Issues and Debates Flashcards
Allport
the first psychologist to use the terms ideographic and nomothetic, argued that only by knowing a person as a person can we make predictions about what they will do in given circumstances
Androcentric
male-orientated, where females are not included in studies or theories
Alpha Bias (Culture)
where research maximises the difference between cultures in order to argue that some cultures are superior to other cultures
Alpha Bias (Gender)
theories that maximise sex differences, like Freud
Anthropological Approach
going to different cultures and observing and interacting with their members as they go about their lives to gain understanding
Berry (1969)
argues that research should be conducted in meaningful contexts and use researchers local to the culture being studied in order to reduce imposed etic
Beta Bias (Culture)
theories that ignore or minimise the differences between cultures
Beta Bias (Gender)
theories that ignore or minimise sex differences
Bias
leaning in a particular direction, a systematic distortion in one’s attitude and beliefs based on prejudice and pre-existing ideas
Biological Determinism
all behaviour can be explained through neurochemical, neurophysiological, genetic or evolutionary means
Bruehl (1980)
stated that Freud’s characterisation of females simply reflected the reality of Western patriarchal structure of the time
Carolin Schuster (2022)
went to various HR specialists with two CVs identical apart from the person’s gender and found that men were offered over €1000 more than women, unless the specialists were reminded of their duty to resolve the gender pay gap first, where the opposite became true
Chitling Test
developed by black sociologist Adrian Dove to expose how standardised IQ tests favoured white students however it neglected the range of experiences black people have
Chomsky (1968)
maintained that language acquisition is the result of innate cognitive structures and biologically based inborn brain mechanisms and children are predisposed to make sounds and understand grammar
Cochrane and Sashidharan
examined diagnosis rates of schizophrenia in the UK and found that those of African-Caribbean origin were seven times more likely to be diagnosed despite rates of schizophrenia in the Caribbean, they are no higher than the UK
Cornwell et al (2013)
found that girls outperform boys on reading, whereas boys outperform girls on maths and science, but that boys who perform equally to girls are graded less favourably, but this vanishes when non-cognitive skills such as motivation and perseverance are taken into account
Cross-Cultural Psychology
studying a range of different cultures to find out about the variability of human behaviour
Culture
a set of norms, moral values, behavioural norms, social roles, customs and traditions of a group of people
Culture Bias
the act of interpreting and judging behaviour and psychological characteristics of one culture by holding them to the same standards as your own
Culture-Bound Syndrome
a combination of psychiatric and somatic symptoms that is limited to a number of cultures
Cyril Burt
used studies of identical twins to prove that intelligence was genetic, but falsified his research data
Determinism
the theory that there is a reason for all behaviour
Biological Determinism
the idea that everything can be explained by biology
Environmental Determinism
the idea that everything can be explained by a person’s environment
Environmental Reductionism
all behaviour can be explained through stimulus responses to the environment
Hard Determinism
states that no action or behaviour is free, but occurs because it has to, and every human behaviour has a cause where one action is performed rather than an other
Psychic Determinism
the idea that everything can be explained by a person’s unconscious thoughts
Soft Determinism
argues that behaviour is a direct result of the environment but only to a certain extent, element o free will in all behaviour yet it is controlled by outside forces, so behaviour is constricted to a certain extent
EMIC Research
aims to identify behaviours relative to that culture, emphasising difference
Ethical Committees
can be used to assess whether a research proposal is ethical or not. Research can pass the committee despite breaking guidelines if the theory, findings or wider moral implications are important
Ethnocentrism
the belief that one’s own culture is superior
ETIC Research
culture specific research that looks at behaviour from the outside of a given culture and tries to find trends that can be generalised
Experiment-Based Empiricism
an emphasis on experiments with controls and group comparisons using ANOV analyses exists in Western society and lab studies are favoured over field studies
Falisifiability
when something can be disproved
Feminist Psychology
involves re-examining facts about gender, viewing women as normal people rather than deficient men, scepticism toward biological determinism, a research agenda focusing on women’s concerns and developing a psychology for women rather than of women
Formulation of Question Bias
it is assumed that topics relevant to white males are more important than those relevant to females or ethnic minority males
Free Will
the ability to make a choice between certain behaviours giving a sense of personal responsibility and fitting in with society’s view of personal responsibilities; the legal system is based on the idea of holding people accountable for their actions and free will implies behaviour is random and does not have a cause so therefore cannot be predicted
Gender
psychological characteristics associated with being male or female
Gottesman and Shields (1995)
carried out a comprehensive review of twin and adoption studies to investigate the cause of schizophrenia
Hadow Report (1926)
based on Cyril Burt’s research, this led to the creation of the tripartite education system and the 11+
Hamer (1993)
carried out genetic studies of gay man and suggested homosexuality is heavily influenced by genetics and that people have no choice about being gay, environmental influences make little difference and it probably evolved because of social advantages it gave to social groups
Hare-Mustin and Maracek (1988)
theorised that alpha bias, is seen in research that focuses on the differences between of men and women and beta is seen in research that focuses on similarities
Hare-Mustin and Maracek (1988) (Gilligan)
argue that Gilligan explains gender difference in terms of social construction whereby female caringness is a necessary trait for those placed in subordinate positions in order to supress their anger, so female qualities can be seen as different rather than inferior, yet this does not consider difference between women so is a misrepresentation of individuals
Henrich
found that 68% of participants came from the US and 69% from industrialised nations
Holism
an idea seen in the humanist approach where you look at the whole person
Horney (1927)
stated that Freud’s work has no face validity in assuming that a woman is mentally affected by a wish for male attributes and that if women envied men, it would be because of social status
Humphreys (1970)
carried out research into the practices and social interactions of gay men meeting up in a public toilet for sex by posing as a gay man and then taking their number plates and running background checks on them on the PNC. He concluded that most stereotypes about gay men were untrue and their sexual practices were not harmful to anyone
Ideographic Approach
suggests everyone is unique so should be studied in an individual way, so no general laws can be generated. Tests use qualitative data and investigate people’ private, subjective and conscious experiences in a personal and detailed way. Methods include case studies, unstructured interviews, self-reports, personal documents and autobiographies
Individuality
where the individual is the focus of behaviour and determinants of behaviour reside in the individual’s brain/mind and interventions must be at this level rather than the broader societal context, an assumption of Western psychology
Institutional Sexism
men predominate at senior researcher level so the research agenda follows male concerns, marginalising or ignoring female concerns
Interactionist Debate
states that behaviour is often the result of interaction between nature and nurture
John Berry (1969)
described the distinction between etic and emic approaches in studying human behaviour and accused psychology of imposing an etic approach
Jonelsson (1988)
stated that classic psychoanalytic theory is grounded in the genital inferiority of women and assumes they must also be morally inferior
Key Aim of Psychology
description and understanding of behaviour
Kitzinger (1998)
argued that most differences between men and women due to political reasons, eg women are oppressed, stereotypes and have different rights, and are kept out of male-dominated universities
Littlewood and Lipsedge (1989)
found that African-Caribbean patients were more likely to be prescribed stronger doses of medication despite symptoms being exactly the same as patients of other ethnicities, suggesting that doctors were interpreting the symptoms as being much more severe
Lowney (1995)
carried out participant observations of a group of teenage Satanists in a small American town, documented their views on life and society and their activities, which centred on music and a small amount of underage drinking and drugs. She concluded their adoption of Satanism was a symbolic critique and rejection of the heavily stratified and hierarchical nature of American high school society
Maccoby and Jacklin (1974)
found that men are better at visual, spatial and arithmetic tasks when compared to women
Machine Reductionism
reduces information-processing approaches to simple analogies of machine systems to describe and explain behaviour
Mead (1935)
studied gender roles across three tribes in Papua New Guinea. The Arapesh valued co-operating, raised children to be gentle and loving, and child-bearing was highly-valued and seen as a job for both parents. The Mundugumor were quarrelsome, fierce and arrogant, treated children harshly and admitted hating child-rearing. The Tchambuli regarded men as emotional and unfit for making serious decisions, but in all tribes the men went to war
Method and Design Bias
lab experiments are considered more masculine whereas interviews, observations and case studies are typically more feminine
Millon and Davis (1996)
suggested that research should start with the nomothetic approach to produce laws, then focus on a more ideographic approach
Nature Debate
a determinist view that states that behaviour is caused by innate characteristics determined by biology, all possible behaviour is present at conception, although some are programmed to emerge with age
Nomothetic Approach
focuses on similarities between people to establish laws and generalisations about people using scientific and quantitative data, experiments, observations and group averages that are statistically analysed to create predictions about people in general
Law 1
Classification, eg DSM
Law 2
Establishing Principles, eg conformity and obedience
Law 3
Establishing Dimensions, eg IQ
Nurture Debate
a determinist view that all behaviour is determined by the environment, shaped by interactions with the environment, states that people are born empty vessels to be filled, there is no limit to what they can achieve and the quality of the environment is key
Oestrocentrism
the process of viewing the world through a female-centred point of view; the opposite of androcentric
Parsity
the idea that complex phenomena should be explained by the simplest underlying principles possible
Phenylketonuria
a genetic metabolic disease that causes the amino acid phenylalanine to build up, leading to brain damage; but if certain proteins are taken, this can be avoided - NOT lysomal storage
Physiological Reductionism
reduces behaviour to physiological mechanisms
Plomin et al (1977)
identified three types of genotype-environment correlations: passive, reactive and active. These can complicate the degree to which we can determine nature and nurture influence
Active
when people with certain genetic qualities actively seek out particular environments; the environment, in turn, will also shape their behaviour
Passive
people from the same families and raised in the same households have both similar genes and similar environment, so it can be challenging to determine which has more of an influence
Reactive
a person’s experiences can be moulded by their genetics; for example, the attractiveness of a person, generally determined by genetics, can affect how a person experiences life
Plomin et al (1988)
conducted a study and found that there was a stronger correlation of IQ with biological families than with adoptive families
Psychology
scientific study of people, the mind and behaviour
Psychometrics
measuring psychological characteristics such as personality and intelligence
Publication Bias
where male biased editors and reviewers of psychology journals filter out research on women or studies that report no differences in gender but exaggerate the gender differences
Quantification
the belief that unless something is quantified it is not acceptable for study, leading to operationalism being the standard for assessing concepts
Raine (1996)
carried out brain scans of violent criminals and found they tended to have subtle damage to the areas of the brain involved in impulse control. He suggested this type of brain damage is a marker for violent criminality and if children were screened for these in early life, something could be done about it
Reactive Range
a concept that states everyone has the potential for some things, like height, but the environment determines the extent to which the genotypic potential is achieved
Reductionism
reducing complex phenomena to simple explanations
Highest Level of Reductionism
considers social and cultural explanations, where behaviour is explained in terms of influence of social groups
Middle Level of Reductionism
considers physiological explanations i.e. cognitive and behavioural
Lowest Level of Reductionism
considers psychological and biological explanations, where behaviour is explained in terms of neurochemicals, genes and brain structure
Reductionism (Culture)
in Western psychology, the small tangible units of study that yield well to controlled experimentation are favoured
Replicative Approach
exporting your studies to other countries to do there, then comparing them with your own culture
Reporting Bias
where results are interpreted as evidence of female inferiority and results on one sex are applied to both
Researcher Bias
female academics may find themselves marginalised into areas outside of mainstream psychology and androcentric researchers are more likely to propose hypotheses that investigate stereotypical differences rather than real one or similarities, do not investigate issues important to women and perpetuate biased ideas, for example, searching for causes within women for abnormal behaviour but in the environment for men
Rose (1976)
ordered subjects from most reductionist to most holistic: physics, biochemistry, biology, psychology, sociology
Rosenham (1973)
a study on psychiatric hospitals in the US revealed dehumanising treatment on vulnerable patients, leading to an overhaul of care protocols and standards
Schaffer (1993)
found that men are less sensitive and more physically active, whereas women are more sensitive but are less likely to have language disorders
Scientism
the belief that methods of the physical science can be applied similarly to social and behavioural phenomena, which results in spurious methods and conclusions that are inappropriate to the subject under study or that avoid studying certain subjects
Siebler and Stanley
suggested that the following factors needed to be considered before carrying out socially sensitive research
Confidentiality
refers to data and how data leakage might affect a participant’s life
Cost/Benefit Analysis
if the costs outweigh the potential/actual benefits, it is unethical, however it is difficult to assess cost and benefits accurately and the participants themselves rarely benefit from research
Deception
causing the wider public to believe something which isn’t true by the findings or your report
Informed Consent
participants should be made aware of how taking part in the research may affect them
Justice and Equitable Treatment
such as publicising an idea which creates prejudice against a group or withholding treatment which you believe is beneficial for some participants so you can use them as controls
Privacy
refers to people rather than data and how asking people questions of a personal nature could offend
Scientific Freedom
science should not be censored but there should be some monitoring of sensitive research; the researcher should weigh their responsibilities against their rights to research
Sound and Valid Methodology
even more vital when research topic is socially sensitive as academics are able to detect flaws in method but the public and media often don’t; when research finding are publicised, people are likely to take them as fact and policies may be based off of them
Values of Social Scientists
if someone with a scientific approach was evaluating a counselling technique based on a humanistic approach, they may judge it on that criteria
Siebler and Stanley Guidelines
created based on Sieber and Stanley’s factors
Siebler and Stanley’s First Guideline
Researchers should not avoid researching socially sensitive issues; scientists have a responsibility to society to find useful knowledge
Siebler and Stanley’s Second Guideline
Researchers need to take more care over consent, debriefing, etc when the issue is sensitive
Siebler and Stanley’s Third Guideline
Researchers should be aware of how their findings may be interpreted and used by others
Siebler and Stanley’s Fourth Guideline
Researchers should make explicit the assumptions underlying their research, so that the public can consider whether they agree with these
Siebler and Stanley’s Fifth Guideline
Researchers should make the limitations of their research explicit
Siebler and Stanley’s Sixth Guideline
Researchers should be careful how they communicate with the media and policymakers
Siebler and Stanley’s Seventh Guideline
Researchers should be aware of the balance between their obligations to participants and those to society, eg if a participant tells them something which they feel they should tell police/social services
Siebler and Stanley’s Eighth Guideline
Researchers should be aware of their own values and biases and those of the participants
Siebler and Stanley (1988)
identified four groups that may be affected by psychological research
Siebler and Stanley’s First Group
Members of the social group being studied such as racial or ethnic group
Siebler and Stanley’s Second Group
Friends and relatives of those taking part in the study, particularly case studies, eg Genie’s mother
Siebler and Stanley’s Third Group
The research team, as they may be intimidated based on the line of research they are in
Siebler and Stanley’s Fourth Group
The institution in which the research is conducted
Smith and Bond (1988)
argued that perfect replications are impossible because when studies are translated into different languages the details may get ‘lost in translation’
Tavris (1993)
came up with the idea of ‘mismeasure of women’ where man is the norm and women are the opposite, and women are deficient in male qualities and found evidence for publication bias
Taylor (2000)
found gender differences in the fight or flight response
Trans-Cultural Psychology
studying a range of different cultures to find out about the universal features of human behaviour
Walkers (1984)
meta-analysis of 108 studies found only eight clear indications of gender differences
WEIRD Populations
White Educated Industrialised Rich Democrat
Williams (1987)
argues that Freud’s theory is not alpha-bias because he did not claim that innate factors made men and women difference, rather that the social context transforms biological factors into mental representations that create difference, therefore explaining differences in terms of mental and social representation
Williams and Best (1982)
found that men are more aggressive, dominant, independent and autonomous compared with women, who are more nurturing, deferent, affiliated and are encouraged to develop expressive roles
Womb Envy
a theory put forward by Karen Horney that states men must envy women because of their ability to have children, so men compensate for that inability by achievement in other domains
Yerkes (1917)
developed an IQ test with cultural bias because some of the questions require certain knowledge that is based in cultural references
