ao1 Flashcards
what is alpha bias
the tendency to exaggerate the differences between men and women. The consequence is that theories devalue one gender in comparison to the other
what is androcentrism
centred or focus on men, often to the neglect o exclucison of women
what is beta Bias
A tendency to minimise the differences between men and women. Such theories tend either to ignore questions about the lives of women, or assume that insights derived from studies of men will apply equally well to women
what is gender bias
The differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences
what is universality
The aim to develop theories that apply to all people, which may include real differences
what is cultural bias
The tendency to judge all people in terms of your own cultural assumptions. This distorts or biases your judgement
what is cultural relativism
the view that behaviour cannot be judged properly unless it is viewed in the context of the culture in which it originates
what is culture
the rules, customs, morals and ways of interacting that bind together members of a society or some other collection of people
what is ethnocentrism
Seeing things from the point of view of ourselves and our social group. Evaluating other groups of people using the standards and customs of one’s own culture.
what is an example of ethnocentrism
alpha bias - individualists attitudes towards attachment where independence is valued and dependence I seen as undesirable. In collectivist cultures dependence is seen as more highly valued
beta bias - the case of IQ testing above results from ethnocentrism where is was believed it was appropriate to use American IQ tests all over the world because there was an assumption that the americium standard was universal
what is an example of cultural relativism
alpha bias - Margret and Meads research in papa New Guinea where she initially concluded that there were gender differences due to culture, but later recognises that they were universals that men in all culture were more aggressive than women
beta bias - one of the symptoms of schizophrenia is to hear voices, however this is an experience that is common in some cultures, by assuming same rules apply to everyone
what is determinism
behaviour is controlled by external or internal factors acting upon the individual
what is free will
each individual has the power to make choices about their behaviour
what is hard determinism
the view that all behaviour can be predicted and there is no free will. The two are incompatible
what is soft determinism
a version of determinism that allows for some element of free will
what are the types of determinism
biological - our behaviour is determined by genes
environmental - our behaviour is through the process of classical and operant conditioning
psychic - our behaviour is a result of a mix of our innate drives and early experiences
scientific - that all events have a cause
what are the two types/approaches of free will
humanistic approach
moral responsibility
what is the environment
everything that is outside our body, which included people, events and the physical world
what does heredity mean
the process by which traits are passed from parents to their offspring, usually referring to genetic inheritance
what is the interactions approach
with reference to nature - nurture debate. the view that the processes of nature and nurture wok together rather than opposition
what is nature
behaviour is seen to be a product of innate (biological or genetic) factors
what is the nature nurture debate
the argument as to whether a person’s development is mainly due to their genes or to environmental influences
what is nurture
behaviour is a product of environmental influences
what are the examples of the influence of nature
genetic explanations
evolutionary explanations - Bowlby
what are the examples of the influence of nurture
behaviourism - skinner pavlov
social learning theory - bandura’s
what is holism
with respect to a behaviour such as memory o mental disorder, perceiving the whole experience rather than the individual features and/or the relations between them
what is reductionism
An approach that breaks comely phenomena into more simple components implying that this is desirable because cooled phenomena are best understood in terms of a simpler level of explanation
what are the different levels of reductionism
highest level - cultural and social explanations as how our social groups effect our behaviour
middle level - psychological explanations of behaviour
lower level - biological explanations of how hormones and genes etc, affect out behaviour
what are the types of reductionism
biological - biologist reduce behaviour to the action neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones etc
environmental - explain behaviour in terms of simple stimulus-response links
experimental - reducing behaviour to isolated variables
what are the types of holism
Gestalt holism
humanistic psychology
cognitive psychology
what is a idiographic approach
focuses on individuals and emphasises uniqueness; favours qualitative methods of research
-it uses qualitative as it focuses on gaining insights on to human behaviour
what is an example of idiographic approach
- Freud, used case studies of his patients as a way to understand human behaviour, such as the case of little Hans. Freud still made generalisations to his studies.
- humanistic psychology also favour the idiographic approach as they are concerned with studying the whole person and seeing the world from the perspective of that person.
what is the nomothetic approach
seeks to formulate general laws of behaviour based on the study of groups and the use of statistical (quantitative) techniques. It attempts to summarise the differences between people through generalisations, and making general laws.
what is an example of the nomothetic approach
- biological approach seeks to portray the basic techniques of how the human body and brain work. But they often mistakenly just study men and assume the same is for females
- behaviourist approach produced general laws of behaviour, they did not have thousands of participants but they did apply all findings to all animals and it was definitely not an idiographic approach
- cognitive psychology as it aims to make general laws, they did look at case studies but in order to understand the working mind they must look are rare abnormalities.
what is socially sensitive research
any research that might have direct social consequences for there participants in the research or the group that they represent.
sieber and stanley identified 4 aspects in the research process at which ethical issues with social consequences may occur :
- the research question
- conduct of research and treatment of participants (confidentiality of the information collected is a massive concern)
- the institutional context ( research may be funded and managed by private institutions who may misuse the data or may misunderstand the data that is produced )
- the interpretation and application of findings (research findings may be used for purposes other than originally intended. e.g the IQ test)
sieber and stanley identified 10 types of ethical issues that relate especially to socially sensitive research
- privacy (researchers may extract more information form participants than needed)
- confidentiality (participants may be less willing to divulge information in the future)
- valid methodology ( in cases of poor methodology, scientist may be aware of the issues but the media and public may not)
- deception (lead to people to form untrue stereotypes, which often affects ones own performance)
- informed consent (participants may not comprehend what is involved)
- equitable treatment (all should be treated equally)
- scientific freedom ( scientists have the right to engage in research but has no obligation to harm participant)
- ownership of data ( sponsorship of research can be difficult to distinguish ownership of data)
- values
- risk/benefit ratio (risks and costs should be minimised, but issues arise determining risks as well as benefits)
