Comparison of the approaches Flashcards
What is gender?
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.
what does it mean if something is androcentric
Androcentric: ‘male bias’. Men’s behaviour is the standard against which women’s behaviour is compared; male behaviour is taken as the norm.
what is alpha bias
Alpha Bias: The attempt to exaggerate the differences between the genders.
What is Beta bias
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.
What is culture?
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.
what is Cultural Relativism
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.
what is Ethnocentrism
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.
what does Universality mean
Universality: The assumption that the findings of a study will generalise globally.
what is free will
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.
what is determinism
Determinism: The idea that there is no control or choice on our course of action. Determinants of our behaviour include biology, learning and thought.
what is hard determinism
Hard Determinism: The view that human behaviour is determined by external forces and the actions are out of our control.
what is soft determinism
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.
what is biological determinism
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.
what is environmental determinism
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.
what is psychic determinism
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.
what is the nature debate
Nature: The assumption that we are born with predispositions and pre-programmed behaviours (nativism).
what is the nurture debate
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).
The interactionist approach takes the stance somewhere between the extreme nature and nurture positions.
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.
what is holism
Holism: The argument that individuals should be viewed as a whole, rather than looking at one specific part to explain behaviour.
what is reductionism
Reductionism: An explanation is reductionist when a single explanation or cause is suggested i.e. behaviour is reduced down to one level of explanation.
what is biological reductionism
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.
what is environmental reductionism
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.
what is idiographic
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.
what is nomothetic
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.
what are ethical implications
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.
what is Social sensitivity
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’.
Look at comparison table
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