These programs begin with a research question and go on to unpick, clarify and illustrate the key issue raised. Guidance is given on important revision points and how to construct answers to ‘issue questions’ in psychology.

Includes the following 10 segments on 1 DVD:

Ethics and Ethical Issues in Psychology (5:55) - Looks at how stricter ethical guidelines were developed in psychology. Using one of our on-going research projects, it illustrates contemporary ethical guidelines and the issues arising from the potential conflicts between protecting participants and producing socially useful research. It ends by asking if ethical guidelines might have gone too far and are stifling important new research.

Socially Sensitive Research in Psychology (4:51) - While ethics is about the conduct of research, socially sensitive research is about the consequences. Might it harm some individuals or groups? Using the example of recent research into genetics and education, this film illustrates the questions typically asked about socially sensitive research and shows how problems may be anticipated and avoided.

The Usefulness of Psychological Research (5:35) - Have you ever wondered why some people claim to see the face of Jesus in their toast? Well, psychologists at the University of Toronto did. But why? This film uses a number of studies to illustrate how the usefulness of psychological research is assessed and evaluated. And if you’re wondering about the toast, it was a prize-winning study for its contribution to understanding face recognition.

Ethnocentrism and Psychology (6:18) - Might psychology have ethnocentric biases? This film begins by explaining the key concept of social construction and then illustrates three sources of potential ethnocentrism: researcher, conceptual and reporting bias. It also stresses the importance of evaluation. Is there clear evidence of ethnocentrism? Is ethnocentrism becoming less of an issue in a globalising world? And does ethnocentrism apply in the same way to all branches of psychology?

Using Non-Human Animals in Research (5:18) - This film begins with how animals were used in psychological research by looking at Harlow’s experiments, where baby rhesus monkeys were isolated in ‘the pit of despair’. It explains the current ethical and legal regulation of using animals in research, illustrates how decisions are made, and ends with the question of whether animals should ever be used in research.

Reductionism and Psychology (3:43) - Illustrates both the importance and limitations of reductionism in psychological explanation using the example of research into diet and obesity.  It compares reductionism and holism and cautions students against simply using reductionism as a critique to be compared unfavourably with holism.

Nature-Nurture and Psychology (4:45) - Is human behaviour explained primarily by what we inherit (nature) or what we experience (nurture)? This film uses the example of whether there are ‘natural born killers’ to illustrate nature, nurture and interactionist approaches.

Determinsim and Free-Will (6:22) - Do we really have free will? And, if so, where does it come from? In this film, Professor Patrick Haggard explains the differences between free will and behavioural, psychic and neurological determinism. We then reconstruct Benjamin Libet’s seminal experiment on determinism, showing its implications for understanding consciousness and explaining human behaviour.  

Individualistic and Situational Psychology (4:57) - Most psychology is individualistic, suggesting that people’s behaviour is a product of their biological inheritance and personal experiences. This short film, using original footage from Zimbardo’s famous Stanford Prison Experiment, illustrates an alternative idea that people can be literally transformed by the situations in which they find themselves.