issues and debates

Question 1

define gender bias

Answer 1

a theory that doesn’t represent the behaviour and experience of both men and women, usually women

Question 2

define androcentrism

Answer 2

male centered, behaviour is judged by the male standard so female behaviour is often described as abnormal

Question 3

define cultural bias

Answer 3

to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the lens of a singular culture

Question 4

define ethnocentrism

Answer 4

judging other cultures by the norms and values of your own culture. In an extreme form, the belief in the superiority of your own culture which may lead to prejudice and discriminatory behaviour

Question 5

define free will

Answer 5

the notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by external forces

Question 6

define determinism

Answer 6

the view that an individuals behaviour is shared and controlled by external or internal forces rather that the persons will to do something

Question 7

define hard determinism

Answer 7

also referred to as fatalism,
all behaviour has a cause and it is possible to identify this cause, making it compatible with science
implies free will is not possible, as our behaviour is cause by external or internal forces beyond our control

Question 8

why is hard determinism compatible with sciences

Answer 8

it uncovers casual laws that govern our thoughts

Question 9

define soft determinism

Answer 9

proposed by philosopher William James 1890, a feature which later became prevalent in the cognitive approach.
whilst it acknowledges all behaviour has a cause, but behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices in the absence of coercion

Question 10

define biological determinism

Answer 10

• the biological approach emphasises the importance of biological determinism in behaviour.
• this is supported by processes that aren’t under conscious control, such as the autonomic nervous system during periods of stress and anxiety
• the belief that behaviour is controlled by biological influences that we cannot control

Question 11

define environmental decision

Answer 11

• BF Skinner argued free will was an illusion and behaviour is learnt through conditioning. our experience of choice is merely the sum total of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives. Although we may think we are acting independently, our behaviour has been shared by environmental events as well as agents of socialisation - parent teachers etc.
• the belief that behaviour is caused by the environment that we cannot control

Question 12

define psychic determinism

Answer 12

Freud agreed that free will was an illusion but placed more emphasis on biological drives and instincts.
Behaviour is determined and directed by unconscious conflicts, there is no such thing as an accident and something seemingly random is explained by the underlying authority of the unconscious mind

Question 13

the scientific emphasis on casual explanations - free will v determinism

Answer 13

basic scientific principle is that every event in the universe has a cause and that cause can be explained using general laws
The knowledge of causes and the foundation of laws are important as they help scientists to predict and control events in the future
In psychology lab experiments are using to stimulate the conditions of a test tube and removing all extraneous variables in an attempt to precisely control and predict human behaviour

Question 14

the positive of determinism

Answer 14

it is consistent with the aims of science.
the notion human behaviour is orderly and obeys the laws places psychology on equal footing to more established sciences.
The value of the predictions of human behaviour has led to the development of treatments therapies and behavioural interventions. e.g. the psychotherapeutic drug for Schizophrenia. Mental disorders similar to this where individuals experience a complete loss of control. over thoughts and behaviours cast doubts on the concept of free will

Question 15

an example of an approach supporting free will

Answer 15

the humanistic approach, we have free will to advance up the hierarchy of needs etc

Question 16

the negatives of determinism

Answer 16

the hard determinist stance is not consistent with the with how our legal system operates. In a court of law, offenders are held morally accountable for their actions.
Moreover, despite its scientific credentials, it is unfalsifiable. It is based on the fact behaviour has a cause which has not yet been discovered which is impossible to disprove or approve.

Question 17

positives of free will

Answer 17

everyday experience gives the impression that we are constantly exercising free will through the choices we make every day. This gives face validity to the concept of free will.
People that have a high locus control are said to have a high degree of influence over their behaviour
Robert et al 2000 discovered that adolescents with a strong belief in fatalism had a significantly greater risk of developing depression

Question 18

the negatives of free will

Answer 18

neurological studies such as Chung Sion Soon et al 2008 have demonstrated that the brain activity of making a decision even on a simple choice may predate our conscious knowledge of even making the devision. Brain activity related to pressing a button with either your left hand or right hand occurs up to 10 seconds before the participant is consciously aware they have made the decision - our decision are determined by internal forces before we are aware of them

Question 19

define the nature nature interactionist theory

Answer 19

nature and nature are linked to an extent that they should not be considered as separate, so researchers study how they interact and influence each other.

Question 20

define nurture

Answer 20

our environment around us shapes our behaviour

Question 21

define nature

Answer 21

our biology- our genetic makeup determines our behaviour

Question 22

define hereditary

Answer 22

genetic transfer of mental and physical characteristics from parent to offspring

Question 23

define holism

Answer 23

only makes sense to study an individisble system rather than its constituent parts

Question 24

define reductionism

Answer 24

human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into its constituent parts

Question 25

define biological reductionism

Answer 25

social and psychological phenomena are explained at a lower level biological level

Question 26

define environmental reductionism

Answer 26

to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience

Question 27

define social sensitive in therms of ethical implications

Answer 27

some areas of research are more likely to be controversial than others. 
Studies where there are potential implications either directly for the participant in the research or for the class of individuals represented in the findings

Question 28

define ethical implication - implications

Answer 28

some studies may be seen to give scientific credence to prejudice and discrimination such as studies studying racial bias and intelligence

Question 29

who defined ethical implications

Answer 29

Sieber and Stanley 1998

Question 30

define ethical implication - public policy/use

Answer 30

what is the research likely to be used for and could it be used for the wrong purposes
findings may be shaped by the government for political reasons

Question 31

define ethical implication - the validity of the research

Answer 31

some findings were portrayed as objective but have later found to be highly suspect and sometimes fraudulent

Question 32

the benefits of socially sensitive research

Answer 32

Sandra Scarr 1988 argues studies of underrepresented groups and issues may promote greater sensitivity and understanding. Similarly, research into the unreliability of eyewitness testimony has helped to prevent miscarriages of justice

Question 33

framing the question - ethical implication evaluation

Answer 33

Sieber and Stanley 1988 warn the way questions are phrased may influence how the questions are interpreted. therefore researchers must keep an open mind and be prepared to have their preconceptions challenged

Question 34

who gains - ethical implications evaluation

Answer 34

socially sensitive information has been used by the government without full consideration of the potential implications. For example in the 1950s research was conducted into subliminal messages and was discovered if images of products were flashed on the screen too quickly for people to see them, sales increased. it was later discovered Vane Packard 1957 made it up

Question 35

define the idiographic approach

Answer 35

an approach that focuses more on an individual case, each with their own subjective experiences rather than the aim to formulate general laws of behaviour

Question 36

what data is collected from idiographic research

Answer 36

generally associated with qualitative data such as case studies and unstructured interviews

Question 37

define the nomothetic approach

Answer 37

the aim is to produce general laws of behaviour to provide a benchmark where people can be compared to classified and measured

Question 38

what data is collected form nomothetic research

Answer 38

quantitive

Question 39

examples of idiographic approach in psychology

Answer 39

-humanist Maslow’s idea of self, wanting to study unique experience rather than creating laws of behaviours.

Question 40

examples of nomothetic approach in psychology

Answer 40

skinner’s rats, determine how everyone learns behaviour through association, not individual experiences

Question 41

positives of idiographic

Answer 41

in-depth qualitative measure allow for a complete global account of an individual

Question 42

negatives of idiographic

Answer 42

has a narrow and restricted area of work.
much criticism at freud was for his research based on a case study on Little Hans, no way of forming generalisations therefore no baseline to compare behaviours
this makes it less scientific as it often relies on subjective opinion

Question 43

positives of nomothetic

Answer 43

tends to be more scientific using standardised procedures and statistical analysis have enabled psychologists to establish ‘norms’ of behaviour arguably giving psychology greater scientific credibility

Question 44

negatives of nomothetic

Answer 44

loses the whole person. participants are treated as a series of scores rather than as a person.