Issues and Debates

Question 1

Define androcentrism

Question 2

Define alpha bias and beta bias

Question 3

Outline what is meant by cultural bias, including ethnocentrism and cultural relativism.

Question 4

Evaluate cultural bias

Question 5

Outline determinism

Answer 5

-assumes free will is an illusion
-behaviour is governed by internal or external forces over which we have no control
-hence, our behaviour is viewed as predictable
-causal laws of determinism form the basis of science

Biological determinism:
- idea that all human behaviour is innate and determined by genes
- e.g. genetics research provides evidence to support biological determinism
- Chorley et al. (1998) reported a statistically significant association between 10 test scores and the IGF2r gene on chromosome six
- suggests that intelligence is to some extent biologically determined.
Environmental determinism:
- view that behaviour is determined or caused by forces outside the individual
- e.g. behaviourism or social learning
- Bandura (1961) found that children with violent parents are more likely to become violent parents themselves
- due to observational learning
Psychic determinism:
- view that human behaviour is the result of childhood experiences and innate drives (id, ego and superego)
- seen in Freud’s model of psychological development
- there are also varying degrees of determinism (hard and soft)
- hard determinism = view that forces outside of our control shape our behaviour
- e.g. biology or past experience
- soft determinism is an alternative position favoured by many psychologists
- soft determinism: behaviour is constrained by the environment or biological make-up but only to a certain extent
- determinism suggests that some behaviours are more constrained than others
- element of free will in all behaviour

-science is heavily deterministic in its search for causal relationships
-it seeks to discover whether the independent variable causes changes in the dependent variable
-e.g. Loftus and Palmer’s (1974)
-manipulated the verb used in the critical question, to measure the effect on the participant’s estimate of speed
-e.g. Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment
-manipulated the condition to which the children were exposed (aggressive role model, non-aggressive model and no role model)
-to examine the effect on the behaviour of the children

Question 6

Outline free will

Answer 6

-idea that we play an active role and have a choice in how we behave
-assumption is that individuals are free to choose their behaviour and are self-determined
-our behaviour is not predictable

Humanistic Approach:
-understanding human behaviour and development promotes idea of free will
-assumes that we are in control over our development, rather than determined by forces such as biology

Question 7

Evaluate determinism / free-will debate

Answer 7

Limitation - contradictory research
-e.g. identical twin studies typically find an 80% similarity in intelligence scores
-40% similarity in the likelihood of depression
-however, as identical twins share 100% of their genes, these results suggest that 20% is caused by other (environmental) factors
-demonstrates that biological determinism is unable to explain any behaviour
-also indicates that no behaviour is completely environmentally determined
-if identical twins only show an 80% likeness in terms of intelligence, it can be assumed that only 20% is caused by the environment

Limitation - not compatible with the legal system
-if behaviour is determined by outside forces, it provides a potential excuse for criminal acts
-e.g. in 1981 Stephen Mobley argued that he was ‘born to kill’ after killing a pizza shop manager
-his family had a disposition towards violence and aggressive behaviour
-an American court rejected this argument
-hence a truly determinist position may be undesirable as it allows people to mitigate their liability

Strength - research support
-Libet et al. (1983) found that the motor regions of the brain become active before a person registers conscious awareness of a decision
-i.e. the decision to move their finger when asked to press a button was actually a pre-determined action of the brain
-strongly suggests that many responses are biologically determined
-although we may believe that we have free will, claims that free will is an illusion may be correct

Limitation - not compatible with the aims of science
-nomothetic approaches help to establish general laws of behaviours
-hence research helps make predictions about development and behaviour
-however, if behaviour is the result of free will rather than determinism, then such predictions would not be possible
-hence free will ideology is not regarded as scientific
-however, it is now accepted that there is no such thing as hard determinism in science
-it seemed more appropriate in the 18th and 19th centuries when most physicists believed they would eventually be able to make very precise and accurate predictions about everything relevant to physics