issues and debates

Question 1

gender bias definition

Answer 1

the tendency to treat one individual or group in a different way from another (due to preconceptions)

Question 2

universality definition

Answer 2

any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of upbringing

Question 3

alpha bias definition

Answer 3

refers to theories which exaggerate the differences between males and females

Question 4

beta bias definition

Answer 4

refers to theories which ignore/minimise sex differences- often assume that findings from men can be generalised to women

Question 5

Braverman (1981) gender bias

Answer 5

he asked healthcare professionals what a mentally sane adult, a male and a female looked like. Man was described similar to the adult (independent and assertive) and the woman very differently (submissive and emotional)

Question 6

Gender bias limitations

Answer 6

• sexism in research- women are underrepresented and research is likely to be done by men
• gender biased research- studies that challenge gender bias are not likely to be published (formanowicz study)

-gender biases are presented to be fixed and enduring when they aren’t (Maccoby and Jacklin study)

Question 7

culture bias definition

Answer 7

the phenomenon of interpreting and judging another culture by the standards of your own

Question 8

cultural relativism definition

Answer 8

insists that behaviour can be properly understood only if the cultural context is taken into consideration

Question 9

ethnocentrism definition

Answer 9

means seeing the world only from one’s own cultural perspective, and believing that this one perspective is both normal and correct

Question 10

Heinrich (2010) culture bias

Answer 10

researched hundreds of psych pps and found that 68% of pps were from US, 96% from industrialised regions and 80% were psych grads

-created term ‘WEIRD’ to describe group most likely to participate in psych studies

Question 11

WEIRD

Answer 11

westernised
educated
industrialised
rich
democracies

Question 12

culture bias strength

Answer 12

emergence of cultural psych is a good thing. It aims to avoid culture stereotypes by conducting research within the culture using local researchers and culture based techniques

Question 13

culture bias weaknesses

Answer 13

-most influential studies are culturally biased and replication of studies in other cultures produced very different results

-Gould (1981) explains how IQ tests were used in WW1 on army recruits. They were ethnocentric and categorised minority groups as unfit rather than recognising flawed testing

Question 14

determinism definition

Answer 14

those who believe in determinism think that people’s actions are shaped or controlled by external or internal forces operating on them

Question 15

hard determinism

Answer 15

all human behaviour has a cause and can be explained by the scientific method

Question 16

soft determinism

Answer 16

are able to use the scientific method to examine the cause of behaviour, but we still have some freedom to make conscious choices

Question 17

biological determinism

Answer 17

behaviour is caused by an internal biological influence

Question 18

environmental determinism

Answer 18

behaviour is caused by an external environmental influence

Question 19

psychic determinism

Answer 19

behaviour is caused by drives and instincts- specific to Freud

Question 20

free will

Answer 20

an individual is capable of making of self determination. We have an active role in controlling out behaviour and do not act in any response to internal or external factors

Question 21

free will determinism strengths

Answer 21

-legal system presumes that we have free will. The key principle is that the defendant exercised free will and chose to commit the crime

-Roberts found that teens with a strong hard determinist view were more likely to develop depression. Belief in free will has a positive impact on your mind and behaviour

Question 22

free will determinism weakness

Answer 22

Libet used EEGs to show that preparatory brain activity precedes your conscious choice. Activity related to movement occurs 10 milliseconds before pps report being consciously aware of making this decision

Question 23

nature nurture debate

Answer 23

concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited and acquired characteristics

Question 24

interactionist approach

Answer 24

explains behaviour using a range of factors, including biological ones. Says that the factors interact and aren’t separate from each other

Question 25

nature

Answer 25

the argument that all characteristics, including intelligence and personality are inherited and due to genetics

Question 26

nurture

Answer 26

argues that you are a blank slate at birth and are completely shaped by your environment

Question 27

epigenetics

Answer 27

a change in our gene activity due to your interactions with the environment

Question 28

nature nurture strengths

Answer 28

adoption studies- if children are more like adoptive parents there is a bigger environmental influence. If children are more like biological parents, nature has a bigger influence

support for epigenetics- during Dutch hunger winter women were more likely to have lower birth weight babies. those were more likely to have schizophrenia

real world application- Nestadt said OCD has 0.76 heritability rate. Allows people to gain access to genetic counselling so they don’t follow diathesis stress

Question 29

nature nurture weakness

Answer 29

the approach may be misguided as nature and nurture cannot be pulled apart, they work very closely together

Question 30

reductionism

Answer 30

the belief that human behaviour is best understood by studying the smaller constituent parts

Question 31

biological reductionism

Answer 31

a form of reductionism which attempts to explain behaviour at the lowest biological level

Question 32

environmental reductionism

Answer 32

the attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus response links have been learned through experience

Question 33

levels of explanation

Answer 33

the idea that there are several ways to explain behaviour.

sociology
psychology
biology
chemistry
physics

Question 34

holism

Answer 34

an argument which proposes that it only makes sense to study an indivisible system as a whole rather than constituent parts

Question 35

reductionism holism strength

Answer 35

strength of reductionism- forms the basis of the scientific approach

in order to conduct research, variables must be operationalised and behaviours broken down. It helps give psychology greater credibility

Question 36

reductionism holism weaknesses

Answer 36

limitation of holism: lacks practical value- if we study something as a whole, it can be hard to see which factor has the greatest impact on the behaviour. May be helpful when prioritising therapies

limitation of reductionism- there are aspects of social behaviour that can only be seen in a group context e.g. conformity. there is no conformity gene, so it better understood at a higher level of explanation

Question 37

idiographic approach

Answer 37

focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour rather than aiming to formulate general laws

most of the research is qualitative as interviews are used

the data is analysed and themes are identified. The conclusions drawn may help professionals to develop best practice

Question 38

nomothetic approach

Answer 38

aims to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws

fits with the scientific method as it is quantitative.

numerical data produced is analysed for its statistical significance

Question 39

idiographic nomothetic strengths

Answer 39

strength of idiographic contributes to nomothetic. A single case may generate hypotheses for further study (HM)

strength of both- fits with the aims of science. Helps to raise psychology’s status as a science

Question 40

idiographic nomothetic weaknesses

Answer 40

(COUNTERPOINT) idiographic is still narrow and restrictive- generalisations cannot be made without the nomothetic approach

limitation of nomothetic- loss of understanding of the individual. In search for generalisations it may fail to relate to the ‘experience’

Question 41

ethical implications definition

Answer 41

the consequences of nay research in terms of the effects on individual participants or on the way that groups of people are regarded

Question 42

social sensitivity

Answer 42

Sieber and Stanley (1988) - studies in which there are potential consequences or implications

Question 43

socially sensitive research strengths

Answer 43

+ can have benefits for the group who have been studied- homosexuality Kinsey report- made it more normal to be homosexual

+certain groups e.g. policy makers rely on research related to socially sensitive issues- government relies on research when developing policies so they have credible research to back them up

Question 44

socially sensitive research limitations

Answer 44

-poor research design may lead to erroneous findings- the research needs to be planned clearly to ensure findings are valid because of the effect it can have on particular groups of people.