Issues and Debates Flashcards
Define Gender Bias
Gender Bias is the differential treatment or representation of males and females based stereotypes and not real difference.
What is Universality?
Gender Bias is the differential treatment or representation of males and females based stereotypes and not real difference.
Talk about universality and gender bias
Gender bias threatens the uniersality of findings in psychology.
Psychologists have beliefs shaped by social and historiccal context which can lead to bias over gender undermining the universality of psychology as findings may not apply to all genders and people accross time.
What is alpha bias and give an example?
Alpha Bias- Theories which exaggerate the difference between males and females often devaluing females:
Freud- argued that there are genuine psychological differences between men and women saying women are inferior to men as young girls and suffer from penis envy and femininity as a failed form of masculinity.
What is beta bias and give an example?
Beta Bias- Theories which ignore or minimize sex differences. They often assume that the findings from males can apply equally to females
Fight or Flight- response is often carried by men, but it was assumed this wouldn’t be a problem as it’s the same for both sex’s
However, Taylor et al found females adopt a tend and befrend response to protect offspring and form alliances with other women.
What is andocentrism
Androcentrism occurs when research based on all male samples defines what is ‘normal’, making female behaviour seem abnormal inferior or deficient This an lead to misunderstanding female behaviour
Give an example of androcentrism. (PMS)
Pre-menstural Syndrome (PMS)- feminist critics argue it stereotypes and medicalizes female emotions, especially anger, while male anger is overlooked as a rational response to external preassure.
What is the Implications of gender bias research? (Ao3)
Implications of Gender Bias- Gender bias can create misleading assumptions about female behaviour reinforcing negative stereotypes. It can provide scientific justification for limiting womens opportunities in areas like employment. Psychologists argue that when men set the standard for normalcy, women may feel abnormal by comparison. This bias has real world consequences such as higher diagnosis rates of drepression in women.
Talk about sexism within research. (Ao3 gender bias)
Sexism within Research- A lack of female representation at senior research levels means that womens concerns may be overlooked in research questions. Male researchers are ,ore lilely to have their work published- experiments show that male researchers are more likely to be nicer to females. This suggests that psychology may support sexim leading to biased theories.
→ investigator effects
→ lowers validity
Talk about reflexivity in gender bias research (Ao3)
Reflexivity- This is when researchers reflect on their own biases and how they work. Rather than seeing bias as a threat to objectivity, modern researchers see it as a crucial aspect of the research process. For example, Lambert reflected on how gender- related experiences shaped their study on the lack of women in executive roles, this promotes greater awarness helping balamce arguments.
Talk about Asch as an example of beta bias
Asch- lacks population validity, asch’s sample consisted of 123 male college students from America- biased. Asch assumed that the results of his research would apply to females, beta bias, where a psychologist minimizes the difference between males and females which assumes males and females are alike leading to an andocentric view. This means we are unable to generalise that women would’ve conformed in the same way,
Define Culture Bias
This is the tendacny to interpret and judge behaviour in terms of the values and beliefs of your own society and culture which leads to views about behaviour without actually experiencing them.
Talk about contextual facts of culture bias
In 1992, 64% of the worlds psychologists were from USA with 94% of studies being conducted in North America. This suggests psychology has historically been dominated by white Americans, yet many psychologists claim that their findings apply universally.
Talk about universality in the context of culture bias
As stated, findings are based on Western samples and may not apply globally. Critics argue that mainstream psychology ignores cultural influences assuming western findings are universally valid. For example, social influence studies like Asch and Milgram produce different results when carried out cross culturally. Defining normal behaviour from a single cultural perspective can lead to other behaviours being seen as abnormal.
What is ethnocentrism?
This is when you judge other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture. In this extreme form it is believed that your own culture is superior and can lead to discrimination against other cultures.
In psychology, this can lead to non-western behaviours being seen as difficent
Give an example of ethnocentric research
Ainsworth, Strange Situation- defined secure attachment as moderate distress upon seperation, based on American norms. This led to individualistic cultures like Germany’s parenting styles being misinterpreted as rejecting and cold rather than promoting independence.
What is cultural relativism?
This is the idea that behaviour can only be understood in the context of the norms and values of the society and the culture it occurs. This rejects the beliefs of universality.
What’s the difference between an etic approach and the emic approach?
Etic Approach- identifying universal behaviours from outside a culture
Emic Approach- Studying behaviours specific to a culture
What is Imposed etic?
This is when psychologists may apply culturally specific models universally.
Talk about culture bias in research
In Research- Cultural bias in research can lead to negative consequences. A key example is the US army IQ tests before WWI, which falsely suggested that the European immigrants and African Americans had lower intelligence than white Americans had lowe IQ’s than white Americans. These results reinforce racial stereotypes and discrimination, potentially limiting job opportunities. This shows that cultural bias can have harmful real- world effects
Talk about practical advancements in culture bias
Practical Advancements- Recognising cultural bias has improved our understanding of cultural differences, particularly in diagnosing mental illnesses. Previously, culture specific behaviours were misinterpreted as symptoms of psychological disorders. Now, diagnostic manuals like the DSM include culture- specific behaviours leading to more accurate diagnosis and reducing discrimination.
Talk about the potential outdated nature of culture bias
Outdated Potentially- Traditionally, Western cultures are seen as individualistic while Eastern cultures were classified as collectivist. However, modern repeats of studies showed that 14 out of 15 studies no longer applied to these characteristics.This could be due to global interconnectedness.
Talk about how research is becoming less culturally bias. (AO3)
Modern researchers travel more and engane in more international conferences increasing the exposure to different cultures. The cross- cultural exchange allows psychologists to identify correct methological flaws that may cause culture bias- psychological research is becoming more inclusive and representitive.
What is determinism?
This is the view that an individuals behaviour is shaped by external forces rather than an individuals will to do something. It rejects gree will and says behaviour is governed by internal or external forces where we have no control.
What’s the difference between hard and soft determinism?
Hard Determinism- This suggests that all human behaviour has a cause and forces outside of our control shape behaviour and are incompatible with free will. This goes hand in hand with scientific method i.e. the biological approach says things are only down to biology.
Soft Determinism- Says events have causes, but behaviour can be determined by conscious thoughts. In other words, behaviour is constrained by the environment or biological makeup but only to a certain extent.
What is biological determinism and give an example?
Biological- This is the idea that all human behaviour is innate and determined by genes, hormones and bio-chemistry that we have no control over.
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY- the biological approach suggests OCD is partly genetic. Nestadt et al found people with fist- degree relatives who suffer from OCD are 5x more likely ro suffer from OCD at some point of their lives.
What is environmental determinism and give an example
Environmental- This is the view that behaviour is caused by forces outside of the individual, therefore, behaviour is caused by experience learned through classical conditioning and maintained operant.
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY- Behaviourists approach says phobias are learnt through classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning so to some extent are environmentally determined
Talk about Psychic Determinism and give an example
Psychic- Claims that human behaviour is the result of childhood experiences and innate drives. This is mainly influenced by Freuds psychodynamic approach.
GENDER- psychodynamic theory says that gender behaviours are required by the phallic stage via the resolution of the odipus or electra complex
What is free will?
This is the notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by only one factor. In this percpective, we are self- determininh to choose our own thoughts and actions
Give an example of an approach which takes the free will debate?
HUMANISTIC APPROACH- this is one of the only approaches to adopt a free- will perspective. This concept was central to client centred therapy in that people are free to change their lives and work towards their potential (self- actualisation)
Talk about determinism as a scientific method
Consistant with the aims of science, as it assumes human behaviour follows laws placing psychology on equal footing with science. It also has practical applications, such as the development of treatments like drug therapy for schizophrenia ehoch allows the prediction and control of behaviour escpecially when disorders like schizophernia seem to have no free will. To reject determinism essentially means to reject the scientific method.
Talk about a criticism of hard determinism
Hard Determinism criticism- this stance seems to be inconsistent with the legal system, where individuals are help morally accountable for their actions. Additionally, determinism is unfalsifiable as it assumes causes of behaviour exist even if they have not yet been identified, making it less scientific than initially appears.
Talk about free will Neurological research of free will
Neurological Research- this challenges free will as studies show that brain activity is closely linked to decision making before conscious awareness of making a choice suggesting that even seeminly volentary actions may be determined by unconscious brain processes.
Talk about criticisms of determinism and positives of free will
Psychologists who take the free will debatte suggests that determinism removes freedom and dignity and devalues human behaviours. By creating general laws of behaviour, determinism underestimates the uniqueness of human beings and their freedom to choose their own destiny.
What is the nature- nurture debate?
The nature- nurture debate is concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics.
What is nature?
this refers to the view that behaviour is the product of innate biological or genetic factors. This is the result of heredity- the process whereby traits are passed down from one generation to the next
Give an example of research supporting nature?
Bowlby- proposed that children come into the world biologically programed to form attachments as it helps them survive, for example physical social releases like big eyes and small chins make a mother more likely to become attached. This suggests that behaviour is naturally selected and passed on.
What is nurture?
This is the view that behaviour is the product of environmental influences. The environment is any influence on human behaviour which is non- genetic. This may range from pre-natal influences in the womb through to cultural and historical influences at a societal level.
Talk about research to support nurture
This is the way behavioural psychologists explain attachment in terms of when food (UCS) is assosiated with the mother (NS) to become a conditioned stimulus who elicts a response and the child forms an attachment.
Talk about the interactionist approach to the nature nurture debate
This is the idea that nature and nurture are linked to such an extent, it doesnt make sense to separate the two, so instead study how both interact and influence each other. for example, a childs temperament affects parental responses which then shape behaviour.
Talk about the diathesis stress model as support to the interactionist approach
This explains mental illness as a genetic vulnerability triggered by environmental stress- for example people with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia are more liklely to develop it if raised in disfunctional families. This shows supports the interactionist approach.
Talk about the potential of the nature- nurture debate being meaningless
Research suggests there is a growing body of research which highlights the importance of an interactionist approach. Research examining the brain plasticity in the topic biopsychology suggests that life experiences (nurture) shape our biology (nature), - taxi driver study- demonstrating the importance of the interactioist approach
Talk about twin studies as support of nature
Nesdat et al examined previous twin studies in relation to non twins and found that the average concordance rates were 68% in MZ and 31% in DZ highlighting a significant nature component. AS MZ is significantly higher than DZ, shows behaviour is partly attrubuted to nature as MZ twins share 100%.
However, results show there is a small role of nurture as the concordance rate isnt 100%.
What is reductionism?
This is the belief that human behavior is best explained by breaking it down into smaller parts.
What is the two types of reductionism?
Biological Reductionism- This is when behaviour is explained through biological processes like genetics, brain structures and neurochemistry like the role of serotonin in OCD and depression
Environmental Reductionism- This explains behaviour through stimulus-response links as seen in behaviorism- where they ignore mental processes, viewing the mind as a ‘black box’ and focusing only on observable actions.
What are levels of explanation?
Psychological phenomena can be studied at different levels from broad social contexts to tiny biological processes.
What are the levels of the levels of explanation and use OCD as an example?
Socio-cultural level- The highest level of explanation, for example, OCD causes unusual behavior like excessive hand washing.
Psychological level- Middle level for example obsessive thoughts
Physiological level- as issues in brain structures like the basal ganglia
Neurochemical level- as low serotonin levels
What is holism?
This is the idea that human behaviour and experience should be studied as a whole rather than breaking them down into smaller parts. For example, humanistic psychology argues that humans react to a stimulus as an organised whole, rather than just a stimulus response chain
Talk about the scientific nature of reductionism
- Reductionism allows for clear definitions of varivles, making it possible to establish cause and effect relationships through controlled experiments. This improves psychologys scientific credebility
- By breaking behaviour into smaller components, reliable and evidence based explanations develop overtime
Talk about the practical applications of Reductionism
- Biological reductionism has led to effective treatments for example SSRI’s to reduce OCD symptoms- improving the quality of life
Talk about how reductionism oversimplifies complex behaviours
Focusing only on biological factors ignore psychological and social influences for example, ADHD treatment reduces symptoms but not underlying causes
Talk about the generalisability of reductionism
many reductionists studies rely on animal research- for example, Pavlovs dogs- which may not fully apply to human behaviour
Talk about the positives of taking a holistic approach
More complete understanding- Holistic approaches consider many different influences leading to richer more detailed explanations
Practical Applications- humanistic psychology has improtant implications in therapy as it provides emphasis on the whole person
Talk about the negatives of holism
Impractical- although they provide rich insights, they may not lead to clear solutions unlike reductionist approaches, more descriptive than explanatory.
Lacks scientific rigor- Holistic explanations are hard to test because they dont break behaviour into measurable variables making cause and effect challanging- lacks objectivity.
What is the idiographic approach?
This is an approach that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour, rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behavior. It emphasizes the uniqueness of personal experiences.
What methods do idiographic psychologists use?
It’s generally associated with methods that produce qualitative data, such as case studies, unstructured interviews, and other report methods. These methods align with the central aims of the idiographic approach, which is to describe the richness of human experience.
Give 2 examples of studies which use the idiographic approach
Psychodynamic Approach- Many of Freud’s theories were based on case studies detailing the lives of his patients, for example, little Hans with the oiedupus complex. However, he did generalise these to the outer population.
KF- Had a motorbike accident which damaged his short term memory, but hisvisual motor processing was fine and only his verbal was damaged. This suggests that STM has many components.
What is the nomothetic approach?
This is an approach which attempts to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws. It closely alignes with methods considered scientific such as experiments and correlational research. These involve the study of a large amount of people in order to establish ways in which people are similar.
What methods do nomothetic approaches use?
Usually scientific methods
Give examples of nomotheric approaches
behaviourists- skinner who studied animals to develop laws of learning, biological, who used brain scans to generalise localisation of function and said psychological disorders can be treated and helped by drug therapies which treat all patients.
What is a positive of idiographic experiments?
The idographic approach provides a rich, in-depth understanding of individuals through qualititive methods offering a more holistic view of human behaviour. This can be powerful to evaluate psychological theories, for example, KF exposed a limitation of the multi-store model providing evidence that out STM is comprised of at least 2 components. This allows for a more complete picture that may be missed by nomothetic approaches.
What is a consequence of idiographic approaches
The narrow focus of idiographic reseearch means generalisation is difficult. For example, Freud’s theories were based on single cases- little hans and the oedipus complex- which makes it hard to establish universal laws without further research.
Talk about the nomothetic approach positives
Scientific and objective using controlled conditions, statistical analysis and large data sets allowing for the development of general laws increasing the scientific credebility. It also makes it useful dor predicting and controlling behaviour for example, biological psychologists claim that high levels of dopamine and low levels of seretonin cause OCD so developed drug therapies which work.
Talk about a negative of the nomothetic approach
The focus on general laws and statistics may lead to a loss of individual experience, for example, knowing schizophrenia affects 1% of the population, doesnt explain what it feels like meaning subjective experience may be overlooked
What is the definition of ethical implications?
The impact that psychological research my have in terms of the rights of other people especially their participants. This includes influencing public policy and the way in which certain groups are regarded. It condiders the rights of others in the wider context as well as participants
Talk about a research study with ethical implications.
The participants were decieved, unable to provide full informed consent. The experiment was distressing, however, they were debriefed and took part in a follow up interview. PP’s said they suffered no long- term effects. Therefore, it could be argued that the importance of the findings did justify the way the research was conducted, as the research is useful to society in determining the factors that affect obedience to authority.
Talk about a theory with ethical implications
Bowlby- The theory of attachment says that children have one special attachment bond, usually with their Mother which must take place in a critical period. Bowlby also suggesred that this attachment bond affects relationshis through internaal working model while Bowlbeys theory has contributed to the development of childcare practices and it has also emphasised the biew that a womens place is a home making some mothers feel guilty.
What is socially sensitive research?
Sieber and Stanley define socially sensetive research as studies in which there are potential consequences or implications either directly for participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research.
What are the concerns of research Sieber and Stanley said?
- Implications- the wider effects of such research should be carefully considered as some may be seen as giving credence to prejudice.
- Uses- what is the research likely to be used for? as it could be used for the wrong purpose
What is the benefit of socially sensitive research?
Benefits of socilly sensitive research- By conducting SSR, it can help reduce predujice against certain groups allowing awarness and improvements. for example, research on individuals belonging to the LGBTQIA is said to be SSR dye to the potentual ethical implications, it also challenges misconseptions, reduce prejudice and raises awareness. Scarr says that studying unrepresented groups and contiversial issues leading to greater sensitivity. This promotes equality.
Talk about framing the question as a concern for ethical implications
Framing the Question- The way research questions are framed can heavily influence findings and their interpretation. Sieber and Stanley caution that research can be affected by cultural supority and ethnocentrism, leading to biased conclusions. This is shown in cross cultural research where western norms are often considered the standard misrepresenting the other cultures. This shows the importance if researchers mantaining an open mind.
What is the direct impact on social policy for socially sensitive research?
Direct Impact on Social Policy-SSR can improve social policies benefitting society for example, research on the cognitibe interview combats EWT showing that using this technique can lead to increased recall
Talk about widening the research to other groups in ethical implications
Psychology researchers mainly conduct research on WEIRD people- White, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic- by conducting SSR on other groups, this can address imbalance,
