Issues And Debates Flashcards
What is gender bias?
Treating men and women differently based on stereotypes rather than real differences. (e.g. using men instead of women in a study).
What is androcentrism?
Patriarchal; ‘normal’ behaviour is judged by a male standard (as a result of beta-bias).
- theories based on male behaviour but applied to females.
What is beta bias?
Theories that ignore or minimise differences between males and females.
What is alpha bias?
Theories that exaggerate the differences between males and females.
What is universality?
Facts about human behaviour that can be applied to all; objective and consistent over time and cultures.
What are the evaluations of gender bias?
1) . Problems of gender bias in psychology.
2) . Gender bias promotes sexism.
3) . Gender bias leads to reflexivility.
4) . Feminist psychologists explain how gender bias can be avoided.
How is there problems of gender bias in psychology?
It can have damaging consequences which affect women’s lives, and also damage the methodology.
- misleading assumptions of women in society.
How does gender bias promote sexism?
Women tend to be labelled as irrational by men in research, as men are the most dominant researchers.
How does the understanding of gender bias lead to reflexivity?
Researchers use their work to understand the values they transmit, some researchers embrace gender bias in order to receive results.
How do feminist psychologists propose how gender bias can be avoided?
Worrell (1992) =
sets criteria that researchers can follow to avoid gender bias –> using women in research rather than being objects to observe.
What is cultural bias?
Judging all people in terms of your own cultural assumptions (cultural differences may be seen as ‘abnormal’).
- e.g. only using US participants in Asch’s study, then generalising result to all cultures.
What is ethnocentrism?
Belief that a persons group is central or superior to others.
- e.g. Strange Situation reflected norms of US culture.
What is cultural relativism?
Viewing a culture behaviour in the context of the culture in which it originates.
- e.g. understanding that hearing voices is normal in some cultures.
What is imposed etic?
Theory developed in one country, and using it to study the behaviour of people in another country.
What is an emic approach?
Culture-bond =
something that only applies in one country.
What are the evaluations of cultural bias in psychology?
1) . Distinction between individualism and collectivism may no longer apply anymore.
2) . Recognition of cultural relativism and universals.
3) . Cross-cultural research is prone to demand characteristics.
4) . Cross-cultural research challenges Western assumptions.
How come the distinction between individualism and collectivism no longer applies in psychology?
Refer to culture in the context of individualism =
Takano and Osaka (1999) =
- 14/15 studies compared the US and Japan found no evidence of a distinction between the cultures.
- suggests seeing the world from an individualistic view is less of an issue.
How does imposed etic allow the recognition of cultural relativism and universals?
Although some behaviours are culturally relative, some are universal =
Ekman (1998) suggests facial movements and emotions (e.g. reciprocity and interactional synchrony) are universal.
How come cross-cultural research is prone to demand characteristics?
As people outside of the Western world aren’t familiar with the research tradition, they may be more affected by demand characteristics.
How does cross-culture research challenge Western assumptions?
Research in other cultures highlights Western views aren’t universal, allowing us to be more sensitive to individual differences and cultural relativism.
How can cultural bias lead to observer bias?
Can only observe behaviours that suit their cultural views =
- e.g. Mead has been criticised for observing New Guinea in her ‘Western goggle’.
What is free will?
Assumes people choose their behaviour, influences will be rejected.
What theory uses free will?
Humanistic.
What is determinism?
The view that behaviour is influenced by forces out of our control.
How is determinism divided?
Soft =
Behaviour has a cause but we have conscious, mental control over our behaviour.
Hard =
Behaviour is caused by events outside of our control –> free will is an illusion.
What are the different approaches to determinism?
1) . Biological.
2) . Environmental.
3) . Psychic.
4) . Scientific.
What is biological determinism?
Behaviour is determined by internal biological factors;
- Psychological = ANS on anxiety.
- Genetic = mental disorders.
- Hormones = testosterone on aggression.
Evaluate biological determinism?
100% biological determinism is rarely found in any behaviour =
- MZ = 100%, but only 47% concordance for schizophrenia.
What is environmental determinism?
Behaviourist approach =
behaviour is controlled by past events and controlled by external forces in the environment (e.g. reinforcement).
Evaluate environmental determinism?
Concordance rates equally show that behaviour cannot be solely determined by the environment.
What is psychic determinism?
Freud =
unconscious forces and innate drives control behaviour. (e.g. Freudian slip).
What is scientific determinism?
IV is manipulated to observe the causal effect on a DV.
Evaluate scientific determinism?
It’s unrealistic, it is now accepted that there is no such thing as total determinism.
- the slightest change in conditions can have major consequences.
Evaluate free will?
1). Illusion of free will =
choosing to do something is determined by previous experiences.
2). Culturally relative =
it’s appropriate for individualistic cultures.
What is nature?
A biological approach =
human characteristics are innate (genetic- inherited.
What is nurture?
A behaviourist approach =
environment and experiences characterise behaviour.
What is an example of nature?
IQ =
Plomin = 50% is inherited and 50% environmental.
What did Locke say about the mind when we’re born?
It’s like a blank slate in which experiences write.
What are the different levels of the environment Lerner (1986) identified?
- Defined in birth (mother physical/psychological state during pregnancy).
- Defined after birth (social conditions the child grows up in).
Why is it impossible to answer the nature-nurture debate?
Because environmental influences begin as a mother is pregnant.
- e.g. concordance rates = hard to tell whether they are the result of genes or shared upbringing.
What is the interactionist approach on the nature-nurture debate?
Heredity (nature) and environment (nurture) have an influence on each other.
What did Belsky and Rovine (1987) argue about attachment?
It’s a two-way street =
- babies temperament determines how the parent interacts with them.
- the parent’s response affects the child’s behaviour.
What is the diathesis-stress model?
An interactionist approach =
genes create a vulnerability and stressors in the environment trigger behaviours.
What is an example of the diathesis-stress model?
Tienari et al. (2004) =
- study of Finnish adoptees.
- were more likely to develop schizophrenia as they had a family history, and had dysfunctional relationships with their adoptive families.
What is epigenetics?
An interactionist approach =
a change in our genetic activity without changing our genetic code (e.g. smoking leave ‘marks’ on our DNA, telling our bodies which genes to ignore, which may influence the genes of our children).
What are the evaluations of the nature-nurture debate?
1) . Understanding the interaction may have real-world implications.
2) . Confounding factor of unshared environments.
3) . Evidence to support interactionism.
4) . Understanding nature-nurture relates to other debates.
How can understanding nature-nurture have real-world implications?
Having extreme beliefs about nature or nurture can have negative implications (e.g. thinking nature is the influence of behaviour can lead to racism).
What confounding variables affect the nature-nurture debate?
Dunn and Plomin (1990) =
- individual differences between siblings, those in shared or unshared environments meansthey may experience life events differently (e.g. different temperaments).
- explained by MZ not sharing full concordance rates.
What evidence supports the interactionist approach?
Scarr and McCartney (1983) =
- oulined 3 types of gene-environment interactions =
- Passive.
- Evocative.
- Active.
- the interaction is different for each type (points to complexity of debate).
How does understanding the nature-nurture debate relate to the other debates?
Hard determinism =
- strong commitment to either nature/nurture.
Nativists =
- ‘anatomy is destiny’ (nature.
Empiricists =
- environment is important (nurture).
What is the idiographic approach?
Understanding behaviour through studying individual cases.
- e.g. Case studies.
What view do idiographic psychologists take?
Interpretivist.
What type of data do idiographic psychologists use?
Qualitative =
- case studies.
- unstructured interviews.
- self-report measures.
To gain verstehen and rapport.
What is phenomenology?
Behaviour must be understood in terms of subjectivity - what it means to the individual as everyone is unique (idiographic).
What approaches use an idiographic approach?
1) . Humanistic =
- only documented the conscious experience of the ‘self’, rather than general laws.
2) . Psychodynamic =
Freud frequently used case studies, but assumed he made general laws (nomothetic).
What is the nomothetic approach?
Understanding behaviour through developing general laws that apply to all people = what most psychology uses =
- e.g. The classification of mental disorders (ICD, DSM).
What type of data do nomothetic psychologists use?
Quantitative =
- questionnaires.
- psychological tests.
What sociological view do nomothetic psychologists take?
Positivist.
What are the 3 kinds of general laws produced from the nomothetic approach?
1) . Classification:
- DSM.
2) . Establishing principles:
- Conformity and obedience.
3) . Establishing dimensions:
- IQ.
What are the evaluations of the idiographic approaches?
1) . Cannot be generalised to the wider population.
2) . Methods are subjective, flexible and unstandardised =
- replication, prediction and control of behaviour are difficult.
3) . Gain detailed and informative descriptions of behaviour.
4) . Develop a holistic understanding of the individual.
5) . Can provide hypotheses for future scientific study.
What are the evaluations of the nomothetic approach?
1) . Can be generalised.
2) . Methods are objective, measurable and can be verified =
- so replication, prediction and control of behaviour is easy.
3) . Generalised laws and principles may not apply to an individual.
4) . Understanding is often superficial:
- same score on personality test, but different answer.
How should the idiographic and nomothetic debate be viewed?
As complementary =
- findings from both approaches can be used to help understand each other.
What’s an example of the complementary aspect of the idiographic and nomothetic debate?
Bowlby’s maternal deprivation =
- developed using nomothetic approach (extreme separation = irreversible).
- Koluchova’s twins (idiographic) shows how MD was overcome.
- Bowlby’s theory can therefore be challenged.
What is reductionism?
Reducing complex behaviour to a simple explanation.
- i.e. Intelligence = IQ score.
What is holism?
Looks at people as a whole, or looks at all factors which together might explain a behaviour.
- i.e. Humanistic approach.
What are the different levels of explaining reductionism?
- Highest =
Cultural and social explanations of how our social groups affect our behaviour.
- Middle level =
Psychological explanations of behaviour.
- Lower level =
Biological explanations of how genes and hormones affect our behaviour.
What is an example of behaviour being explained by all 3 levels?
Memory =
- Highest (Social) =
How cultural expectations affect our memory.
- Middle (Psychological) =
Episodic memory.
- Lowest (Biological) =
Areas of the brain where memories are stored (hippocampus) and neurotransmitters involved in forming memories.
What types of reductionism is there?
1) . Biological reductionism.
2) . Environmental reductionism.
3) . Experimental reductionism.
What is biological reductionism?
Biological psychologists reduce behaviour to the role of horomones, genes, neurons, etc.
- e.g. Explaining schizophrenia in terms of dopamine.
Evaluate biological reductionism?
Reducing mental illness to the biological level ignores other, more practical forms of treatment.
- providing a pill for treatment may ignore other, more effective forms of treatment (CBT).
What is environmental reductionism?
Behaviour is explained in terms of the environment, behaviour is a result of the external stimulus.
- e.g. Explaining attachment in terms of conditioning.
Evaluate environmental reductionism?
This ignores other possible influences such as cognitive, emotional and innate factors.
- comparing humans to animals ignores emotional factors that influence behaviour.
What is experimental reductionism?
Behaviour is reduced to operationalised variables - defining behaviour. This can be manipulated and measured to determine causal relationships.
- e.g. Doing an experiment in conformity.
Evaluate experimental reductionism?
Experiments don’t tell us a lot about real-life. Reducing something to measurable variables may not resembles real-life - other factors may be influential.
