ISSUES AND DEBATES Flashcards
define cultural bias
a tendency to ignore cultural differences
define universality
the conclusion drawn, applies to all
*research may be bias despite claims, this undermines psychologies wants to universality needs
define ethnocentrisism
judging cultures by own values, see themselves as ‘superior’
define cultural relativism
behaviour should be judged by the culture in context
whats the difference between emic and etic
emic applies to all, however etic applies to one and therefore increases its ecological validity
first example of cultural bias
ainsworths strange situation
100 white female mothers and infants
based on western cultures
meta analysis disproved etic eg germany higher insecure avoidant
example 2 of cultural bias
psychopathology
deviation from ideal mental health based on individualistic cultures
how does measuring intelligence lead to dicrimination
intelligence tests often show ethnocentric concepts and imposed etic which may lead to ethic stereotyping and discrimination
whats the chilting test
a mental test suited for african americans
other cultures usually perform poorly
define gender bias
a distorted view of behaviour based on gender, this may lead to misunderstanding of gender etc
define andocentrisism
male centred view where ‘normal’ behaviour is judged by male standard
alpha bias
exaggerates differences between male and female
research focusses on differences
3 ways gender bias can occur
- male/female only
- emphasising biological differences
- assuming m/f behaviour as standard ( beta bias )
issues with gender bias research
- misunderstanding gender
- discrimination due to negative stereotypes
- minimisation of differences that may need to be acknowledged eg: mental illness
first real life example of gender bias and why?
APPROACHES: FREUDS STAGES
- ideas are based off males POV
eg: penis envy, idea that women are upset with their gender
- negative stereotypes: employment
second real life example with gender bias
asch, milgram zimbardo SOCIAL INF
- all male used, yet results applied universally
- ignores m/f differences, results not applicable
4 ways to reduce gender bias
- re examine facts
- ensure differences researched
- more female researchers
- less biological determinism
define free will
free will doesn’t deny biological and environmental forces, it suggests that you can reject these forces and make your own decision
define determinism
behaviour always has a cause, whether thats by hard or soft determinism
difference between hard and soft determinism
hard suggests all behaviours are caused and can all be identified.
focusses on fatalism
soft agrees behaviour can be predicted, but there is room for free will
types of determinism
biological
environmental
psychic
whats the scientific emphasis on causal explanations
every event has a cause that can be explained using general laws
lab experiment enables researchers to remove confounding variables
environment
any influence on behaviour that isnt affected by genetics
heredity
genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics, from 1 generation to next
interactionist approach
interaction of biological and psychological factors and how they influence behaviour
nature
behaviour is genetical and we are born with innate qualities
nurture
environmental influences, personal experiences affect behaviour
epigenetics
change in genetic activity without change of genetic codes
lifestyle eg: smoking leave marks on DNA - witching genes on and off
lifelong and passed onto future gens
whats the difficulty with twin studies
they share 100% of genes ( nature ), however most are brought up the same therefore hard to distinguish difference
3 examples of nature vs nurture
- forensic - offenders born or upbringing criminals?
- schizophrenia- genes or stress in family
- innate drive SOMAGIC
learning theory nurture
define hollism
a theory that proposes we study whole system, rather than its constituent parts
GESTAIT PSYCHOLOGY
example of hollism
humanistic approach
- unique people, individuals
define reductionism
belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller parts
whats the 3 layers we focus on in hollism and reductionism
sociological- cultures
psychological- cognitions
biological- genes
define idiographic
argues we should study 1 person, in detail, to give us a better understanding
pps in idiographic
small sample- sometimes case studies
non generalised
research method within idiographic
qualitative data so psychologists can determine best practise
is idiographic objective or subjective and why
subjective because it focuses on understanding the unique aspects of individuals
define nomothetic
studies larger groups to identify norms, which can then be applied to all
pps in nomathetic
large groups, applicable
research methods in nomathetic
quantative
is nomothetic objective or subjective and why?
objective, this is because it focuses on identifying general laws or principles that apply to large groups of people
name examples of idiographic and nomathetic
i- humanistic and psychodynamic
n- biological and behavioural
define content analysis
a type of observational research that allows indirect study of behaviour by examining communications eg: texts
whats the aim of content analysis
aims to describe communications through a systematic way so overall conclusion can be drawn
whats coding?
coding is the initial stage of content analysis, converting large sample into meaningful codes
5 steps of coding within content analysis
- gather sample
- familiarise
- code categories
- tally
- compare and draw conc
3 steps of thematic
- identify key ideas
- group into themes
- compare results
