Issues and Debates

Issues and Debates – AQA A-level Psychology Topic Overview
The Issues and Debates topic challenges students to think critically about how psychological knowledge is developed and applied. It examines the assumptions, biases, and values that underpin psychological theories, and how these impact research and real-world applications.

Key areas include:

Gender Bias – Understanding androcentrism and alpha vs. beta bias in psychological research.
Cultural Bias – The impact of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism in the development of psychological theories.
Free Will and Determinism – The debate over whether behaviour is freely chosen or shaped by internal/external forces.
Nature vs. Nurture – Exploring the influence of genetics and environment on human behaviour.
Holism and Reductionism – Whether human behaviour is best understood by breaking it down or looking at it as a whole.
Idiographic vs. Nomothetic Approaches – Differences between studying individuals in-depth vs. establishing general laws.
Ethical Implications of Research – How psychological findings may influence societal views and policy, especially in socially sensitive research.
This topic deepens students’ understanding of psychology as a science and encourages reflection on how values, assumptions, and ethics influence both research and theory.