08 Issues & debates

Question 1

define biological determinism

Answer 1

The idea that all human behaviour is innate and determined by genes

Question 2

define determinism

Answer 2

The idea that traits and behaviours are out of our control due to internal or external factors over which we have no control

Question 3

define environmental determinism

Answer 3

The view that behaviour is determined or caused by forces outside the individual - our behaviour is caused by precious experience learned through classical and operant conditioning

Question 4

define free will

Answer 4

Idea that we play an active role and have choice in how we behave and are self-determined

Question 5

define hard determinism

Answer 5

View that forces out of our control shape our behaviour (aka fatalism)

Question 6

define soft determinism

Answer 6

behaviour is constrained by our environment or biological makeup-up but only to a certain extent - therefore there is an element of choice and free will

Question 7

define psychic determinism

Answer 7

Traits and behaviours are governed by unconscious instincts and drives - the cause of behaviours is rooted childhood experiences

Question 8

Outline free will and determinism in psychology

Answer 8

Free will
- Notion that we are self-determining humans and free to choose our thoughts and actions
- Doesn’t ignore bio and environ factors but says we are free to reject these forces as masters of our destiny
- Advocated by humanistic approach
- Maslow and Roger’s stated that healthy self-development and self-actualisation is not possible without self determination
- Humans are accountable for their actions regardless of innate factors of the influences of early experiences

Determinism
- Idea that we have no control over our traits and behaviour
- Different types: hard, soft, psychic, environmental and biological

Question 9

What are the strengths of free will?

Answer 9

• Has face validity: our everyday experiences give the impression that we have free will and we are free to exercise the choices we make e.g. it makes sense when we say we chose to wake up and eat cereal for breakfast
• Research to support: people with an internal locus of focus believe that their actions are due to their own choice and not external factors - higher degree of control = more mentally healthy; social influence research found those with internal locus of control resisted social influence more and followed their free will more
• Application to law system: we have moral responsibility for our actions from the age of 10 onwards which suggests that we have the ability to determine our own behaviour; criminal behaviour must be a choice, otherwise criminals would be roaming everywhere in society if it was out of our control to be one

Question 10

What is the weakness of free will?

Answer 10

Neurological studies of decision making:
- Brain activity of choosing our choice between two simple choices is displayed up to 10 seconds before we are even consciously aware about the decision
- Suggests that our decisions are determined before we even make them

Question 11

What are the advantages of determinism?

Answer 11

• Consistent with the aims of science: the notion that human behaviour follows established theories and laws makes psychology more respected and scientific as a discipline; biological determinism can be proven through brain scans and classical/operant conditioning can be observed in environmental determinism
• Helps in research of schizophrenia: drug therapies developed to help control symptoms of schizophrenia; SZ show loss of contact with reality and control so they cannot exercise free will; symptoms can be controlled by anti-psychotic drugs which suggests that biological determinism is at play

Question 12

Outline the drawbacks of determinism

Answer 12

Doesn’t align with legal system
- Determinism suggests we have no control or free will over our actions
- But in a court of law, we are held morally accountable for our choices
- It would be unethical to prosecute an individual for doing something which is entirely out of their control

Question 13

Define casual explanations in science.

Answer 13

• Science is very deterministic in finding casual explanations
• as it seeks to identify whether X caused Y
• or the independent variable has an effect on the dependent variable

Question 14

Outline (AO1) the nature side of the nature-nuture debate

Answer 14

• Nature is the view that all of our behaviours are determined by innate biological factors that we have no control over
• Evolutionary psychologists support this side as their primary assumption is that any behaviour we have currently has evolved due to its survival value; Behaviour is a product of natural selection
• Twin studies found that schizophrenia is more influenced by nature than nuture
• Joseph (2004) found that MZ = 40%; DZ = 7% concordance rates for SZ which suggests that genes have a heavy influence on SZ

Question 15

Outline (AO1) the nuture side of the nature-nuture debate

Answer 15

• Empiricists believe we are born as a ‘blank slate’ which is filled as we progress through life and gain experiences which is how we obtain traits and behaviours
• The behaviourist approach heavily lies on this side of the debate - believes that classical and operant conditioning is how we learn behaviours e.g. obtaining phobias

Question 16

Evaluate the nature-nuture debate in psychology.

Answer 16

Strengths
- Application in psychopathology; genetic predesposition + environmental trigger = disorder (diathesis stress model); Finnish adoption study found that all of the reported cases of SZ were in disturbed fams; high risk children in healthy environments had lower rates than the population; but low risk children never developed SZ even in a disturbed environment
- Supports neuroplasticity; idea that the brain can reorganise itself by forming new neural connections; Maguire (2000) found that experience can physically alter brain structures - shows the interaction between nature and nuture

Question 17

Define biological reductionism

Answer 17

Simplifying the cause of a behaviour to a physical level of neurons, hormones and brain structures etc. and ignore other factors

Question 18

Define environmental reductionism

Answer 18

Behaviourists assumes that all behaviours can be reduced to stimulus-response associations and complex behaviours are a series of stimulus-response chains

Question 19

Define holism

Answer 19

Idea that human behaviour should be viewed as a whole integrated experience and not as separate parts

Question 20

Define reductionism

Answer 20

Belief that human behaviours can be explained by breaking it down into simpler components

Question 21

Define parsimony

Answer 21

Idea that complex phenomena should be explained in the simplest terms possible

Question 22

Define levels of explanations

Answer 22

Different explanations and theory can vary from a lower fundamental level focusing on basic components to a higher more holistic multivariable level

Question 23

Reductionism AO1 Points

Answer 23

• Reductionism is the idea that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down to its simpler component parts – Based on the idea of parsimony that complex phenomena should be explained in the simplest way possible
• different theories and explanations can vary from reductionist (focus on basic components) to holistic and multi-variable (considers range of factors and viewpoints)
• Outline types of reductionism (biological, environmental)

Question 24

Holism AO1 Points

Answer 24

• Considers a range of multi-variable factors and doesn’t abstract complex concepts into basic components but considers the entire concept as a whole
• interactionists treatments
• Drugs and family therapy is used to reduce relapse rates in SZ
• Uses diathesis stress model to consider both environmental stress factors and high-risk genes are required for the disorder to develop

Question 25

Evaluate reductionism (AO3)

Answer 25

Strengths

• Scientists are drawn towards reductionist explanations as a method of research
• Reducing complex behaviour to isolated variables allow researchers to study the different factors that affect human behaviour
• In a controlled manner and establishing a casual relationship
• This would not be possible if researchers attempted to study all of the factors that affect behaviour as it would be too complex to interpret
• however results of highly controlled lab studies are questionable e.g. loftus and palmer dissproved by yuille and cutshall

Disadvantages

• low level explanations result in overlooking factors that contribute to our behaviour
• e.g. behaviourist approach for phobias
• Wolfe found a woman that had a phobia of insects and attempted to treat her with systematic desensitiation to no avail
• He investigated and found out that her husband’s nickname was one named after an insect and their marriage was unstable
• Hence why, the woman was showing no signs of improvement
• A more holistic approach is appropriate as in this case and many other cases, low-level explanations are insufficient for explaining the complexity of human behaviour

Question 26

Evaluate holism (AO3)

Answer 26

Strengths

• Zimbardo’s research into conformity: found that social roles cannot be understood by solely studying an individual
• Factors such as role allocation as a prisoner or guard and previous experiences affect behaviour
• one guard claimed he based his behaviour off a movie character suggesting the influence of other cognitive factors on his behaviour
• holistic approach helps gain a greater understanding when looking at the effect of a situation on behaviour

Disadvantages:

• Do not lend themselves to rigorous scientific testing
• becomes vague and complex with several different factors and circumstances being considered
• Humanistic takes holistic view; difficult to test; criticised for being a loose set of concepts (cannot test for self-actualisation)

Question 27

Idiographic definition

Answer 27

An approach which focuses on the individual and emphasises unique personal experience of human nature

Question 28

Nomothetic definition

Answer 28

An approach which is concerned with establishing general laws based on studies which large groups of people and using quantitative data analysis

Question 29

Idiographic approach in psychology AO1

Answer 29

• method of investigating behaviour that focuses on individuals rather than groups and emphasises the unique nature of subjective human experiences through CASE STUDIES
• Qualitiative methods often used
• Freud’s case studies of little Hans, Anna O and The Rat Man
• each psychological disorder was derived from their unique childhood experiences
• Little Hans later used to form foundation of Oedipus complex and stages of psychosexual development
• Cannot be used to generalise but form foundations for new theories

Question 30

Idiographic approach AO3

Answer 30

STRENGTHS:

• Complete global account of individual provides a lot of detailed, rich qualitative data that can shed light on theories by supporting laws and principles or challenging them; HM brain damage and memory contributes to our general knowledge of normal memory functioning; led to further research on memory and localisation
• KF exposed limitation in existing memory model; able to recall visual information much better than verbal which indicated that we have different types of STM not just one

WEAKNESSES:

• Case studies and qualitative methods are very time-consuming just to create limited and unrepresesentative case studies that cannot be generalised but only used to form foundations of theories
• unable to produce laws or predictions about human behaviour; limits usefulness for practical knowledge about diagnosing and treatments; unscientific nature and difficult to generalise

Question 31

Nomothetic approach AO1

Answer 31

• seeks to formulate general rules of behaviour by focusing on large groups of people and utilising quantitative data analysis to allow generalisations to be made
• associated with the scientific method (labs and controlled observations)
• Biological psychologists take nomothetic approahc as they pinpoint the biological factors responsible for the disorder and use biological therapies to treat all patients

Question 32

Evaluate Nomothetic approach (AO3)

Answer 32

STRENGTHS:

• Scientific; experimental methods; quantitative data; controlled measures; predicting behaviour
• controlled measures allows for replication so you can assess for reliability
• Useful in treatments and diagnoses: pinpoint lack of serotonin and high levels of dopamine as a cause of OCD; drug therapies based on this finding (SSRIs) to improve the lives of people suffering with this

WEAKNESSES:

• problem with generalisation: anti-depressants don’t work for everyone, CBT (idiographic) might be more effective as they understand and explain the disorder from the patient’s pov
• loses sight of whole person as it focuses on quantitative numerical data e.g. Milgram’s study states 65% would shock a stranger to 450 V if an authority figure told them to but it doesn’t explain why - there could be different circumstances in each individual which caused them to obey

Question 33

Define gender bias.

Answer 33

Gender bias is where psychological research presents a view which does not justifiably represent the experiences of men or women

Question 34

Define alpha bias in gender and give an example.

Answer 34

Alpha bias is where there is a misrepresentation in behaviour because researchers overexaggerate or emphasise the differences between men and women

For example, Freud stated that because girls don’t experience the same oedipal complex as boys, they don’t identify with the same-sex parent as much and thus develop weaker superegos.

Question 35

Define beta bias in gender and give an example.

Answer 35

Beta bias is where there is misrepresentation for behaviour because researchers minimise or ignore the differences between men and women. This typically occurs where findings with men are generalised to women too

For example, the fight or flight response.Early research was only done on male animals as they had fewer hormonal changes and they were they assumed this would be a universal response to a threatening situation. However, Taylor et al (2000) found that women tend-and-befriend and fight-or-flight is inhibited in women.

Question 36

Define androcentrism in psychology.

Answer 36

Androcentrism is being centred on or dominated by males or the male viewpoint
This leads to at best female behaviour being misunderstood, or at worst pathologised (seen as a sign of mental illness).

Question 37

Define universality.

Answer 37

Believing that some behaviours are the same for both genders

Question 38

Outline the evaluation points for gender bias and how it can be reduced. (AO3)

Answer 38

POINT 1
- One limitation of psychological research is that gender bias often goes unchallenged
- Darwin’s theory of natural selection highlights that women are especially selective with their partner
- Recent DNA evidence challenged this and found that women can be equally competitive as men when needed
- Highlights importance of continually challenging earlier research and reduce gender bias to ensure that a valid picture of women is represented in contemporary research
POINT 2:
- Contemporary psychologists are looking for ways to reduce gender bias by developing theories that emphasise the importance of women
- Cornell et al (2013) noted that women are better at learning as they are more organised and attentive
- This type of research helps challenge gender stereotypes which helps reduce gender bias
POINT 3
- Adopting a feminist approach can reduce gender bias as it aims to restore the imbalance between genders in psychological research and theories
- They accept biological differences
- Eagly (1978) actually claims that female are less effective leaders than males. However, the purpose of Eagly’s claim is to help researchers develop training programmes aimed at reducing the lack of female leaders in the real-world.
POINT 4
- Important to remember that gender bias can go against both women and men as sometimes alpha biased studies heighten the qualities of women over men.
- e.g. Chodorow viewed women as more caring than men
- Women are more likely to get diagnosed with depressed than men
- Either women are more likely to develop it or diagnostic system is biased towards finding depression amongst women
- Notion that men should ‘pull themselves together’ highlights issue with diagnostic system

Question 39

Define cultural bias

Answer 39

The tendency to judge people based on one’s own cultural expectations

Question 40

Define ethnocentrism and give and example

Answer 40

Seeing the world only from one cultural perspective and believing that is both normal and correct. This can also take the stance that their culture is superior to others

E.g. Ainsworth states that children who did not show moderate separation protest were insecurely attached - thus german mothers were seen as cold and rejecting but in their culture they are raising their children to be independent

Question 41

Define cultural relativism

Answer 41

Cultural relativism is the notion that behaviours can only be fully understood in the norms and values of the culture/society in which the behaviour occurred

Question 42

Define universality in culture.

Answer 42

A universal theory can be applied to all people regardless of culture

Question 43

Define culture.

Answer 43

Culture can be described as a set of beliefs, values and patterns of behaviour shared by a group of people.
Historically, psychological research has been dominated by white, American, middle-class males however findings are generalised to the majority, ignoring cultural differences

Question 44

Define alpha bias in culture and give an example.

Answer 44

This is where a theory assumes the differences between cultural groups are profoundly different beyond what is reasonable.

E.g. distinction between individualist and collectivist cultures

Question 45

Define beta bias in culture and give an example.

Answer 45

Where real cultural differences are ignored or minimised and findings are generalised to all when that is not the case
e.g. Ainsworth Strange Situation - a secure attachment is described as the child not being too clingy - idea of secure varies between cultures

Question 46

Evaluate cultural bias and how to deal with it in psychology.

Answer 46

POINT 1
- One way to reduce cultural bias is to identify when it occurs
- In 1998 survey of European textbooks on social psychology, that 66% of the studies were American, 32% European, and only 2% from the rest of the world.
- Psychological research is severely under-representative and can be improved by selecting different cultural groups to study
POINT 2
- Culturally biased research can have damaging effects on the representation of certain groups
- US Army used an IQ test before WW1 biased towards the white majority and this resulted in African-Americans at the bottom of this scale
- This had negative effect on the attitudes towards this group
POINT 3
- Contemporary psychologist are much more open-minded and well-travelled than before and have increased understanding on a personal and professional level
- International psychology conferences increase the exchange of ideas from various cultural viewpoints and promote the appreciation of cultural relativism
POINT 4
- Heightened awareness of cultural diversity has led to developments of new indigenous psychologies
- Afrocentrism a movement which suggests that because all black people have their roots in Africa, theories about them must recognise the African context of behaviours and attitudes
- Led to emergence of theories that are relevant to not only people in Africa but also those far removed from their African origins

Question 47

Define ethical implications.

Answer 47

Ethical implications are the impacts that psychological research may have on certain people especially participants - includes influence of research in public policy or how certain groups in society are percieved

Question 48

Give examples of studies that have ethical implications.

Answer 48

• Milgram’s obedience research and attitudes to people of different nationalities
• He attempted to prove the ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis and stated that if Americans were order by an authority figure to shock another individual, they would not do it
• Milgram was making assumptions about the Germans as being obedient due to their authoritarian personalities
• this has ethical implications since other nation-alities might frown upon the Germans and see them as ‘bad’.
• Bowlby’s research into attachment - he found that mothers or maternal figures have to be present during thier child’s critical period
• Otherwise child suffers with maternal deprivation and becomes an affectionless psychopath
• This puts pressure on mothers to stay at home and avoid going to work

Question 49

Evaluate ethical implications

Answer 49

ADV 1

• Practical implication of consideration of ethical implications is that research is conducted in a more sensitive manner
• This protects the health and dignity of the participants as well as the reputation of psychology
• Experiments like Milgrams and Zimbardos would not be carried out today unless they were carefully controlled and protected the participants from physical and psychological harm

ADV 2

• By understanding ethical implications a cost-benefit analysis can be used to determine whether the research is worth carrying out
• If benefits outweigh the costs and the research has no negative impact on society it should be carried out

DIS 1

• Difficult to judge what the effects on the researcher, participants and society are
• Not objective decisions - potential bias
• Problematic to carry out research in certain areas e.g. research into daycares finds that its linked to increased aggression levels

DIS 2

• Ethical guidelines set for research permission are too strict
• There are areas where carrying out research would be very beneficial but cannot be carried out as it is problematic for the participants or researcher
• Difficult to reach a balance

Question 50

Define socially sensitive research

Answer 50

Socially sensitive research is research where the topic area or group being studied could potentially have implications for society or certain groups in society.

Question 51

What should researchers be concerned about with socially sensitive research?

Answer 51

1. Implications – the wider effects of such research should be carefully considered as some studies may be seen as giving ‘scientific’ credence to prejudice and discrimination, such as studies examining the racial basis of intelligence. However, the implications of research may be difficult to predict at the outset
2. Uses/public policy – what is the research likely to be used for? And what would happen if it was used for the wrong purpose? This is related to the idea that findings may be adopted by the government for political ends or to shape public policy.
3. The validity of the research – some findings that were presented as objective and value-free in the past have actually turned out to be highly suspect, and in some cases, fraudulent. However, many modern researchers – who may tackle socially sensitive areas of research – are much more up-front about their own biases and preconceptions, and include comment on the reflexive nature of their work in their publications.

Question 52

Outline the advantages of socially sensitive research. (AO3)

Answer 52

ADV 1
- Psychologists should conduct socially sensitive research because many groups in society have suffered the consequences of being excluded from research, or being misrepresented
- Our understanding of human behaviour has been lessened by misinterpretations and failure to represent certain groups within research
- This has ethical implications because these people miss out on the benefits of psychological research.
ADV 2
- It has been suggested that socially sensitive research should be avoided all together to prevent the potential negative consequences for certain groups of people.
- leaves Psychologists with only unimportant issues to examine.
- Siber and Stanley’s view is that avoiding controversial topics is also avoiding responsibility. - - Therefore Psychologists have a duty to conduct research.

Question 53

Outline the disadvantages of socially sensitive research. (AO3)

Answer 53

• There are always some social consequences from psychological research, but with socially sensitive research there is always the increased potential for a more indirect impact on the group that the participant represents (e.g. addicts, women, the elderly etc.).
• It is not sufficient to simply safeguard the interests of individual participants.
• We need to protect the representation of the groups represented by the participants in society as they can hae real life implications