Comparison of the approaches

Question 1

What is gender?

Answer 1

Gender refers to the behavioural, cultural and psychological characteristics that distinguish males from females.
Gender bias can occur due to all-male samples in research studies and where biological differences are emphasised, which might lead to inferred behavioural differences.

Question 2

what does it mean if something is androcentric

Answer 2

Androcentric: ‘male bias’. Men’s behaviour is the standard against which women’s behaviour is compared; male behaviour is taken as the norm.

Question 3

what is alpha bias

Answer 3

Alpha Bias: The attempt to exaggerate the differences between the genders.

Question 4

What is Beta bias

Answer 4

Beta Bias: The attempt to downplay the differences between the genders. For example, the fight-or-flight response is documented as being universal i.e. that males and females respond in the same way to perceived threats.

Question 5

What is culture?

Answer 5

Culture refers to the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society.
Culture bias can occur when researchers conduct research in their own culture and assume that their findings apply to those living in other cultures.

Question 6

what is Cultural Relativism

Answer 6

Cultural Relativism: The belief that it is essential to consider the cultural context when examining behaviour in that culture, before making a judgement. Social norms are culturally relative as what is considered acceptable in one culture may be unacceptable elsewhere.

Question 7

what is Ethnocentrism

Answer 7

Ethnocentrism: The assumption that one ethnic group is superior to another or all others and that the behaviour in that group is the ‘norm’ i.e. that people in other countries behave in the same way.

Question 8

what does Universality mean

Answer 8

Universality: The assumption that the findings of a study will generalise globally.

Question 9

what is free will

Answer 9

Free Will: The ability of an individual to make conscious choices about their behaviour. Therefore, our actions are voluntary and we have freedom of choice – there are no constraints on choice from the options available.

Question 10

what is determinism

Answer 10

Determinism: The idea that there is no control or choice on our course of action. Determinants of our behaviour include biology, learning and thought.

Question 11

what is hard determinism

Answer 11

Hard Determinism: The view that human behaviour is determined by external forces and the actions are out of our control.

Question 12

what is soft determinism

Answer 12

Soft Determinism: The idea that behaviour is determined, but that humans also have the opportunity to exercise free will if need be. It acknowledges that determinism exists, but that there is also the ability to choose in some circumstances.

Question 13

what is biological determinism

Answer 13

Biological Determinism: Any form of biological influence on the body e.g. genetics, brain physiology and biochemistry.
For example, the idea that a specific behaviour is inherited, or that behaviour is the result of a chemical imbalance – the biological approach.

Question 14

what is environmental determinism

Answer 14

Environmental Determinism: The idea that our behaviour is determined by environmental influences.
Behaviourism in particular advocates a stimulus/response explanation to behaviour, saying that an external trigger prompts a behaviour from the individual.

Question 15

what is psychic determinism

Answer 15

Psychic Determinism: This considers the role of the unconscious on conscious thought and how that affects behaviour.
This is largely advocated by the psychodynamic approach.

Question 16

what is the nature debate

Answer 16

Nature: The assumption that we are born with predispositions and pre-programmed behaviours (nativism).

Question 17

what is the nurture debate

Answer 17

Nurture: The belief that we are born without any innate mechanisms and that all we become is due to our experiences (empiricism) – we are born a ‘tabula rasa’ (a blank slate).

Question 18

The interactionist approach takes the stance somewhere between the extreme nature and nurture positions.

Answer 18

It argues that the true answer to the nature-nurture debate is, in reality, that both genetics and the environment play a part in behaviour.
It seems likely, this approach argues, that genetics give us a predisposition to certain behaviours i.e. the potential to act a certain way.
However, the genetic indication is moderated by the environment i.e. the phenotype is the interaction of genetics and the environment.

Question 19

what is holism

Answer 19

Holism: The argument that individuals should be viewed as a whole, rather than looking at one specific part to explain behaviour.

Question 20

what is reductionism

Answer 20

Reductionism: An explanation is reductionist when a single explanation or cause is suggested i.e. behaviour is reduced down to one level of explanation.

Question 21

what is biological reductionism

Answer 21

Biological reductionism: Explaining behaviour using biological systems. This could be genetics, physiology of the body and brain, or biochemistry. It is the most reductionist level of explanation.

Question 22

what is environmental reductionism

Answer 22

Environmental reductionism: This level of explanation is advocated by behaviourist theorists: classical and operant conditioning. It is where behaviour is explained in terms of stimulus-response actions.

Question 23

what is idiographic

Answer 23

Idiographic: When an explanation considers the individual and argues that generalising from person to person is difficult because of their uniqueness.
Case studies are an illustration of an idiographic approach to research – they document the unique perspective of a person.
The idiographic approach favours qualitative methods of investigation, opting to use methods that allow for opinion and self-reflection, such as self-report measures (questionnaires, interviews) and qualitative sources like diaries, journals and letters.

Question 24

what is nomothetic

Answer 24

Nomothetic: The idea that people can be regarded as groups and theories/ explanations are therefore generalisable. The nomothetic stance seeks to establish general laws about behaviour that can be applied across any given population.
Quantitative methods of data collection and analysis are seen to be appropriate.
Research methods that are more objective are favoured e.g. measurement of biochemical. Research conducted under laboratory conditions is also favoured as variables can be carefully controlled.

Question 25

what are ethical implications

Answer 25

Ethical implications – The impact that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of other people, especially participants. This includes, at a societal level, influencing public policy and/or the way in which certain groups of people are regarded.

Question 26

what is Social sensitivity

Answer 26

Social sensitivity – Sieber and Stanley (1988) define socially sensitive research as ‘studies in which there are potential consequences or implications, either directly for the participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research’.

Question 27

Look at comparison table

Answer 27

https://college.esher.ac.uk/courses/psa/year-1/paper-2/_layouts/15/WopiFrame.aspx?sourcedoc={65F615A3-5636-4F08-BD2A-E92E78227D4C}&file=7_Comparison%20of%20Approaches.pptx&action=default