issues and debates

Question 1

Universality

Answer 1

An underlying characteristic that can be applied to all

Question 2

Gender bias

Answer 2

Different treatment of men and women based on stereotypes

Question 3

Alpha bias

Answer 3

Exaggerating differences between men and women

Question 4

Beta bias

Answer 4

Ignoring differences between men and women

Question 5

Androcentrism

Answer 5

Male centred view of behaviour, male behaviour as the norm

Question 6

Gender bias evaluation

Answer 6

• Promotes sexism in research process
  research conducted by men more disadvantage female participants
  e.g. Nicolson ‘male researcher expect women to be irrational and unable to perform complex tasks’
• Research into gender bias may not be published as there is a lack of funding toward it taken less seriously
  +

Question 7

Cultural relativism

Answer 7

norms and ethics only make sense in their cultural context

Question 8

Ethnocentrism

Answer 8

Viewing the world by ones own cultural perspective

Question 9

Imposed etic

Answer 9

Studying one behaviour in a country and applying it universally

Question 10

Cultural bias evaluation

Answer 10

• Ethnic stereotyping
  e.g. Gould intelligence tests
  + cultural psychology
  e.g. Cohen how cultural experience shapes people
• most influential studies cultural bias e.g. Milgram only white men

Question 11

Free Will

Answer 11

Humans make their own choices, behaviours not determined by biological or external factors

Question 12

Determinism

Answer 12

Behaviour is shaped by internal/ external factors

Question 13

Hard Determinism

Answer 13

All actions have a cause

Question 14

Soft Determinism

Answer 14

Restricted amount of freedom of choice

Question 15

Biological Determinism

Answer 15

Behaviour cause by biological factors, genes. e.g. Biological

Question 16

Environmental Determinism

Answer 16

Behaviour due to environmental factors and learning. e.g. behaviourist

Question 17

Psychic Determinism

Answer 17

Behaviour caused by unconscious/ childhood conflicts. e.g. Psychological

Question 18

Scientific emphasis

Answer 18

every event has a cause

Question 19

Free will vs Determinism evaluation

Answer 19

• Hard determinism not applicable in terms of the law

Question 20

Nature

Answer 20

All behaviour is hereditary, determined by genes

Question 21

Nurture

Answer 21

All behaviour is learnt from the environment, the mind starts as a blank slate

Question 22

Diathesis-stress model

Answer 22

diathesis -genetic vulnerability [nature]
stress - trigger [nurture]

Question 23

Epigenetics

Answer 23

Changes in genetic activity from environment leaving ‘marks’ on DNA, inheritable

Question 23

Nature-Nurture evaluation

Answer 23

+ Epigenetics evidence
e.g. WWII Dutch hunger winter
+ RWA
e.g. Nestadt OCD heritable = higher risk not inevitable

Question 24

Holism

Answer 24

viewing an individual as a whole and not constituent parts

Question 25

Reductionism

Answer 25

Reducing behaviour to individual parts

Question 26

Levels of explanation

Answer 26

> Socio-cultural e.g. OCD interrupting social relationships > Psychological e.g. person's experience of anxiety > Physical e.g. washing hands > Environmental/ Behavioural > Physiological e.g. abnormal frontal lobe function > Neurochemical e.g. underproduction of serotonin

Question 27

Biological Reductionism

Answer 27

Behaviour explained from genes/ hormones alone e.g. OCD reduced to serotonin activity

Question 28

Environmental Reductionism

Answer 28

Behaviour explained in terms of stimulus response e.g. classical conditioning

Question 29

Holism vs Reductionism evaluation

Answer 29

- lack of practical value in holism e.g. many factors contributing to depression hard to identify most influential + highly scientific reductionist, higher credibility - reductionism not account for high level explanations of social roles as behaviour in a group different, lacking validity

Question 30

Idiographic approach

Answer 30

Qualitative focus on the individual making generalisation

Question 31

Nomothetic approach

Answer 31

Quantitative focus on general laws

Question 32

Idiographic vs nomothetic evaluation

Answer 32

-

Question 33

Ethical implications

Answer 33

Consequences of research

Question 34

Socially sensitive research

Answer 34

Research that has consequences for represented group

Question 35

Research question

Answer 35

May be damaging to a specific group

Question 36

Ethical implications evaluation