Issues And Debates Flashcards
Universality
Any underlying characteristic of human beings which is capable of being applied to all
Examples of gender bias
- abnormal behaviour is often explained in terms of chemical processes eg. Periods etc
- depression in women era explained in terms of hormones rather than social life
- men and women respond to research differently and may be treated differently by researchers
- published results are often done with initials as men are sometimes published over women
Alpha bias
When the differences between men and female are exaggerated to increase or decrease the value of women
Beta bias
When differences between the men and women’s are ignored or minimised e.g. when female participants are said to apply to all male research
Androcentrism (institutional sexism)
If our understanding of normal comes from men then female behaviour will be seen as abnormal
Gynocentrism
A study conducted on female and generalised to males
Gilligan and moral development
- suggested women make moral decisions differently
- arguably biased as m+f development is more similar than her work suggests
Freud’s androcentrism
- a woman’s relationship with mother is weaker than a boys with father
- femininity is a result of failed masculinity
- vanity is a defence mechanism to make up for sexual inferiority to men
Karen Horney
- stated it was wrong to think of females as envious of men’s attributes
- she stated men had ‘womb envy’ as they wanted the ability to have children
Implications of gender bias
- gender biased research may create misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to challenge negative stereotypes and and validate discriminatory practices
- may provide justification to deny women opportunities in the workplace and society
Institutional sexism
- lack of women at senior level means female concerns may not be reflected in research questions asked
- lab experiments have female participants and more researchers
- Nicholson (1995) creates inequitable relationship with male researcher
- Denmark (1988) psychology is sexist and c relates bias research
Reflexivity
- modern researchers are beginning to recognise their own assumptions effect on their work
- they see bias as a critical aspect of the research process
- dam run and lambert (2008) reflected on own gender related experiences in research
- reflexivity is an important development and has led to a greater awareness of bias in research
Essentialism
- many genders differences are based on the essentialist perspective that gender differences are fixed and enduring
- politically motivated facts that creare double standards
Feminist psychology
Worrell stated to avoid gender bias:
- women should be studied in real life context
- should genuinely participate in research
- not objectified
- diversity between women should be examined just like between men and women
- higher external validity
- women want to be included in research not a subject of it
Example of ethnocentric research
- Ainsworth based study’s on 100 middle classes American families
- suggested ideal attachment was secure
- Takashi (1990) showed in Japan most children are insecure resistant so not to her ideals
- smith and pond (1998) all research has taken place in western countries so cannot be applied universality
Cultural relativism
- Berry (1969) suggests psychologists have been guilty of imposing western beliefs on other cultures and judging them by that
- I read they should use emic approaches meaning psychologist should find cultural differences and use them to better the research
Intelligence testing
- Brislin (1976) found in western cultures most tests are done again the clock
- however some people in Uganda believe something done slower shoes greater intelligence
Scientific racism
- Goddard (1917) Russians, Jews, Hungarians and Italians were feeble minded
- many still believe race affects IQ
Culture bound disorders
- anorexia is seen as a western disorder due to the ideal body image standards
- girls who played within barnice had lower self esteem due to standards ser by her unrealistic beauty
Individualism and collectivism
- Jahoda argues that biological evolutionary changes are so small since the Stone Age therefore most new behaviours must be a product of own culture
- traditionally psychologists have looked at collectivists and individualistic cultures however to Kano and Osaka found that 14/15 studies found no distinction between the 2 cultures
Unfamiliarity with research tradition
- participants familiarity with aims and objectives is assumed however different cultures have different knowledge
- demand characteristics may be exaggerated affecting validity
Operationalisation of variables
- in cross cultural research variables will be viewed differently by participants
- behaviour is seen differently in different cultures
Research challenges implicit assumptions
- challenges western views
- creates greater sensitivity to cultures and prevents scientific racism
- therefore conclusions are likely to be more valid
Determinism
- The view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces meaning behaviour should be predictable
- linked to behavioural, psychodynamic and biological approaches
Free will
- The notion that as humans we are free to choose our own thoughts and actions. These view humans as self determining - they have an active role in controlling their behaviour and are not acting in response to any external or internal pressures
- linked to humanistic approach
Hard determinism
- free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal and external events beyond our control
- principles of science - to uncover laws that govern thoughts and actions
Soft determinism
- suggests all human action has a cause
- people have conscious mental control over the way they behave
- while there may be determining forces that act upon us, we have freedom to make rational, conscious choices in everyday situation
Biological determinism
- the belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences we cannot control
- e.g. sociobiological theory of relationships, neural explanations of crime behaviour, physiological responses to stress
Environmental determinism
- the belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control
- e.g. skinner free will is an illusion
Psychic determinism
- the belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts we cannot control
- e.g. Freud-biological drives and instincts, maternal deprivation-Bowlby
Cognitive - behaviour as a result of free will and determinism
- patterns in how the brain processes external info and what behaviours this leads to
- it also acknowledges that people use cognitive processes such as language to reason and make decisions
Humanistic approach
- Rogers client entered therapy
- removal of psychological barrier leads to self actualisation
- individuals are in control of their behaviour and are trying to achieve personal growth
Scientific determinism
- scientific research based on the belief that all events have a cause. An IV is manipulated to observe the causal effect, the DV
- Harlow’s (1959) research on attachment involving the DV. The result demonstrated that contact comfort determined the formation of an attachment
- scientists can predict and control events in the future
- removal of extraneous variables to precisely control and predict human behaviour
Case for free will
- everyday experiences gives impression we are exercising free will on a daily basis giving validity to the concept
- Roberts (2000) found adolescents with a strong belief in fatalism had a greater risk of depression
- this suggests having free will may have a positive affect on our mind and behaviour
Against free will
- neurological studies of decision making have revealed evidence against free will
- Chung Siong soon (2008) found evidence that brain activity activity of simple choices
- e.g. whether we press a button stub keffiyehs out right hand occurs in the brain 10 secs before participants were aware of making the decision
Case for determinism
- consistent with the aims of science
- prediction and control of human behaviour has led to the development of treatments, therapies and behavioural intervention
- schizophrenia sufferers can experience a total loss of control over thoughts and behaviour
A compromise between free will and determinism
- SLT suggested that we have free will but environmental factors can also have an impact on behaviour
- Bandura- choose who or what to attend and when to perform certain behaviours
- could best outcome be to adopt a ‘soft deterministic’ approach?
Nature
Behaviour is determined by genetics/biology
Nurture
Behaviour is learned through interacting with the environment. Determinist view
Physiological background
- Decartes (1596-1650) nativists- human characteristics are unite which includes some knowledge. Behaviour is the result of heredity
- Locke (1632-1704) empiricist- the mind is a blank slate at birth which learning and experience writes. Behaviour is the result of environment
How is nature assessed
- heritability coefficient is used to measure heredity
- numerical figure measuring from 0-1 indicates the extent to which a characteristic is genetic 1 meaning entirely genetically determined
What is meant by environment (Lerner 1986)
- the mothers physical state during pregnancy
- social conditions
- cultural and historical context
Phenotypes
The environment influences the expression of genes
Epigenetics
- change in our genetic activity without changing our genetic code. Smoking, pollution, etc
- environmental interactions leave marks on our DNA and tell our bodies which genes to use and ignore
Nativist approach (criticism of nature)
- extremely deterministic stance
- provides justification for studies which including race, genetics and intelligence
- Lombroso-criticised by delis the racial undertones of his work and links to the eugenics movement
Empiricists approach (support for nurture)
- the suggestion that behaviour can be changed by altering environmental conditions has led to practical applications in therapy
- token economy in prisons-modifying behaviour
- anger management-cognitive behaviour treatment
Support for nature
- Piaget- children’s thought processes changed at predetermined age-related stages
- twins are shown to share 100% genes in gene studies
Support for nurture
- little Albert study
- zimbardos prison experiment
Support for interaction of nature and nurture
- Shared and unshared environments Dunn and Palomino (1990) suggests that individual differences mean that siblings may experience life events differently
- Mz twins raised together don’t show 100% concordance rates
Constructivism (support for interaction)
- constructivism is the idea that people create their own nurture by actively seeking environments appropriate fro their nature
- Plomin (1994) refers to this as niche building and suggests it would be imposible to separate nature and nurture
Nomothetic approach
Looks at how behaviours are similar to each other as human beings. Quantitative methods
Idiographic approach
Looks at now behaviours are different to others. Qualitative methods
Advantages of personality tests
- enables us to predict behaviour
- some tests can be used to predict behaviours
- some tests enable us to show which personality’s will be suited to different jobs
Fundamental attribution error
We tend to attribute more significance to situational factors when considering the causes of our own behaviour but attribute more significance to personality when considering causes of other behaviour
Disadvantages of personality tests
- difficult to operationalise
- we cannot survey measurement is valid
- fundamental attribution errors
- tests are all different so the quality or value of test depends on quality of theory. Tests aren’t generalisable to all people in all situations
- there is disagreement over whether research shows that behaviours based on personality tests can be predicted
Individual differences
- some individuals may show more consistent personality traits so may be more influenced by these traits
- some personality traits will only emerge in some situations
- some individuals will be more affected by the environment in which they are their personality traits
Which approaches are nomothetic
- psychodynamic (both)
- biological
- behaviourist
- cognitive
Research methods
Ideographic: - case studies - unstructured interviews - thematic analysis Nomothetic - experiments - correlation also research - psychometric testing (personality)
Studies for ideographic approach
- Freud-little Hans
- phineas gage-frontal lobe in neuroscience
- Schaffer wind Emerson’s longitudinal study-theory of attachment
Studies for nomothetic approach
- Miligram, zimbardo and asch-generalise findings on obedience social roles and conformity
- moscovicci-lab study on minority influence
- Ainsworth’s strange situation
Strengths of idiographic
- gain detailed and informative descriptions of behaviour
- can uncover causes for behaviour not identified using nomothetic methods
- develop a holistic understanding of individual cases
- can provide hypothesis for future scientific studies
Against ideographic
- cannot generalise to wider population
- methods are subjective, flexible and unstandardised so replication prediction and control of behaviour is different
Strengths of nomothetic
- can generalise to wider population
- methods are objective, measurable and can be verified so replication, prediction and control of behaviour is easy
Against nomothetic
- generalised laws may not apply to an individual
- understanding is often superficial-same score on personality test for different reasons
Case for ideographic approach
- in depth qualitative approach provides a complete and global account of the individual
- may complement nomethetic approach by shedding further light on general laws or challenging laws
Case against ideographic approach
- narrow and restricted
- single case studies like little Hans cannot make generalisation without further research
Case for nomothetic approach
- more scientific, testing under standardised conditions using data sets to provide averages, predictions and controls
- typical behaviour norms such as avg IQ over 100
Case against nomothetic approach
- knowing % risk of schizophrenia doesn’t tell what it’s like to have it
- subjective experiments are ignored
Complementary rather than contradictory
Should we consider the approaches side by side ?
Gender scheme theory (1981)
Cognitive theory explaining how individuals become gendered in society and how sex-linked characteristics are maintained and transmitted to other members of a culture
