Issues and debates

Question 1

What is alpha bias?

Answer 1

Research that exaggerates differences

Question 2

What is an example of alpha bias?

Answer 2

Freuds theory of psychosexual development

• during the phallic stage both genders develop a desire for opp sex parent
• BOYS : castration anxiety but resolved in identification
• GIRLS : Weaker indeitification so weaker superego
  = Girls seen as inferior to boys

Question 3

What is beta bias?

Answer 3

• Research that ignores differences for example if women have been excluded from research
• This misinterpretates women

Question 4

What is an example of beta bias

Answer 4

The flight or fight response
- Biological research favours male animals as females tend to have higher hormone levels
- it assumes both genders respond with fight or flight
- taylor found that females have now shifted from a tending to befriending response governed by oxytoxin

Question 5

What is androcentrism?

Answer 5

• This is where normal behaviour is judged according to male standards leading to beta bias
• Suggest psych has been a subject produced by men
• Womens behaviour has been misunderstood and seen as an illness by using hormones to explain emotions but allowing men anger to be seen as rational

Question 6

What is the evaluations for gender bias?

Answer 6

LIMITATION : Biological vs social explanation
- gender difference are presented as fixed
- maccoby found that girls have superior verbal ability but boys have spatial ability suggesting these are hardwired
- Daphna joel did a scan and found no differences
- So maccoby just fitted stereotypes - wary in accepting research findings
HOWEVER
- Madura said women brain has better conditions between right and left hemisphere

LIMITATION : Problems of gender bias
- Research challenging gender bias is not published
- Magdalena analysed 1000 articles found gender bias is less funded so less are aware as ethnic

LIMITATION : Real world application
- misleading assumptions about female behaviour and validate discrimatory practices
- Scientific justification to deny women opportuities
- not just metholodogical but have damaging consequences for prospects of women

LIMITATION: Allows instituinoalised sexism
- lack of women at research level so their concerns not reflected in research questions
- females in lab relationships with men who has power to lable as irrational and unable to complete task
- creates bias in theory and research

Question 7

What is universality?

Answer 7

Underlying characteristic of humans that can be applied to all despite culture and upbringing

Question 8

What is culture bias?

Answer 8

A tendency to interpret all phenomena through the lens of one owns culture ignoring the effect cultural differences might have

Question 9

What is the group of people most likely to be studied ?

Answer 9

Westernised, Educated, Industrialised, Rich , Democratic

Question 10

What is ethnocentrism?

Answer 10

Judging other cultures by the standards and values of ones own culture by having a superior belief in their own cultural group.

Question 11

What is an example of ethnocentrism?

Answer 11

Ainsworth Strange situation

• Viewed through american psychologist view and ideal attachment was secure
• Misinterpretation of child rearing practices eg Japanese infants rarely separates showing insecure attachment

Question 12

What is cultural relativism?

Answer 12

This is where you have the idea that norms/values/ethics and morals are only meaningful within specific culture and social contexts

Question 13

What is the etic approach?

Answer 13

This is where you view behaviour from outside a culture and describe as universal

Question 14

What is the emic approach?

Answer 14

This is where functions from inside a culture and identifies behaviour specific to that culture

Question 15

What is an example of imposed etic approach?

Answer 15

Ainsworth and bell who studied behaviour inside one culture and assumed it could be applied universally so psychologists need to be more wary

Question 16

Evaluation for Culture Bias

Answer 16

LIMITATION : Classic studies
- Most studies culturally biased
- eg Asch was conducted with white us men
- most influential studies contain culture bias
- results different in other cultures (collectivists had higher rates)
HOWEVER
- takano and osako reviewed 14/15 studues that compared us and Japan finding no evidence of collectivism and individualism so less of an issue

STRENGTH : Emergence of cultural psychology
- emerging field and encorporates work from other disciplines eg anthropolohgy, sociology
- cultural scientists take an emic approach
- cross culture research focuses on 2 cultures so more mindful

LIMITATION : Ethnic Stereotyping
- cultural bias led to stereotyping
- first iq test was ethnocentric so led to eugenic social polices
- europeans and african americans scored low meaning that it was used to inform racist discourse aboutgenetic inferiority of cultural groups deeming them unfit
- justify prejudice

Question 17

What is free will?

Answer 17

This is where humans are self determining and can choose their own actions so they are not impacted by external/biological forces and everything is within their conscious control

Question 18

What approach supports free will?

Answer 18

Humanistic as it removes any psychological barriers and allows the client to be free when working towards potential

Question 19

What is determinism?

Answer 19

This is where an individuals behaviour is shaped by internal or external forces rather than an individuals view to do something

Question 20

What is hard determinism?

Answer 20

This means that all humans behvaiour is caused by internal or external factors so free will is an illusion

Question 21

What is soft determinism?

Answer 21

The view that behaviour is predictable (caused by internal and external factors) but there is also room for personal choice thus having restricted free will

Question 22

What are the types of determinism?

Answer 22

Biological : The role of biological influences eg genes on onset schizophrenia
Environmental: caused by past experiences and the result of conditioning eg phobias
Psychic : The influence of biological drives and instincts and that human behaviour has been repressed in childhood by the determination of the unconscious

Question 23

What is causal explanations?

Answer 23

a causal explanation is based on the scientific notion that behaviour is caused/determined by internal/external factors – there is a cause and effect relationship

eg markscheue application example

the experiment was a controlled laboratory study so the only thing that changed was the IV (presence of friend or not), all other variables were controlled and there was a (significant) effect on the DV (happiness ratings).

Question 24

Evaluation - Free will and determinsim

Answer 24

STRENGTH : Practical Value
- by thinking we exercise free will it can improve mental health
- roberts looked at adolescents who believed in fatalism and found that they were at a high risk of depression
- exhibit an external rather than internal LOC are less optimistic
- even if we do not have fw it can be positive

LIMITATION : The law
- In law, offenders are responsible for actions as they exercised free will
- this goes against the hard determinst stance that individual choice is not a cause of behaviour
- determinist argumemts do not work

LIMITATION : Negative research evidence for free will
- Libet made ppts choose a random moment to flick wrist and record when a conscious will made them move
- unconscious brain activity before conscious deceision came about 1/2 a sec before the conscious decision came
- most free will experiences are determined by the brain before we are aware
HOWEVER
- just because action comes before conscious awareness doesnt mean there was no decision to act but it took time to reach conscience

Question 25

What is the difference between nature vs nurture?

Answer 25

Nature looks at our innate and genetic influences which is the result of heridity
Nurture looks at our environmental influences (learning and experience pre and post natal)

Question 26

What is the heritability coeeficient?

Answer 26

number from 0-1 which indicates extent to which characteristics has a genetic basis

Question 27

What is interactionism? (NATURE VS NURTURE)

Answer 27

This sees the bond between an infant and parent as a 2 way street
The childs innate temperament affects attachment behavior as well as warmth and continuity of parental love
The nature (temperament) creates nurture (parents response) so environment and hereditary interact

Question 28

What is the diathesis stress model?

Answer 28

This suggest that a mental disorder is caused by a biological vulnerability which is expressed when coupled with environmental trigger
eg tienari studied adoptees and found that those most likely to develop SZ had relatives with SZ and had dysfunctional adoptive family

Question 29

What is epigenetic?

Answer 29

This is the change in the genetic activity without changing the genes themselves
eg Smoking, pollution and diet leave a mark on our dna affecting gene expression so it can influence how it is passed on
It is a 3rd element as looks at life experience of past generations

Question 30

Evaluation for Nature v Nurture

Answer 30

STRENGTH : Understanding interaction has real world appliaction
- beliefs in nature or nurture may have (-ve) implications of how we view human behavior
- nativists suggests genes determine behaviour and characteristics
- led to controversy eg race to eugenic policies
- recognising human behaviour is both nature and nurture is a more reasonable way to approach study and management of human behaviour

STRENGTH : Use of adoption studies
- Separate the competing influences because if adopted children more similar to adoptive parent environment plays a role but if similar to biological parents then genetic factors are present
- meta analysis found that genetic influences accounted for 41% of variances in aggression
HOWEVER
- plomin suggested that people can createown nurtureby selecting out appropriate environments for their nature
- aggressive child hanging out with similar children
- influence development – niche picking

STRENGTH : Real world appication
- research suggests that ocd is a highly heritable disroder at .76
- inform genetic counselling as not definite tha they will have disorder
- recieve advice and prevention

Question 31

What is holism

Answer 31

People and behaviour studied as one whole system rather than dividing behaviour eg humanists

Question 32

What is reductionism

Answer 32

Human behaviour is best understood by breaking into constituent parts
eg behaviorist

Question 33

What IS levels of explanation?

Answer 33

There are several ways that can be used to explain behaviour

Question 34

What ARE the levels of explanation?

Answer 34

Social & Cultural ( top)

Psychological ( Middle)

Biological (bottom)

Each level more reductions

Question 35

What are the types of reductionism?

Answer 35

Biological Reductionism
- neurochemical and physiological levels
- evolutionary and genetic influences
- work backwards eg drugs that increase serotonin are effective therefore therefore low serotonin may cause ocd therefore reducing ocd to neurotransmitter level

Environmental reductionism
- Behaviour learned and acquired through interactions with the environment
- conditioning - stimulus and response links
- attachment reduces idea of love between baby and person who does feeding to a learned association between person doing feeding and resulting in pleasure

Question 36

eval reductionism and holism

Answer 36

limistion : holism lacks practical value
- hard to priorities in therapy

strength ; reductionism is scientific
- experiments
- operationalise so high validity
However
- things tht occue at level of gene or neurotransmitter do not include social analysis within which behaviour occurs
- eg physioligcal process of pointing ones finger will be the same regardless of contect does not tell us why

limitation : reductionism is that only some behaviours understood at a higher level
- social behaviour only emerge in a group context and not understood with individual members
- effects of conformity to social roles in prisoners and guards for stanford could not be understood by observing ppts as individuals
- interaction between people and behaviour of group important
- no conformity gene
- holistic more valid

Question 37

What is the idiographic approach?

Answer 37

Focuses on individual case as a meaning of understanding behaviour

Uses qualitative data eg case studies, interview to be analysed and get emergent themes to create conclusions that can help others going through similar experiences

eg psychodynamic
- unconditional positive regard
- indepth conversations

eg case study of Little hans and phobias

Question 38

What is the nomothetic approach

Answer 38

The study of behaviour through development of principles and laws

Quantitative research
- hypothesis, psychological tests, structured interviews
- quantify human behaviour

eg Behaviorust like skinner who looked at conditioning

Question 39

Difference between objective and subjective

Answer 39

O - Nomothetic
- standardised
- replicated
S - Idiogrpahic
individual

Question 40

ao3 eval nomo and idio

Answer 40

+ idiogrpahic provides a complete whole account which can complement nomothetic by shedding light on general laws eg km case
COUNTERPOINT
- still a restricted nature of idiograpahic
+ both fit with aims of science
+ loss of person with nomothetic eg w schizophrenia research understanding the subjective experience will be useful

Question 41

What is ethical implications?

Answer 41

Consequences of any research in terms of effect on individuals or the way groups are regarded

Question 42

What is social sensitivity ?

Answer 42

Concerns the consequences research has on people

Question 43

Examples of E.I AND SS

Answer 43

eg Research on LTM is unlikely to have consequences for individual ppts as they dont represent a social group

eg research on depression may have consequences as a ppt could reveal personal info that can be accessed that can hinder emplyment options

Question 44

How can the research process be implicated?

Answer 44

• Question eg hpw they are phrased
• Dealing with ppts eg consent and confidentiality eg domestic abuse case
• Way findings are used
• no scientific credence to existing prejudice
• ensure it is ok for media to publicise

Question 45

a03 ethics and social sensititvy

Answer 45

strength ; group benefit
- homosexuality removed
HOWEVER
- negative consequence
- criminal gene - conviction or excused

strength ; real world application
- gov looks to research issues on health, education and crime
- base policies on researhc
- offices for statistics collect analyse and disseminate statistcs about economy, socity and pop

limitation : poor research design
- erroneus findins
- after 11+ fraud it was still used
- plan findings