THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF PSYCHOLOGY

Lesson Aim
Define psychology and explain basic theoretical approaches.

Despite their interest in the subject, students of psychology often find it difficult to answer this basic question in
a clear, concise and specific manner.
Some might say that psychology is the study of "human behaviour"; some might say it is a study of the "mind or
brain"; others might say that it is a study of personality and what motivates people to do what they do. All are
partly correct, but each of these answers is focused only on a particular aspect of psychology.

It is now generally agreed that psychology is a science.

Definitions
Science – Objective study.
Behaviour – The observable actions of a person or animal. By this, we mean what we can actually see.

PSYCHOLOGISTS STUDY:

Behaviour
Behaviour is the observable actions of a person or animal. By this, we mean what we can actually see. Behaviour
includes being kind, aggressive, breathing, walking, being idle, changing, becoming a grandparent and so on.

Experience
If we study behaviour, we need to understand what the experience of that behaviour is like for the individual i.e.
if we study someone being angry, we need to know what that feels like for the person.

Human and animal behaviour

Often psychologists cannot perform experiments on humans for ethical reasons and may use animals to try to
gain understanding of human behaviour. For example, by trying to teach monkeys to talk, researchers have
gained insight into how humans may develop their language skills.

As psychology is a science, - it is vital that it be studied scientifically and objectively. We can study, experiment
with and objectively talk about manifest behaviour. However, the experience of that behaviour is a subjective
experience, where we rely on the individual to tell us how it feels.
 Definitions
Subjective – Usually used to refer to something existing inside oneself and not capable of being experienced
by others.
This contrasts with Objective – dealing with facts in a way that are unaffected by feelings or opinions.
Positivism - A philosophical doctrine describing scientific knowledge as limited to observed fact and
experience.
Manifest – Expressed or observable.

Therefore, a generally accepted definition of psychology is "the study of human behaviour”. Behaviour can
provide us with valuable windows into a person’s emotional and cognitive states, and if we can understand the
psychological influences on behaviour, we can try to better understand a person’s inner experience.

BUT IT’S ALL COMMON SENSE ISN’T IT?

Many people argue that psychology is just common sense. Many people will say things like someone behaves
like this because of that – we are all “armchair psychologists”. But how do we know that what we are saying is
correct? This is the starting point that psychologists use when studying human behaviour. An example of
common sense being not so ‘common’ is the murder of Kitty Genovese. She was stabbed to death in the middle
of a busy residential area of New York. Thirty-eight witnesses saw the attack and none of them did anything to
intervene, not even to phone the police. Why? The common sense answer might be that they thought someone
else had or would intervene, or that the witnesses didn’t care.

Darley and Latane (1968) carried out research into why the witnesses did nothing. They arranged for students to
discuss personal problems over an intercom. Only one actual student was involved the others were confederates
(i.e. working with the researchers, pretending to be students). During the conversations, a confederate would
appear to have an epileptic seizure. If the real student thought that five other people were also listening to this
person have a seizure, it took them three times as long to react as if they thought there were only two people in
the discussion. This suggests that in emergency situations, if we think lots of other people are involved, we may
be less likely to do anything – we think someone else will. This is called bystander apathy.

Definitions
Bystander Apathy – The tendency of people in social situations not to help strangers in an emergency. The
more bystanders there are, the greater the apathy, as responsibility is perceived as not belonging to one
individual.
Apathy - Listlessness, passiveness.

So when you consider this, if psychologists had not carried out this research, the overriding view would be that
New Yorkers did not care that a woman was being murdered.

DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

There are many different theories and models within psychology which try to explain our behaviour, emotion and
thoughts. Each theory contributes something different and increases our understanding.

Therefore, basically psychologists start out with a hypothesis or idea, which they then test. This idea is the basis
for empirical (experimental and observed) research.
 Definitions
Model - 1) A way of representing patterns of relationships in human behaviour.
Or
2) In social psychology, a person whose behaviour is closely observed.
Theory - A set of assumptions advanced to explain existing phenomena and predict new events.
Paradigm - Representation or model of reality.
Hypothesis – Explanation for observed data that still has to be tested.
Hypothesis testing – Gathering information and testing alternative explanations of certain phenomena.
Empirical – A finding based on experience or observed evidence, the basis for experimental science.

Neurobiological approach
Some psychologists maintain a close link with the discipline of physiology: they perceive the brain and nervous
system as the main key to human behaviour, and tend to study the relationship between psychological events
(what happens in the mind) and biological events (what happens in the body). There is an increasing body of
evidence from neurobiologists that thought and feelings result from the actions of nerves and the nervous system
in the body. For instance, they argue that dreams are the result of activated neurological patterns or random
firing of nerve cells.

Behavioural approach
A fairly conservative approach is that of behaviourist psychologists. The founder of this school of thought, J. B.
Watson, was the father of the science of psychology (though not of the study of psychology). He argued that if
psychology was to be scientific, it must focus exclusively on human behaviour. Watson did not think psychologists
should speculate on the unobservable workings of our minds, as they could not be studied scientifically. Watson’s
approach still has a strong following due to its practical applications, e.g. in reducing phobias and so on.

Definitions
Stimulus - Sensory input which leads to a response.
Response - The behavioural result of stimulation in the form of movement or glandular secretion.

Much of behavioural research is executed with subjects under experimental conditions, using a stimulus-
response approach. The psychologist provides a stimulus for an individual, then observes and studies the
individual’s response to that stimulus. Behaviourists are sometimes referred to as "black box" theorists because
they treat the mind like a clean slate that has attitudes and behavioural patterns inscribed on it due to learning.
The behaviourist approach has been used extensively in studying the process of learning.

Cognitive approach
Cognitive comes from the Latin ‘cognito’, meaning to apprehend or understand. The cognitive approach
developed largely as a reaction to the behavioural approach. Cognitive psychologists argue that individuals do
not passively respond to stimuli, but actively process information in their brain before responding to the
information. They are interested in what happens in the mind between the stimulus and the response. They look
at topics such as perception, memory, thought, language and attention. They try to explain behaviour in terms
of these mental processes. Cognitive psychology is used in many different ways, such as suggestions on how to
improve our memories, improving performance in situations that require concentration, such as air traffic
controllers and so on.
 Definitions
Cognition - A general term including all mental processes by which people become aware of and understand
the world.
Perception - The process of becoming aware of objects and events by way of sensory organs.
Performance – Overt (observable) actions or behaviour.

Psychoanalytical approach
One of the most familiar and influential approaches to human behaviour is psychoanalysis, developed by Sigmund
Freud. Where the above approaches were formulated on the basis of mainly experimental studies, Freud based
his theories upon intensive case studies of a considerable range of patients.

Psychoanalysis focuses on unconscious mental activities. According to Freud, much of the individual’s observable
behaviour is influenced by wishes, desires or fears which the individual has learned to suppress because they are
not socially acceptable. As a child develops, it learns that some feelings and desires are unacceptable hence, these
wishes, desires and fears are buried deep in the mind, leading to the development of the unconscious. According
to Freud, these unconscious impulses still find expression through dreams, fantasies, slips of the tongue,
symptoms of mental illness, as well as in artistic expression, with an individual’s psychological history playing an
immense role in particular behaviour patterns.

All of the approaches previously discussed adhere firmly to the scientific principles of objectivity - the human
individual is perceived as a passive object of analysis rather than an active agent of his/her own destiny. On the
one hand, behaviourists claim that human behaviour is largely shaped by environmental stimuli; and on the other
hand psychoanalysts claim that behaviour is shaped by unconscious impulses beyond the individual’s control.

Phenomenological approach
Because of the demand that psychology be accepted as a scientific discipline, many theorists tended to forget
that the subject of their study is the human being, who (unlike the atom or a virus) has self-awareness, freedom
of choice, a personal value system, and most of all, a desire to be understood, to gain self-knowledge, and to grow
spiritually. It is these neglected aspects of human behaviour that the phenomenologist chooses to emphasise. For
these reasons, phenomenological psychology is often called humanistic psychology.

The phenomenological approach rejects the view that the individual is a passive result of uncontrollable forces.
The phenomenologist focuses on the individual’s active, subjective experience, as this approach emphasises the
individual’s personal interpretation of the world as a cause of behaviour. The individual is regarded as a free agent
with the ability to choose his or her own values, actions and goals. Because this approach is so person-centred, it
has perhaps received less attention than experimental research, yet it has had a profound influence on methods
of therapy and counselling.

Eclectic approach
Although the above approaches have been discussed in isolation, it is important to note that modern
psychologists rarely align themselves with one approach exclusively. They are more likely to incorporate aspects
of several theories into their approach. This is called the eclectic approach.
 Definitions
Catalyst – A person/thing that causes an important change. A facilitating factor.
Cumulative – Growing in strength, amount or effect by small steps, subject to accumulation.
Facilitate – Make easier, or assist the progress of.
Modify – To change, adapt or vary something.
Potential – Latent capacity or power.

KEY ISSUES IN PSYCHOLOGY

The study of psychology is not by any means a unified study, because there is no agreement on fundamental
principles that might explain human behaviour. Therefore, the student will become aware of some conflicting
attitudes towards the questions: what influences human behaviour, and how much control does the individual
have over their behaviour? These are important questions, and arise frequently in different situations, such as in
trying to understand why some people become easily addicted and others don’t, or why some abused children
will turn into bitter and angry adults, while others don’t, or whether some people have a biological predisposition
to violence or cruelty, or whether women are naturally maternal or whether maternal behaviour is mostly
learned. Some of the key issues behind such questions are discussed below.

Definition
Fundamental – Basic and central.

Free will versus determinism

A fundamental issue in psychology is the issue of how much our behaviour can be attributed to choice, and how
much to genetic programming. The natural sciences in general are based upon a deterministic approach to organic
behaviour. This approach implies that behaviour occurs in a regular and orderly manner which is predictable in
principle and governed by our genetic makeup and disposition. Because psychology is a relatively young science,
it has relied upon imitating the basic principles of other sciences in its approach to human behaviour. Its
application of the deterministic approach however, has proved to be most controversial. If people’s behaviour is
genetically determined, how can they have free will? Furthermore, how can they be held responsible for their
actions? Most of the approaches discussed above adhere quite firmly to a deterministic approach. However,
humanist psychologists argue that people’s subjective experience of choice, free will and self-determination
cannot be ignored, and is what makes us essentially human.

The question of free will is not just philosophical, for it raises the question of whether a science of human
behaviour is really possible. If human behaviour is not governed by constant, predictable and provable factors,
can it be effectively studied through experimentation and observation?

Nature-nurture
Within psychology, the nature-nurture debate is ongoing. The debate centres around the issue of whether our
psychological attributes are part of our biological/genetic make-up, or whether they are formed by a person’s
interaction with the environment. The two main concepts here are ‘biological determination’ and ‘environmental
influence’:

Biological determination is the ‘Nature’ influence. Psychological attributes such as intelligence, addictiveness and
depression may be caused by genetic influences (such as a gene passed on by one parent, or the human genetic
makeup) or by biological factors (such as a hormonal imbalance, developmental stages, nervous system damage
etc.). Hereditary refers to behaviours or characteristics which have been transmitted from parents to offspring.
The units of hereditary are genes, which determine the course of development in the growing human embryo.
 Definitions
Gene - A unit composed of DNA forming part of a chromosome, by which inherited characteristics are
transmitted from parents to offspring.
Socialisation - The shaping of the individual’s behaviour, through training provided by the social
environment.

Environmental influence is the ‘Nurture’ influence. Nurture refers to all environmental influences that affect the
child’s psychology from its birth, from the way a child is raised (socialized) to the food the child eats.
Environmental factors can be very difficult to identify, because in order for them to affect the child’s
psychology, they must be registered by the child’s awareness in a way that has an impact. For instance, most
infants will grow sickly and apathetic if they are deprived of human touch or affection, yet some will be far less
affected, perhaps because they do not register the neglect as strongly, or maybe they have stronger inner
resources. In general, however, we can determine that environmental influences include the behaviour and
attitudes of parents, family and peers, the amount and kind of stimulation provided, what a child learns from
parents, society, school etc., social and cultural influences, and the surrounding situation i.e. whether it is
predictable and safe or dangerous and unpredictable.

Today, most psychologists agree that there is an interaction between nature and nurture. It might be that a child
is born, genetically predisposed to be, say, violent, but only with the right environmental triggers (e.g. an abusive
parent) will that violence occur in the child.

For example, we want to understand why Thomas drinks so much. Is it because he has a biological predisposition
(an alcoholic or addictive type gene), or is it because he was influenced by his alcoholic father, whom was
frequently drunk during Thomas’s childhood. We cannot simply assume that it is one or the other cause, for it
could well be a combination of both. We cannot know for certain, and if we really want to help Thomas overcome
his drinking addiction, we will have to investigate much further to understand what contributes to it, and what
factors need to be addressed.

Developmental and Interactive Expressions of Behaviour

Another contentious issue is whether our behaviour is largely a consequence of our past (childhood) experience,
or whether it is influenced primarily by our present circumstances. Freud and others of the psychoanalytical
school emphasise childhood experiences as critical factors in determining our behaviour. These include influences
from the past, such as how we were parented or past psychological traumas. They also include the experiences
that a child normally passes through during its development, such as learning that a mother’s absence is not
permanent each time she leaves the room, or the hormonal changes experienced by a teenager. All of these are
called developmental influences on behaviour, and the main question is: What experiences in the person’s past
or at the present stage of development are causing this behaviour? Other theorists emphasise the influence of a
person’s current experience on their behaviour. These theorists focus on interactive explanations of behaviour
which consider present trends in the individual’s life, present fears and goals, present environmental conditions,
and current relationships. The person finds ways to respond to his or her environment, and the behaviour is a
strategy adopted to help the person cope. The main question here is: What strategies are working for this person
and which need to be changed?

Both developmental and interactive explanations of behaviour are valid and necessary. Depending upon the
individual’s predicament, one approach may be more appropriate than another. For example, if we are
counselling a newly divorced woman, we may explain her behaviour in terms of present influences such as social
isolation and a blow to her self-esteem. On the other hand, imagine if a friend suffers from a nervous breakdown
"out of the blue", so to speak. During the last five years that we have known her, her life has been running
smoothly, without apparent crises or significant change. It may be appropriate then to investigate her past history,
to determine any causes of anxiety or tension. Both situations can lend themselves to either kind of explanation,
so again, the psychologist cannot just assume, but must investigate further.
Psychoanalysis favours developmental explanations because of its emphasis on childhood history. Behaviourism
favours developmental explanations because of its emphasis on past learning experiences. On the other hand,
cognitive and phenomenological psychologists favour interactive explanations, because their theories focus on
the individual’s present perception and interpretation of events. Clearly, we might often need to look for
explanations in the person’s past, or their biology and in the person’s current responses to the existing situation,
for the past and the present are inextricably connected.

Often our present interpretations of recent experiences are closely related to past experiences.

Example: Compliance
Compliance is a behaviour that can usually be explained interactively, though some of the underlying reasons that
a person complies in certain situations might be developmental. Compliance includes the following behaviours:

 agreeing with others because you have been persuaded or decided it’s the most productive
path
 pretending to agree
 going along with others’ ideas or actions
 giving in or surrendering
 obeying
 conforming to others’ expectations or values.
Some reasons for compliance are:

 fear, threat or danger

 respect for, or acceptance of authority or expertise
 to gain something (a job, a date, recognition, approval, a reward)
 to avoid losing something (love, approval, friends, acceptance, a promotion)
 out of apathy (not caring either way, not thinking that your choices matter, feeling helpless to
change things, being depressed)
 out of laziness (avoiding responsibility, not bothering to make decisions, not bothering to learn
the facts).
 for health reasons (too ill to think about it, drained, not having the energy to resist)]
 out of doubt, confusion or ignorance (just don’t know if our alternative is better, don’t trust our
own judgement, thinking maybe they know better or more than we do).
In each of these situations, it is possible that the person’s behaviour is influenced by past experiences, the
person’s current stage of development, or the person’s perceptions of and responses to the current
circumstances. For instance, I might comply in order to please others because I value my relationship with them
(interactive explanation), yet my belief that I must please others in order to maintain relationships might stem
from childhood experiences in which my parents only showed affection and approval when I complied with them,
and withdrew affection when I did not.

APPLYING PSYCHOLOGY – QUESTIONNAIRES, INTERVIEWS AND SURVEYS

Psychological research and therapies are often concerned with finding out how people think and feel about
certain issues or matters, and why. The only way researchers can investigate attitudes, thoughts, feelings, values
and expectations is to ask people. One method of gathering this information is through surveys, interviews and
questionnaires.

Questionnaires come in two main forms –

 Face to face (interviews)

 Written answers (questionnaire surveys)
Coolican (1994) categorised six main types of interviews
Non-Directive Interviews These are the least structured. The person interviewed (the interviewee) is free to
discuss almost anything they want. The interviewer’s role is to guide the discussion and encourage the
interviewee to disclose more information. This is often used in the treatment of mental disorders, but has little
relevance to research.

Definition
Relevance – Pertinence, importance.

Informal Interviews These are similar to non-directive interviews in that they encourage the interviewee to
discuss issues in depth, but they are usually certain topics that the interviewer wishes to explore.

Guided Interviews These possess more structure than formal interviews. The interviewer has certain issues to
be addressed. Structured but open ended interviews, allow the interviewer to ask the same questions of each
person and prevents the interviewee from going off the subject. They are open ended in that they allow the
interviewee to give any answer they wish. As opposed to yes/no type answers.

Clinical Interviews are usually structured and open ended and used by psychologists to explore mental disorders.

Fully Structured Interviews These are a standard set of questions asked in the same order with all interviewees.
They can only choose their answers from a restricted list e.g. yes, no, don’t know. This type of interview can be
conducted face to face or by telephone or post.

Questionnaire Surveys Written questions involve the interviewee recording their own answer. This is
advantageous in that large amounts of data can be recorded quite cheaply, but the method is only suitable for
literate people who are willing to answer the questionnaire, so the sample can often be biased.

Advantages of Interviews
 Unstructured interviews are responsive to the individual’s personality, motives and interests.
 They can reveal more than structured interviews.
 Information tends to be more qualitative than quantitative. Structured interviews, where the
interviewees have all been asked the same question, allows easy comparison of different
responses.
 Reliability – That is, if two interviewers ask an interviewee the same questions in the same
order, they are likely to get the same responses.
 There is a reasonable probability that the research can be replicated to repeat the same findings
using structured interviews.
 Structured interviews are fairly easy to analyse because data tends to be quantitative e.g. 40%
of people said they did like chocolate.

Definitions
Qualitative – concerned with the richness and quality of data.
Quantitative – concerned with quantity, numbers.
Reliability – The extent to which a measurement or research study finds consistent results across situations
and over time.
Valid - True or useful.

Limitations of Interviews
With unstructured interviews, what the interviewee says is to some extent determined by the interaction
between them and the interviewer. For example, the personality and characteristics of the interviewer may affect
the way the interviewee responds to questions. This is called interviewer bias. Because of this possible bias, the
information obtained from the interviewer may be unreliable as it is biased by the interviewer. A simplistic
example of this might be – say the interviewer is very anti-smoking. When asking a question such as “Do you
think smoking should be allowed in restaurants?” they may unconsciously make a slight grimace or move away
from the interviewee or suggest non-verbally that they do not approve – this may encourage the interviewee to
say, “No I don’t think it should be allowed in restaurants”.

With unstructured interviews, the information obtained can vary in an unsystematic way, so the data tends to be
hard to analyse.

With structured interviews, what the interviewee can say may be constrained and perhaps artificial because of
the structure. For example, “Do you smoke?” Yes/No. What if you are a smoker who has been trying very hard
to stop for the last year, but yesterday had one cigarette – are you a smoker or not??? A yes/no answer allows
no leeway for this type of answer.

Structured interviews have limited flexibility.

An issue that is common to all interviews is the social desirability bias. This is where people try to present a
favourable impression of themselves to the interviewer, causing them to answer incorrectly. An example might
be an elderly woman who denies she falls over frequently, as she is a heavy drinker and does not want people
to find out that she drinks too much. By denying she falls over, she is making the research unreliable as she has
not answered truthfully. There are ways to try and overcome this social desirability bias. This is by using the lie
scale. Some questions that are asked are intended to allow the interviewer to assess how much the interviewee
is telling the truth when giving socially desirable answers e.g. do you always tell the truth? An honest answer
for most people is probably “No”. If the interviewee answers “yes” to this question and similar questions, the
interviewer may start to question the validity of the rest of what the interviewee has said.

Interviews only allow us to get information about what the interviewee is consciously aware of. For example,
they may not be aware that they are scared of spiders because of a bad experience with one when they were two
years old – they may not remember it, so they cannot truthfully divulge why they are scared of spiders.

Some interviewers lack the skills and personal qualities necessary to ensure that people open up to them and are
willing to answer questions truthfully.

DESIGNING A QUESTIONNAIRE
Read the set task. Make a list of possible topics, then choose one that you will use. Based on your area of interest,
think about what questions you would like to ask.
Ambiguity and Bias
Avoid:-

 Ambiguous or biased questions - example ‘in the light of the superiority of people with brown
hair, do you think everyone should have brown hair’?
 Long winded questions – ‘on the understanding that people with brown hair are fundamentally
superior to people with blonde hair, do you consider, given your understanding of the situation,
that everyone should consider the extent to which their hair colour should be changed to the
aforementioned colour’??!
 Questions that can be easily misunderstood.
 Questions that will make people defensive.
Closed and Open Questions
Closed questions require certain answers e.g. yes/no/don’t know, whilst open questions allow any response. You
need to decide what type of answer you want. If you want detailed information on someone’s phobias, for
example, it is no good asking things such as “Are you scared of spiders?” yes/no. What if they are petrified of
snakes, but not spiders? What if they just say “Yes”? Does that mean they are a little bit scared of spiders or are
they at the other end of the scale, i.e. go pale, can’t even touch a picture of a spider etc. It is a question of degree,
hence the use of continuums or scales.

A way to conquer this kind of issue is to use Attitude Scales.

For example:
Do you consider homework (please circle the one that best describes your view)?

1 2 3 4 5
Very unimportant unimportant undecided important very important

The interviewee can then circle their response. The researchers could then say that 50% of respondents thought
that homework was very important and only 2% thought it was very unimportant (as an example).

Or you can consider using scaled statements such as:

Homework is very important (please tick which one best describes your view).

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

Alternatively, you may wish to use closed questions e.g.

Is homework important to you (please circle)? Yes/No.

After using a questionnaire, remember to debrief the interviewees (i.e. tell them what you were researching and
allow them to ask you any questions).

You may like to do a draft questionnaire first, and then use it as a pilot study on one interviewee. This will enable
you to see if any questions are ambiguous, hard to understand or unsuitable.

SET TASK

Activity 1
Design a questionnaire to find out which behaviours and attributes a particular group of people think are inherited
or biological in nature, and which are learned. Your group of respondents can be the elderly, adolescents, new
parents, or any other group you choose.

Survey a number of people and have them complete the questionnaire.

Your questionnaire should include at least 10 questions.

Activity 2
Write a one page summary of what you found and your conclusions. Submit your summary, conclusions and the
questionnaire with your assignment.

Additional Notes to Help with Set Task

Firstly, for the set task, you have to design a questionnaire. You want to find out whether people think certain
behaviours are learned, genetic or a mixture of both. So first you have to design a questionnaire with ten
questions.

So you might have questions like –

Is shyness inherited? Yes/no

Or
Shyness is - inherited/learned/a mixture of both

Or

Shyness is inherited.

Strongly disagree neither agree strongly nor

disagree agree agree disagree

You give this questionnaire to a group of people and ask them to complete it.

Then for question 1, you have to submit this questionnaire to your tutor and explain what you have found from
the way that people have responded to the questionnaire.

Then you need to see what worked well about the questionnaire – did people find it hard to understand your
questions/ did it work well/did you not get the responses you expected etc.

ASSIGNMENT

Question 1
Submit your set of questions, your summary and a list of conclusions from the set task. Ensure that you have
answered the questions below in your summary and conclusions. Make sure you also consider -

 What did you find worked well in your questionnaire?

 How would you improve it?

Question 2
“We are all armchair psychologists.”

In thinking about your interpretation of the above statement, identify as many possible risks as you can think of
in applying psychology to everyday life. Choose 3 risks you consider important risks and give examples of each
(e.g. a child who was previously cheerful and calm becomes overly anxious. The risk is that we might attribute the
change in behaviour to just wanting attention, and not look for the actual reason which may be a bully on the
street).

There is no single correct answer. Think carefully and answer to the best of your ability. Keep your answers as
brief as possible, no more than 3-4 sentences each.

Question 3
Observe a person whom you know well. List three of this person’s behaviours (actions, attitudes, speech etc.) that
you think can be explained as a result of the person’s nature (biological determination). List another three
behaviours of this person that you think can be explained by nurture (environmental influences). In 2-3 sentences,
explain why you think each of these behaviours is a result of either nature or nurture.

Question 4
Simon is 23 years old. Simon’s mother was a heavy drinker. As a child, Simon had speech difficulties. His mother
would ridicule him for his speech problems. His father was an aggressive man who regularly got into fights. Simon
now has a stressful job in a stock broking firm. He wakes early every day and goes to the gym for an hour, before
heading to work. He works long hours and often stays out drinking until the early hours of the morning. He
constantly appears harassed. He has few friends, but many acquaintances. He is often verbally aggressive and
occasionally physically aggressive. He believes that he is superior to others and often brags about his intellect,
qualifications and wealth. He lives alone and is unable to maintain long term intimate relationships. An
acquaintance suggests that he is drinking too much. Simon denies this.

Is Simon’s behaviour due to nature or nurture or both? Write a paragraph to explain the reasons for your answer.

Question 5
Observe different ways that people comply with others. Describe three ways of complying that you have
observed, in 1-2 sentences each. Then, try to explain in dot point form (no more than 5 points each) why you
think the individuals complied in each case (i.e. for their own interest, due to their own passive nature etc.). You
are not being asked to explain how we persuade others to comply, but to explain the different reasons why the
people you observed complied.

Question 6
From your lesson, choose an approach that you think best explains 1 of the forms of compliance you observed in
question 5. Explain your choice in 2-3 sentences.

Note: In this, and in future lessons, you will be required to provide the scenarios and specified situations unless
otherwise stated. Case studies may be those you have observed yourself, ones that you have read about, or ones
that you have heard about.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS COURSE VISIT

https://www.acsedu.co.uk/Courses/Psychology/INTRODUCTION-TO-PSYCHOLOGY-
BPS101-359.aspx