4. Clinical and Developmental Psychology

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about the role of cultural differences in developmental and clinical psychology, focusing in particular on: (i) the cross cultural applicability of different manuals used to diagnose mental illnesses, the DSM being superior in this regard to the ICD due to mandating the consideration of context; (ii) the dramatic differences in interpretation of children’s characteristics and behaviour which can arise from the differing viewpoints of those in individualistic vs collectivist cultures; (iii) some cross cultural similarities in language conveying speed and the age at which walking normally starts in infants.

Course

In this course, Dr Ayoub Bouguettaya (University of Birmingham) explores cross cultural psychological research. In the first lecture, we think about how we understand culture in the context of psychological research. In the second lecture, we think about what differences exist between cultures which psychological researchers might study, and the traditional consideration of psychology as an emic science. In the third lecture, we think about some ways in which researchers have tried to include different cultures in their studies and the failures that this process has given rise to. Next, we think about the presence and consequences of cultural differences in developmental and clinical psychology. In the fifth lecture, we think about how culture can impact cognition, perception, and social psychology, with a specific focus on collectivist versus individualistic cultural viewpoints. In the sixth and final lecture, we think about debates which exist in the field of cross cultural psychology, and whether the subject can be considered racist, given its continued ignorance of non-western cultures.

Lecturer

Dr Ayoub Bouguettaya is a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham. Dr Bouguettaya’s research interests are in social psychology and how knowledge from that field can be applied to others, particularly health, including how we can apply social identity theory to societal problems, as well as investigating the different perspectives one might take on those issues. Some of Dr Bouguettaya’s recent publications include 'The relationship between gambling advertising and gambling attitudes, intentions and behaviours: a critical and meta-analytic review' (2020) and 'The Effect of a Food Addiction Explanation Model for Weight Control and Obesity on Weight Stigma' (2020).