Issues and Debates Flashcards
What is gender bias?
The differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences
What is androcentrism?
Male-centred: when ‘normal’ behaviour is judged according to a male standard
What is alpha bias?
A tendency to exaggerate differences between men and women= theories devalue one gender in comparison to the other.
What is beta bias?
A tendency to ignore or minimise differences between men and women
What is universality?
Aim to develop theories that apply to all people, despite differences of experience and upbringing
State three pieces of research which display alpha bias
- Freud’s research on moral development
- Bowlby’s monotropic theory
- Diagnoses of mental disorders
State three pieces of research which display beta bias
- Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
- The fight or flight response
- Asch and Milgram’s research on social influences
what is cultural bias?
A tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture- this distorts your judgement.
what is ethnocentrism?
Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture- refers to the belief of superiority of one’s own culture.
what is an etic approach?
Looks at behaviours from outside of a given culture and attempts to describe those behaviours that are universal
what is an emic approach
Looks at behaviours within certain cultures and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture.
what is cultural relativism?
The view that behaviour cannot be judged properly unless it is viewed in the context of the culture in which it originates
State a piece of psychological research which suffers from ethnocentrism
Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
what is free will?
The notion that humans have the power to make choices about their behaviour
what is determinism?
The notion that behaviour is controlled by internal or external factors acting upon the individual
what is hard determinism?
The view that all behaviour can be predicted and there is no free will
what is soft determinism ?
The view that human behaviour has causes but it can also be determined by our conscious choices
What is biological determinism?
The belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control
What is environmental determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control
What is psychic determinism?
The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control
What is meant by the nature-nurture debate?
Concerned with the extent to which behaviour is a product of innate (NATIVISM) or environmental influences (EMPIRICISM)
What is meant by heredity?
The process by which traits are passed from parents to their offspring
What are the philosophical origins of nurture?
John Locke’s empiricism
What are the philosophical origins of nature
Renee Descartes’ nativism
State 2 research examples which support the nurture side of the debate
- Use of Systematic desensitisation to treat phobias
- Attachment caused by classical or operant conditioning
State 2 research examples which support the nature side of the debate
- Candidate genes (COMT and SERT) in the development of OCD
- Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment
What is the interactionist approach?
The view that the processes of nature and nurture work together rather than in opposition
State 2 research examples for an interactionist approach for the nature-nurture debate
- Epigenetics
- Diathesis-stress model for psychopathology
what is holism?
The belief that behaviour is better understood by looking at it as an indivisible system rather than its constituent parts.
What is reductionism?.
The belief that behaviour is better understood by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts.
What is biological reductionism?
A form of reductionism which reduces behaviour to a biological level (action of genes, hormones etc.)
What is environmental reductionism?
A form of reductionism which reduces behaviour to simple stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience.
What is experimental reductionism?
What is experimental reductionism? A form of reductionism where a complex behaviour is reduced to a single (isolated) variable for the purpose of testing.
What is parsimony?
The idea that complex phenomena should be explained in the simplest terms possible.
What is meant by levels of explanation?
Explanations for behaviour can vary from a lower basic level to a higher, more holistic level
State an example which shows biological reductionism and environmental reductionism
- Biological= Explaining mental disorders (OCD and Schizophrenia) in terms of candidate genes and neurotransmitters
- Environmental= Classical/operant conditioning
State 2 examples which shows holism
Gestalt psychology and Humanism
What is an idiographic approach?
An approach to research which focuses on the individual case and emphasises on uniqueness in order to understand human behaviour
What is a nomothetic approach?
An approach to research which seeks to formulate general laws of human behaviour based on the study of groups.
Which type of data does an idiographic approach focus on?
Qualitative data
Which type of data does a nomothetic approach focus on?
Quantitative data
Which approaches take a nomothetic
Behaviourism, cognitive, biological
Which approaches take an idiographic
approach?
Psychodynamic and humanism
What is socially sensitive research?
Any research that might have direct social consequences for
the participants in the research or the group that they
represent.
What is meant by the ethical implications of
psychological research?
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.
What are the three concerns that researchers
should be mindful of when conducting socially
sensitive research?
- Implications- the wider effects of research
- Uses/public policy- what will this research be used
for? And what will happen if it is used in the wrong
way? - The validity of the research- are the findings correct?
Explain a psychological theory which could be
socially sensitive
Bowlby’s theory of attachment- emphasised role of mother in
development of child leading to encouragement of view that
women should stay at home
State a research study which has had ethical
implications
Milgram’s study of obedience/Zimbardo’s Stanford prison
experiment
