deck_14813768 Flashcards
What is Alpha Bias?
When a theory exaggerates the difference between men and women.
What is Beta Bias?
When research ignores the differences between men and women.
Whats androcentrism and what studies is it found in?
The belief male psychology and behaviours are deemed the norm. Male studies on stress and flight or fight.
What might be the causes of these biases?
Publication characteristics may cause alpha bias, might be more interesting to find huge differences between men and women than no differences.
What is emic?
The research of a culture from within that culture and not generalising the findings.
What is etic?
Completing a universal study from an outsiders perspective and creating universal rules of behaviour.
What is ethnocentrism? Give one example of a study that uses imposed etic.
The belief that one cultures behaviour is the norm and should be applied to all cultures. Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation.
What is socially sensitive research? Whats an example of some of this research?
Research that has ethical implications beyond those involved in the study, eg targeting a specific group in relation to a negative way that could harm employment chances or negatively reflect the group as a whole. Burt’s research led to the 11+ exam in the UK, which tested for ‘natural’ intelligence. This exam would determine whether a child went to grammar school or not, which greatly affected the child’s life opportunities. Later, it emerged that some data in Burt’s study was made up, but the 11+ exam remained.
What different approaches believe in Free Will vs Determinism?
An approach like humanism believes in free will while behaviourists or bio-psychologists believe in determinism.
Whats the difference between soft and hard determinism?
Hard determinism is the believe we are completely controlled by physical processes and therefore nothing is in our control. Soft determinism is the belief that we can override these processes to some extent.
How is biological determinism evidenced?
Many psychopathological disorders seem to have a genetic link as found in twin studies. Hormones have a strong effect on behaviour e.g. anger. people with OCD often have more activity in the prefrontal cortex.
How is environmental determinism evidenced?
Reward and punishments are shown to have a strong effect on behaviour.
What’s psychic determinism
Freudian belief every action is controlled by the unconscious mind, such as a Freudian slip.
What are some strengths of free will?
We feel like we have free will and it would be reductive to state we don’t. Consistent with our moral instituations and legal system.
What are the strengths of determinism?
Some neuroscientific experiments suggest humans do not have free will. For example, Soon et al (2008) used brain scans to measure brain activity as participants made a decision to press a button with either their left or right hand. The brain scans showed activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortices (areas associated with decision making) up to 10 seconds before the participants were consciously aware of their decision. Free will isn’t a physical concept and to prove its cause would result in a lack of free will, its a non-starter.
