Issues And Debates

Question 1

Gender bias

Answer 1

Psychological research or theories that offer a view that does not represent/ justify behaviour of a certain gender

Question 2

Universality in gender biased research

Answer 2

The assumption that certain characteristics are present in all human beings, regardless of experience/ gender

Question 3

Alpha bias

Answer 3

When research over-emphasises the differences between men and women

Question 4

Beta bias

Answer 4

Ignores or minimises differences between the sexes

Question 5

Eg of beta bias

Answer 5

Milgram- studies obedience in all MALE participants and found they obey authority figures, but applied his findings to all people. It assumes females will obey authority figures in the same way as men

Question 6

Androcentrism

Answer 6

When normal behaviour is judged according to a (typically) male standard, often resulting in males being seen as superior

Question 7

Androcentrism eg

Answer 7

Psychodynamic theory suggests boys are more moral than girls due to castration. This reinforces the stereotype that women are inferior to men as they are less moral.

Question 8

Gender bias A03- negative implications for women

Answer 8

P: gender biased research has led to negative implications for women
E: the biological approach suggests that twice as many women are diagnosed with depression as they are affected by their hormones.
E: this research could lead to bias in everyday such as offering women stressful jobs in fear of them not being able to handle it

Question 9

Gender bias A03- modern psychologists have more of an awareness

Answer 9

P: modern psychologists have more of an awareness of the negative effects of gender biased research
E: psychology and feminism have produced criteria to avoid gender bias such as studying female behaviour in real life context as well as studying the diversity of women
E: strength as it will lead to more gender fair research being carried out

Question 10

Gender bias A03- cannot fully eradicate it

Answer 10

P: it is hard to completely eradicate gender bias from research
E: many senior researchers and professors are male and studies are typically carried out by men
E: this means a lot of research conclusions may overlook female perspectives.

Question 11

Culture bias

Answer 11

When psychologists ignore differences between cultures and develop research that is more reflective of one culture alone

Question 12

Universality in culture bias eg

Answer 12

Theory that people choose a partner of similar attractiveness is more reflective of individualist cultures such as the USA and UK where you can choose your own partner. This is not the case in countries such as India where arranged marriages are favoured.

Question 13

Ethnocentrism

Answer 13

Researchers from one culture judge other cultures by their own standards which can lead to the belief that their culture is superior

Question 14

Cultural relativism

Answer 14

The idea that behaviour can only be understood within the cultural context it occurs

Question 15

Cultural relativism eg

Answer 15

Ainsworth- assumes behaviour of anxiety in infants means the same thing in different cultures. Issues in places such as Germany where it is typical for parents to give their babies more independence which can be seen as ‘bad parenting’

Question 16

Culture bias A03- cross cultural research is prone to demand characterisitics

Answer 16

P: cross-cultural research is prone to demand characteristics
E: in western research, it is assumed participants are familiar with the general aims and objectives of science. In cultures without historical experience of research populations may be more affected by demand characteristics
E: unfamiliarity may affect validity

Question 17

Culture bias A03- cross cultural research challenges western assumptions

Answer 17

P: however, cross cultural research challenges western assumptions
E: it may challenge our western ways of thinking. If we understand that knowledge and concepts we take for granted are not shared may promote greater sensitivity for cultural relativism
E: conclusions psychologists draw are likely to have validity if they recognise the role of culture

Question 18

Culture bias A03- indigenous psychology

Answer 18

P: heightened awareness of cultural diversity has led to indigenous psychologists who draw theories that take into account specific experiences of different cultural contexts
E: for example, Afrocentrism suggests that all black people have African roots, and theories for these specific people must recognise African context/ behaviour. This has led to more theories that have increased relevance for minorities in western cultures, which follow a more emic approach
E: however, Afrocentrism could also be seen as culture bias

Question 19

Free will

Answer 19

The idea we have control and full autonomy over our thoughts and behaviour

Question 20

Determinism

Answer 20

The idea our behaviour and feelings are controlled by forces beyond our control

Question 21

Biological determinism

Answer 21

Internal factors like the structure and function of the nervous system, genetic and biochemical factors all influence our behaviour

Question 22

Biological determinism eg

Answer 22

If you have a genetic predisposition to depression then you will definitely get the disorder as you will have naturally low levels of serotonin that will result in low mood

Question 23

Environmental determinism

Answer 23

Our behaviour is caused by the settings in which we inhabit

Question 24

Environmental determinism eg

Answer 24

For eg sz has been linked to exposure to double-bind statements from parents that are confusing and lead to a distorted version of reality. Therefore, people brought up in a setting such as this would definitely get sz.

Question 25

Psychic determinism

Answer 25

The belief that our behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts beyond our control

Question 26

Psychic determinism eg

Answer 26

The psychodynamic explanation of sz states that exposure to a cold, rejecting mother during childhood will lead to the child regressing a pre-ego state where they are no longer able to distinguish between reality and fantasy

Question 27

Soft determinism

Answer 27

Even though human behaviour is determined by forces beyond our control we still have an element of free will to exercise rational conscious choices in our everyday lives

Question 28

Free will eg

Answer 28

Humanistic approach- humans are free to grow and reach their potential (self-actualisation). Rogerian therapy

Question 29

A03 FW/D- therapies

Answer 29

P: a positive implication of hard determinism is that therapies have been devised E:illnesses like sz have been determined to be physical as they can be treated by drugs E: this shows that adopting the viewpoint that all behaviour has a cause can lead to beneficial treatments

Question 30

A03 FW/D- bad for mh

Answer 30

P: believing in determinism can be bad for your mental health E: Roberts et al found that adolescents that believe in fatalism (life is out of control) were at a higher risk of depression E: believing we have free will can be beneficial

Question 31

A03 FW/D- legal issues

Answer 31

P: hard determinism is not consistent with our legal system E: offenders take moral responsibility for their actions apart from extreme cases eg mental illness. Their actions are not influenced by determinism E: not compatible, could be incorrectly used to justify cases

Question 32

Nature nurture debate

Answer 32

A discussion centred around whether behaviour is a product of inherited characteristics (nature) or experience (nurture)

Question 33

Nature and heredity

Answer 33

The nature side of the debate believes that human behaviour including some aspects of knowledge are because of innate factors: the result of heredity. Heredity is the genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another

Question 34

Eg of nature AND WHY

Answer 34

Gottesman looked at over 40 studies and did a meta analysis and found that concordance rates for sz increase as genetic similarity increases between people. Dz twins were 17% concordant but Mz twins were 48%, and people with a sz parent have a 1 in 8 chance of developing it. This supports nature because MZ twins who are genetically more similar have higher concordance rates, showing there must be a genetic influence on the development of sz, and the more genetically similar you are, the more likely you are to get it. This shows the influence of genetic components in the development of the mental health condition

Question 35

Nurture

Answer 35

States that environment influences psychology. These influences in the environment can be very different such as the mothers psychological and physical state in pregnancy, the social situation someone grew up in or the historical context someone is part of

Question 36

Eg of nurture

Answer 36

Mowrer’s two factor model for the development of phobias. Factor 1- phobias are developed through CC and factor 2- phobias are maintained in OC. For someone with a public speaking phobia, the avoidance of public speaking alongside with the reduced anxiety as a result is positively reinforcing. It shows phobias are learnt through association with the neutral and UCS in the environment. This means there are no biological influences of phobias. To reduce phobic symptoms the person modifies the environment and unlearns the association, showing the focus on nurture.

Question 37

Interactionist

Answer 37

Both nature and nurture, more modern

Question 38

Interactionist eg

Answer 38

Constructivism- this suggests that people partake in ‘niche building’ by creating their own nurture by selecting their own environments. For example, naturally aggressive people will chose to partake in aggressive activities such as boxing which reinforces their aggression. This shows it is a combination of nature and nurture that influences a child’s behaviour so researchers are focused on how nature and nurture interact and influence eachother.

Question 39

A03 nature nurture- negative implications

Answer 39

P:The nature-nurture debate has potentially negative implications. E:Nativists suggest that our genetic make up determines our characteristics and behaviour - something that has led to things like the eugenics movement where certain US states in the 1920s and 30s agreed to the compulsory sterilisation of feeble minded people with a low IQ so that they would not produce feeble-minded offspring. E:Therefore that viewpoint that behaviour like intelligence is completely determined by our genes has damaging implications for society.

Question 40

A03 nature nurture

Question 41

A03

Question 42

Holism vs reductionist debate

Answer 42

Concerned with the level at which it is appropriate to explain human behaviour

Question 43

Reductionist

Answer 43

Breaks down thoughts and actions into the smallest, simplest parts so they can be explained in the simplest terms

Question 44

Holism

Answer 44

Considers all the factors that make an individual unique

Question 45

Order of levels of explanations

Answer 45

Explanations vary from those at a lower level focusing on basic components or units to those at a higher more holistic multivariable level Socio-cultural- viewing a behaviour in terms of like experiences linked to your culture Psychological- explaining behaviour in terms of thought process Physiological- explaining behaviour through changes in the body Neurochemical- explaining behaviour in terms of changes in neurotransmitters in the brain

Question 46

Environmental reductionism

Answer 46

Reduces behaviour down to learning. Relates to behaviourist approach

Question 47

Machine reductionism

Answer 47

Cognitive approach, views mind like a computer

Question 48

Biological reductionism

Answer 48

Reduces human behaviour down to biochemical/ neural explanations or genetics.

Question 49

Memory as different levels of explanation

Answer 49

Social and cultural- cultural expectations affect recall (Bartlett) Psychological explanations- Miller/ Peterson STM studies Biological explanations- Maguire found association between hippocampus size and memory for spatial navigation

Question 50

H/R A03- cannot test holism scientifically

Answer 50

P: difficult to test holism scientifically E: often based on abstract concepts, eg humanism that are difficult to measure such as self actualisation we cannot verify its existence E: lacks scientific credibility

Question 51

H/R A03- reductionist more scientific

Answer 51

P: reductionist approaches such as behaviourism are more scientific E: they are based on lab research involving standardised procedures with clearly operationalised variables this makes it easier to draw more valid conclusions about cause and effect as researchers can control EVs E: gives reductionism a greater degree of validity and credibility

Question 52

H/R A03- reductionist oversimplifies

Answer 52

P: reductionist approaches oversimplify complex phenomena by reducing it down to simple concepts E: eg the behaviourist approach suggests the reason infants form attachments to their caregiver is because they associate them with the pleasure of food. E: this therefore ignores other sociocultural and neurochemical factors that can also influence attachments forming

Question 53

Ideographic nomothetic debate

Answer 53

It argues whether psychology should be studies and applied to humans in general or individually

Question 54

Nomothetic

Answer 54

Argues that human behaviour should be studied through general laws and principles that are applied to everyone. More scientific due to the methodologies used, which most frequently are experiments with large numbers of participants in order to properly compare similarities and differences between them, can be analysed for statistical significance

Question 55

Nomothetic eg

Answer 55

Behaviourist, bio and cog approaches Eg Skinner created hypotheses about humans and their behaviour and tested them on animals and used these experiments to formulate general rules such as principles of reinforcement

Question 56

Ideographic

Answer 56

People should be studied as their own entity through using subjective experience and avoiding generalisations. Tends to follow more qualitative methods to gain insight into the unique ways individuals experience life.

Question 57

Ideographic eg

Answer 57

Humanism and psychodynamic approach. For eg. Rogers used Gloria case study. She was a single mother who had feelings of guilt and low self-esteem for still being attracted to other men. Rogers asked her open questions and showed her that her issues were as a result of incognruence- he identified a unique factor that causes her unhappiness

Question 58

I/N A03- nomothetic high scientific cred

Answer 58

P: the nomothetic approach has high scientific credibility as standardised methods and conditions are maintained E: this provides statistical averages that can be applied to populations for eg average IQ being 100 E: these methods establish norms of expected and typical behaviour which provides higher scientific credibility for the nomothetic approach

Question 59

I/N A03- nomothetic overlooks experience

Answer 59

P: the nomothetic approach has the tendency to overlook the subjective experiences of humans E: results from experiments that follow a lab research method can overlook the individual, especially with quantitative data. This is because the scores are treated as series as opposed to each persons own score along with their own experiences which can be subjective E: this means that the nomothetic approach looses the input of human experience due to their attempt to generalise results

Question 60

I/N A03- ideographic can compliment nomothetic

Answer 60

P: ideographic approaches can compliment nomothetic approaches E: eg a case study can be used as a starting point in research, such as HM showing procedural memory is in a different part of the brain to episodic and semantic memory. This led to more research being done of locations of memory in the brain E: this means that it may be better to use rich detail of the ideographic approach with the scientific rigour of the nomothetic approach

Question 61

Socially sensitive research

Answer 61

Relates to studies conducted on controversial areas that can cause harm not only to the people taking part, but also for the people affected by the findings.

Question 62

Eg of socially sensitive research

Answer 62

Homosexuality was on the DSM as a mental illness until 1980, this led to negative consequences for people who are homosexual as it led to justification for discrimination as well as aversion therapies

Question 63

Three ethical issues created by socially sensitive research

Answer 63

- implications of research on people in society - how research influences government policy - validity of research

Question 64

Eg of the three ethical issues in context

Answer 64

Flawed IQ tests (invalid research) were used to justify the compulsory sterilisation of people with low intelligence in America in the 1920s (a government policy) which led to many people not being able to have children (implications on society)

Question 65

Bowlby- ethical implications on wider society due to sensitive research

Answer 65

Bowlby’s maternal deprivation hypothesis. His theory suggested that disruption to attachment bonds in the first few years of life (the mother) can have a negative effect on emotional and intellectual development. Ethical implications on mothers as if children grow up with these issues, it places fault on mothers.

Question 66

Socially sensitive research A03- can be benificial

Answer 66

P: socially sensitive research can have beneficial effects E: the unreliability of EWT has led to the justice system not relying on it as evidence E: shows controversial research should be carried out

Question 67

Socially sensitive research A03- can be used to shape social policy in a negative way

Answer 67

P: socially sensitive research can shape society negatively E: research into the genetic basis of intelligence led to the government introducing the 11+ exam which gave some children a better chance at higher education E: the research turned out to be falsified, and many children lost out on opportunities for better education

Question 68

Socially sensitive research A03- difficult to predict repercussions

Answer 68

P: it is difficult to predict the repercussions of socially sensitive research E: it makes it hard for ethical committees to make an accurate decision to whether research should be carried out E: psychologists have a moral dilemma of whether it is more beneficial to carry it out.

Question 69

Causal relationships and eg of study

Answer 69

Does the independent variable cause changes to the dependant variable? Eg Loftus and Palmer manipulated verb used (IV) and the effect on estimate of speed (DV)

Question 70

Scientific emphasis on causal explanations A03- psych is never deterministic

Answer 70

P: psychological causality is arguably never deterministic E: Baumeister said that statistical tests show probabilities occur by chance E: this means our entire statistical enterprise is built on the idea of multiple possibilities rather than a single cause

Question 71

Scientific emphasis on causal explanations A03- EVs

Answer 71

P: in experiments, EVs are often minimised E: experiments can make sweeping judgments about the whole sample and don’t acknowledge multiple influences of behaviour E: there are so many variables that influence human behaviour that it is impossible to control them effectively