issues and debates Flashcards
androcentrism
the belief that psychology applies research to the world from a male perspective
alpha bias A
exaggerates differences between women and men
beta bais A
assumes what is true to men also applies to women- minimises differences
universality
this is the aim to recognise the differences between the genders
evaluation of gender bias
+take feminist perspectives- biological differences
-methods to research may be flawed. more male researchers, have power to label women as irrational
+reverse alpha bias and emphasize the value of women. Research shows women are better at learning because they are more organised and flexible.
+ beta bias should be ignored as it leads to disadvantages for women- eg paternity leave
-assumptions of psychologists need to be examined as theories often go unchallenged- eg darwin portrayed women as being picky and choosy and justifies mens infedelity as trying to pass of the good genes
cultural bias
judging all cultures in terms of your own cultural assumptions
cultural relativism
view that behaviour cant be judges properly unless it is viewed in the context of the culture it originates from
alpha bias C
assumptions that there are real differences between cultures
beta bias C
ignoring or minimising cultural differences
ethnocentrism
assumption that your own ethnic group and culture are more superior than others
etic approach
assumes behaviour applies to all cultures
emic approach
looks at behaviour from one culture
universality C
assumes research can apply to all cultures
evaluation of cultural bias
+techniques to overcome bias, encourage different groups to participate in research and develop theories of their own. more accurate
+use indigenous local researhers. Buss did this when researching relationships. 37 different cultures.
-use studies with samples form different cultures. Sears 82% studies used undergraduates.
+ criticism may be out of date. researchers travel more now.
determinism
belief that behaviour is controlled by internal or external factors
biological determinism
belief that biology such as genes affect pur behaviour
enviromental determinism
belief that behaviour is caused by the enviroment
psychic determinism
belief that behaviour is caused by innate drives and early experiences. stages of development
scientific determinism
belief that all behaviour has a cause
soft determinism
allows for some free will
hard determinsim
all behaviour is predicted and there is no free will
free will
belief that everyone has the power to make their own choices
moral responsibility is the idea that we have free will to chose our actions
evaluation of free will vs determinism
-unlikely that 100% of genetic or enviromental determinism will ever be found for behaviour . concordance rates for twin studies and intelligence tend to be less than 100%. Gottesman 48% for sz
-causal explanation is flawed. could be that certain factor increse the probability of behaviour not the cause.
- many psychologist do not favour the deterministic approach. criminals have used it as an excuse for their actions.
-hard determinsim goes against our legal system. individual chooses their actions.
+ everyday experience would suggest free will is a thing. make our own decisions on a daily baiss.
nature
the belief that our behaviour is influenced by genes hormones or brain chemistry and evolutionary explanations
nurture
the belief that our behaviour is influenced by the enviroment
interactionuism
the belief that our behaviour is caused by both nature and nurture
epigenetics
interactions between genes and enviroment
evaluation of nature and nurture
+both nature and nurture view use scientific methods. lab experiments, brain scans. brain scans of sz show enlarged ventricles.pavlov and skinner used controlled experiments
-interactionist approach views behaviour as both nature and nurture. never 100% concordance rate sin twin studies. neither nature or nurture are full explanations.
-in real life interactionist approach is more suitable.treatment using this eg cbt and drugs alongside each other
- tienari et al finnish study followed 19000 children adopted from finnish mothers with sz. assessed rearing style of adopters and sz rates in children.high levels of critism and conflict linked with sz but only in those who had a genetic predisposition to sz. strongly suggests interactionist approach
- additional evidence for interactionist approach comes from maguire et al shows that nurture can shape our biology. investigated taxi drivers and found hippocampi wasarea of the brain was larger in london taxi drivers compared to non taxi drivers.
reductionism
belief that an explanation reduces behaviour down to a simple explation rather than looking at all the factors involved.
levels of explanation
how reductionist an explanation is
holism
looking at all the aspects of an individuals behaviour
gestaly psychology
‘whole’ in german. argues we can only make sense if we view something as a whole rather than in parts
humanism
belief that the persons sense of self needs to be looked at as a whole. maslows heirachy of needs- in order to fill full potential we need to meet basic biological and spiritual needs.
cognitive psychology
belief that memory can be seen as a connesctionist network. each unit is linked to other units. these links develop through experience and with each new experience the links are strengthened and weakened.
evaluation of reductionism vs holism
+biological reductionism has lead to drug therapies. lead to a reduction of institutionalisation and more tolerance of the mentally ill. however drug therapies have a low sucess rate and only treat symptoms and not the cause
+ reductionist approach allows researchers to conduct scientific research. in order to operationalise you have to break down individual parts to conduct experiemnts
-holistic explanations are difficult to test scientifically .
+ some behaviours have to be looked at from a holistic view point to understand them cmpletely.
-reductionist research lacks validity sue to lack of complexity
idiographic approach
involves studying individuals and studying and focusing on the uniqueness of the individuals and dont generlise
nomethetic approach
this involves tudying large numbers of people and generlising results
evaluation of idiographic vs nomethetic approach
+brough focus back onto individuals rather than big groups.allport said that we can only predict behaviour by knowing the person individually
-idiographic isnt scientific . lack of evidence. believe focusing on human experiences.
-idiographic is limited as it does not make genrlised predictions about human behaviour. predictions are useful in things like drug therapies. too time consuming to produce personal therapies for each person
-isiographic is tmpractical. time consuming as it involves collecting large amounts of data on individuals using qualitative metjods.
-some people argue theres no such thing as the idiographic approach as even if you study a person individually you will end up generlising the data. will end up being nomathetic
social sensitivity
any research that has social consequences for the pp or group they represent
ethical implication
impact of psychological research on the individual or society.
research progress
