Issues and Debates

Question 1

What is gender bias?

Answer 1

The differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences

Question 2

What is androcentrism?

Answer 2

Male-centred: when ‘normal’ behaviour is judged according to a male standard

Question 3

What is alpha bias?

Answer 3

A tendency to exaggerate differences between men and women= theories devalue one gender in comparison to the other.

Question 4

What is beta bias?

Answer 4

A tendency to ignore or minimise differences between men and women

Question 5

What is universality?

Answer 5

Aim to develop theories that apply to all people, despite differences of experience and upbringing

Question 6

State three pieces of research which display alpha bias

Answer 6

1. Freud’s research on moral development
2. Bowlby’s monotropic theory
3. Diagnoses of mental disorders

Question 7

State three pieces of research which display beta bias

Answer 7

1. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
2. The fight or flight response
3. Asch and Milgram’s research on social influences

Question 8

what is cultural bias?

Answer 8

A tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture- this distorts your judgement.

Question 9

what is ethnocentrism?

Answer 9

Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture- refers to the belief of superiority of one’s own culture.

Question 10

what is an etic approach?

Answer 10

Looks at behaviours from outside of a given culture and attempts to describe those behaviours that are universal

Question 11

what is an emic approach

Answer 11

Looks at behaviours within certain cultures and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture.

Question 12

what is cultural relativism?

Answer 12

The view that behaviour cannot be judged properly unless it is viewed in the context of the culture in which it originates

Question 13

State a piece of psychological research which suffers from ethnocentrism

Answer 13

Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

Question 14

what is free will?

Answer 14

The notion that humans have the power to make choices about their behaviour

Question 15

what is determinism?

Answer 15

The notion that behaviour is controlled by internal or external factors acting upon the individual

Question 16

what is hard determinism?

Answer 16

The view that all behaviour can be predicted and there is no free will

Question 17

what is soft determinism ?

Answer 17

The view that human behaviour has causes but it can also be determined by our conscious choices

Question 18

What is biological determinism?

Answer 18

The belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control

Question 19

What is environmental determinism

Answer 19

The belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control

Question 20

What is psychic determinism?

Answer 20

The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control

Question 21

What is meant by the nature-nurture debate?

Answer 21

Concerned with the extent to which behaviour is a product of innate (NATIVISM) or environmental influences (EMPIRICISM)

Question 22

What is meant by heredity?

Answer 22

The process by which traits are passed from parents to their offspring

Question 23

What are the philosophical origins of nurture?

Answer 23

John Locke’s empiricism

Question 24

What are the philosophical origins of nature

Answer 24

Renee Descartes’ nativism

Question 25

State 2 research examples which support the nurture side of the debate

Answer 25

1. Use of Systematic desensitisation to treat phobias 2. Attachment caused by classical or operant conditioning

Question 26

State 2 research examples which support the nature side of the debate

Answer 26

1. Candidate genes (COMT and SERT) in the development of OCD 2. Bowlby's monotropic theory of attachment

Question 27

What is the interactionist approach?

Answer 27

The view that the processes of nature and nurture work together rather than in opposition

Question 28

State 2 research examples for an interactionist approach for the nature-nurture debate

Answer 28

1. Epigenetics 2. Diathesis-stress model for psychopathology

Question 29

what is holism?

Answer 29

The belief that behaviour is better understood by looking at it as an indivisible system rather than its constituent parts.

Question 30

What is reductionism?.

Answer 30

The belief that behaviour is better understood by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts.

Question 31

What is biological reductionism?

Answer 31

A form of reductionism which reduces behaviour to a biological level (action of genes, hormones etc.)

Question 32

What is environmental reductionism?

Answer 32

A form of reductionism which reduces behaviour to simple stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience.

Question 33

What is experimental reductionism?

Answer 33

What is experimental reductionism? A form of reductionism where a complex behaviour is reduced to a single (isolated) variable for the purpose of testing.

Question 34

What is parsimony?

Answer 34

The idea that complex phenomena should be explained in the simplest terms possible.

Question 35

What is meant by levels of explanation?

Answer 35

Explanations for behaviour can vary from a lower basic level to a higher, more holistic level

Question 36

State an example which shows biological reductionism and environmental reductionism

Answer 36

1. Biological= Explaining mental disorders (OCD and Schizophrenia) in terms of candidate genes and neurotransmitters 2. Environmental= Classical/operant conditioning

Question 37

State 2 examples which shows holism

Answer 37

Gestalt psychology and Humanism

Question 38

What is an idiographic approach?

Answer 38

An approach to research which focuses on the individual case and emphasises on uniqueness in order to understand human behaviour

Question 39

What is a nomothetic approach?

Answer 39

An approach to research which seeks to formulate general laws of human behaviour based on the study of groups.

Question 40

Which type of data does an idiographic approach focus on?

Answer 40

Qualitative data

Question 41

Which type of data does a nomothetic approach focus on?

Answer 41

Quantitative data

Question 42

Which approaches take a nomothetic

Answer 42

Behaviourism, cognitive, biological

Question 43

Which approaches take an idiographic approach?

Answer 43

Psychodynamic and humanism

Question 44

What is socially sensitive research?

Answer 44

Any research that might have direct social consequences for the participants in the research or the group that they represent.

Question 45

What is meant by the ethical implications of psychological research?

Answer 45

It concerns the way that research impacts on those who take part, on the way the findings are communicated to the public and how the findings are used.

Question 46

What are the three concerns that researchers should be mindful of when conducting socially sensitive research?

Answer 46

1. Implications- the wider effects of research 2. Uses/public policy- what will this research be used for? And what will happen if it is used in the wrong way? 3. The validity of the research- are the findings correct?

Question 47

Explain a psychological theory which could be socially sensitive

Answer 47

Bowlby's theory of attachment- emphasised role of mother in development of child leading to encouragement of view that women should stay at home

Question 48

State a research study which has had ethical implications

Answer 48

Milgram's study of obedience/Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment