ISSUES AND DEBATES

Question 1

Define Androcentrism

Answer 1

Centred or focused on men, often to the neglect or exclusion of women

Question 2

Define Alpha bias

Answer 2

A tendency to exaggerate differences between men and women

Question 3

Define Beta bias

Answer 3

A tendency to ignore or minimise differences between men and women

Question 4

Define Gender bias

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Define Universality

Answer 5

The aim to develop theories that apply to all people, which may include real differences

Question 6

Give an example of alpha bias in psychological research

Answer 6

• Sigmund Freud’s theories reflected the culture in which he lived
• Men were more powerful and more well-educated + superior to women
• Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity

Question 7

Give an example of beta bias in psychological research

Answer 7

• Research on fight-or-flight
• Biological research is usually conducted with male animals because in females the variations in hormone levels would make the research more difficult
• Assumed that male-only samples wouldn’t matter because what is true for males would be true for females
  ^— assumed fight-or-flight response is universal
• Taylor et al. (2000) challenged this, suggesting females produce a tend-and-befriend response

Question 8

State the issue with universality in psychological research

Answer 8

• Would be wrong to try to eradicate gender differences as a way to resolve the gender bias issue
• This approach of universality is an example of beta bias itself

Question 9

Define cultural bias

Answer 9

The tendency to judge all people in terms of your own cultural assumptions | Distorts or biases your judgement

Question 10

Define ethnocentrism

Answer 10

Seeing things from the point of view of ourselves and our social group. Evaluating other groups of people using the standards and customs of one’s own culture

Question 11

Define cultural relativism

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What is the term coined for people most likely to be studied by psychologists?

Answer 12

WEIRD

Question 13

What does WEIRD stand for?

Answer 13

Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich Democracies

Question 14

Give an example of ethnocentrism is psychological research

Answer 14

• Mary Ainsworth’s (1970) Strange Situation
• Conducted research on attachment type, suggesting the ‘ideal’ was the secure attachment type (was common in WESTERN samples)
• Lead to misinterpretation of child-rearing practices elsewhere which were seen to deviate from the Western ‘norm’
• Japanese infants more likely to be classified as insecurely attached (Takahashi, 1986)

Question 15

What is an etic approach?

Answer 15

Looks at behaviour from outside of a given culture and attempts to identify behaviours that are universal

Question 16

What is an emic approach?

Answer 16

Emphasises the uniqueness of every culture and looks at behaviour from inside of a particular cultural system and attempts to identify behaviours that are specific to that culture

Question 17

Give an example of an imposed etic in psychological research

Answer 17

• Mary Ainsworth’s (1970) Strange Situation

Studied behaviour inside one culture (America) and then assumed their ideal attachment type (and method of assessment) could be applied universally

Question 18

Define determinism

Answer 18

The view that an individual’s behaviour is controlled by either internal or external forces. Means that behaviour should be predictable

Question 19

Define free will

Answer 19

Each individual has the power to make choices about their behaviour

Question 20

What are the three types of determinism?

Answer 20

• Biological determinism
• Environmental determinism
• Psychic determinism

Question 21

What are the two degrees of determinism?

Answer 21

• Hard determinsm
• Soft determinism

Question 22

Define hard determinism

Answer 22

The view that all behaviour can be predicted and there is no free will. The two are incompatible

Question 23

Define soft determinsm

Answer 23

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

Question 24

What is meant by biological determinism?

Answer 24

• Research into the human genome is producing increasing evidence of genetic influences on behaviour
  ^— more likely our behaviours are determined by our genes
  e.g. particular genes discovered in people with high intelligence - IGF2R gene (Hill et al., 1999)
• Genes influence brain structure and neurotransmitters such as serotonin + dopamine that are often implicated in hehaviour

Question 25

What is meant by environmental determinism?

Answer 25

• Behaviourists believe all behaviour is caused by previous experience (classical + operant conditioning)
  e.g. phobias

Question 26

What is meant by psychic determinism?

Answer 26

• Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality suggests that adult behaviour is determined by innate drives and early experience (internal + external)
• Behaviour is driven by libido
• If any stage of development is frustrated or overindulged (external) then libido remains tied to the relevant erogenous zones

Question 27

What is the relationship between scientific research and determinism?

Answer 27

• Scientific research is based on the belief that all event have a cause
• An independent variable is manipulated to observe the causal effect on a dependent variable

Question 28

What approach believes in free will?

Answer 28

Humanistic approach

Question 29

How is the humanistic approach associated with free will?

Answer 29

• Maslow + Rogers argued that self-determination was a necessary part of human behaviour
  ^— without, healthy self-development and self-actualisation are not possible
• As long as an individual remains controlled by other people or other things, they cannot take responsibility for their behaviour and therefore cannot begin to change it (Rogers, 1959)

Question 30

Define nature

Answer 30

Behaviour is seen to be a product of innate (biological or genetic) factors

Question 31

Define nurture

Answer 31

Behaviour is a product of environmental influences