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Issues and Debates Flashcards

1
Q

What are the two types of gender bias?

A

Beta Bias and Alpha Bias

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2
Q

What is beta bias?

A

Exaggerating the similarities between men and women, therefore misrepresenting e.g. fight or flight

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3
Q

What is alpha bias?

A

Exaggerating the differences between men and women, therefore devaluing e.g Freud

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4
Q

What are the two types of alpha bias?

A

Androcentrism and Gynocentrism

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5
Q

What is androcentrism?

A

Taking male thinking and behaviour as the accepted norm therefore regarding women as inferior, may be due to male dominated psychology e.g. Freud

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6
Q

What is gynocentrism?

A

Taking female thinking and behaviour as the accepted norm, devaluing or misrepresenting e.g. Attachment

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7
Q

What are the implications of gender bias?

A

Promotes sexism (less females in senior positions = reflected in research, males published more), stereotypes, validating sex discrimination

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8
Q

What is the opposite of determinism?

A

Free will

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9
Q

Explain determinism.

A

Behaviour is controlled by internal and external factors outside of our control, making it predictable

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10
Q

What are the 5 types of determinism?

A

Hard, Soft, Biological, Environmental, Psychic

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11
Q

Explain free will.

A

The idea that we can control and choose our course of action, we can make our own decisions

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12
Q

What is hard determinism?

A

Environment, genetics, unconscious impulses etc determine how people act, and therefore they are not responsible for their actions e.g. classical conditioning

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13
Q

What is soft determinism?

A

Acknowledges events have causes, but it allows for some actions involving choice. Free to choose from limited options e.g. psychosexual stages

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14
Q

What is biological, environmental and psychic determinism?

A

The belief that behaviour is caused by biological factors/features of our environment/ unconscious conflicts that we cant control

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15
Q

What is the opposite of reductionism?

A

Holism

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16
Q

Explain reductionism.

A

Breaking down a behaviour into its simplest components. Reductionism has levels of explanation e.g. dopamine, SLT

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17
Q

What are the three levels of explanation?

A

High (Cultural and social explanations), Middle (Psychological explanations) Low (Biological explanations)

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18
Q

What are the four types of reductionism?

A

Biological (explanations of behaviour can be reduced to its simplest levels, neurotransmitters and genes), Environmental (stimulus - response links)
Experimental (IV/DV relationships),
Machine

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19
Q

Explain holism.

A

The idea that it only makes sense to study a whole system - whole greater than sum of parts e.g humanistic approach

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20
Q

Explain the idiographic debate.

A

A detailed qualitative study of one individual or small group to provide an in depth understanding of behaviour e.g Clive, KF

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21
Q

Explain the nomothetic debate.

A

A quantitative study of larger groups with the aim of finding universal laws of behaviour to be generalised e.g. Skinner, Sperry split brain

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22
Q

What are the 4 ethical guidelines?

A

Consent, Deception, Harm, Confidentiality

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23
Q

Why were the ethical guidelines created?

A

To safeguard participants in research studies

24
Q

How can you overcome ethical issues?

A

Right to withdraw, debriefing, using numbers not names

25
Give an example of alpha bias.
Freuds Psychodynamic Approach. Men dominant at time. Females 'failed masculinity'. Exaggerated differences in phallic stage (development v envy)
26
Give an example of beta bias.
Fight of Flight. Exclusive study on male animals, findings assumed universal. Recent research found tend and befriend
27
What is universality?
Underlying characteristics of humans that can be applied to everyone, despite different experiences
28
Describe a culture bias.
A tendency to ignore cultural differences = misinterpretation
29
What is ethnocentrism?
A belief in the superiority of your own culture = prejudice and misinterpretation
30
What are emic behaviours?
The behavioural constructs particular to a specific culture e.g. tea
31
What are etic behaviours?
The behavioural constructs that are universal to all people e.g. sleep
32
What are imposed etics?
When emics and etics get mistaken for each other = misinterpretation
33
Define cultural relativism and explain why its positive.
The idea that norms can only be understood with social and cultural context. Avoids culture bias.
34
Give an example of ethnocentrism.
Ainsworths Strange Situation. Inappropriate negative language (insecure) shows norms of other cultures as deficient compared to 'secure' UK and US. Different child rearing styles.
35
Give an example of cultural relativism.
Diagnosis of mental health disorders. Afro-Caribbean immigrants 7x more likely to be diagnosed. Questions validity of DSM for diagnosis outside western culture.
36
Can you solve culture bias?
No. Individualist cultures value freedom/independence, where collectivist group needs. Are not comparable = imposed etics, compromising validity
37
Stage a strength and weakness of free will
Intuitively correct (we know we have a choice as unpredictable), unfalsifiable (cant be tested, no IV/DV)
38
State a strength and weakness for determinism
Needed (psych based on cause and effect which is measurable, IV/DV). Bradley Waldroup (excuse behaviour)
39
Explain nature.
Human characteristics innate and heritable. e.g. dopamine hypothesis
40
Explain nurture.
Humans born as blank slates and are shaped by interactions with the environment e.g. classical conditioning
41
How can nature/nurture be measured?
Concordance rates (the degree to which two people similar), twin studies (MZ v DZ)
42
How can you evaluate nature/nurture?
By taking an interactionist stance
43
What are the 3 interactionist stances?
Diathesis - stress model, Epigenetics, Constructivism
44
Explain diathesis-stress
Behaviour caused by biological vulnerability combined with an environmental trigger e.g. SERT gene
45
Explain epigenetics.
A change in genetic activity without a change in genetic code. Lifestyle and events leave epigenetic marks on DNA. Tells us what gene to switch on/off. Can be passed down
46
Explain constructivism.
People create their own nurture by selecting environments that suit their nature. 'Niche building'.
47
Describe machine reductionism
Using the analogy of machines to simplify human behaviour, ignores complexity of human emotion and motivation
48
What are the strengths and weaknesses of holism?
Best way to study deindividuation is to check behaviour in context. Scientific testing difficult as lacks empirical evidence - difficult to pinpoint for therapies
49
What are the strengths and weaknesses of reductionism?
Can be operationalised allowing experiments to be conducted in an objective and reliable way. Credibility as a science Oversimplifies complex phenomena, decreasing validity, fails to explain why not how
50
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the idiographic approach?
Is an in depth qualitative method of investigation, no meaningful generalisations should be made without furth validation
51
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the nomothetic approach?
Scientific so can be analysed quantitively and tested under empirical methods. Greater scientific credibility. Pps treated as scores rather than individuals and their subjective experience ignored
52
What causes an ethical issue?
When a guideline is broken
53
Define ethical implication.
The impact research may have on the rights of other people.
54
What are the 3 types of ethical implication?
Research question (do they add credibility to prejudice/stereotypes), dealing with pps (could results cause psychological harm, will friends/family be affected), findings are used (positive or damaging to society)
55
What is socially sensitive research?
Studies with potential social consequences for pps or group represented. This can cause implications
56
Give an example of socially sensitive research?
MAOA in aggression or Milgram electric shock which originally studied obedience in Germans, adding credibility to stereotypes and prejudice
57
What are the 3 evaluative points of ethical implications?
Research, could be beneficial (5000 men interview on sexual behaviour, homosexuality found to be a normal behaviour), poor research with LT impact (Biased IQ tests = 11+exams)

Psychology (12 decks)

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