Issues And Debates Flashcards
What is gender bias
Gender bias is the preference towards one gender
It can either exaggerate or minimise differences between males and females
What is alpha bias (gender bias)
Alpha bias is when differences between males and females are exaggerated
What can alpha bias be used to do
Can be used to undervalue one of the sexes
Differences are sometimes attributed to difference in biology (genetics or hormones)
What is beta bias
Where differences between males and females are ignored or minimised
When can beta bias happen
This can happen when studies just include participants of one gender but then the conclusions are applied to the while population
What is Androcentrism
Where males are viewed as being at the centre of culture
In psychological terms, male behaviour is seen as the norm applied to women, or it can mean that any differences woe,m display are seen as exceptions to the rule
What is estrocentrism
Where female behaviour is seen as the norm
This is much rarer phenomenon than androcentrism
What can make gender bias more likely
Research designs
Why are research designs important in gender bias
Because the research methods that psychologists use can cause the results and conclusions to be gender biases and different research designs can unintentionally cause alpha/beta bias
What is publication bias?
Gender bias can be created as a result of publication bias, as not all studies are published
it has been reported that any studies that produces positive findings are more likely to be published than studies that don’t
This can exaggerate differences between males and females and so produce an alpha bias
Name 3 theories that show gender bias
Freud, Asch’s and Bem’s
How does Freud’s theory show gender bias
Freud’s theories usually described male behaviour as the norm, explaining female behaviour as anything which differed from the norm
For examples, Freud proposed that when girls find out that they don’t have a penis, they suffer from what he termed ‘penis envy’
How does Ash’s theory show gender bias
Study into conformity was androcentric he used a male-only sample meaning that his results couldn’t be generalised to women
What does culture refer to
Culture refers to the set of customs, social roles, behavioural norms and moral values that are shared by a group of people.
Historically there hasn’t been much research to compare people of different cultures what are 3 reasons for this?
1) research assumed that people from western cultures are essentially the same as the people in other cultures so whatever was found about one was applied to others
2) It may have been assumes that non-western cultures were more ‘primitive’ and less worthy
3)research’s who wanted to do cross-cultural research couldn’t because they lacked time and resources
What is culture bias and what can cause cultural bias?
refers to interpreting and judging human behaviour based on cultural norms and experiences
often stems from ethnocentric perspective
caused by Research methods
What can cultural bias be the result of
A researchers assumption and research time
What did Berry (1969) identify about cultural bias
2 main approaches that might lead to cultural bias
Etic and emic research
What is Etic research?
Research from a specific culture which is then applies to other cultures to find universal laws, giving the studies universality
It’s possible that there are lots of these, all humans have basically the same physiology and many behaviours are found in all cultures
How we, because studies have to take samples of the population it’s difficult to generalise the findings to all cultures of researchers do this they could be guilty of bias in the form of an imposed Etic
What is meant by emic research
Researched bases on specific culture that is used to understand that culture from within
It isn’t generalised to other cultures, instead it studies variations in behaviour between groups of people
This avoids the problem of cultural bias through an imposed Etic
However bias may still occur by exaggerating differences between different cultural groups,and neglecting to look at the differences within the cultural groups
What is the issue of sub-culture bias
Etic or emic bias for sub-groups within larger groups
What is ethnocentrism (cultural bias)
Where our own culture is taken as the norm that we judges other cultures against ethnocentric research is centered around the one culture it’s based in
So as most studies have people form western cultures a lot of them are endocentric
Give 2 examples of studies that are ethnocentric
Asch’s
Milgram
What social implications does cultural bias
Culturally biased studies will produce culturally based theories, this has important implications for society because psychologists might be making claims that aren’t true
It’s especially problematic when biased views influence psychological practice
What can cross cultural research help reduce
The effects of cultural bias
What’s are the 2 problems with cross cultural research
1) Even with translator it can be difficult to interpret what participants say and do, some beliefs and customs may be difficult for people from other cultures to understand
2) cross cultural replications of studies are difficult to do smith and bond said that prefect cross cultural relationships are impossible because procedures will have different meaning in different culture
There are ways to reduce cultural bias what are they?
Cultural bias usually isn’t intentional so it can be difficult to prevent
1) research should recognizes cultural relativism this is accepting that there are no universal standards for behaviour and that any research done must take into account the culture
2) samples should be representative if the groups you want to generalize the results to they should include all relevant sub-groups
3) Berry (1969) recommended conducting research in meaningful contexts and using local research who are part of the culture being studies avoiding problems of an imposed etic
What is free will
People are able to choose how to behave their behaviors isn’t a repair e to external or biological factors and isn’t influenced by past behavior
What are some comments about free will
People can explain behaviors in terms of decisions and interactions
However, free will is subjective so some might think they’re choosing how to behave but actually be influenced by other forces
Some people with psychological disorders don’t appear to have free will
What is determinism
All of the physical events in the universe occur in cause and effect relationships
So out thoughts and beliefs and behaviors are determined by past events and causes
This is a scientific view that implies that complete knowledge of a cause and effect relationship with mean you can predict future behaviors in the same situation
What are some of the comments on determinism
the determinist approach is very scientific, other scientific subjects have shown that events in the physical universe operate according to cause and effect relationships that follow certain laws
however, determinism is unfalsifiable, it cant be proved wrong because it assumes that events can be a result of forces that haven’t been discovered yet
opposed to hard determinism which completely rules out the idea of free will what is soft determinism
is the viewpoint that we choose our behaviour but the choices that we make are a result of our own personality traits and intentions most psychological approaches hold this view just to different degrees
how does the psychodynamic approach show determinism/free will
freud argued that behaviour is determined by unconscious forces, this is know as psychic determinism
freud claims that forgetting an appointment for an example is actually determined by unconscious influences (e.g didn’t actually want to go) acknowledging that these behaviours have many causes including conscious intentions
how does the biological approach show determinism/free will
Behaviours are determined by biological influences the idea that this is the sole cause of behaviour is known as biological determinism
how does the cognitive approach show determinism/ freewill
behaviour is the result of both free will and determinism
this approach looks for patterns in how the brain processes external information and what behaviours this leads to
but acknowledges that people use cognitive processes like language to reason and make decisions
how does the behaviourist approach show determinism/ free will
skinner claimed that behaviour is determined by the environment and is the result of punishment and reinforcement
this is known as environmental determinism
everyone has a different history of reinforcement so knowing this about someone can allow you to predict their behaviour if the environment conditioning changes then their behaviour will also change
how does the humanistic approach show determinism/freewill
this approach falls on the free will side of the debate
humanistic psychologists believe that individuals are in control of their behaviour and are trying to achieve personal growth
what is reductionism
the scientific view that it should be possible to explain complex things by reducing them to their most simple structures or processes
in psychology this means explaining behaviour by boiling theories down to some basic principles
to establish cause and effect
what is holism
the argument that human behaviour is more complex than the processes that other sciences study
this means it should be views as the product of different influences which all interact
trying to separate these influences by just studying one of them means that complex behaviours can be misunderstood
what did Rose (1976) talk about in psychology
levels of explanation in psychology
put forward a range of explanations used in psychology from the most reductionist to the most holistic
what are the levels of explanation in psychology outlined by rose
molecular level (physics) -> cellular level (biochem) -> parts of individuals (bio) -> behaviour of individuals (psych) -> behaviour of groups (sociology)
how does psychodynamic approach show holism and reductionism
by considering unconscious forces and childhood experiences, psychodynamic approach is relatively holistic approach
freud emphasised that personality is the result of interactions between different components like id/ego which is more holistic view
how does biological approach show holism and reductionism
all behaviours can be explained as the product of bio influences like genetics and brain structure, this is biological reductionism and it aims to establish cause and effect but it focuses less on other influences on behaviour
how does cognitive approach show holism and reductionism
the brains cog processes are compared to the working of a computer (machine reductionism) there is input, various stages of processing and then an output
this is reductionism as it doesn’t explain why humans function differently to computers
how does behaviourist approach show holism and reductionism
all human behaviour is shaped by the environment through process of classical and operant conditioning
this is known as environmental reductionism other influences are focused on less
how does humanistic approach show holism and reductionism
this approach is holistic as it studies the individual in context and tries to understand their subjective experiences
it used self-report techniques rather than breaking down behaviour into its component parts
humanistic psychologists disagree with reducing behaviour to cause and effect relationships
in terms of the nature nurture debate what is nature
genotype, the innate characteristics determined by physiological and genetic factors
in terms of the nature nurture debate what is nuture
the influence of the environment and learning experiences
what did empiricists claim
that everyone is a ‘blank state’ when they’re born and the environment ‘writes’ unique characteristics onto us
what do psychologists now believe about the nature-nurture debate
that they must interact because personality and behaviour seem to be influenced by both this is known as interactionist approach
what did gottesman (1963) suggest about the interactionalist approach
suggested that people have a reaction range this means everyone has a certain genetic potential for things like intelligence and height- the genotype
the environment determines how much this potential is fulfilled (phenotype)
what does the diathes-stress model suggest
suggests that people have a genetic predispositions for disorders like sz
a person with a higher diathesis (vulnerability) is more likely to develop the trait, but whether they do depends on the amount of stress they experience (environment)
determining how far nature or nurture control characteristics can be complicated by what
genotype-environment correlation, correlations between a persons genes and their environment
what are the 3 types of genotype-environment correlations identified by plomin et al (1977)
1) passive: people with similar genes are likely to experience similar environments
2) reactive: genetically determined characteristics may shape a persons experiences (some react more positively towards attractive people so kind of environment party depends of inherited characteristics)
3) active: people with particular inherited tendencies might seek out certain environments which shape their behaviour just as their genetic background does (Bandura called this reciprocal determinism environment determines behaviour and behaviour determines environments)
name the 3 ways nature-nurture influences can be studies using different methods
family studies, adoption studies and twin studies
how can nature-nurture influences can be studies using family studies
family members share a trait more frequently than unrelated people do, this could imply a genetic influence for that behaviour
however similarities between family members may actually be the result of their shared environment
relatives might learn the behaviour from each other through observations learning
how can nature-nurture influences can be studies using adoption studies
these compare an adopted child with its bio and adoptive parents if the child has more similarity with its adoptive parents then this wold imply that nurture is important because they share the same environment
similarity with the bio parents suggest that nature is more important
plomin et al (1988) showed a stronger correlation of IQ within biological families than adoptive parents
how can nature-nurture influences can be studies using twin studies
identical twins share 100% of their genes, non-identical share 50% of their genes
so if MZ twins are more likely to share a characteristics than DZ twins it implies a genetic influence
this is shown by concordance rates,
however, if a trait was completely genetic then MZ concordance would be 100% so their behaviour must also be influenced by environment
what side of nature-nurture debate does the psychodynamic approach fall on
freud argued that personalities are the result of an interaction of nature and nurture
he emphasised the importance of inborn instincts and drives
however he also said that experiences can resulting fixations in the stages of development
what side of nature-nurture debate does the biological approach fall on
emphasises genetically determined brain structures and processes
evolutionary psychology states that many behaviours (survival value)
however the environment influences brain development
what side of nature-nurture debate does the cognitive approach fall on
studies genetically determine mental processes but accepts that the environment influences their development and functioning
Piagets theory of cognitive development argues that environmental stimulation is needed for the genetically determined process of development to unfold
what side of nature-nurture debate does the behaviourist approach fall on
all behaviours are learnt through conditioning apart from inborn relaxes and instincts
this approach falls most heavily on the nurture side of the debate
what side of nature-nurture debate does the humanistic approach fall on
behaviour is part of a natural need to reach your full potential
however whether you reach it depends on your experiences in the world, and so the humanistic approach falls more towards the nurture side of the debate
whats a nomothetic approach
nomothetic approach applies general laws and theories to explain behaviour across a whole pop
uses RM such as la experiments and correlational research
involves groups of reps to draw general conclusions
what type of methods does nomothetic approach gives to analyse findings
quantitative methods
whats a idiographic approach
focuses own the individual in detail
look at what makes each person different and avoids making general laws and theories
idiot research uses RM such as case studies interviews and observations that focuses on the individual
what type of methods does idiographic approach gives to analyse findings
qualitative
give 3 evaluations of the nomothetic approach
1) research methods frequently used in the nomothetic approach mean that its a controlled, objective and scientific approach (scientifically tested)
2) lacks ecological validity cant be generalised to real life
3) individual differences are ignored so its less useful doesn’t fit in
give 3 evaluations of the idiographic approach
1) Idiographic approach focuses on the individual so it can give a more complete explanations of behaviour than nomothetic
2) fewer people are studied so tricky to generalise less scientific
3) detailed studies of individual cases can develop nomothetic laws
what side of idiographic and nomothetic debate does the psychodynamic approach fall on
can be seen as having both nomothetic and idiographic components
(psychosexual development nomothetic and idiographic as considers individual experiences
what side of idiographic and nomothetic debate does the biological approach fall on
aims to find cause of behaviour in bio structure and processes
assumes these are the same across the pop so nomothetic
what side of idiographic and nomothetic debate does the cognitive approach fall on
assumes the same mental processes apply across the pop
and so falls more towards nomothetic
what side of idiographic and nomothetic debate does the behaviourist approach fall on
psychologists from behaviourist approach apply cause and effect laws to explain behaviour in general
which is thought to be a result of classical and operant conditioning so is nomothetic
what side of idiographic and nomothetic debate does the humanistic approach fall on
heavily focused on individual and their drive for self-actualisation
therefore completely on idiographic
what is socially sensitive research
defined as research that may have implications for the individuals in the research, or for groups in society such as the participants families or particular cultural groups
what issues can research into genetic influences raise
research into whether there are genetic influences on criminal behaviour could have important consequences
also there’s the possibility of compulsory genetic testing to identify people with particular gene
such as screening cold also identify genes linked to psychological disorders such as sz
explain race as an IV in being very sensitive issue
some studies using IQ have shown possible racial differences in intelligence
the issue is whether this is an appropriate topic for research because of social tempos that the results and conclusions may produce
what is meant by universality
argument that certain observed behaviours apply to all humans regardless of differences
what is meant by WEIRD in terms of psychological bias
that most people studies are:
Western
Educated
Industrialised
Rich
Democratic
what did Henrich find based on WEIRD rps?
found majority of ops were from America (68%) and 96% were from western industrialised nations
67% of the American rps were undergrad psych students
what is meant by cultural relativism
principle that human behaviour should be understood within the context of the specific cultures where it occurs, taking cultural norms, values and beliefs into account
how can u deal with bias in psychology
only base claims of universality on empirical data
use indigenous psychology, where research s conducted by individual who is native or deeply understands the culture being studied
take a reflective approach involves actively reflecting on their beliefs values and experiences recognising how personal factors might influence research
whats hard determinism
personality traits and behaviour are set by forces outside of out control with no role for free will
whats soft determinism
traits and behaviours are to a extent dictated by internal and external forces
however we do have some level of control over our behaviour thought conscious thought processes
who was Rene Descartes and what did he say
the nativist
believed in the concept of the mind possessing innate ideas at birth
argued that these ideas form the basis of all knowledge and understanding although unfamiliar with the role of Dna he argue that this innate knowledge is transmitted biologically through heredity
evaluate free will and determinism
free will has face validity but determinists would argue this feeling is an illusion
determinism allows for cause and effect relationships to be formed
what are some discussion points to do with nature nurture debate
psychodynamic is a clear example of interactionism
concordance rates in twin studies help show if conditions are due to genetics but no 100% concordance
taking nature approach could lead to reduction to the prison sentences of come criminals
nature and nurture interact through epigenetic modification
who is John Locke
the empiricist, argues that knowledge comes from experience and observation rather than being inborn
locke famously described the mins at birth as a blank slate claiming knowledge and understanding are gained through the environment
