issues and debates Flashcards
gender bias
refers to misrepresnation in attitudes abd beliefes based on prejudice or pre-existing ideas concerning gender
e.g women more nurturing then men
alpha bias
refers to theories which exaggerate diffrences betweeen men and women
may enhance or undervalue memebers of either sex, typically undervalue females
beta bias
refers to theories which ignore or minisme sex differences
assume findings from males can equally be applied to females
issue when all ppts are males
example of alpha bias
evolutionary explanations
evolution explains humans need to survive, therefore reproduce
provides explantion of how females and males are innately different
males tend to be more dominant and women have more empathy and partental investment to aid survival of offspring
example of beta bias
kolhberg
conducted longtudinal study
over period of 12 years
gave 75 youndg americas series of moral dilmeas in the form of short stories
aged 10-16 at start of study
22-28 end of study
examples of dilemas to 10 year old
more impornt to save one imporant person or loads of unimportant people
based on male orientated principle-though argued such priciples are universal and represnt moral reasoning to both males and females
limitation of gender bias-promotes sexism in research process
females remain underrepresnated in unniversity departments particualry science
phsycologys undergraduate intake is females
more lectures are males
means research more leiekly to be conducted by men
male researcher may assume female to be unable to complete complex tasks and expectations may mean women may underperfrom
strength of gender bias-feminsit pshcyologuists have proposed how gender bias can be avodied
worrey and renner
put forward criteris that researchers should follow in order to avoid gender bias
suggests women should be study in real life contexts and partcipats in resaerch rather then object of study
diversity within groups of women, rather then comaprison between men and women
strength as way of doign research is less gender biased then lab based research
culture bias
refers to a tendncy to ignore cultural difference and interpet all phenomena throughput lens of ones own culture
etic construct
approach that looks at behaviours from outside a given culture and attempts to describe behaviour that is universal
emic construct
looks within/inside cultures and identifies behaviour specific to that culture
psyshologtics truly devloping udnerstnaing of that cultures practices and developing research procedures
ethnocentirsim
judging other cultures by standards and values of ones own culture
belief in superiority of ones own culture which may lead to prejudice, discrimination towards other cultures
example of ethnocentrism
ainsworth SS
only reflects norms and values of american culture
nature debate
view that behavioru is a product of innate (biolgoical and gentic) factors
nurture debate
view that behaviour is a product of environmental influences
example of nature
Bowbly
proposed that children come into world biologically programmed to form attachments
this will enable them to survive
suggests attachment behaviour are naturally selected on a result of genetic inheritance
supported by animal research lorenz and harlow
nurture example
behaviorusit that explain attachment in terms of classical conditioning
food is associated with the mother
through many parinings, mother becomes condisiotned stimulus who propts conditioned reposne in child
child forms attatchment based of pleasure of being given food
measuring nature and nurture
diathesis-stress model
suggests behaviour is caused by bioloigcal or enviormental vulnerabiltity
e.g person who is inherits a gentic vulnerability for OCD may not develop the disorder
free will and detmernism debate
extent to which our behaviour is the result of forces over which we have no control or whether people are able to decide for themselves whther to act or behave a certain way
free will
humans play an active role and can choice the way in which they behave
assumption is people are free to choose their behavuour, not detmerined by biological or externcal factors
how does humanstic approach take free will stae in psychology
suggests we are ultimanetly reposnible fir our own behaviour (active agents)
regardless of external events in past or presnt
roger and maslow calim humans have self determinsim and free will and that behaviour is not result of any single cause
freddom is necceassry to become fully functional human beaviour
detmerminism
view that individual behaviour is controlled and shaped by internal or external factors
example of external force e.g partents
internal force example-hormones
what are all the types of detemrinsim
hard
soft
biolgical
enviromental
psychic
hard determinsim
implies that free will is not psossible asour behaviour is always controlled by interenal or external forces
seen as incompatible with free will
soft detmerminism
behaviour is contained by enviorment
or biological make up but only to certain extent, element in free will in al, behaviour
biological determinism
belief behaviour based by biological infleunces that we cannot control
e.g high levels of testerone will casue aggressive behaviour
enviormnetal determinsim
belief behaviour casued by feautures of the enviroment
such as systems of reward and punishment beyond our control
psychic detemrinsim
belief that behaviour is casued by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control
strength-free will has internal validity
Robert et al
found that adolescents with an internal locus of control are more liekly to have better mental health and less liekly to develop depression then those with an external locus of control
holism v reduction
concerned with the levl at which ias appropriate to explain human behaviour
reductionist explanations break thoughts into simplest parts
holistic explanations consider the person as a whole
holism
view that beahviour can only be understodd by analyysing the person or behaviour as a whole ratehr than its consistuent parts
reductiosnism
analysying behaviour by breaking it down intp more simple components as complex beahviour is best understood in terms of a simplier level of explantion
levels of explanation in relation to reductionism
rose proposed that there are different levels of explanation
lowest leevl of explanation would include biolgoical explanations where behaviour explained in its smallest lart e.g gentics
at this level explanations are considered reductionist
middle level explaantions reduce explaations to psychological explanations
highest level considers both social and cultural explanations where behaviour explained by influence of social groups
what are the two types of redcutionism
biological redcutionism
enviromental reductionism
bioloigal reductionsm
idiographic
focuses more on indivudal
empathises unique personal experience of human nature
examples of idiographic approach in psychology
humanist pshycology-rogers and maslow only concerned with studying the whole person and seeing the world from the perspective of that persob
psyhcoofdynais approach case stduy little hans
nomethetic approach
approach that attempts to study human behaviour tharough development of laws that apply to large groups of people
example of nometheic approach in spcyhology
behaviorusim-classical condiditon gand operant condiditoning studied repsonses of hundreds of rats, cats pigeons etc
