Issues and Debates

Question 1

Gender bias: define alpha bias

Answer 1

Exaggerating the differences between men and women, leading to a gender being devalued in comparison

Question 2

Gender bias: define androcentrism

Answer 2

Psychology has been male-dominated, with many researchers being men, therefore theories they produce represent a male world-view (neglecting women)

Question 3

Gender bias: define beta bias

Answer 3

Minimising differences between men and women, therefore ignoring details of the lives of women or assuming studies of men apply to women

Question 4

Define gender bias

Answer 4

The differential treatment/representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences

Question 5

Gender bias: define universality

Answer 5

The aim to develop theories that apply to all people, possibly including real differences

Question 6

Gender bias: give an example of alpha bias

Answer 6

Freud’s research and theories reflected the culture he lived in - in his theory of psychoanalysis (19th century), Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity, therefore leading to moral inferiority

Question 7

Gender bias: give an example of beta bias

Answer 7

The fight-or-flight stress response was formed typically based on research of male animals, as the variations in hormones of females makes research more difficult, and people assumed the response was universal based on that research

Question 8

Evaluating gender bias: how could we counter androcentrism?

Answer 8

Feminist psychology aims to redress the imbalances in theory and research in psychology, agreeing that there are real biologically based sex differences, and that we should use this knowledge to provide support. Eagly (1978) - women may be less effective leaders, therefore training programmes should be developed

Question 9

Evaluating gender bias: how are the research methods of psychological studies biased?

Answer 9

Rosenthal (1966) found that male experimenters are more pleasant, friendly and encouraging to female than male participants, therefore male participants performed worse than female, creating a false picture of male-female differences

Question 10

Evaluating gender bias: how could we counter gender bias?

Answer 10

Developing theories that emphasise the value of women - challenging stereotypes, for example, Cornwell et al (2013) found that women are better at learning because they are more attentive, flexible and organised

Question 11

Define cultural bias

Answer 11

Judging all people in terms of your own cultural assumptions, therefore distorting or biasing your judgement

Question 12

Cultural bias: define cultural relativism

Answer 12

The view that behaviour cannot be judged properly unless it is viewed in the context of the culture that it originates from

Question 13

Cultural bias: define culture

Answer 13

The rules, customs, morals and ways of interacting that bind members of a society/groups of people

Question 14

Cultural bias: define ethnocentrism

Answer 14

Seeing things from the point of view of ourselves and our social groups, and evaluating other groups of people using the standards and customs of your own culture

Question 15

Cultural bias: give an example of alpha bias and beta bias

Answer 15

Alpha bias - Takano and Osaka (1999) reviewed 15 studies that compared the US and Japan in terms of collectivism/individualism and found 14 out of 15 studies didn’t support the belief that conformity differed
Beta bias - IQ tests made in the West are used to assess intelligence in different cultures, applying their view of what knowledge is to them, leading to other cultures seeming less intelligent

Question 16

Evaluating cultural bias: how can we counter cultural bias?

Answer 16

Indigenous psychologies, for example, Afrocentrism is a movement which suggests that because all black people have their roots in Africa, theories about them must recognise the African context of behaviours and attitudes, however this could be argued to be as culturally biased as the theories it aims to counter (emic approach)

Question 17

Define determinism

Answer 17

The belief that behaviour is controlled by external or internal factors acting on an individual

Question 18

Define hard determinism

Answer 18

The view that all behaviour is predictable, and that there is no free will - they are incompatible

Question 19

Define soft determinism

Answer 19

A form of determinism that allows for some element of free will

Question 20

Define free will

Answer 20

The view that individuals have the power to make choices about their own behaviour

Question 21

FW vs D: define biological determinism and provide an example

Answer 21

• Evidence of genetic influences on behaviour suggest our behaviours are determined by our genes, and genes go on to affect brain structures and neurotransmitters
• For example, it is suggested that OCD can be caused by serotonin deficiency via SERT gene implications

Question 22

FW vs D: define environmental determinism and give an example

Answer 22

• The behaviourism-aligned belief that behaviour is caused by previous experience via conditioning or reinforcement
• For example, the behaviourist approach to explaining and treating phobias indicates that phobic behaviours are learned and are treated by reconditioning the patient