Issues and debates Flashcards
What are 5 types of determinism?
Biological, environmental and psychic, soft and hard
What are the 3 gender issues?
Alpha bias
Beta bias
Androcentrism
2 cultural bias types?
Ethnocentrism
Cultural relativism
What does Ethnocentrism mean?
Judging other culture by the standards and values of ones own culture
(superiority of ones own culture)
Define culture bias
A tendency to interpret all phenomena through the ‘lens’ of ones own culture
(Ignoring cultural differences)
Define gender bias
A tendency to treat an individual or group in a different way to others
What is a bias?
A tendency
Define androcentrism
Male centred, when ‘normal’ behaviour is judged according to a male standard
(Their female behaviour is viewed as odd)
Difference between Beta and Alpha biases in gender
Similarities and differences
What is alpha bias in gender?
When research is conduced on gender differences, the gap is often exaggerated
What is the difference between cultural bias and ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism is based on viewing ones own culture as superior whilst cultural bias is assuming all cultures are the same
What is an example of ethnocentrism
Jahodas criteria for an ideal mental health
Name 3 ways to reduce culture bias
- Use a reflexive approach
- Diversity in sampling
- Use native researchers with the culture being investigated
What does WEIRD stand for?
Western Educated Industrialised Rich Democrats
Who created the term WEIRD
Henrich et al
Define cultural relativism
Behaviours can only be properly understood in the context of the norms and values the society in which it occurs.
Define imposed etic
Applying a theory designed for one culture onto another
What are the 3 evaluations in culture bias
- Too simplistic
- Led to discriminations against racially minoritised groups
- The idea of a ‘science’ = objectivity and replicability is problematic (not so scientific methods)
How does alpha bias present gender differences?
Presents them as fixed and inevitable
Example of alpha bias?
Freuds psychosexual phallic stage
Boys=castration fear leads to stonger B&D identification so stronger superego compared to girls
Example of beta bias?
Fight or flight research done on male animals rather than females due to impact of hormones during ovulation.
The research suggests both M&F have F or F
HOWEVER, later research found oxytocin releases stress in women though ‘tend and befriend’
3 types of determinism?
Biological, environmental (Skinner) and Psychic (Freud)
Another word for hard determinsism
Fatalism
What does hard determinism suggest?
All behaviour is caused by something and we should be able to identify this cause.
Everything we do is dictated by internal/external forces out of out control
What does soft determinism suggest?
We still have the ability to make personal choices in everyday situations
(restricted free will)
Define free-will
Humans are essentially self-determining and are free to choose their own thoughts and actions
We can reject environmental/biological forces
What is psychic determinism?
Suggests free will is an ‘illusion’
Behaviour is determined by UNCONSCIOUS conflicts repressed in childhood
accidents aren’t real, they’re caused by the influence of the unconscious
What is biological determinism?
behaviour caused by biological influence outside our control
Environment has a mediating influence on our biological structures
What is environmental determinism?
Skinner and free will is an ‘illusion’
Behaviour is the result of conditioning
Our ‘choices’ are the sum of reinforcement contingencies through out our life
How to start evaluations in Issues and debates
Arguments in favour of…
Arguments against…
Define epigenetics
The study of heritable changes in gene expression/activity that doesnt change our underlying genetic code
What was Dias and Resslers research study on epigenetics?
Male lab mice electric shocks when exposed to acetophenone
(a chemical in a perfume)
When mice had kids, they also feared the smell despite no previous exposure
Suggests that the og environmental response had been inherited by the next gen
Define nature
Inherited influence (hereditary)
Who and what advocated nature?
Descartes
All human characteristics and psychological (intelligence) ones are innate (due to biological factors)
Define nurture
The influence of experiences and the environment
Who and what argued for nurture?
John Locke
‘Tabula rasa’ (later became part of the behaviourist approach)
How to measure nature and nurture?
How similar 2 people are is represented by a correlation coefficient and is called concordance.
How does concordance measure nature v nurture>
Provides an extent to which a trait is inherited (heritiability)
Define heritability
The proportion of differences between individuals in a population with regards to a certain trait linked to genetic variation
What does the diathesis stress model suggests about the nature v nurture debate
Behaviour is caused by biological/environmental vulnerability and then is only expressed when with a biological/environmental trigger
Explain the interactionist approach in the NvN debate
Whether our behaviour is more influenced by nature or nurture
The debate focuses on how nature and nurture interact (an interactionist approach)
5 types of determinisms
Hard
Soft
Environmental
Biological
Psychic
2 types of reductionism
Biological and environmental
What are the 6 levels of explanations in psychology
Socio-cultural
Psychological
Physical
Environmental
Physiological
Neurochemical
What is socio-cultural in the levels of explanation
How behaviour interrupts social and personal relationships
Define reductionism
The principle of analysing complex things by exploring smaller constituent elements (Parsimony)
Define parsimony in reductionism definition
That all phenomena should be explained using the simplest principles
Define holism
Places a focus on the whole system/person
Any attempt to break up behaviour/experiences is wrong as it can only be understood by analysing a person/behaviour as a whole
Who put forward the idea of holism?
Humanistic psychologists
What is the highest reductionist level for explanations in psychology
Neurochemical (purely biological/environmental causes)
What is the least reductionist level for explanations in psychology
Socio-cultural (interrupts personal and social relationships)
What do psychologists now ask on the nature v nurture debate?
What the ‘relative contribution’ of each influence is
3 factors in the nature v nurture debate
The interactionist approach
Diathesis-stress model
Epigenetics
What is the diathesis stress model in the nature v nurture debate
B/E vulnerability (diathesis) can be expressed when coupled with a B/E trigger (stressor)
What are epigenetics?
Changes to our genetic activity without changes the genes themselves
How do epigenetics work?
Happens throughout life caused by interactions with the environment from our lifestyle. It leaves ‘marks’ on our DNA, which switch genes on and off
Can later influence the genetic code of our children, and then their children
How can the degree of two people having similar traits be measured
By a correlation coefficient
aka concordance
what is concordance?
The extent to which a trait is inherited (heritability)
Define nomothetics
Studying a large sample of participants and using the findings to make wider generalisations
Define Idiographics
Studying individuals without intending to establish general laws on behaviour
What are 2 limitations of the idiographic approach?
Lack of Generalisability - limiting the development of universal psychological laws.
Time-Consuming - require extensive data collection and analysis therefore less efficient than broader, quantitative research methods.
What are 2 strengths of the belief in free will?
- Works with the law
Determinism is not always consistent with real-world applications such as legal proceedings. - Practical value
( Roberts (2000) found that adolescents who believed in fatalism were at a greater risk of developing depression)
Who gave the definition of social sensitivity?
Sieber and Stanley
Define social sensitivity
Studies in which there are potential consequences or implicationd, either directly for the participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research
What are the 2 concerns of socially sensitive research found by sieber and stanley?
Implications - Wider effects that could lead to prejudice and discrimination
Use/public policy - What research is to be used for and what could happen if it was used for the wrong purposes
Example of research which had ethical implications and have affected public policy
John Bowlby research into maternal deprivation led him to be an advisor for WHO
influenced govt decision to not offer free childcare place to children under 5, due to the effects of maternal deprivation.
What is one benefit of socially sensitive research?
Cost benefit analysis
What did Scarr argue about socially sensitive research?
It is harder to predict the indirect effects on the groups to which they belong.
Research involving vulnerable groups and the true impact of research will only really be known once it’s been made public.
An example of alpha bias
Freud’s theory of psychosexual development where during the phallic stage a girl’s identification with her same sex parent is portrayed as weaker, suggesting that her superego is weaker than a males.
Main difference in the nomothetic and idiographic debate
Subjective v Objective data
One strength of research into culture bias?
Emergence of cultural psychology
(reflexive approach)
What are 2 concerns with gender bias in psychology?
Promotes sexism in the research process
Research challenging gender bias may not be published
(Formanowicz - GBR less likely to be funded)
two limitations of research into culture bias
Prejudice against groups of people
(Ethnocentric early IQ tests in the US)
Many of the most influencial studies are culturally bias
(Asch & Milgram had US participants and their findings were generalised)
