Issues And Debates Flashcards
Alpha bias
Gender differences are exaggerated or overestimated
Example of alpha bias
Grossman stating that the fathers role is just to be a playmate
Beta bias
Gender differences are ignored or underestimated due to lack of representation in studies
Example of beta bias
Aschs line study used only white American males
Androcentrism
When a theory or study is centered around men and can lead to a male standard
What is culture bias
The tendency to view all phenomena through the lens of one’s own cultural assumptions
What is ethnocentrism
An extreme belief in one’s own culture that causes the tendency to judges others cultures off of there own culture
What is an Etic approach
Generalising universal behaviours and ignoring cultural differences
What is an emic approach
Looks at behaviour within a cultural system
What is cultural relativism
The idea that attitudes values and concepts are best understood within the cultural context that it originates
What does WEIRD stand for within culture bias
Western Educated Industrialised Rich Democratic
What is the representation of WEIRD samples within psychological research compared to the population
80% in samples but only makes up 12% of the population
What is an imposed etic
Studying something emically then applying it universally
What are two ways that culture bias can occur
- an imposed etic
- use of only WEIRD samples
What is a consequence of culture bias?
Can lead to stereotypes and discrimination towards certain ethnic groups
Give an example of culture bias being displayed and explain the consequence
-Before the First World War, the US army IQ test used questions heavily in favour of white American culture
- European immigrants and African Americans performed considerably worse than white Americans which created a negative stereotype over lower IQ in minorities
What is an indigenous psychologist?
A psychologist who will only study behaviour within their own culture
Give an example of indigenous psychology
Afrocentrism- the idea that research into behaviour within African cultures should be studied by someone from within this culture
- It disputes that everyone should be held to a western standard
What is a positive and negative of an emic approach
+ focuses on behaviour within specific cultures so is unlikely to create stereotypes and discrimination
- doesn’t provide widespread understanding of behaviours
Give an example of an emic approach being used
- David Buss
- conducted a study into mate preferences
- took data from 37 different countries all using indigenous psychologists
What are the 4 types of reductionism?
- Biological
- Environmental
- Machine
- Experimental
What is holism
Perceiving the whole experience of something as opposed to looking at individual parts
Name one holistic approach
Humanistic approach
What is reductionism
The idea that human behaviour is better understood by studying smaller constituent parts
Biological reductionism
The idea that behaviour can be explained by focusing in on genes, hormones etc
What is environmental reductionism
Studying behaviour by focusing in on stimulus-response links
What is the principle of parsimony
Among theories that explain behaviour, the most reduced theory should be chosen
What is machine reductionism and where is it found
Comparing a behaviour to that of a mechanism
- Found in the cognitive approach where thought processes are likened to that of a computer (information processing model)
What is experimental reductionism
Where a complex behaviour is reduced to a single variable for the purpose of testing
One strength of reductionism
- it forms the basis of scientific research
- breaking behaviour down into its constituent parts makes it easier to operationalise variables and therefore conduct research
One weakness of holism
- difficult to test as it often relies of subjective qualitative data
- this makes it hard to compare to other theories and draw conclusions
One weakness of reductionism
- oversimplifies complex behaviour which leads to reduced validity
- behaviours may need multiple different levels of explanation in order for it to be understood whereas reductionism tries to look at the most simple level
One strength of holism
- provides a more complete understanding of behaviour
- research is likely to be a lot more valid
Idiographic
Focuses on individual cases as a means of understanding behaviour
Nomothetic
Studies human development through the use of general principles and universal laws
What methods are used in an idiographic approach
- interviews, case studies, observations
- aims to gain qualitative data
What methods are used in a nomothetic approach
Experimental method is used, quantitative data is preferred so general laws can be created
A strength of the idiographic approach
- very strong on a case by case basis as qualitative data is useful if used in the context it is gained
- for example client centered therapy focuses on the persons subjective view on the world and is a very successful therapy method
A weakness of the idiographic approach
As interviews are the most commonly used methods, the results are prone to researcher bias
- an example of this would be in Freuds case study of little hans, it is likely to have slightly altered facts in order to fit his theory of the oedipus complex
A strength of the nomothetic approach
As it creates quantitative data it is easier to compare against other research
- for example ainsworths strange situation created quantitative data that could then be used to compare to the attachment types of different cultures
A weakness of the nomothetic approach
Blanket rules are often not effective when treatment is being given. Drug therapies are not suitable for everyone to treat depression as each person is different and will give different responses
What is a nativist
Someone who believes all behaviour and traits are innate
What is an empiricist
Someone who states that humans are born as a blank slate and learn through experience
What does a heritability coefficient do and how is it calculated
- looks at the genetic impact on certain traits by comparing Mz and Dz twins
Explain and give an example of evolutionary psychology
- The fact that traits that provide a survival advantage are more likely to be passed down the generations
- an example of this are social releases in infants which illicit care giving
What did Lerner say about the nurture debate
The fact that factors can affect a person even before they’re born, like the affect of substance use on a child in the womb, shows the influence of the environment
What is the diathesis stress model
- the idea that genes create a vulnerability to a certain train which can then be triggered by environmental factors
What are the implications of nativism
- can lead to eugenics which is the idea of trying to alter human gene pools in order to give an infant desirable characteristics
- Hitler completed a lot of studies into this when trying to create the aryan race
What are the implications of empiricism
Has caused problems in history with people who believe that all humans can be moulded and this can lead to oppressive regimes
- Stalin for example overly conditioned people
What is an example nature affecting nurture
Niche picking- this is the idea that with age we start to put ourselves in experiences that suit our genes
What are the problems with current ethical guidelines
They are made to protect the ppts of studies and not how the research may affect the population
How can ethical implications be avoided
One way is through psychologists having there own blog for example for anyone to read
- this helps ensure the media doesn’t twist research into headlines as the psychologist themself can portray the research exactly how it is intended
What are the consequences of socially sensitive research
Knock on effects still occurs even after psychologists have been discredited
- many people think there’s is a link between autism and vaccinations even though the psychologist Andrew Wakefield was discredited for False research
