Issues And Debates

Question 1

Bias

Answer 1

distorted view of the world

Question 2

1.Gender bias:

Answer 2

research offering a view that isnt representative of usual behaviour between a gender.

Question 3

Universality:

Answer 3

argument in psychology that all behaviours apply to al humans regardless of any characteristics.

Question 4

Alpha bias -
Beta bias

Answer 4

Alpha bias - differences are being exaggerated/overestimated between the sexes. Usually devalues females.

Beta bias - differences are ignored/underestimated.

Question 5

Androcentrism

Answer 5

Androcentrism, is a consequence of beta bias
= being dominated/centred by men

patriarchy is quite dominant etc. Results in a male view of the world, because what is found from the male participants is the ‘norm’. Female behaviour is therefore misunderstood, seen as a condition.

This can result in pathologizing women, meaning their behaviour, although the same one as a males, might be treated as psychologically abnormal one if all studies are male centered.

Question 6

WEIRD characteristics

Answer 6

western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic man which isn’t a a majority of the global population.
Also most samples are opportunity samples, which are psychology students, narrowing down the sample even further.

Question 7

Sociobiological theory of sexual behaviour
What does this show

Answer 7

• male sexual promiscuity is a product of evolution. Men can I’m pregnant as many females as they want with no restriction.
  What does this show?
  That gender bias has a real life social implication and promotes male promiscuity as a different value to female promiscuity. This is an example of pathologising female behaviour.( regard them as psychologically abnormal, even though they show the same behaviour as men, just because they are women)

Question 8

Social influence EG of gender difference

Answer 8

Sheridan and King: 100% of women killed puppies but 54% of men did. Sufficiently higher rate of obedience
Jenness: jelly bean study:

Question 9

Culture bias

Answer 9

tendency to ignore those differences and interpret behaviours thorugh the lens of your own bias.

Question 10

Ethnocentrism

Answer 10

Belief that ones own culture is superior

Question 11

Cultural relativism

Answer 11

= idea that behaviours in a culture only make sense RELATIVE TO/ WITHIN that culture.
Cultural relativism and ethnocentrism are polar opposites.

Question 12

Henrich et al

Answer 12

Henrich et al (2010): hundreds of psychological studies (meta analysis):
Found - 68% are US participants.
96% from Western industrialised nations.
67/68% of american participants where under grad psych students.

This means that the nomothetic application of research is in accurate and wrong.

Question 13

Cultural differences

Answer 13

Cultural differences, are differing behaviours from culture to culture, which results in cultural bias.

Question 14

Ekman 1989

Answer 14

Ekman (1989) basic facial expressions such as happiness are relative to all humans and animals, can be seen in blind humans and animals that are expressed.

Shows that there may be some universal things beyond cultural relativity

Question 15

Van ijzeendoorn and kroonenberg

Answer 15

Van ijzendoorn and kroonenberg:
There was 150% more variation WITHIN culture than between them 46-90%

Question 16

What is etic and emic
In food for eg

Answer 16

Etic food: doesn’t change according to other countries (starbucks) ‘ick’
Emic food: menu changes in each country, considering native tastes. (McDonald’s)

Ainsworth attachment study style reflects western views of healthy attachment as being ‘secure’. The measure used in that study is only appropriate to individualistic cultures.

Question 17

Brislin (76

Answer 17

Brislin (76) - does mental quickness = intelligence?
Baganda people in Uganda characterise intelligence as slow and deliberate thoughts

This shows that using individualistic cultures as the ‘normal’ is weak

Question 18

Lesley and peterson

Answer 18

Lesley and Peterson (86) -
European/american ideas of mental health arent universal: self sufficiency, independence, internal locus of control.

Question 19

Smith and bond

Answer 19

Smith and Bond - replicated Aschs study and found conformity was higher in collectivist cultures.

Question 20

Takano and Osaka

Answer 20

Takano and Osaka - found 14/15 studies that compared the USA and Japan found no evidence of traditional distinction between the differing cultures.

This might mean that that be cause of media globalisation the individualistic - collectivist distinction no longer might apply?

Question 21

Obédience differences

Answer 21

Miranda - 81% to 450 volts (all female students) SPAIN
Kilman - 16% to 450 volts australia
Mann - 85% to 450 volts germany

Question 22

Jahoda:

Answer 22

Jahoda: the ‘ideal mental health’ definition of abnormal
Gave the criteria of ideal mental health: independence, self actualisation, manage stress, environmental mastery.
Is independence a universal value? Its a very western value.

Question 23

Ethical implications

Answer 23

Ethical implication: The impact that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of other people, especially in terms of social sensitivity

Question 24

Sieber and Stanley:

Answer 24

identified concerns that researchers should be mindful when conducting socially sensitive research.
For example
Implications
Public policies
Validity of research

Examples
attachment: expectation, pressure on caregivers for example maternal deprivation, same sex parents

Question 25

Examples of ethical implications in eugenics

Answer 25

eugenic implications: which means that certain races/people are better/worse. Whaley: found that African Americans are more likely to have schizophrenia. Is because we overdiagnose African Americans? Overtreat?

Question 26

Whaley

Answer 26

found that African Americans are more likely to have schizophrenia. Is because we overdiagnose African Americans? Overtreat? Cultural differences?

Question 27

4 Examples: of socially sensitive research

Answer 27

Sub groups becoming stigmatised Biased reporting or misrepresentation of finding To justify government decisions or social control Funding for psychological research

Question 28

Hamed (1993)

Answer 28

Hamer (1993) Genetic studies on gay men Correlated patterns in dna and suggested that male homosexuality is influenced by genetics Argues that gay men have no choice and environmental influences make little difference Homosexuality evolved Homosexuality isn’t classified anymore as a disorder until 1973 (sociopathic personality disorder)

Question 29

Gould

Answer 29

Gould to get army recruits a test was conducted after ww1 Test was ethnocentric for eg: us president knowledge South Eastern Europeans and African Americans scored lowest so the study was basically used to inform racist discourse about genetic inferiority

Question 30

Raine

Answer 30

Raine (96) Carried out brain scans of violent criminals Found that they rended to have some damage in OFC associated with impulse control. This could have a good impact because it might mean lots of money and violence could be saved if something is done when people are young.

Question 31

Mobley defence (1991)

Answer 31

“Mobley defence ”(91), Stephen mobleys defence team argued that his criminal acts were biologically determined as past four generations of his family had committed similar crimes 1 & 3

Question 32

Burt (55)

Answer 32

MISINTERPRETATION OF DATA/INACCURATE RM Burt (55) developed the 11+ exam which determines what school a kid goes to. Based on his twin studies, he found that IQ was highly heritable and could be detected by 11. This was inaccurate and later discovered that much of the study was fake

Question 33

Free will

Answer 33

Ability to be autonomous

Question 34

Determinism

Answer 34

DETERMINISM - studies claiming that behaviour is out of control of free will

Question 35

hard determinism Soft determinism

Answer 35

Hard determinism: also known as fatalism (an extreme point of view) Everything we think/do is due only to external/internal forces that we cannot control Soft determinism: behaviour is due to these internal/external forces, but we also excercise some free will to control these forces = limited personal choice like the cognitive approach

Question 36

what are the three branches of hard determinism

Answer 36

Biological determinism : all human behaviour is controlled by innate and determined by genes (Nestadt (2000) found that people with first degree relatives who have OCD are 5x more likely to have it) Environmental determinism : behaviour is caused (learnt) by outside forces. Therefore behaviour is caused by experience eg classical/operant behaviour (Phobias can be learnt: Mowrers two process model: acquisition through classical and maintenance by operant) (BOBO DOLL: aggression is taught through vicarious reinforcement) Psychic determinism: human behaviour is result of unconscious conflict, innate drives and childhood experiences (ID, Ego and Superego) (Freuds five stages of development says that unconscious conflict in childhood are responsible for later fixations in adulthood)

Question 37

Biological determinism Four studies

Answer 37

all human behaviour is controlled by innate and determined by genes (Nestadt (2000) found that people with first degree relatives who have OCD are 5x more likely to have it) (Nestadt (2000) found that people with first degree relatives who have OCD are 5x more likely to have it) Bounton : biological preparedness. Phobias are evolutionary in order to help us survive Dias and Ressler: Rat epigenetics test - shows that phobias are innate Taylor - 230 genes are polygenic for OCD.

Question 38

Environmental determinism 2 studies eg

Answer 38

Environmental determinism : behaviour is caused (learnt) by outside forces. Therefore behaviour is caused by experience eg classical/operant behaviour Mowrers two process model: acquisition through classical and maintenance by operant) (BOBO DOLL: aggression is taught through vicarious reinforcement)

Question 39

Psychic determinism

Answer 39

Psychic determinism: human behaviour is result of unconscious conflict, innate drives and childhood experiences (ID, Ego and Superego)

Question 40

Benefits 3 Disadvantages 4 Of a deterministic perspective

Answer 40

Benefits/ disadvantages of a deterministic perspective Benefits the scientific emphasis on causal explanations depending on determinism. Assuming that human behaviour is orderly and predictable increases psychology’s credibility as a social science. Without causes we can provide treatment or provide supportive intervention Implications in bringing up children, education, crime, addiction… Disadvantages Determinism provides alibi or justification - leads to eugenic thinking Identical people in same circumstances can still have different outcomes Not aligning with the legal system which does allow accountability for perpetrators. Not consistent: Twin studies. MZ Studies find an 80% similarity in intelligence scores and 40% in likelihood of depression. Hard determinism is weak and unlikely

Question 41

Robert’s et al

Answer 41

Robert’s et al (2000): adults who were believing in fatalism were at greater risk of depression. Therefore having a deterministic perspective isn’t actually good for the thinker aswell as being bad for others. Having alibi/pre empted belief isnt good/fair.

Question 42

nature v nurture debate : what is the nurture part

Answer 42

behaviour is governed by external factors such as environment/stimuli

Question 43

Nature vs nurture debate ; what is the nature

Answer 43

Nature: behaviour is governed by innate inherited characteristics

Question 44

Theory that is an example of an interactionist approach to the nature/nurture debate. Give one study

Answer 44

Eg: diathesis stress model : it assumes that people can have a genetic vulnerability to a condition (diathesis) but this only develops when it is paired with an environmental trigger (stress) OCD - A person who inherits genetic vulnerability for OCD but relies on environmental trigger. Nestadt et al (2010) : heritability of OCD = 0.76

Question 45

Pros of nature (5) Con of nature

Answer 45

has more highly targeted intervention: medicines, training, therapy, operations. Means there is a direct cure, and improves quality of life. Con Biological determinism

Question 46

Pros of nurture (3) Cons of nurture (1)

Answer 46

same thing: targeted intervention towards behaviour : improves social sensitivity towards children, higher awareness in parenting behaviour. Con Environmental determinism

Question 47

Holism definition and example

Answer 47

Holism: studying behaviour as a whole. It doesnt make sense to study and indivisible system by its constituent parts, emphasising the importance of entire patterns rather than individual components. EG Humanistic approach (Maslow)

Question 48

Reductionism explanation and example

Answer 48

Reductionism: Thinks behaviour is best explained by taking a complex behaviour and try to explain it through a single, simple basic unit. (Smaller components) Like in attachment ( Ainsworth: when she reduced types of attachment down to the observation of one behacviour (reunion behaviour) ) Parsimony: the simplest explanation is the best.

Question 49

Parsimony

Answer 49

Parsimony: the simplest explanation is the best.

Question 50

What are levels of explanation in reductionism

Answer 50

Levels of explanation: The most reductionist approaches believe in the smallest units being the influence for behavioural eg: serotonin as a cause for aggression is more reductionist than the limbic system being the influence of aggression because it is a smaller unit.

Question 51

4 types of hard reductionism

Answer 51

Biological Experiemental Machine Environmental

Question 52

Biological reductionism

Answer 52

reducing complex behaviour down to a biological mechanism/ component such as genes/neurochemicals

Question 53

Experimental reductionism

Answer 53

Experimental reductionism: reducing behaviours down to an operationalised IV. Asch: reduced complex behaviour of conformity down to the line that the participants picked. Lose sight of the big picture. (In memory this is seen - Jacob’s 7+-2)

Question 54

Machine reductionism

Answer 54

reducing something down to smaller parts of : input output like a machine. We are more complex than machines but we also have emotions and errors. Not realistic Seen in the cognitive approach or memory topic studies

Question 55

Environmental reductionism.

Answer 55

Reducing a complex behaviour down to a simple stimulus-response association

Question 56

Pros (2) Cons (5) Of holism

Answer 56

Pro Some social behaviours only occur within a group context and cannot occur without a group context eg; conformity obedience. SOCIO-CULTURAL perspective, Sees the interaction between different forces Con Holistic approach is more speculative. Is more vague and unknown rather than from a scientific basis. The humanistic approach for example is holistic but it lacks empirical evidence and cannot therefore intervention is less likely Assuming lots of factors are contributing to a behaviour makes it difficult to establish the most influential factor Therefore treatement becomes difficult because of a sole factor. Cause and effect is unknown Lacks predictive value.

Question 57

Pros (5) Cons (3) Of reductionism

Answer 57

Pro biological recognises the 1. Studying baisc units of behaviour underpins the scientific approach, 2. meaning studying behaviours is more objective. 3. Test ability allows treatment and successful intervention 4. Appeals to parsimony - that the simplest explanation is the best 5. Lead to drug therapy (biological - less institutionalisation since 19502) or counter conditioning Con EG: why does someone point their finger: the psychological processes for pointing a finger will always be the same but the reason WHY changes depending on social context: eg: anger, direction, questions etc. Limited explanation of a behaviour Too simplistic, ignoring complex interaction of many factors. For example, some aspects of social behaviour only emerge within a group context (conformity) therefore it cannot be understood at a basic individual level.

Question 58

What is the idiographic approach

Answer 58

The idiographic approach: focuses on studying individual experience and emphasises the importance of unique personal experience. - these provide an in depth insight into individual experience ‘Idios’ = own or private. Favour these RM: qualitative data, such as case studies, unstructured interviews and self report methods Open questionnaires

Question 59

What type of RM is favoured by the idiographic approach

Answer 59

Favour these RM: qualitative data, such as case studies, unstructured interviews and self report methods Open questionnaires

Question 60

Example studies that take an idiographic approach (9)

Answer 60

Eg: Phineas Gage, siffre, little Albert, little Hans, miles (blind man in sleep cycles), koluchova: These would lead to HM, KF, Clive Wearing: used to disprove nomothetic models in memory

Question 61

4 PROS OF idiographic approach

Answer 61

1. rich detail is provided that we wouldnt be able to get otherwise. This is because the RM in idiographic approach focuses on qualitative data which doesnt lose sight of the whole person 2. Unique case studies generate new ideas in psychological research : also we can study cases that we cannot ethically experimentally study. ( phineas gage ) 3. Helps us unpick nomothetic models (KF: introduced the difference in auditory and visual STM) which leads to WMM from MSM. Koluchova: is an idiographic Case study which SUPPORTS nomothetic explanations. This is a strength because Idiographic studies can be used to compliment nomothetic approaches.

Question 62

2 CONS OF idiographic approach

Answer 62

case studies are more subjective, more susceptible to bias They lack scientific rigour: lack of controlled RM conditions. It’s hard to find the cause/main cause.

Question 63

The nomothetic approach definition

Answer 63

: attempts to produce general laws about human behaviour, assuming they apply across to all humans - ‘nomos’ = law

Question 64

What RM is favoured by the nomothetic approach

Answer 64

To reach this aim they have to emphasise these RM: - They strive to use larger more representative samples that create quantitative data They use scientific methods such as lab experiments Controlled

Question 65

Example studies of the= nomothetic approach (2)

Answer 65

kroonenberg and Van Ijzeendorn: cultural differences in attachment Twenge et al (longitudinal meta analysis) : more external locus of control over time, but more resistant to obedience and conformity. ^ these have the biggest samples aka the most nomothetic as they have high population validity. These approaches tend to be reductionist and deterministic Hypotheses are formulated operationalised and tested under controlled conditions ( like Pavlov/ Asch) behaviourist biological and cognitive are nomothetic

Question 66

Two pros of the nomothetic approach

Answer 66

tends to be more scientific: because of the RM methodology being controlled, then we can be more certain that the IV caused the DV: meaning it has a clearer cause and effect Unlike case studies these can be replicated and tested for reliability: in different sample: cultural differences, temporal differences.

Question 67

Three cons of the nomothetic approach

Answer 67

nomothetic approach loses the ‘whole person’. Eg: there is a 1% chance to get schizophrenia, thats a tiny sample, it wont benefit the majority population Finger analogy - might miss some things: do we then lose sight of most effective treatement or reasons? More superficial level of detail (quantitative data): ignores individual differences which is weak because there is never a single 100% cause of something.

Question 68

What is nomothetic better at than idiographic

Answer 68

A nomothetic approach to conducting research is more fruitful than idiographic research as it applies to a wider audience, but idiographic is better in giving treatment.