Issues And Debates

Question 1

Gender bias

Answer 1

Universality:
Conclusion of research can be applied to anyone, anywhere.

Gender bias:
When one gender is treated less favourably than the other. Includes alpha and beta bias.

Alpha bias:
When differences between men and women are exaggerated

Beta bias:
When the differences between men and women are undermined. Often happens when findings obtained from men are applied to women.

Androcentrism:
Taking male behaviour as normal and regarding female behaviour as abnormal/ deviant when it is different. Gender bias is a result of androcentrism.

Question 2

Gender bias AO3

Answer 2

Equality:
Beta bias undermining the difference between men and women make people see men and women the same which has led to equal treatment in education and employment.

Publishing bias:
Research into gender bias is still infrequently published and is also less funded. This suggest it is not taken seriously.

Studies that show difference between men and women are often believed to be biological when actually they could be due to social differences.

Question 3

Culture bias

Answer 3

Ethnocentrism
Culture relativism
Imposed Etic

Question 4

Ethnocentrism

Answer 4

Judging other people’s culture from the value of your own culture. Our own culture perspective is taken as a standard by which we measure other cultures, which can lead to prejudice and discrimination.
This is particularly true of western societies imposing their own values on non western societies.

Question 5

Culture relativism

Answer 5

This is the principle of regarding the beliefs values and practices of a culture from the viewpoint of the culture itself.
The principle is practiced to avoid cultural bias in research as well to avoid judging other cultures by the standard of one’s own culture.
Therefore it has been considered an attempt to avoid ethnocentrism.

Emic approach:
Looks at behaviours from inside of the cultural system. Specific to a given culture and varies from one to another.

Etic approach:
Looks at behaviour from outside of the culture. Analysis of behaviour focuses on the universality of human behaviour, universal factors that hold across all cultures

Question 6

Imposed Etic

Answer 6

Taking findings from one culture and assuming it can be applied universally.

Question 7

Culture bias AO3

Answer 7

As researchers have become more aware of culture bias, there has been a move towards using more native researchers to conduct research and interpret results.

Replication of Asch study found there was differences in conformity in individualist and collectivist cultures demonstrating culture bias in the original.

Stereotyping:
Culture bias has led to prejudice against certain groups. E.g IQ tests were used to claim that African Americans were genetically inferior during ww2 for instance the chittling IQ test(example of an Etic approach)

If a test is designed to measure a European person understanding of what intelligence is, it may not be a valid measurement of intelligence of people from other countries.

Question 8

Free will

Answer 8

Suggests that we all have a choice and can control and chose our own behaviour.
This approach is all about personal responsibility.
.Psychologist who take the free will view suggest determinism removes freedom and dignity and devalues human behaviour.
.in reality although we have free will it is constrained by our circumstances.

Question 9

Free will AO3

Answer 9

Emphasises the importance of the individual and studying individual differences.

However, it is subjective and it is impossible to scientifically study the concept of free will.

Question 10

Determinism

Answer 10

Belief that behaviour is caused by internal or external forces that we cannot control.
Science believes a deterministic approach is needed in studies to be Able to determine cause and effect and create general laws, so that researchers can control extraneous variables.

Question 11

Types of determinism

Answer 11

Hard determinism:
Extreme position implying free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal and external events beyond our control.

Soft determinism:
Behaviour does not have causes, but we also have the ability to make rational conscious choices. People do have a choice but that choice is constrained by external factors.

Biological determinism:
Belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control(genetic, hormonal, evolutionary)

Environmental determinism:
Belief that behaviour is caused by features or the environment (e.g. reinforcement) that we cannot control.

Psychic determinism:
Belief that behaviour is caused by unresolved conflicts that we cannot control.
Freud believed that childhood experience and unconscious motivation governed behaviour. Believed free will is an illusion.

Question 12

Determinism AO3

Answer 12

Hard determinism removes accountability in criminals actions as they can argue that they had no control over them. Therefore determinism explanation for behaviour reduces individual responsibility.
Example, prisoners arrested for violent crimes may blame upbringing and say they were not responsible and behaviour was determined.

Determinism is reductionist

It doesn’t account for Individual differences. By creating general laws of behaviour, deterministic psychology underestimates the uniqueness of human beings and their freedom to chose their own destiny.

Twin studies never show a 100 percent concordance rate so it can’t be assumed that behaviour is purely biologically determined.

Question 13

Nature vs nurture debate

Answer 13

Nature and nurture
Interactionist approach
Diathesis stress model
Epigenetic

Question 14

Nature and nurture

Answer 14

Nature:
Influences on our behaviour that are inherited and/or innate
Heritability is measured using a correlation coefficient(concordance rates) the closer the rate is to 100 percent the more inherited it is. E.g. IQ has a 50 percent concordance rate.

Nurture:
Influences on our behaviour that are from the environment or our experiences of the world. Based on the behaviour assumption that we are born as a blank slate.

Question 15

Interactionist approach

Answer 15

looking at the relative contribution of both nature and nurture, rather than believing only one causes behaviour, and how they interact with each other.

Question 16

Diathesis stress model

Answer 16

States that Behaviour has a predisposition in our genes but it requires an environmental trigger for it to actually be expressed.
For example, trauma for phobias and stress for schizophrenia.

Question 17

Epigenetic

Answer 17

Refers to life experiences that can change the way our genes are expressed. Environmental influences such as lifestyle can leave marks on our DNA which can last our whole lifetime and can even be passed onto our children.

Question 18

Nature nurture debate AO3

Answer 18

Real world application:
By understanding the nature nurture debate, researchers can almost predict the heritability of certain disorders. This means that certain sufferers can be given prevention strategies to help prevent it being expressed.

Adoption studies:
Adoption studies have proved useful in understanding the relative contribution of nature and nurture as researchers can assess the heritability of characteristics without children having the same upbringing(nurture)

Strong nature nurture explanations can have potential negative implications for how we view behaviour. Nativist suggest solely genes determine behaviour, a controversial view.
Suggest best approach to take is interactionist which would provide us with a reasonable approach to both study and manage behaviour.

Question 19

Holism vs reductionism

Answer 19

Holism is an attempt to understand human behaviour by analysing the person or behaviour as a whole rather than it’s constituted parts. Typically uses more qualitative methods.

Whereas reductionism analyses behaviour by breaking it down into its constituted parts. It is based around the scientific principle of parsimony. All behaviour should be explained using the most basic(lowest levels) principles. Unlike Holism it typically uses more quantitative methods.

Question 20

reductionism levels of explanation

Answer 20

Several ways or levels to explain behaviour.
The lower level considers biological explanations.
The middle level examines psychological explanations and the highest levels looks at social and cultural explanations.
Lowest levels are the most reductionist.

Biological reductionism:
Explains behaviour through genetic or neurochemical causes, as well as evolution. Includes the biological level.

Environment(stimulus response) reductionism:
All behaviour is learned(behavioural approach) and can be explained through stimulus response links(conditioning)

Question 21

Holism vs reductionism AO3

Answer 21

Reductionism:
Examining behaviours in a reductionist manner can be too simplistic for more complex or group behaviours.
It does not recognise that behaviour can be due to a combination of factors and not just one simple explanation.

Holism:
Holism can be questioned as if there are many factors effecting a persons behaviour then it can be difficult to establish what therapy might be best suited to them and so lacks practical value.

Reductionism:
Reductionist approaches can be deemed scientific as researchers can easily establish a cause and effect by examining operationalised variables from one level of explanation. It lends itself to scientific validation

Question 22

Idiographic approach

Answer 22

Small scale and focuses individuals or small groups/institutions. Mainly uses qualitative methods, such as unstructured interviews. It’s research tends to not make broad generalisations.
The focus is more on non numerical data.
This type of approach tends to be subjective and focuses on individual differences.

Example:
Humanistic and psychodynamic approaches are considered the most idiographic due to their use of case studies and in depth interviews as well as therapy conversations.

Question 23

Nomothetic approach

Answer 23

Aims to create general laws that can be generalised to all human behaviour. Tends to use quantitative methods such as structured questionnaires that follow a scientific method.
Provides numerical data that can be analysed and which conclusions can be drawn from.
Nomothetic research tends to be more objective due to standardised methods that can be replicated without bias.

Examples:
Behavioural and biological approaches are nomothetic in the methods they adopt. Laws of conditioning were created from skinners research and the use of brain scans is a scientific method.

Question 24

Idiographic and nomothetic AO3

Answer 24

Idiographic is very time consuming it takes a lot of time and money to study individuals in depth.

Idiographic research can be used to discover evidence to support or refute general laws and so can lead to new hypotheses and the use of nomothetic research to investigate further.

Nomothetic approaches have scientific credibility due to their standardised and objective methods. But they can also be triangulated with idiographic research to increase their validity further.

Nomothetic approach is accused of ignoring the ‘whole person’ in psychology. Instead, focusing on general laws. It may not be useful when trying to create individual treatment plans.

Question 25

Ethical implications

Answer 25

Research question:
How researchers questions are phrased could influence the interpretation of findings e.g. using the phrase ‘alternative relationships’ suggests they are being judged against heterosexual relationships and thus heterosexual norms.

Dealing with participants:
Informed consent, confidentiality and protection from harm should all be considered in social sensitive psychological research e.g. when examining victims of domestic violence

How findings are used:
Researchers should consider how their findings might be used to inform public thinking or policy. Historically, ethnic differences supposedly found in IQ has led to discrimination and prejudice.

Question 26

Social sensitivity

Answer 26

Refers to research that has ethical implications that go beyond the research situation and affect people or groups in the wider society.
It could affect the participants who took part, their families or other people who are close to them, subgroups or cultures within society or the researchers and their institution.

Question 27

Ethical implications AO3

Answer 27

A strength of conducting social sensitive research is that it can help reduce prejudice by increasing our understandings of certain groups.

Poor research into SSR can have lasting impacts. For instance cyril Burt claimed intelligence was highly heritable which led to the creation of the 11plus examination. Much of his research was fake however.

SSR has been a benefit to society, for example EWT. This made us aware that EWT can be flawed and should not be used without corroboration. Has also made us aware that EWT of children is every bit as reliable as that of adults.