You will have learnt about a key question from health psychology that is relevant to today's society - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 18 - 2017 - Paper 2

To assess the key question from health psychology, we first need to clarify what the question entails. A prominent question in health psychology is how environmental factors influence health outcomes. This encompasses a range of issues including lifestyle choices, social factors, and psychological factors that contribute to health and illness.

Step 1: Laboratory Experiments

Laboratory experiments in health psychology are critical for establishing a clear hypothesis. This requires that the experimenter defines what they aim to investigate. For example, an independent variable (IV) might be a specific health intervention, while the dependent variable (DV) could be the measured effect on health outcomes, such as stress levels or psychological well-being.

Step 2: Control of Variables

In conducting these experiments, the ability to control extraneous variables is essential. By maintaining controlled conditions, researchers can ensure that the observed effects can more reliably be attributed to the manipulated variable. For instance, using animals in a controlled experiment allows exploration of effects in isolation.

Step 3: Application of Findings

It is vital to consider the implications of these findings. While laboratory settings provide a methodical approach to understanding health psychology questions, researchers must evaluate the applicability of their results to human populations. Factors such as genetic differences and social influences may limit the generalized application of findings.

Step 4: Ethical Considerations

Ethics also plays a significant role when using animal subjects. For example, while it may be appropriate to use monkeys in certain experiments due to their physiological similarities to humans, researchers must weigh the ethical concerns of isolating the creatures and the potential implications on their well-being. This reflection is necessary to ensure that the research contributes positively to the field of health psychology.

In summary, the assessment of key questions in health psychology involves a multi-faceted approach where experimental design, control of variables, ethical considerations, and application of findings are balanced to derive meaningful conclusions.