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A Level Psychology > Issues and Debates > Flashcards

Issues and Debates Flashcards

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1
Q

What is gender bias

A
  • differential treatment and/or representation of males and females
  • based on stereotypes and not on real differences
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2
Q

What are the types of gender bias

A
  • alpha bias
  • beta bias
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3
Q

What is alpha bias

A
  • theories or studies that overestimate or exaggerate the differences between males and females
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4
Q

What is beta bias

A
  • theories or studies that ignore/minimise/underestimate sex differences
  • often assume findings from studies using males can apply equally to females
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5
Q

What is androcentrism

A
  • possible consequence of beta bias
  • researched being centred on males
  • women’s behaviour has been misunderstood or pathologists
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6
Q

What is universality

A
  • conclusions drawn from research can be applied to everyone, anywhere, regardless of time, culture, or gender
  • findings are objective and not influenced by their own values
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7
Q

What is an example of alpha bias

A
  • sociobiological theory of relationship formation
  • it is in a males’ interest to impregnate as many women as possible to pass genes but women should focus on survival of their few children
  • sexual promiscuity in males is genetically determined and women engaging in same behaviour are going against nature so are abnormal
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8
Q

What is an example of beta bias

A
  • fight or flight response
  • early research focused on male animals and was assumed there would be a universal response to a threatening situation
  • recent research from Taylor et al. (2000) suggests biology evolved to inhibit fight or flight in women who have a tendency to tend and befriend
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9
Q

What is an example of androcentrism

A
  • the American Psychological Association published a list of the 100 most influential psychologists of the 20th century
  • list included only 6 women
  • suggests psychology has traditionally been a subject produced by men, for men, and about men
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10
Q

What are positive discussion points for gender bias

A
  • institutional sexism
  • societal opportunities
  • essentialist perspective
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11
Q

How is institutional sexism an example of a positive discussion point for gender bias

A
  • male researchers within psychology are more likely to have researcher published than female researchers
  • research which finds gender differences more likely to be published than research showing no differences
  • psychology as a result is guilty of supporting a form of institutional sexism
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12
Q

How is societal opportunities an example of a positive discussion point for gender bias

A
  • gender biased research provides scientific justification for denying women opportunities within society
  • in 1930s, scientific research found intellectual activity shrivel women’s ovaries, reducing chances of conceiving
  • prevented them from attending university
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13
Q

How is the essentialist perspective an example of a positive discussion point for gender bias

A
  • many gender difference exported over years are based on essentialist perspective
  • suggests gender differences are fixed and inevitable and determined by nature
  • this is not necessary the case
  • e.g. in societies where men and women go out to work and share child care and domestic chores, psychological differences are less
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14
Q

What are negative discussion points for gender bias

A
  • Dambrin and Lambert (2008)
  • Worell (1992)
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15
Q

How is Dambrin and Lambert (2008) an example of a negative discussion point for gender bias

A
  • many modern researcher began to recognise effect that their own values and assumptions have on their work
  • Dambrin and Lambert (2008) included reflection of how their own gender relegated experienced affected their reading of events when they investigated reason for lack of women in accountancy firms
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16
Q

How is Worell (1992) an example of a negative discussion point for gender bias

A
  • put forward number of criteria which should be adhered to to avoid gender bias in research
  • women should be studies within meaningful life contexts
  • women should genuinely participate in psychological research
  • diversity within groups of women should be examined
  • more collaborative research collecting qualitative data
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17
Q

What is culture bias

A
  • tendency to judge people in terms of one’s own cultural assumptions
  • if norm for behaviour is judge from standpoint of one culture then any cultural differences will be seen as abnormal or inferior
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18
Q

How can researchers reduce culture bias

A
  • should not attempt to extrapolate findings or theories to cultures that are not represented in sample or assume there are universal norms across cultures
  • should use native researchers to culture being investigated, carry out cross-cultural researcher, and be sensitive to cultural norms when designing research
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19
Q

What is ethnocentrism

A
  • emphasising important of behaviour of one’s own culture
  • shown through behaviours not conforming to model are deficient, unsophisticated or underdeveloped
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20
Q

What is an example of ethnocentrism

A
  • Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
  • assumed securely attached child shows separation protest and would be insecurely attached if not
  • means German mothers were seen as cold and rejecting as their babies did not show distress
  • could be interpreted as German mothers encouraging independence
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21
Q

What is cultural relativism

A
  • idea that a behaviour can only be properly understood in context of norms and values of culture in which it occurs
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22
Q

What are positive discussion points for cultural bias

A
  • Tokano and Osaka (1999)
  • Cochrane and Sashidharan (1995)
  • brain fog
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23
Q

How is Tokano and Osaka (1999) an example of a positive discussion point for culture bias

A
  • psychologically has previously differentiated cultures into individualistic and collectivist
  • critics argued simple distinction is unhelpful and inaccurate
  • Tokano and Osaka (1999) found 14 of 15 studies comparison US and Japan had no evidence of traditional distinction between individualistic and collectivist cultures
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24
Q

How is Cochrane and Sashidharan (1995) an example of a positive discussion point for culture bias

A
  • found African-Caribbean immigrants are seven times more likely to be diagnosed with mental illness
  • led to questioning validity of DSM and ICD for diagnosing individuals born outside culture they were developed in
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25
Q

How is brain fog an example of a positive discussion point for culture bias

A
  • mental illnesses in some cultures that do no exist in others
  • brain fog used in West Africa to describe a person who is experiencing difficulty concentrating and thinking
  • in China, a man who believes his penis is retracting into his body is diagnosed with koro
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26
Q

What are examples of negative discussion points for culture bias

A
  • Ekman (1989) / interactional synchrony
  • cross-cultural research
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27
Q

How is Ekman (1989) / interactional synchrony an example of a negative discussion point for culture bias

A
  • evidence that some human behaviours are universal
  • e.g. 4 basic facial expressions for emotions being same in all cultures, including animal kingdom (Ekman, 1989)
  • also Interactional synchrony between infant and caregiver has been observed in many cultures
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28
Q

How is cross culture research an example of a negative discussion point for culture bias

A
  • is one way to prevent cultural bias in psychology
  • shows that knowledge and concepts we take for granted are not shared by others around the world
  • not only counters charge of scientific racism that has been made against theories in past, but means conclusions psychologists draw are likely to have more validity
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29
Q

What is free will

A
  • suggests as human beings we are essentially self determining and able to choose our thoughts and actions
  • humanistic approach considers people to have free will
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30
Q

What it determinism

A
  • idea that our traits and behaviours are outside of our control
  • can be due to factors either internal or external
  • no control over factors
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31
Q

What are the types of determinism

A
  • hard determinism
  • soft determinism
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32
Q

What is hard determinism

A
  • fatalism
  • all human behaviour has a cause and it should be possible to identify and describe these causes
  • such an idea is computable with the aims of science (to uncover causal laws that govern people’s thoughts and actions
  • assumes everything we think and feel and do is dictated by forces we cannot control and might not even be aware of
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33
Q

What is soft determinism

A
  • proposed by philosopher William James (1890)
  • important feature of the cognitive approach
  • although all human action has a cause, people have conscious mental control over the way they behave
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34
Q

What are the types of hard determinism

A
  • biological determinism
  • environmental determinism
  • psychic determinism
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35
Q

What is biological determinism

A
  • biological approach argues all traits and behaviours are governed by internal biological factors
  • e.g. genes, neurochemistry, brain suture
  • many physiological and neurological brain processes are not under conscious control such
  • e.g. autonomic nervous system during periods of stress and anxiety
  • lots of behaviours and characteristics are thought to have genetic basis
  • research has demonstrated effect of hormones (testosterone) in aggressive behaviour
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36
Q

What is environmental determinism

A
  • idea that traits and behaviours are governed by external forces
  • e.g. experiences, upbringing, learning, schools, parents, peers
  • behavioural approach holds that experience of choice is merely the sum total of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives
  • we may think we act independently, but our behaviour has been shared by environmental events and agents of socialisation
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37
Q

What is psychic determinism

A
  • idea that traits and behaviours are governed by unconscious instincts and drives
  • psychodynamic approach sees human behaviour as determined and directed by unconscious conflicts, repressed in childhood
  • no such things as an accident according to Freud
  • even something as seemingly random as an innocuous slip of the tongue can be explained as being caused by unconscious
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38
Q

What is the scientific emphasis on causal explanations

A
  • science is heavily deterministic in its search for causal relationships as it seeks to discover whether the IV (cause) leads to changes in the DV (effect)
  • if all variables are controlled except for IV, it means changes in DV must be caused by manipulation of IV
  • having a control group enables researchers to determine cause and effect
  • goal is to predict and control human behaviour
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39
Q

What are the evaluation points for determinism

A
  • Chun Siong Soon et al. (2008)
  • predicting behaviour
  • psychotherapeutics
  • face validity
  • locus of control (Roberts et al., 2000)
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40
Q

How is Chun Siong Soon et al. (2008) an example of an evaluation point for determinism

A
  • positive
  • demonstrated that the brain activity that determines simple choices occurs before we are even aware we made a choice
  • particiapnts asked to decide whether to push a button with their left or right hand
  • brain imaging revealed that they made their decision up to 10 seconds before reporting that they were consciously aware of making a decision
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41
Q

How is predicting behaviour an example of an evaluation point for determinism

A
  • positive
  • determinism is fundamental to the scientific focus on investigating causes of behaviour and being able to predict behaviour
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42
Q

How are psychotherapeutics an example of an evaluation point for determinism

A
  • prediction and control of human behaviour has led to development of treatments, therapies and behaviour interventions that have benefited many
  • e.g. psychotherapeutic drug treatment in managing schizophrenia
  • disorders like schizophrenia cast doubt on concept of free will as no one would choose to have schizophrenia
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43
Q

How is face validity an example of an evaluation point for determinism

A
  • idea of free will has more face validity than determinism
  • everyday experiences gives people the impression that they are constantly exercising free will through choices they make on any given day
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44
Q

How is locus of control (Roberts et al., 2000) an example of an evaluation point for determinism

A
  • people with internal locus of control are more mentally healthy
  • Roberts et al. (2000) demonstrated that adolescents who had strong belief that their lives were determined by events outside of their control were at higher risk of developing depression
  • thinking we have free will has a positive impact on our mind and behaviour
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45
Q

What is the nature vs nurture debate

A
  • possible that behaviour is determined by nature and nurture
  • debate is about relative contribution of each of these influences in determining an individual’s behaviour
46
Q

What is the nature side of the nature vs nurture debate

A
  • rooted in the nativist theory
  • knowledge and abilities are innate
  • evolutionarily explanations
47
Q

What approach supports the nature debate

A
  • biological approach
48
Q

How does the biological approach support the nature debate

A
  • offers generic explanations for behaviour
  • concordance rate for schizophrenia in MZ twins is 40% but only 7% in DZ (Jospeh, 2004)
  • closer concordance rate for those with same genes shows nature is a major cause of mental disorders
49
Q

What are evolutionary explanations and how do they support the nature debate

A
  • based on principle that a characteristic that promotes survival and reproduction will be naturally selected as its more likely to be passed on
  • Bowlby (1969) proposed attached is adaptive as it means infant will be more likely to be protected and survive
  • attachment also promotes close relationships fostering successful reproduction
50
Q

What is the nurture side of the nature vs nurture debate

A
  • rooted in empiricist theory
  • knowledge derives from learning
  • environmental influences are acquired through interactions with the environment
  • includes physical and social world
  • experiences
  • pre-natal environmental influences are part of nurture (mother smoking during pregnancy)
51
Q

What approach supports the nurture debate

A
  • behavioural approach
52
Q

How does the behavioural approach support the nurture debate

A
  • assumes all behaviour can be explained in terms of experience
  • claims that babies attach to mothers as they associate them with pleasure from food (classical conditioning)
  • SLT is less extreme than traditional behaviour ms
  • studies show behaviour is learnt through observing behaviour of others (Bandura, 1963)
  • studies also acknowledge urge to behave is biological
53
Q

What is a theory supporting nurture

A
  • double blind theory of schizophrenia
54
Q

How does the double blind theory of schizophrenia support nurture

A
  • Bareson et al. (1956)
  • suggests schizophrenia develops in children who frequently receive contradictory messages from parents
  • mixed messages prevent child developing an internally consistent construction of reality
55
Q

What are strengths of the nature nurture debate

A
  • interactionist approach
  • Diathesis Stress Model
  • epigenetics
  • Magure et al. (2000
56
Q

How is the interactionist approach an example of a strength for the nature nurture debate

A
  • suggests nature and nurture are closely intertwined
  • makes little sense to separate them
  • general heritability figure in IQ tests is round 0.5
  • means both genetics and environment are important factors in determining an individual’s intelligence
57
Q

How is the Diasthesis Stress Model an example of a strength for the nature nurture debate

A
  • models of mental illness which emphasis the interaction of nature and nurture in causing mental illness
  • means a psychopathology us caused by genetic vulnerability which is only expressed when there is an environmental trigger
  • Tienari et al. (2004) found in group of Finnish adoptees, most likely to get schizophrenia had biological relatives with disorder and relationship with adopted family was dysfunctional
58
Q

How are epigenetics an example of a strength for the nature nurture debate

A
  • refers to a change in our genetic activity without changing our genetic code
  • process that happens throughout life
  • caused by interaction with environment
  • aspects of lifestyle leave epigenetic markers on DNA
  • marks tell bodies which genes to ignore and which to use
  • can be passed on
  • introduces a third element of the debate, life experiences of previous generation
59
Q

Suggest one way in which psychologists may address the problem of beta bias in their research

A
  • include both genders in research samples
60
Q

How many researchers reduce cultural bias in their research

A
  • do not generalise findings from one culture to another
  • emic approach
61
Q

What is the emic approach

A
  • considers behaviour from inside the culture
62
Q

What is the etic approach

A
  • looks at behaviour from outside of the culture
63
Q

What is reductionism

A
  • process of breaking a complex phenomenon down into consistent elements
  • considers process to be desirable because complex phenomena are best understood in terms of a simple explanation
64
Q

What are levels of explanation

A
  • suggests all behaviours can be considered at various different levels of explanation
  • vary from most reductionist to more holistic
  • lowest focus on physiological factors
  • highest focus on sociocultural factors
  • behaviour, cognitive and social explanations between
65
Q

What are the different levels of explanation

A
  • highest level: cultural and social explanations of behaviour
  • middle level: psychological (behavioural) explanations of behaviour
  • lowest level: biological explanations of behaviour
66
Q

What are the different types of reductionism

A
  • environmental reductionism
  • biological reductionism
67
Q

What is environmental reductionism

A
  • argues behaviour can be reduced to a simple relationship between behaviour and events
  • e.g. complex emotion of attachment is reduced to a set of probabilities; the mother is likely to provide food which is reinforcing hence she is rewarding individual and so becomes a loved one
68
Q

What is biological reductionism

A
  • reduces human behaviour to the level of the action of neurones, NTs, hormones and so on
  • e.g. suggested that schizophrenia is caused by excessive activity of the NT dopamine because drugs that block this NT reduce schizophrenic symptoms
69
Q

What is holism

A
  • focuses on systems as a whole rather than on the consistent parts
  • suggests we cannot predict how the whole system will behave just from knowledge of the individual components
70
Q

What are approaches that support holism

A
  • humanistic approach
  • cognitive approach
71
Q

How does the humanistic approach support holism

A
  • believes individual reacts as an organised whole, rather than set of stimulus response links
  • what matters is a person’s sense of a unified identity and thus a lack of identity or sense of “wholeness” leads to a mental disorder
72
Q

How does the cognitive approach support holism

A
  • recognises importance of understanding an entire system
  • e.g. memory is a complex system which has been understood in terms fo connected networks
  • each network is linked to many other neurons
  • these links develop through experience
  • with each new experience, the links are strengthened or weakened
  • network as a whole behaves differently than individual parts
73
Q

What does an interactionist approach in reductionism argue

A
  • several levels of explanation are necessary to explain a particular behaviour, ranging from lower to higher levels
  • interactionism is subtly different from holism as it considers how different levels of explanation interact
  • holism however is concerned with understanding the whole experience rather than individual explanations
74
Q

What are examples of strengths of reductionism

A
  • cause and effect
  • scientific
  • practical applications
75
Q

How is cause and effect an example of a strength for reductionism

A
  • scientists are drawn to reductionist explanations as a method of research
  • most experiment psychology is based on assumptions that human behaviour can be studied effectively through simple experiments whereas complex behaviour is reduced to isolate variables
  • controlled environment => cause and effect
  • not possible if all factors were studied at once
76
Q

How is scientific an example of a strength for reductionism

A
  • biological and environmental reductions both break complex behaviours into small constituent parts
  • means they can be scientifically tested and over time explanations of behaviour based on scientific evidence will emerge
77
Q

How are practical applications an example of a strength for reductionism

A
  • biological reductionism has led to development of biological therapies and drugs
  • e.g. SSRIs more effective than placebos at treating OCD and reducing symptoms for up to 3 months after treatment
  • use of SSRIs in patients with OCD helped reduce anxiety associated with OCD providing relief for patients
78
Q

What are examples of weaknesses of reductionism

A
  • errors
  • animal testing
  • overlooked behaviour (Wolpe, 1973)
79
Q

How are errors an example of a weakness for reductionism

A
  • biological reduction can lead to errors of understanding
  • simplistic and ignores complex interaction of many factors
  • e.g. treating ADHD with drugs in the belief condition consists of only neurochemical imbalances mistakes symptoms for true cause
  • Ritalin may reduce symptoms but varied factors giving rising to ADHD have not been addressed
80
Q

How is animal testing an example of a weakness for reductionism

A
  • researching supporting environmental reductionism used animals for testing
  • critics refer to social context in which humans are embedded in and hard to measure factors such as cognition, emotion, and intentionality
81
Q

How is overlooked behaviour (Wolpe, 1973) an example of a weakness for reductionism

A
  • environmental reductionism means true meaning of behaviour is overlooked
  • Wolpe (1973) treated women with phobia of insects with SD but found no improvement
  • turned out her husband, who she did not get on with, had an insect nickname
  • her phobia was not the result of classical conditioning but an expression of her marital difficulties
82
Q

What is the idiographic approach

A
  • involves the study of individuals and the unique insights each provides
  • qualitative, focusing on studying unique individuals in depth rather than gaining numerical data from many to determine average characteristics
  • focus is on quality rather than quantity
  • employs qualitative methods such as instructed interviews and case studies
83
Q

What approaches can be seen as idiographic

A
  • psychodynamic
  • humanistic
84
Q

How is the psychodynamic approach idiographic

A
  • Freud used case studies of patients to understand human behaviour
  • e.g. Little Hands
  • consisted of 150 pages of verbatim quotes and Freud’s interpretations of these quotes and events
  • did not make generalisations based on case studies but still idiographic as they drawn from information gathered from unique individuals
85
Q

How is the humanistic approach idiographic

A
  • humanistic psychologists concerned with studying the whole person and seeing world from their perspective
  • what matters is the person’s subjective experience and not what someone else might observe of their behaviour
86
Q

What is the nomothetic approach

A
  • involves studying large representative sample to collect data to support a testable hypothesis
  • seeks to formulate general laws of behaviour that apply to everyone
  • favours quantitative research methods and data
87
Q

What approaches are nomothetic

A
  • biological
  • behaviourist
  • cognitive
88
Q

How is the biological approach nomothetic

A
  • seeks to portray basic principles of how the body and brain work
  • have made mistake of only studying men and assuming their findings can be generalised to women
  • e.g. fight or flight response
89
Q

How is the behaviourist approach nomothetic

A
  • produces general laws of human behaviour
  • may not have involved thousands of human participants but were seeking one set of rules for all human and non human animals
90
Q

How is the cognitive approach nomothetic

A
  • aims to develop general laws of behaviour applying to all people
  • uses case studies, HM and KF
  • requires because to understand working of a normal mind, it is often necessary to look at abnormal cases
91
Q

What are examples of strengths for the idiographic approach, which may also be considered as weaknesses for the nomothetic approach

A
  • in depth information (Allport, 1961)
  • scientific
92
Q

How is in-depth information an example of a strength for the idiographic approach

A
  • provides rich and in-depth information about single causes
  • nomothetic approach unable to do so
  • Allport (1961) maintained that it is only by knowing a person as an individual that we can predict what they will do in any given situation
93
Q

How is being scientific an example of a strength for the idiographic approach

A
  • elements such as case studies and thematic analysis are scientific and evidence based as well as seeking to be objective
  • qualitative research uses reflexivity to identify influence of bias
  • reflexivity refers to process where researcher reflects or thinks critically during research process about factors affecting behaviour of participants and researcher
94
Q

What are examples of weaknesses for the idiographic approach, which may also be considered as strengths for the nomothetic approach

A
  • positive psychology
  • general predictions
  • time consuming and expensive
95
Q

How is positive psychology an example of a weakness for the idiographic approach

A
  • not very scientific
  • main reason for growth of positive psychology
  • many considered humanistic to not be sufficiently evidence based and therefore meaningless
  • positive psychology aims to be more evidence based
96
Q

How are general predictions an example of a weakness for the idiographic approach

A
  • idiographic approach may be scientific but its inability to produce general predictions about behaviour is limiting as they can be useful
  • e.g. too time consuming to produce personal therapies for everyone with a mental illness
97
Q

How is being time consuming and expensive an example of a weakness for the idiographic approach

A
  • idiographic more time consuming and expensive than nomothetic
  • both collect large data but idiographic collects large amount from one person while nomothetic collects small amount from many people
  • latter quicker as once a test has been designed, it can be generated and processed quickly
98
Q

Who came up with the term socially sensitive research

A
  • Sieber and Stanley (1998)
99
Q

What is socially sensitive research

A
  • research where the topic area or group being studied can have implications for society or certain groups within society
  • could lead to change in or justification for the way in which these groups are treated or perceived
100
Q

What did Sieber and Stanley (1998) argue

A
  • scientists have a responsibility for the way in which their research will be used in the future
101
Q

What did Sieber and Stanley identify

A
  • four aspects in the scientific research process that raise ethical implications in socially sensitive research
102
Q

What were the four aspects identified by Sieber and Stanley (1998)

A
  • the research question
  • the methodology used
  • the institutional context
  • interpretation and application of findings
103
Q

What did Sieber and Stanley say about the research question

A
  • the researcher must consider their research question carefully
  • asking questions such as “are their racial differences in intelligence” or “is intelligence inherited” may be damaging to members of a particular group
104
Q

What did Sieber and Stanley say about the methodology used

A
  • the researcher needs to consider the treatment of the participant’s and their right to confidentiality and anonymity
  • e.g. if someone admits to having committed a crime, or having unprotected sex even though they are HIV positive, should the researcher maintain their confidentiality
105
Q

What did Sieber and Stanley say about the institutional context

A
  • researcher should be mindful of how the data is going to be used and consider who is funding the research
  • if being funded by a private institution or organisation, why are they funding the research and how do they intend to use the findings?
106
Q

What did Sieber and Stanley say about interpretations and applications of findings

A
  • the researcher needs to consider how their findings might be interpreted and applied to the real world
  • could their results be used to inform government policy?
107
Q

What are examples of positive evaluation points for socially sensitive research

A
  • misrepresentation
  • ethical issues
  • responsibility
  • unimportant issues
108
Q

How is misrepresentation an example of a strength in socially sensitive research

A
  • psychologists should conduct socially sensitive research as many groups in society has suffered consequences of being excluded or being misrepresented
  • our understanding of human behaviour has been lessened by minus interpretations and failure to represent certain groups within research
  • has ethical implications because these people miss out on benefits of psychological research
109
Q

How are ethical issues an example of a strength in socially sensitive research

A
  • psychologists deal with ethical issues in socially sensitive research by developing ethical guidelines
  • however, guidelines protect immediate needs of participants but not all ways in which research may inflict harm on group of people
  • e.g. guidelines do not ask psychologists to consider how their research may be used by others
110
Q

How is responsibility an example of a strength in socially sensitive research

A
  • to reduce likelihood data is mishandled, psychologists should be energetic in taking responsibility for what happens to their findings
  • should be aware that results of research may lead to abuse or discrimination
111
Q

How are unimportant issues an example of a strength in socially sensitive research

A
  • suggested that specially sensitive research should be avoided all together to prevent negative consequences for certain groups of people
  • however, this would leave psychologists with only unimportant issues to examine
  • Sieber and Stanley’s view is that avoiding controversial topics is also avoiding responsibility
  • therefore psychologist shave a duty to conduct research
112
Q

What are examples of weaknesses of socially sensitive research and how are they examples

A
  • there are always some social consequences from psychological research
  • but there is always the increased potential for a more indirect impact on the group that participants represents
  • not sufficient to simply safeguard the interests of individual participants

A Level Psychology (12 decks)

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