bias unlearn

Question 1

If research found that men were slightly better than women at mathematical reasoning, whereas women were slightly better at verbal reasoning, and one researcher interprets this as, “Men and women reason in the same way”, this would be bias.

Answer 1

beta bias.

Question 2

n observational studies, we need to operationalise the behaviour we observe, using…

Answer 2

Behavioural categories

Question 3

We have seen that studies are gender biased if…

Answer 3

Bthey exaggerate the differences between men and women.

Cthey ignore the differences between men and women.

Dthey observe behaviour in one gender that they ignore in the other.

Ethey define their behavioural categories in an incomplete way.

Question 4

Before Stillnox was distributed to doctors and pharmacists, it went through a series of clinical trials. But, in these trials, only male participants were recruited!
$$

The trials found that Stilnox was safe for these participants, so it was approved.
$$

But then, when women took the drug, they experienced dangerous side effects, like falling asleep at the wheel while driving.
$$

The results of the clinical trials…

Answer 4

Dlacked population validity

Bdidn’t generalise to women.

Question 5

The trials displayed…

Answer 5

Dbeta bias, because they assumed that women would react exactly the same as men did.

Question 6

All of Milgram’s participants were men, and he concluded that anyone could be made to obey.
$$

So, we can say that Milgram’s research displays…

Answer 6

Bbeta bias.

Question 7

Most of the original research on fight or flight was only carried out on male animals, but made conclusions about all animals, meaning it suffered from…

Answer 7

Bbeta bias

Question 8

The results may not___ to both genders which reduces its ____.

Answer 8

The results may not generalise to both genders which reduces its population validity .

Question 9

Beta bias can lead to awful consequences. For example, women started falling asleep while driving, after taking…

Answer 9

Stilnox

Question 10

. Which of the following statements provides the best definition of gender bias?

Answer 10

In some research it is appropriate to focus on one gender, to compare the results between genders, or give participants different conditions based on their gender. Gender bias occurs when mistakes about gender differences are made when conducting research, or interpreting results.

Question 11

. What do the Stanford prison experiment and the original fight or flight research have in common?

Answer 11

CBoth only used male participants.

ABoth suffer from beta bias.

Question 12

Which of these studies was androcentric?

Answer 12

AMilgram’s study into obedience, which only used male participants.

BAsch’s study into conformity, which only used male participants.

CZimbardo’s prison experiment, which only used male participants.

Question 13

Because Zimbardo, Milgram and Asch focused on men and ignored the differences between men and women, their researched suffered from…

Answer 13

Cbeta bias.

Aandrocentric bias

Question 14

When research focuses on male participants, that research is _
____.

And when research lacks validity because it focuses on male participants, it suffers from
_____.

Answer 14

When research focuses on male participants, that research is androcentric .
$$

And when research lacks validity because it focuses on male participants, it suffers from androcentric bias

Question 15

Because they suggest that there are enormous, permanent psychological differences between men and women, that do not exist, Freud’s theories suffer from…
alpha bias

Freud’s theories suffer from alpha bias, because they suggest that there are enormous, permanent psychological differences between men and women, and that female traits were abnormal and inferior..

Answer 15

Freud’s theories suffer from androcentric alpha bias, because they suggest that there are enormous, permanent psychological differences between men and women, and that female traits were abnormal and inferior..

Question 16

Because Keith reached an invalid conclusion by focusing on male traits and behaviours, we can say that he suffered from…

Answer 16

androcentric bias

Question 17

When researchers suffer from androcentric bias, they reach invalid ___ , which provide an inaccurate and misleading picture of _____ behaviour.
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But, since experimental psychology as a discipline is so androcentric, researchers tend to be more interested in learning more about ____ behaviour, not in investigating ______ behaviour.

Answer 17

When researchers suffer from androcentric bias, they reach invalid conclusions , which provide an inaccurate and misleading picture of female or women’s behaviour.
$$

But, since experimental psychology as a discipline is so androcentric, researchers tend to be more interested in learning more about male or men’s behaviour, not in investigating female or women’s behaviour.

Question 18

The overwhelming majority of people who study psychology at university are women. So, research which uses psychology students to make generalisations about everyone is going to suffer from gynocentric bias, unless the researchers use _— to make sure that half of the participants are male.

Answer 18

The overwhelming majority of people who study psychology at university are women. So, research which uses psychology students to make generalisations about everyone is going to suffer from gynocentric bias, unless the researchers use stratified sampling to make sure that half of the participants are male.

Question 19

When research focuses on women, it’s called…

Answer 19

gynocentric

Question 20

When research like Moscovici’s makes invalid conclusions by using mainly female participants but drawing conclusions about everybody, it’s called…

Answer 20

gynocentric bias

Question 21

Question
$4$
. Explain why a history of androcentrism in psychological research is a problem today.

Answer 21

Androcentrism in experimental psychology has led to psychologists displaying androcentric bias in their research. By having a focus on just men’s behaviours, researchers have a higher likelihood to reach invalid conclusions about the behaviour of women, leaving unhelpful or inaccurate ideas of women being unchallenged.

Question 22

Question 5. Which of the following statements are true of gynocentrism?

Answer 22

CGynocentrism may lead to gynocentric bias if it is assumed that men and women would act the same.

DAttachment research has historically been gynocentric.

Question 23

Question
$7$
. Name an example of androcentric alpha bias from this course. Explain your answer

Answer 23

Freud’s research into the human psyche displayed androcentric alpha bias. He suggested that male traits and behaviours were normal, while women were abnormal, displaying androcentrism. Furthermore, he believed there were large and permanent psychological differences between men and women, without good evidence to support this claim. Conclusive research evidence shows that differences between genders are far less pronounced than Freud suggests, so his theories also suffer from alpha bias.