity or luxury. His arguments frankly don’t have both or even all sides to the story. His focus is solely focused on human effect and not the whole spectrum, such as the repercussions that our actions will have on the environment. What he calls necessities, are not really a necessity for the right reasons.