Issues and debates Flashcards
1
Q
outline gender bias
A
- Differential treatment of men and women based on stereotypes and untrue differences
- Androcentrism- focusing on male perspective
- Alpha bias- exaggerates differences between genders, and devalues one gender, e.g.Freud- women are less morally developed, Oedipus complex
- Beta bias- ignoring the differencing and assuming if it applies to one, it must apply to the other e.g. using male animals when studying the stress response, Shelly Taylor found it was actually tend and befriend
- Universality- aim to develop theories that can apply to everyone
- Key Study- Kohlberg- only used men and boy participants, then found women were morally underdeveloped. Gilligan redid this and found women favoured a care orientation and men a justice orientation- difference but not superior
2
Q
evaluate gender bias
A
- Feminist psychology- to address the imbalance. They agree about biological differences however also note the socially determined stereotypes.
- Reverse alpha bias- emphasises the value of women. Cornwell found women are better at learning due to their attentiveness and flexibility- challenges the idea that men’s position is better
- Biased research- genders don’t differ, but methods do, so the genders appear different. Rosenthal found male experimenters are nicer to female participants, which results in them doing better and men worse.
- Assumptions need to be examined- Darwins idea of female coyness to gain a mate was challenged and they found women were equally as aggressive/competitive
3
Q
outline culture bias
A
- Alpha bias- exaggerates differences between cultures e.g. Takan and Osaka- 15 studies which compared the US with Japan, 14/15 did not support the common belief that collectivists cultures are more conformist
- Beta bias-ignores differences, assumes if it links to one it will link to another e.g. IQ tests that are devised in Western cultures but used in all countries. The US see intellect as a part of themselves, whereas other cultures like Uganda see it as a functional relationship. This means other cultures may be seen as having lower IQ
- Ethnocentrism- using out own culture as the norm and basis of our judgment, seeing ours as the standard.
- Cultural relativism- view that we need to respect other cultures and we can’t view/judge it properly unless we put it in the context of the culture
4
Q
evaluate culture bias
A
- Indigenous psychologies- a way to counter ethnocentrism. e.g. the Afrocentrism movement suggesting all black people have a link to Africa and so all research should express this disputes the superior European views
- Emic and etic- emic= emphasises the uniqueness of every culture focusing on the culturally specific phenomenon. Etic= seeks universal behaviours and patterns and uses indigenous researchers
- Biased research- we should, instead, use samples from different groups but this doesn’t happen e.g. Smith who used 66% American ps 32% EU and 2%other. Sears found US psych students were 4000 times more likely to be a part of studies
- Consequences- after US IQ tests in WW1, euro immigrants were below the US and African American had the lowest mental age- leads to stereotypes and profound long-term effects
- We now a much better understanding
5
Q
outline free will and determinism
A
- Biological determinism- emphasis on the genetic influence on behavior e.g. gene for high intelligence (IGF2R)
- Environmental determinism- behaviors are caused by experiences and classical/operant conditioning. Like the idea that phobias are developed through conditioning, like a dog bite
- Psychic determinism- Freud’s theory, no control over unconscious thoughts, no control over our unconscious, so our innate drive determines it, like our psychosexual stages.
- Scientific determinism- emphasis on causal relationship, A has to cause B, e.e. Harlow’s monkeys- found contact and comfort was more important than food
- Free will- Humanistic- self determinism, we can grow as people, without self-determinism, we cant self-actualize
- Free will- Moral responsibility- individual is completely in control, regardless of innate impulses. Accountable.
6
Q
evaluate free will and determinism
A
- Not 100% likely- there are always different explanation, concordance rates never 100% meaning other things have to account e.g. 40% for depression
- Chaos theory- aka the butterfly effect, causal relationships are more probabilistic rather than deterministic, deterministic is too simple
- Criminal- criminals say they are not at fault as it’s their biology, e.g. Stephen Mobley said he was born to kill
- Mental health- we biologically inherit depression through genes and neurotransmitters
- Illusion of free will- Skinner, we subconsciously decide to do things because we are determined to do it from reinforcement
- Challenging free will- Libet recorded motor areas in the brain, asked the participant to move a finger, found the person was already unconsciously thinking their finger up to 10 seconds before. Readiness to act.
7
Q
outline nature
A
Nature
- Genetic explanation- family, twin and adoption studies show the closer two individuals are the more likely they will both develop the same behaviours e.g. concordance for MZ twins for schizophrenia is 40%, for DZ twins only have 7%
- Evolutionary based- that a behaviour/characteristic that promotes survival and reproduction or survival because they are adaptive. Bowlby said attachment was adaptive
8
Q
outline nurture
A
Nurture
- Behaviourism- past expiernces and classical/operant conditiong e.g. attachment is a classic, the baby is conditioned because discomfort is reduced.
- Social learning theory- behaviour acquired through learning and indirect inforcment like we may all have the gene for aggression but we show it in different ways depending on how we have grown up
- Other explanations- double bind theory of schizophrenia- caused by mixed/conflicting messages as a baby
9
Q
evaluate nature and nurture
A
- Nature and nurture cannot be separated- interactionist approach- they both contributed e.g. desire phenylketonuria which causes brain damage but can be controlled by early diagnosis and avoid food with phenylketonuria, solved through environment
- Diathesis-stress- genetic vulnerability- trigger-predisposition
- Nature effects nurture- genes affect us indirectly, infant microenvironment, child with aggression may provoke aggressive response which will affect their environment
- Nurture affects nature- life experiences shape your biology, London taxi driver had larger parts of the brain connected with spatial material, because the hippocampus adapted to increased stimuli
- Epigenetics- material in each cell in your body, acts like on and off switch
10
Q
outline holism and reductionism
A
Holism
-look at the person’s whole rather than separate components
-Gestalt, German psychologist, explanations only make sense when looking at the whole picture
-Humanistic- we react as an organised whole rather than a set of stimulus-response links. A lack of wholeness leads to a mental illness
-Cognitive- suggests things like memory are formed by in a connectionist network. Experience establish new links
Reductionism
-Levels of explanation- highest= culture/social, middle=psychological, lowest= biological e.g. memory can be explained by all three
-Bio reductionism- e.g AN and dopamine
-Envi- stimulus response
-Experimental- reducing complex behaviours to variables that can be manipulated and measured to determine causal relationships
11
Q
evaluate holism and reductionism
A
- Bioreduction- development of drug therapies which had lead to a reduction in institutionalisation. But it doesn’t treat the cause
- Levels- if lower levels are taken in isolation, we cold overlook the meaning of behaviour. Wolpe- treated Little Hans for a horse phobia but it was really a fear of his father
- Environmental reductionism- was developed after studies on am=nimals, we can’t generalise to ourselves because humans are more complex etc
- Mind/body problem- maternalism=nonly look at the physical brain, dualism=bio brain and non-bio mind that interact with each other. Martin found improvements in serotonin in depressed patient
12
Q
outline idiographic approach
A
Idiographic approach
- Study of individuals and insights of the individual human behaviour
- Qualitative methods- because it’s on individuals, not numerical data and averaging them out. Quality rather than quantity
- Interviews, observation, case studies, self-report, autobiographies
- e.g. psychodynamic- Freud- Little Hans
e. g. humanistic- whole person
13
Q
outline nomothetic approach
A
Nomothetic Approach
- Study of large groups of people, to make laws of behaviour/generalisations
- Quantitative methods- calculations like measures of central tendency and statistical analysis needs data from groups e.g. norms of IQ requires 1000s of ps
- e.g. behaviourist- general laws about conditioning and human behaviour
- e.g. cognitive, typical memory processes etc
- e.g. Eysenck personality
14
Q
evaluate the idiographic and nomothetic approaches
A
- Focus on the individual- offers detailed understanding, Allport suggests we can’t predict a person behaviour unless we know them enough
- Can’t generalise- we cant say if the data represtns a wider group
15
Q
outline ethical implications of research
A
-Social implications
