Issues and Debates

Question 1

Define universality

Answer 1

An underlying characteristic that can be applied to all regardless of experience

Question 2

Define gender bias

Answer 2

When a theory offers a view that doesn’t represent one gender

Question 3

Define alpha bias

Answer 3

Differences between men and women are exaggerated
Differences seen as fixed/inevitable and undervalue either gender

Question 4

Define beta bias

Answer 4

Differences between men and women are ignored

Question 5

Define androcentrism

Answer 5

Behaviour that is drawn from one gender causes any behaviour that deviates from this to be seen as abnormal by comparison

Question 6

Example of androcentrism

Answer 6

Freud - as girls do not experience castration anxiety, they do not identify with the same set parent and therefore develop a weaker superego and have an inferior sense of morality

Question 7

Strengths of being aware of gender bias

Answer 7

Reflexivity
○ Recognise the effect of their values
○ Dambrin and Lambert (2008) - research into lack of female accountancy positions, included reflection on gender related experiences influencing understanding of events
○ May lead to greater awareness of the role of personal bias

Gender bias can be avoided
○ Worrell (1992) - women should be studied within meaningful real life contexts
○ Diversity in women should be studied
○ Collaborative research methods that collect qualitative data

Question 8

Weakness of gender bias

Answer 8

Misleading assumptions about female behaviour
○ validates discriminatory practices
○ Justifies denial of opportunities in workplaces (e.g PMS)
○ May have damaging real life consequences

Sexism in research process
○ Lack of women in researchers - female issues not looked into
○ Male researchers have the power to label female ppts as irrational

Question 9

Define culture bias

Answer 9

If normal behaviour is judged by one culture, then cultural differences in behaviour is seen as abnormal

Question 10

Define culture bias

Answer 10

If normal behaviour is judged by one culture, then cultural differences in behaviour is seen as abnormal

Question 11

Define ethnocentrism

Answer 11

Judging other cultures by experiences and standards of one’s own culture
Leads to prejudice and discrimination
Non-Western cultures are seen as underdeveloped and unsophisticated

Question 12

Define cultural relativism

Answer 12

Norms, values, ethics and standards can only be meaningful and understood within specific cultural and social contexts

Question 13

Define cultural relativism

Answer 13

Norms, values, ethics and standards can only be meaningful and understood within specific cultural and social contexts

Question 14

Etic vs Emic

Answer 14

Etic - looks at behaviour from outside a culture and describes it as universal
Emic - looks at specific behaviour within a culture

Question 15

What is free will?

Answer 15

Self determining and free to choose our thoughts and actions

Question 16

Define hard determinism

Answer 16

All behaviour has a cause that is dictated by internal or external forces

Question 17

Define soft determinism

Answer 17

Human action has a cause, but there is room for people to have conscious mental control over behaviour

Question 18

Define biological determinism

Answer 18

○ Biological approach
○ Physiological and neurological processes

Question 19

Define environmental determinism

Answer 19

○ Behaviourist approach
○ Experiences in our lives
Skinner described free will as an illusion, ‘choice’ is merely a sum total of reinforcement ideas

Question 20

Define psychic determinism

Answer 20

○ Psychodynamic approach
○ The unconscious

Question 21

Strength of determinism

Answer 21

○ Predict human behaviour -
Treatment to disorders can be developed
Classical conditioning can be used to treat phobias
Real-world applications

Question 22

Weakness of determinism

Answer 22

○ Not consistent with legal system
Offenders should be held morally accountable
Determinism suggests past experiences play a role in actions so they may not be held morally accountable

Question 23

Define heredity

Answer 23

Passing of genes from parents to their children

Question 24

How can people who have been adopted be used to investigate nature vs. nurture?

Answer 24

Compare an adopted child with their biological and adopted parents
Anything in common with biological parents = nature
Anything in common with adopted parents = nurture

Question 25

How can twins be used to investigate nature vs. nurture?

Answer 25

If MZ twins are more likely to share a characteristic than DZ twins = nature
If there is no difference or they are equally likely to share the chatacteristic = nurture

Question 26

Interactionist approach

Answer 26

Nature and nurture work together to form a person’s character
E.g diathesis stress model

Question 27

Epigentics

Answer 27

○ Dias and Ressler (2014)
○ male lab mice given electric shocks whenever exposed to acetophenone
○ Mice’s children also feared the smell
○ refers to our change in activity without changing genetic code
○ life events leave marks on our DNA
○ thse marks tell our body which genes tonignore and which genes to use

Question 28

Strengths of nature vs. nurture

Answer 28

Gene-environment interactions explained by constructivism
○ constructivism - people choose environments suitable for them
○ shy child chooses friends similar
○ impossible to separate nature and nurture

Real worl implications
○ extreme beliefs in the influence of nature and nurture can be negative
○ nativists suggest genes determine behaviour and characteristics
○ nature and nurture together is a more ethical way to study behaviour

Question 29

Weakness of nature vs. nurture

Answer 29

Separating nature and nurture can be impossible
○ DZ only share 50% genes so any environmental change can lead to different treatment by parents
○ can’t distinguish nature and nurture
○ using twins may not be valid

Confounding factor - unshared environments
○ research is not completely accurate as twins have individuality
○ Dunn and Plomin (1990) - twins experience life differently
through different effects of life events
○ MZ twins do not show perfect concordance results

Question 30

Define holism

Answer 30

Study the behaviour as a whole

Question 31

Define reductionism

Answer 31

Human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into its constituent parts