issue and debates

Question 1

define universality

Answer 1

A characteristic of human beings which can be applied to all experiences and upbringings. Gender bias and culture bias threaten the universality of findings in psychology.

Question 2

define gender bias

Answer 2

whilst considering human behaviour, it is a tendency to treat one individual or group in a different way than others. Research could be biased concerning as theory may offer a view that does not justifiably represent both experiences of men and women.

Question 3

define Androcentrism

Answer 3

male centred when human behaviour is judged according to a male standard.

Question 4

define alpha bias

Answer 4

psychological theories suggesting there are real and enduring differences between men and women. this may enhance or undervalue members of different sexes typically women.

Question 5

beta bias

Answer 5

theories that ignore or minimise differences between males and females.

Question 6

what does Gender bias cause?

Answer 6

Alpha bias in psychological research is what exaggerates or overestimates differences between sexes. these differences may occasionally heighten the value of women and are more likely devalue women in relation to their counterparts. e.g. Sociobiogical theory of relationships and it explains human attraction and behaviour through the principle of survival efficiency. the conclusion is the sexual promiscuity within males is genetically determined while female who engage in the same behaviour are seen as going against their nature- exaggeration of the two sexes

Question 7

Beta bias and what it causes?

Answer 7

ignores and minimises the differences between males and females. It is occurred when female participants are not included as part of the research process and the research findings can be applied to each sex. The beta bias within Kohlberg’s theory is described as moral development. Another example of the beta bias would be the fight or flight response which is only associated with males and women tend and befriend as they form defensive networks to protect their offspring.

Question 8

define androcentrism and consequences

Answer 8

a consequence of Beta bias is androcentrism. If most research is based specifically on men then anything outside this behaviour would be viewed as abnormal. This could also lead to female behaviour being misunderstood and pathologized. For example, females are diagonised with PMS which is viewed as a social construction, and this medicalises female emotions and finds a way of explaining in medical terms but if a man was to respond in the same manner it would be viewed as rational towards external pressures.

Question 9

evaluation for gender bias

Answer 9

limitation= it can cause misleading assumptions about female behaviour, and it will fail to challenge outlying negative stereotypes and it could even provide a scientific justification for women being denied opportunities within the work field. Gender bias could have damaging consequences which would affect the lives and prospect of real women as they are more likely to be diagnosed with depression.

limitation= a lack of women appointed within a work force means more males work are published. female participants are placed in an inequitable relationship with a researcher who labels the female as unreasonable which means psychology may be guilty of supporting a form of institutionalised sexism.

Question 10

define cultural bias

Answer 10

it refers to a tendency to associate all cultures despite their differences within the same lens.

Question 11

define ethnocentrism

Answer 11

judging cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture. when extreme could lead to the beliefs that some cultures are superior to other cultures which leads to prejudice and discrimination.

Question 12

what can universality and bias cause?

Answer 12

critics argue psychology ignores culture as an important influence on human behaviour. They have mistakenly assumed findings which are derived from studies classic social influence studies of conformity and obedience conducted within the us reveal they are replicated in different parts of the world. If the norm or standard for a particular behaviour is judged only from the standpoint of one culture others depart or deviated form this standard which makes them inevitable or inferior.

Question 13

define culture relativism

Answer 13

the idea of norms and values and ethics and moral standards can only be meaningful and understood within specific culture and social contexts.

Question 14

Ethnocentrism

Answer 14

it refers to a particular form of culture bias and the belief that there is a superiority of ones culture group. In research it shows that any behaviour that does not conform to the model is underdeveloped. For example, Mary Ainsworth for the strange situation model which is criticised for only reflecting the norm and values of American culture. As she suggested that the ideal attachment type would shown by the amount of distress the infant communicates when he is left alone a room without his mother figure. Ainsworth study does not reflect the other countries as German mothers were seen as cold and rejecting when they wanted let their child be more independent so it shows Ainsworth study is culture bound and does not reflect attachment within every child.

Question 15

what is culture relativism and what are the consequences?

Answer 15

AS the us model base in imposing attachment was considered the norm as Ainsworth imposed her own culture understanding on the rest of the world. John Berry has a drawn a distinction between etic and emic approaches in the study of human behaviour.The idea is psychologists should be more mindful when it comes to culture bias within their research and so the things they discover may only make sense from the perspective culture within they discovered.

Question 16

evaluation of culture bias

Answer 16

limitation= individualist vs collectivist cultures as when psychologists make a reference of culture they did so within the individualist culture and is associated with countries like the us who are thought to value personal freedom and independence. collectivist cultures like China and India reflect the importance of interdependence.Takano and Elko found that 14 of the 15 studies are compared to the us and Japan found no evidence of a distinction between collectivist and individualist cultures.

limitation= culture relativism and university
Berry’s concept of imposed etic is a useful reminder to psychologists of the culture specific nature of their work. So it should be assumed that all psychology is culture relative and that there is no such thing as universal human behaviour. Research reflects basic facial expressions for human behaviour are the same all over human and animal side. Critiques of Ainsworth’s strange situation should not obscure the fact that some features of human attachment like imitations and interactional synchrony are universal.

Question 17

define nature vs nurture debate

Answer 17

concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics.

Question 18

nature in nature vs nurture

Answer 18

Nature= the early nativists like Descartes argued characteristics and some aspects of knowledge are innate and hereditary. nature is the view that behaviour is the product of innate biological and genetic factors.
it is hereditary which is a process in which traits are passed down from one generation to the next.

Question 19

nurture side of the debate

Answer 19

nurture= Empiricist believe we were born as a blank slate at birth- experience dictates who we are and our behaviour. Locke also suggested that it dictates our learning and experiences seen in the behaviour approach. it could be shown as pre-natal term as the mother’s physical and psychological state during pregnancy or through post natal experiences such as the social conditions the child grows up in the cultural and historical context.

Question 20

Heredity

Answer 20

the genetic process of mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another.

Question 21

environment

Answer 21

any influence on human behaviour that is non-genetic. it could be pre-natal n influences within the womb through to cultural and historical influences at a societal level.

Question 22

important of heredity and environment

Answer 22

interactionist approach= is the view both nature and nurture work together to shape human behaviour. attachment between an infant and its parents are the result of a two way street in which the innate temperature will influence the way a parent responds to a child and the responses affect the child’s behaviour.

e.g high concordance rates is difficult to show if it is a heredity affect or nurture as they have both been brought within the same background making them affected by nature.

Question 23

free will

Answer 23

The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces.

Question 24

Determinism

Answer 24

the view that an individual’s behavior is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual’s will to do something.

Question 25

Hard determism

Answer 25

implies that free will is not possible as our behavior is always determined by external or internal forces.

Question 26

Soft determism

Answer 26

All events like human behavior have causes but behavior can also be determined by our conscious choices in the absence of coercion.

Question 27

Biological determinism

Answer 27

The belief that behavior is caused by biological (genetic) influences we cannot control.

Question 28

Environmental determinism

Answer 28

The belief that behavior is caused by features of the environment like systems of rewards and punishment that we cannot control.

Question 29

psychic determinism

Answer 29

The belief that behavior is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control.

Question 30

what are some of the examples of the determisms.

Answer 30

Biological Determism= e.g. biological approach emphases the role of biological determism in behavior.
Lots of behavior and characteristics like mental disorders thought to be genetic basis.
Environmental determism= Skinner described free will as an illusion and argued that all behavior is a result of conditioning. Our experiment of ‘choice’ is the sum total of reinforcement contingencies acting upon our lives. We might think we are acting independently but our behavior is shaped by our environmental events.

Question 31

reductionism

Answer 31

the belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller consistent parts.

Question 32

define holism in issues and debates

Answer 32

an argument/ theory that states to study an indivisibles system rather than its consistent parts- opposite is reductionist approach.

Question 33

biological reductionism

Answer 33

a form of reductionism attempting to explain social and psychological phenomenon at a lower biological level - genes and hormones

Question 34

environmental reductionism

Answer 34

the attempt to explain all behaviours in terms of the stimulus response which are links that have made through experience.

Question 35

levels of explanations in psychology

Answer 35

it shows there are different ways of viewing the same phenomena in psychology.
OCD- irrational thoughts = social-cultural level- psychological level - basal ganglia= neurochemcal levels= levels of serotonin

Question 36

the case of holism

Answer 36

aspects of social behaviour that only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood at the level of the individual group members. Zimbardo study of the prisoners could not be understood by studying the participants as individuals due it being the interaction between people and the behaviour of the prisoners as a group a holistic approach would provide a global and complete understanding.

Question 37

limitation of a holistic approach

Answer 37

holist explanations can be vague and speculative as they become more complex.
for example -takes a holistic approach to behaviour and it tends to be criticised for its lack of empirical evidence.
higher level explanations provided a different perspective presents researchers with a practical dilemma.
if we accept there are lots of factors contributing to something like depression it would be difficult to solve.

Question 38

strength of reductionism

Answer 38

it forms the basis of scientific research. To create an operationalised research it is valuable to break up consistent parts.
it makes it possible to conduct experiments or record observations to make it reliable.
example behaviourist approach= it shows how complex learning could be broken down to stimulus response.
it makes psychology as valuable as natural sciences.

Question 39

limitation of the reductionist approach

Answer 39

it oversimplifies complex phenomena leading to a loss of validity.
explanations like the gene and neurotransmitters do not include social context and this could be where the behaviour takes place.
so this means the reductionist approach can only form part of an explanation.

Question 40

idiographic approach

Answer 40

an approach to research that focuses on the individual case rather than formulating general laws of behaviour.

Question 41

nomothetic approach

Answer 41

it attempts to study human behaviour through the development of principles and universal laws.

Question 42

examples of idiographic approach

Answer 42

methods that produce qualitive data like case studies.
an example would be the humanistic approach so Rogers and Maslow took an approach took an approach and were interested in studying the conscious experience of the individual like their self.
the psychodynamic approach could be shown to be idiographic as Freud uses case studies to talk about the lives of patients and identified universal laws of behaviour and personality development.

Question 43

examples of the nomothetic
approach

Answer 43

reductionist determinism and employed scientific methods.
hypotheses are formulated tested under controlled conditions and generalised from large forms of people.
Behaviourists, cognitive and biological psychologists meet the criteria for the nomothetic approach
example= skinner and behaviourist studied the responses of hundred rats.
cognitive psychologists= infer structure and processes of human memory by measuring the samples of people in laboratory.
Biological psychologists=have conducted brain scans on human brains in order to make generalitions of the localisation of the brain. Hypotheses are tested analysed and laws are developed.

Question 44

evaluation for idiographic and nomothatic approach

Answer 44

strength=
idiographic=it provides depth qualitive data and provides complete global account of the individual and this would help the nomophetic approach as it sheds light on general laws.
example= In the case of HM findings reveal important insights about normal functioning which could contribute to our overall understanding.

limitations
idiographic= the idiographic approach must recognise narrow and restricted nature of their work. example would be Oedipus complex. meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples - no adequate baseline to compare behaviour. idiographic approach are less scientific and rely on the subjective interpretations of the researcher and are open to bias.

Question 45

nomothatic approach

Answer 45

strength=
the processes involved in the nomothetic approach research tend to more scientific approach , mirroring those employed with natural sciences - testing standardised conditions using data sets that provides group averages- example in IQ testing these processes have enables psyhologists to establish norms within typical behaviour so this gives psy more scientific credibility.
limitations
general laws ignore the whole person within psychology. Knowing there is 1% chance developing schizophrenia tells us little about life was like for someone experiencing the disorder
example lab studies testing memory patients the people are treated like scores not individual people and their subjective experience of the situation is ignored and it may sometimes overlook the richness of human experience.

Question 46

Ethical implications

Answer 46

the impact that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of other people- participants.
this would include a societal level, influencing public policy and/or the way in which certain groups of people are regarded.

Question 47

social sensitivity

Answer 47

Sieber and Stanley define socially sensitive research as studies in which there are potential consequences either directly for participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research.

Question 48

explanation for ethical implications

Answer 48

researchers may exercise control over their methods they select and the way they treat participants and they have relatively little say in terms of the research findings are represented in the media is data being protected properly are those participants overly exposed to society. The impact of public policy and how it influences our perception of groups in society

Question 49

socially sensitive research

Answer 49

some areas of research can be depicted as controversial and be subject to social sensitivity. research investigating the genetic basis of criminality on the other hand might. Studies that tackle socially sensitive ‘taboo’ like race and sexuality. psychologists must be socially sensitive.

Question 50

ethical issues in socially sensitive research

Answer 50

Sieber and Stanley have identified a number of concerns that researchers should be mindful of when conducting socially sensitive research:
implications= the wider effects of the research should be considered as some studies may be seen as scientific credence to prejudice and discrimination like studies examining racial basis of intelligence.
uses/public policy= what is research likely to be used for?
validity of research= findings can be seen as objective and value-free in the past have actually turned out to be highly suspect and in some cases, fraudulent

Question 51

evaluation of ethical implications

Answer 51

Benefits of socially sensitive research=
Sandra scar argues that studies of underrepresented groups and issues may promote a greater sensitivity and understanding of these. This can help reduce prejudice and encourage acceptance.
socially sensitive research benefits society so it reduces unreliability in eyewitness testimony and miscarriages injustice.
framing the question= Sieber and Stanely warn the way in which research questions phrased and investigated may influence the way in which findings are interpreted.
Kitzinger and Coyle note how research into so called alternative relationships has been guilty of a form of heterosexual bias in which it explains that homosexual and heterosexual relations were judged and it shows investigators must open minded.