Issues and Debates. Flashcards

Question

Androcentrism/Androcentric bias:

Answer 1

A result of Beta Bias, where often males results are used to establish a base line measure and then by comparisons females are classed as abnormal because of it, ie mood stability only being effected by experiences as the norm in males, yet at menstruation it varies in women and thus makes them “abnormal”.

Answer 2

The issue really becomes a thing when we don’t recognise it for what it is. If we are not careful then work such as Bowlby's theory can be used to place constraints or obligations upon one of the sexes, or devalue them by saying that they are abnormal based upon research on the other sex.

Answer 3

The issue of potential institutionalised sexism in psychology in 2 aspects; a) The female p/pant and the male experimenter with the right to class her as abnormal. b) Male researchers are more likely to get there research published than females.

Answer 4

Many modern researchers recognise and embrace the bias that they see, using it a way of framing an area, which they recognise is limitation of and thus use it to drive forward research in more insightful way. Dambrin & Lambert (2008) recognised this.

Answer 5

Idea that points are often fixed and based upon “biological facts” has often lead to double standards and difference in the way that people are treated, i.e the menstrual cycle was used as a way to justify keeping women out of the armed forces due to monthly instability and periods of reduced effectiveness due to their biology.

Answer 6

*lack of capitals is on purpose. -Women should be studied in real life settings -Women should be activity involved with the research not just object of study. -Diversity within the female group should be considered not just between the sexes. -Qualitative research should be the focus rather than quantitative!

Answer 7

The tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret things through your own cultural perspective.

Answer 8

Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture. In extreme cases this can easily lead to discrimination and prejudice about the other culture. Most of the well known psychological research reported from before the 1980s was carried out in American universities using White, middle-class undergraduate students.

Answer 9

The ideas that norms, values, ethics and moral standards can only be meaningfully understood within their social and cultural context.

Answer 10

Gupta & Singh (1982) 100 Indian marriages, 50 arranged, 50 romantic. Assessed after 1.5 years and 10 years. In love marriage liking was high to start but decreased over time. In arranged however it started low but grew to the extent that by 10 years it exceeded romantic marriages.

Answer 11

In their study conducted in Australia, they reported a significant difference to Milgram’s 65%, with the lowest overall obedience rate at 28% being record for a straight replication. It seems to be a dispositional effect for Australian people, females in particular, which leads to a higher level of resistance to obedience, when in a moral situation. This supports the assertion that culture does effect people’s actions and should not be ignored.

Answer 12

Country Secure Resistant Avoidant America 70% 15% 15% Israel 62% 33% 5% Japan 68% 32% Nil Germany 40% 11% 49%

Answer 13

Ainsworth’s (1970) “Strange situation” for attachment; overall is not appropriate for assessing children from non-US or UK populations. Cultural differences in child-rearing styles make results liable to misinterpretation e.g. German or Japanese samples

Answer 14

Berry suggests; Greater use should be made of Emic research conducted from within each culture, by members of that culture, for use with people within that culture. Also that as the Etic approach in which Cross cultural research is also carried out by a person from beyond the culture, should be encouraged.

Answer 15

Cross cultural approach – study many different cultures to identify the variations. Transcultural approach – study many different cultures to identify the similarities.

Answer 16

Researchers may be unable to relinquish their own cultural world-view, which may always influence their interpretations Barriers to communication are numerous: Gaining trust of informants Understanding what informants say Relying on interpreters Ensuring equivalence in translation of materials etc.

Answer 17

Ekman (1989) has a valid point when he points out that imitation and interactional synchrony can be seen in child and care givers across all cultures. That it is universal despite what people say about universal theories being wrong.

Answer 18

The methods used by researchers are not always familiar to the people who seem them, the use of a camera or a tv screen in a remote Amazonian tribe may simply confuse them more than enable the researchers to accurately conduct research. Demand characteristics often being exaggerated by people keen engage and be helpful the researchers.

Answer 19

Lack of familiarity with culture cause misunderstanding and confusions , resulting in inaccurate data collection and incorrect conclusions.

Answer 20

We are free to make the choices that we wish. It is the notion that we are essentially self determining beings, who have choices which we can make and whom are in control of how our own life proceeds

Answer 21

Soft and Hard ;)

Answer 22

All the actions that we take are predetermined , that the laws of causality dictate our every action, that these are driven by internal ( our experiences, beliefs and abilities) and external ( the situation you are in).

Answer 23

While most events are beyond your control there is an aspect of it in which you have choice due your thought processes.

Answer 24

Emphasises the role of biological factors in our decision processes. Factors like hormones or brain physiology that dictate the level of thought and the emotional arousal level which is beyond the control of conscious mind. There is also genetic influences which effect our psychical and psychological development and ultimately dictate our thought process, which leads use to think in certain ways, making certain choices

Answer 25

Inline with the behaviourists, the world we experience shapes our actions thought operant & classical. Our choices are merely based upon experiences that we select due to our past experiences being reinforced or leading to punishing consequences. Experiences that are not within our ability to affect at the time we have a decision to make.

Answer 26

Freud and the Cognitive approach argue that this is the way determinism really works. With Freud saying that the actions we take are based upon subconscious processes which are shaped by innate stages of development that we all go through as children.

Answer 27

Cognitive approach would argue that all the decisions you ever make are based upon the pre-existing thought processes and structure that at the time you can not change, with out that being an action. While you maybe able to access and change these over time, at the point of decision you have to use the existing structures, which then determines the options that you have.

Answer 28

The notion that human behaviour is orderly and obeys laws places psychology on equal footing with other more established sciences. The prediction and control of human behaviour has led to the development of treatments, therapies and behavioural interventions that have benefitted many - for instance, psychotherapeutic drug treatment in controlling and managing schizophrenia. At least in terms of mental illness then, behaviour would appear to be determined.

Answer 29

It is not consistent with the way in which our legal system operates. In a court of law, offenders are held morally accountable for their actions. Determinism as an approach is unfalsifiable. It is based on the idea that causes of behaviour will always exist, even though they may not yet have been found. It is impossible to prove wrong! This suggests that the determinist approach to human behaviour may not be as scientific as it first appears.

Answer 30

Everyday experience "gives the impression' that we are constantly exercising free will through the choices we make on any given day. This gives face validity to the concept of free will - it makes cognitive sense. A study by Roberts et al. (2000) demonstrated that adolescents with a strong belief in fatalism -that their lives were "decided' by events outside of their control - were at significantly greater risk of developing depression. This suggests that, even if we do not have free will, the fact that we think we do may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour.

Answer 31

Studies by Benjamin Libet (1985), and more recently Chun Siong Soon er al. (2008), have demonstrated that the brain activity that determines the outcome of simple choices may predate our knowledge of having made such a choice. The researchers found that the activity related to whether to press a button with the left or right hand occurs in the brain up to ten seconds before participants report being and consciously aware of making such a decision. This shows that even our most basic experiences of free will are decided and determined by our brain before we become aware of them.

Answer 32

Nature refers to the biological factors the effect who we are and what decisions we make. If this is true then human nature is set and can be predicted. Originally argued by Decartes, (1596 to 1650) he said that human nature is innate, a product of heredity.

Answer 33

Nurture refers to the way in which we are effected by our environment. If who we are is shaped by what we experience then it is our environment that is responsible for who we become. This was the point of view expressed by Locke (1632-1704). Lerner (1986) even went as far as to classify the different level of the environment, in which we interact differently with each level due the situation and whom is present.

Answer 34

The idea that traits and characteristic are inherited from our parents.

Answer 35

A value used assess the extent to which this has happened. It ranges from 0.0 due to nurture to 1.0 due to nature. For example, if high levels of aggression and a poor conflict resolution skill had a score of 1, it would suggest that violent assaults were purely due to our genetics.

Answer 36

These studies have the obvious benefit that the child shares genetics with there parent. Yet that is Only 50% and the way in which the parent raises that child is likely to effect them too so they are far from perfect.

Answer 37

High concordance rates have been frequently argued to represent the strongest evidence base we have for the impact of hereditability with in theory the monozygotic twins in the studies sharing the exact same genetics. Yet they also often have very similar life experiences, which shape them, as often they can not be told apart so much so that they are often treated as the same person by people who meet them.

Answer 38

They look at the effect of biological and environmental factors from the biological and adoptive parent upon the child. By the child being removed from the original biological parent the effect of being raised by the biological parent is mitigated as they don’t provide the environmental cues as well, only the biological.

Answer 39

The belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into simpler component parts. Based on the scientific assumption of parsimony: the idea that complex phenomena should be explained in the simplest terms possible.

Answer 40

Argues that you must always look at the whole picture, treating the person as complete and complicated being.

Answer 41

+The benefit of understanding the whole is valuable and often what we are in fact striving for when we form our hypothesis, yet must settle to less due to our methodological limitations + Research such as Zimbardo’s SPE works by looking at the complex interactions between all of the participants rather than individuals responses in isolation.

Answer 42

- This approach however means that we are unable to consider the detail effectively, presenting broad pictures which lack the detail and precision of a reductionist approach. - When it comes to useable theories that can be used to help people progress often the theories produced by a holistic approach are too complicated to produce effective plans of action, such as treatment programs. For example the person whom devises holistic based treatment maybe able to use their holistic research to develop an effective treatment for a problem such as OCD. Yet when it comes to teaching others to use that treatment it will often fail as it is to complex for them to understand all the key element and to implement it effectively.

Answer 43

+ The majority for all scientific research and theories is created and founded upon this approach, from physics to psychology, there is no unified theory of everything, partly this is because to understand everything would take too long to learn an require more mental space then we have. Yet we don’t need to understand everything in one go and can understand many smaller theories and apply them effectivity , altering them as needed. We can conduct meaningful research purely because of our ability to reduce things in to smaller manageable parts.

Answer 44

-The use of this approach however means that researchers can miss the bigger picture, becoming lost in the detail so that they miss the bigger picture.

Answer 45

Using the psychodynamic or cognitive approach if we look the thought processes, i.e OCD we can explain it as effectively a series of irrational actions caused by faulty thought processes.

Answer 46

Behaviourists reduce our understanding of human behaviour to that of stimulus and reaction to it. Meaning that we should look to the situation that the people have been in to understand what has lead them to develop issues such as OCD.

Answer 47

Breaks each element down to it's key physical biological components, looking more at the mechanics of our brain and body, attributing the cause of the responses to the systems. Example of OCD-coming in from a different level we could use the bio-medical approach to explain it through the impact of serotonin upon a hypersensitive basal ganglia, causing unpleasantly high level of stimulation which the person must then seek to relief themselves of in any way they can.

Answer 48

The lowest level considers physiological (biological) explanations, where behaviour is explained in terms of neurochemicals, genes and brain structure; the middle level considers psychological explanations (e.g. cognitive and behavioural) and the highest level considers social and cultural explanations, where behaviour is explained in terms of the influence of social groups

Answer 49

Taking an individual focused approach within psychology and focusing on the in-depth research methods as a way to understand the people.

Answer 50

The Humanist approach is a classic example of this with Maslow and Rogers both happily proclaiming themselves to be “anti the scientific method”. They believed deeply in the value of the study of the individual for the purpose of understanding the individual, rather than trying to come up with theories for other based upon their limited observations of a few.

Answer 51

Looks to establish “ general laws” or what we know as theories based upon the evidence that has been collected. This permits for the evidence base that has been gathered to be extrapolated and theories created and used in area and with people beyond the original conditions and participants.

Answer 52

1) Classifying people by groups (ie the DSM groups people by common problems that they are suffering) 2) Establishing principles of behaviours (general laws which can be applied to all) 3) Establishing dimensions (continuums upon which people can be placed)

Answer 53

The idiographic approach uses in-depth qualitative methods which complements the nomothetic approach by providing detail. In-depth case studies such as HM (damaged memory) may reveal insights about normal functioning which contribute to our overall understanding This suggests that even though the focus is on fewer individuals, the idiographic approach may help form 'scientific laws of behaviour.

Answer 54

Idiographic approach on own is restricted, no baseline for comparison, also unscientific and subjective. This suggests that it is difficult to build effective general theories of human behaviour in the complete absence of nomothetic research.

Answer 55

Nomothetic research (like natural sciences)seeks objectivity through standardisation, control and statistical testing. Idiographic research also seeks objectivity through triangulation (comparing a range of studies), and reflexivity (researchers examine their own biases).This suggests that both the nomothetic and idiographic approaches raise psychology's status as a science.

Answer 56

Nomothetic approach focuses on general laws and may 'lose the whole person' within psychology. For example, knowing about a 1% lifetime risk of schizophrenia says little about having the disorder - which might be useful for therapeutic ideas. This means, in its search for generalities, the nomothetic approach may sometimes fail to relate to 'experience.

Answer 57

Looking at any studies where genetics are being considered within a causal relationship is always going to be suggested or the out come might lead to problems for the target population or the participants in the longer term is something that psychologist are supposed to consider.

Answer 58

Zimbardo testified at the trial of soldiers who were at Abu Ghraib prison explaining there actions in terms of why they did what they did, suggesting the Bad barrel theory rather than the bad apples. He even argued that the US military created this situation on purpose, using his research to do harm. Based upon this and other such studies it can be argued that such socially sensitive research should not be conducted, as it can lead to real harm in the for people in the future.

Answer 59

Sieber & Stanley (1988) suggest that we should be mindful of the following points when conducting socially sensitive research. Implications – you should consider if the research is likely to lead to negative consequences such a discrimination and if so not do it Uses/public policy – we should look at what the study could be used for and who is likely to be using it. The US military has funded massive amounts of psychology research. The validity of the research – Risk of bias and prejudice of researchers. It's gotten better yet it still exists.

Answer 60

+ Scarr (1988) May in fact promote minority groups and understanding. + Also positive effects do come from them ie EWT upon legal system.

Answer 61

- Sieber & Stanley (1988) – The framing of the questions – especially issue of Cross cultural research and the impact of ethnocentrism. Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) & subliminal advertising are two rather disturbing examples of this used by large companies. For governments, both the US & UK, the sterilisation of mentally “weak” people in the 1920’s and 1930’s by governments based upon theories The role of the ethics committee to screen socially sensitive research. Is it really robust enough to reject socially sensitive research which may prove very lucrative for the institution in the long term?