Three controversies that are inherent to Psychology

1. Three controversies that are inherent to Psychology • Mind-body problem • Nature-Nurture controversy • Free will versus Determinism controversy

2. Mind-Body Controversy • Dualism versus monism • Dualists: • body is physical, nonthinking • mind is nonphysical, spiritual and thinking • Monists • mind and body are one • no difference in physical and mental events (all are physical

3. Mind versus Body • Near Death Experiences • Religiosity • Treatment Approach: Drugs or no drugs?

4. Implications for Psychology • Implications for Psychology: • view of causes of behavior: • physiological vs nonphysiological • Implications for therapy: • medical vs nonmedical views • Treat the physical illness or treat the mind?

5. Nature/Nurture • Heredity vs environmental events as causes of behavior? • Nature or heredity view: • modern evolutionary psychology or sociobiology • our genes determine our behavior • Environmental view: • our environment determines our behavior • behavioristic or experiential view

6. Nature or Nurture? • Intelligence • Violent Behavior • Mental Illness and Prevention • Homosexuality • Cloning? Are both of you the same person or different?

7. Implications for Psychology • How far to take sociobiology? Racism, sexism, use as excuse for inappropriate behavior • How far take environmental view? • Probably is an interaction of both, can’t really separate!

8. Free will vs Determinism • Actions of humans are product of free will or choice • basis of our legal system • assumes that individuals can always make free choice • Carl Rogers was proponent of this view: • most essential virtue of human beings • what separates us from the animals • Determinism • most science is deterministic • our behavior is determined by our genes, heredity, or our enviroment: e.g. Skinner, E.O. Wilson • predictable and controllable

9. Free Will or Determinism • Did you CHOOSE to do your actions? • If not- what was responsible agent? • Environment? • Physiology? • Your Unconconsious? • Explanations for • Alcoholism and Drug Addiction • Bad habits and lifestyles • Should we allow insurance companies to demand and use results of genetic screenings?

10. John Watson: Famous Behavioral Determinist • “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in, and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select- doctor, lawyer, merchant, and yes, even a beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of ancestors.”

11. Implications of free will/ determinism controversy • Legal system versus mental health system • legal system: you had choice to engage in behavior • mental health system: your environment or physical state caused you to behave in certain ways, you are not responsible for your actions • Implications for treatment • Implications for how the “world”works: Predictable and controllable, or free? • Clash of science and nonscience in many ways

12. Animal Welfare • Are we “better” than animals? • What responsibilities do we have to the animals? • What are the limitations for animal research?

13. Four R’s of Animal Research • Refinement: Improvement that minimizes the pain, suffering and stress of animals used in research. • ReductionA decrease in the number of animals used while enhancing the quality and yield of information. • Replacement:Scientifically valid substitutions for current live animal methodologies • Responsibility:To both human and nonhuman animals.