Issues and Debates Flashcards
What did Henrich’s findings show (culture bias)
reviewed hundreds leading studies in psychology journals
68% from US, 96% industrialised nations
culture bias
What were the two approaches Berry took to investigating behaviour
Emic - beh specific to within that culture
Etic - Look at beh outside given culture, attempt describe as universal
Imposed etic - Ainsworth and Bell’s research
assumed ideal attach type studied inside American culture was universal
Gender bias SSR
Tavris
- Wider implications (SSR) - misleading assumptions + validate discrimination - women lack opportunities
- Tavris : ‘It becomes normal for women to feel abnormal’
What is ethnocentric bias
Lacks validity/reliability because researcher focus on their own cultural perspective
Maccoby and Jacklin
H - Joel
(Gender bias) - biological or social explanation
Counterpoint
- girls superior verbal boys superior spatial ability - before birth - gender bias legitimate
- Joel- brain scan no diffs between boys and girls - data above fit stereotypes so became popularised - bio fact?
COUNTER - Don’t ignore studying brain diffs e.g. women better multitask better connections in corpus callosum
Cultural bias limitations
Ekman culture not always relative
Present in classic studies - Smith + bond replicated Asch study in collectivist culture - higher rates of conformity
Not all beh culturally relative - ekman: basic facial expressions same
Ethnic stereotyping - Gould IQ tests ethnocentric WWI
Diagnosing SZ afrocaribbean 10x more likely
Takano and Osaka - culture
Individualistic and collectivist no longer exist - 14/15 studies compare US and Japan no evidence of Indiv or collect
Practical value of free will and Roberts
Improve mental health by believing in free will
Roberts: adolescents believing in fatalism greater risk of depression - external locus of control less optimistic
Libet - support determinism
Brain scan evidence - flick wrist -> 1/2 sec before consciously aware
COUNTER - decision making takes time to reach consciousness - decision made unconsciously
Legal system limitation of determinism
Legal system: offender responsible their choice via free will - determinism little RWA
Rhee and Waldman usefulness of what type of study to separate nature and nurture
Adoption studies - if child more similar to adoptive or bio parents
Found genetics contribute 41% variance in aggression
Plomin : nature nurture cant be separated, why?
People create nurture seeking env suitable to nature = niche-picking
Support for epigenetics
Nazi blocked food to dutch, baby of pregnant women 2x more likely to develop SZ. - experiences of previous generation leave epigenetic markers
RWA of nature nurture debate
OCD high heritability rate - genetic counselling advice of likelihood of developing and prevent
Nativist stance can be extreme determinist - research implications assuming nature
Gould - people not from US lower IQ
Different types of gender bias and AO1
Universality
alpha bias - exaggerate e.g Freud, girls weaker superego (morality principle) no castration anxiety, morally inferior
beta bias - minimise/ignore e.g fight or flight, Taylor : women tend and befriend
Androcentrism - male dominated view
Types of cultural bias
Cultural relativism - norms and values can only be understood within specific cultural contexts - berry and ainsworth imposed etic
Ethnocentrism - judging other cultures by standards and values of one’s own culture
Free will and determinism AO1
Free will - humans can make choices, thoughts not determined by other forces
Determinism - external/ internal forces control decisions
Hard dterminism - no control over decisions, all choices have a cause
Soft determinsim - beh caused by internal/external forces we have some control over
Biological determinism - Choices result of heredity/genes
Psychic determinism - unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood
Environmental determinism - Beh result of conditioning, sum of total reinforcement
Nature nurture AO1
DISCUSSION Extent which beh inherited or acquired characteristics
Interactionist approach - env and heredity interact
Diathesis stress model - genetic vulnerability and psychological trigger (trauma)
Epigenetics - environmental interaction causing change in the way genes are expressed
Nature - nativists, dtermined by bio factors, result of heritability
Nurture - empiricists, blank slate at birth, shaped by env
Concordance to measure heritability of characteristics
Reductionism and Holism AO1
Types of reductionism
Holism - study indivisible system as a whole, experience
Reductionism - constituent parts - based on principle of parsimony (explained using lowest level), Levels of explanation :
> highest = socio-cultural
> lowest = neurochemical
Bio reductionism - all beh at some
Env reductionism - (stimulus-repsonse) behaviour is learned acquired through interactions w env
Idiographic and nomothetic AO1
Idio - study of individual person/group, understand indiv (subjective)
> qualitative - interviews, analysed themes
> e.g Carl Rogers unconditional positive regard and self development, Freud little hans phobia formation
Nomothetic - generalisation to create ‘laws’ general principles of beh (objective) - standardised
>quantitative data - quantify human beh e.g structured questionnaires
>e.g Skinner studied animals to make general laws of learning
Ethical implications AO1 and who
consequences of psychological research
Socially sensitive research - affect groups of people
Sieber and Stanley - the way research questions are phrased and investigated
Dealing with pps important PIC (ethics)
The way findings are used, could support prejudices e.g gould
