Issues and debates Flashcards

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1
Q

Issues with bias in psychology

A

Undermines psychology claim to objectivity and universality.

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2
Q

Alpha bias

A

exaggerates or overestimates differences between the sexes (typically undervalue females).

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3
Q

Beta bias

A
  • ignores, minimises or underestimates differences between men and women.
    -often occurs when females are not a part of the research process and then it is assumed that finings apply equally to both sexes.
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4
Q

Androcentrism

A
  • When behaviour is judged according to a male standard.
  • Leads to female behaviour being misunderstood and taken as a sign of instability.
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5
Q

Gender bias evaluation- Implication of gender bias

A
  • May create misleading assumptions about female behaviour.
  • Therefore it is not just a methodological problem but may create real problems for women and affect their lives.
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6
Q

Gender bias evaluation- Sexism within the research process

A
  • Lack of women appointed for research positions means that female concerns may not be reflected.
  • Lab studies disadvantage women as they are often run by a male researcher who has power over them.
  • Psychology may be guilty of institutional sexism which creates bias in theory and research.
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7
Q

Gender bias evaluation- Reflectivity

A

Many modern researcher are beginning to recognise the role their own bias plays in their research.

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8
Q

Gender bias evaluation- Essentialism

A
  • Most of the bias reports are based on essentialism- the idea that gender differences are fixed in nature and inevitable.
  • Such reports are often politically motivated disguised as facts.
  • Often creates a double standard.
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9
Q

Ethnocentrism

A
  • A belief in the superiority of ones own cultural group.
  • May be seen in a view that behaviours that deviate from the western norm are deficient.
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10
Q

Cultural relitivism

A

The idea that norms and values as well as ethics and moral standards can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts.

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11
Q

Imposed etic

A

When behaviour is studied within a certain culture and is assumed to e applicable to all cultures.

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12
Q

Emic approach

A

When behaviour inside a certain culture is studied and then applied only to that culture.

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13
Q

Etic approach

A

When behaviour from outside a given culture is studied and described as universal.

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14
Q

Cultural bias evaluation- Individualism and collectivism

A
  • Often when researchers make a distinction they make it between individualism and collectivism.
  • Individualist culture refers to western countries whereas collectivist countries include china and Isreal.
  • However with modern advancements in technology these cultures have become less pronounced. Some suggest that cultural bias is less of an issue.
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15
Q

Cultural bias evaluation- Relativism versus universality

A
  • Should not be assumed that no research applies universally.
  • Ekman’s research into facial expressions shows they are the same over the human and animal world.
  • A full understanding of behaviour requires universal rules and cultural variations.
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16
Q

Cultural bias evaluation- Unfamiliarity with research tradition

A
  • Western culture studies assume a general knowledge of scientific researches aims and objectives, other cultures may not have the same faith in scientific testing.
  • This means that’d demand characteristics will differ between the cultures invalidating results.
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17
Q

Cultural bias evaluation- Operartionalisation of variables

A
  • Variables in research may be experienced differently by different cultures such as personal space and aggression may be perceived differently between western and other cultures.
  • This could affect the indications between participant and researchers as well as among participants in the study.
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18
Q

Free will

A

As humans we are self determining and free to chose our own thoughts and actions- advocated by the humanistic approach.

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19
Q

Determinism

A

Suggests free will has no influence over behaviour

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20
Q

Soft determinism

A

Important feature of the cognitive approach, although there are causes for behaviour, people have mental control over the way they behave.

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21
Q

Hard determinism

A
  • Biological approach takes this view.
  • All human behaviour has a cause and so it should be possible to identify them.
  • This is compatible with the aims of science.
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22
Q

Biological determinism

A

Biological approach emphasises the role of biological factors in behaviour, many physiological processes are not under our conscious control such as the role of the atomic nervous system in stress. Also emphasises the role of genetics and hormone.

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23
Q

Environmental determinism

A

All behaviour is the result of conditioning and choice is just the sum of reinforcement we have experienced throughout out lives.
- Think we are acting independently but behaviour has been shaped by our environment.

24
Q

Psychic determinism

A
  • Freud placed influence on biological drives and instincts and agreed that free will is an illusion.
  • Believes that behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control.
25
Q

Scientific emphasis on causal explanations

A
  • Every event in the universe has a cause and that causes can be explained by using general laws.
  • Knowledge of causes and the formulation of laws are important because they allow scientists to predict and control events.
26
Q

Determinism- the case for

A
  • Determinism is consistent with the aims of science and helps put psychology in the footing of other ,ore established sciences.
  • It has helped to develop treatments for mental disorders such as schizophrenia as it helps to predict general behaviour.
27
Q

Determinism- The case against

A

The hard determinist stance is not consistent with the way our legal system operates, offenders are held morally accountable for their actions, the approach is impossible to be proved false which means it not be as scientific as thought.

28
Q

Free will- The case for

A
  • Everyday experiences give the impression that we are experiencing free will meaning it has face validity.
  • Studies show that those who have an internal lock of control are mentally healthier meaning that even just thinking we have free will may have a positive impact on our mind and behaviour.
29
Q

Free will- The case against

A
  • Neurological studies have revealed evidence against free will.
  • A study showed brain activity that determines the outcome of simple choices may predate the knowledge that of having made a choice.
  • Shows that choices are determined by our brain before we become aware of them.
30
Q

Interactionist approach

A

Both nature and nurture work together to influence behaviour and it arises as a combination of both so research is more about how nature and nurture interact.

31
Q

Diathesis stress model

A

Suggests behaviour is caused by biological or environmental vunderability which is only expressed when faced with a stressor.

32
Q

Epigenetics

A

Refers to change in our genetic activity without changing the genes themselves due to experiences throughout our lifetimes which leave marks on our DNA Epigenetic changes may go on and influence the genetic code of our children.

33
Q

Nature- Debate key aspects

A
  • Inherited influences, early theorists like Descartes suggested all human characteristics are innate.
  • Psychological characteristics are determined the same as physical characteristics are.
34
Q

Nurture- Debate Key aspects

A

Refers to the influence of experience and the environmental argument that the mind is a blank slate at both which is then shaped by the environment.

35
Q

Measuring nature and nurture

A

The degree to which two people are similar on a particular trait can be represented by a correlation coefficient and is called concordance- proves an estimate about how. much is inherited. The general figure for heritability in IQ is about 0.5 across studies.

36
Q

Nature nurture evaluation- Adoption studies

A

One strength of research is the use of adoption studies useful because they separate the competing influences of nature and nurture studies found that genetics accouted for 41% of the variance in aggression.

37
Q

Nature nurture evaluation- Adoption studies counterpoint

A
  • approach may be misjudged as nature and nurture cannot be pulled apart.
  • Suggested that people create their own nurture by choosing an environment appropriate for their nature- called niche picking.
  • Suggests it does not make sense to look at either nurture or nature.
38
Q

Nature nurture evaluation- Epigenetic’s

A
  • Strength of the debate is its support for epigenetic, the dutch hunger winter showed that when staving women gave birth to children they were inherently underweight as well as at a higher risk of developing schizophrenia during later life than the general population.
  • Shows that experiences of other generations can leave markers that influence the health of the offspring.
39
Q

Nature nurture evaluation- Real world application

A
  • Another strength of the debate is the real world application.
  • Research suggests OCD is highly inheritable at 0.76.
  • This means that those who know they are genetically at risk can be given help as to how to reduce the effects and avoid the condition.
  • This shows that the debate is not just theoretical and is important on a practical level.
40
Q

Nature nurture evaluation- Implications of the debate

A
  • Nativists suggest that our genetics determine our characteristics and behaviour with little environmental input, this has led to the eugenics movement and linking ethnicity with intelligence.
  • In contrast empiricist argue any behaviour can be modified if the environment is changed , desirable behaviours reenforced and vice versa.
41
Q

Holism

A
  • Holistic approach looks at the system as a whole and sees any attempt to subdivide as inappropriate.
  • The view of Gesat Psychologists who argued “the whole is more than the sum of its parts”.
  • Humanistic theory focuses on the individuals experience and is measured by qualitative methods.
42
Q

Reductionism

A

Seeks to analyse behaviour by breaking it down into its constituent parts based on the scientific idea that all phenomena should be explained using the most basic principles.

43
Q

Levels of explanation in psychology

A

Different ways to explain behaviour, some more reductionist than others.
The more reductionist the more scientific it can be described.

44
Q

Biological reductionism

A
  • Includes the neurochemical and physiological levels and evolutionary and genetic influences.
  • Based on premis that because we are all biological organisms behaviour is always somewhat biological, reductionist arguments often work backwards for example serotonin drugs work for old so old may be caused by a lack of serotonin.
45
Q

Environmental reductionism

A
  • Behaviourist approach is based on reductionism, all behaviours are learned through interaction with the environment.
  • Behaviour in terms of conditioning focused on simple stimulus- response links reducing behaviour to these basic elements.
  • Theory of attachment reduces the idea of love to a learned association with the person feeding the child.
46
Q

Holism and reductionism evaluation- Practical value

A
  • One limitation of the holism approach is that it may lack practical value.
  • Holistic accounts of human behaviour become hard to use as they become more complex.
  • With may different factors it is hard to tell which is responsible and which to prioritise in treatment.
  • Suggests that holistic accounts may lack practical value.
47
Q

Holism and reductionism evaluation- Scientific approach

A
  • Strength of reductionism is that it forms the basis of scientific approaches.
  • By operisationalising the variables it makes it possible to conduct objective ways.
  • This gives psychology greater credibility placing it on equal standing with the natural sciences.
48
Q

Holism and reductionism evaluation- Scientific approach counterpoint

A

Reductionist approaches have been accused of over simplifying complex phenomena leading to reduced validity, explanations that operate only biologically ignore social context, suggests reductionist explanations can only ever form part of an explanation.

49
Q

Holism and reductionism evaluation- Higher level

A

One limitation of reductionism is that some behaviours can only be understood at a higher level, some behaviours only emerge in a group context and so can’t be understood in individuals. Suggests higher level explanations provide a more valid account.

50
Q

Idiographic approach

A

Psychology should study individuals, small sample size for study, focus on detail and what can be learnt about the individual case.

51
Q

Nomothetic approach

A

Psychology should be the study of large and varied groups to establish norms of human behaviour, main aim in generalisation in order to create laws or general principles. Uses qualitative research numerical data is used to test for statistical significance. Behaviourist and biological approach use nomothetic approach even though they have small samples.

52
Q

Idiographic and nomethetic- Objective vs subjective

A

Idiographic approach is more subjective as it sees the importance of looking at the experience of the individual.
Nomothetic is objective which ensures true replication and lack of the influence of bias.

53
Q

Idiographic nomothetic evaluation- Complete account

A

Strength of idiographic is that is contributes to nomothetic. Idiographic uses in depth qualitative methods which provides a description of one individual may complement the nomothetic approach by shedding light on general laws or challenging laws. So even though the focus is on less people idiographic may still help scientific laws of behaviour.

54
Q

Idiographic nomothetic evaluation- Complete account counterpoint

A

It should still be recognised that the idiographic approach has narrow and restricted nature as meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples. Less scientific Nate makes it difficult to build rules completely without nomothetic approach.

55
Q

Idiographic nomothetic evaluation- Scientific credibility

A

Both approaches fit with the aims of science. Nomothetic uses similar methods to the natural sciences. Idiographic researchers also try and standardise their methods to make result more objective. Suggests both raise psychology status as a science.

56
Q

Idiographic nomothetic evaluation- Losing the person

A

One limitation if the nomothetic approach is the loss of the individual, preoccupied with general laws predictions and control means it has been accused of losing the whole person. TMT the approach may sometimes fail to relate to individual experience.