Issues and Debates

Question 1

What is important about ‘issues” in psychology?

Answer 1

We look at the consequences of the issue, both good and bad

Question 2

What does universality mean?

Answer 2

An underlying characteristic of humans that can be applied to all

Question 3

What does bias mean?

Answer 3

The tendency to treat a group differently

Question 4

What does gender bias mean?

Answer 4

When psychological research offers a view that is more representative of one gender than the other

Question 5

What does Alpha bias mean?

Answer 5

When a difference between males and females is over exaggerated

Question 6

What does Beta Bias mean?

Answer 6

When a difference between the genders is under estimated and its almost assumed they’re the same

Question 7

What is Androcentrism?

Answer 7

The consequence of beta bias where a “male standard” is set and if females’ behaviour doesn’t align they are “abnormal”

Question 8

Example of Alpha bias

Answer 8

The sociobiological theory of relationship formation

It is in males’ interest to impregnate as many women as possible to increase chance of his genes being passed on

For females, their best chance is to raise their relatively few offspring they can produce

Question 9

Example of Beta Bias

Answer 9

The fight or flight response

Early research on Male animals developed this theory and was applied universally

But more recently Shelley Taylor et al suggested that women adopt a “tend and befriend” approach

Question 10

Example of androcentrism

Answer 10

The diagnosis of PMS medicalises female emotions especially anger and makes it seem abnormal but male anger is seen as rational

Question 11

Strengths/solutions of gender bias

Answer 11

NOTE : evaluation in I&D you are thinking about the consequences and solutions

(+)Worrel proposed a set of research criteria that can prevent gender biased research including, having a more diverse sample of females, considering personally relative variables and considering women in the natural setting

(+)more reflexivity as a result of more and more psychologists becoming aware of gender bias in their research, e.g. Lambert and Dambrin’s study of lack of women in executive positions and included in a reflection on how this influenced their reading of events. this is an important development

(+)another way to reduce gender bias to is to take a feminist approach - this accepts that there are biological diffs between male and females but works to change that. Eagly’s research showed that females are less effective leaders than males + So training programmes should be put in place

Question 12

Weaknesses/ consequences of gender bias

Answer 12

(-) gender bias in research may:create misleading assumptions about females, fail to challenge negative stereotypes, validate discriminatory practices. it could also allow for females in society to be denied of opportunities

(-)gender bias could be a result of sexism as commonly men are in the higher up research roles so females have less of a chance to have their input to research and its been found that reports by Males are more likely to be published than females’

Question 13

What is meant by cultural bias?

Answer 13

Overlooking cultural differences and viewing other cultures from your own culture viewpoint

Question 14

What is meant by ethnocentrism?

Answer 14

Involves judging another culture with the values of your own culture; viewing your own as superior

Question 15

What is meant by Cultural relativism?

Answer 15

Viewing every culture differently and stepping into their shoes when viewing them

The idea that human behaviour can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts

Question 16

What is meant by Imposed Etic?

Answer 16

A test or theory devised in one culture used to explain the behaviour in another culture

Question 17

What is meant by research tradition?

Answer 17

The familiarity a culture has with taking part in psychological investigations

Question 18

What is meant by collectivist culture?

Answer 18

Refers to cultures like India and China who are said to be more group orientated

Question 19

What is meant by individualist culture?

Answer 19

Refers to western cultures who are more individual orientated/independent

Question 20

What is meant by an Etic approach?

Answer 20

Conducting studies across many cultures trying to find universal behaviour

Question 21

What is meant by an Emic approach?

Answer 21

Studying isolated cultures to identify specific behaviours

Question 22

What is meant by Culture Bound Syndromes?

Answer 22

A group of classified treatable illnesses in specific cultures that are not recognised as such in others such as the `West

Question 23

What is the problem when we ignore cultural differences and the influence of it on human behaviour?

Answer 23

By ignoring them, we can mistakenly assume that findings derived from Western studies can be applied universally

E.g Milgram and Asch’s studies were conducted with American men but then was applied all over the world and was later found that different cultures produced different results

Question 24

An example of ethnocentrism

Answer 24

The Strange Situation

Suggests “securely attached” American infants are the ideal

creating misinterpretation of child rearing practices in other cultures such as Germany and Japan

it is not an appropriate test for non-US children

Question 25

Why is The Strange Situation an example of imposed etic too?

Answer 25

It was a test devised in one culture but used to explain attachment across all cultures

By assuming the Strange Situation was the norm for classifying attachment, Ainsworth imposed her own cultural knowledge on the rest of the world

Question 26

strengths/ solutions of culture bias

Answer 26

(+)ways of diagnosing mental health have become more inclusive of previously ignored disorders after more psychiatrist has become aware of the lack of acknowledgement of culturally bound syndromes so now in the DSM there is a section for foreign disorders e.g brain fag and koro

(+)critics have recently suggested that in this age separating cultures by “individualist” and “collectivist” is lazy and too simple of a distinction, Osaka and Takano studied 15 studies comparing USA and Japan and found 14 didn’t have any evidence of the traditional descriptions, suggesting a development

(+) one way to deal with cultural bias is to spot it before it occurs, Smith and Bond analysed European psychology textbooks and found that 66% studies were American, 32% European and 2% Rest of world; this can be solved by using more diverse samples

(+)contemporary psychologists are more well-travelled and open-minded than before allowing for that increased understanding of other cultures + at international conferences more psychologist exchange more experiences of diff cultures adding to that understanding + reducing etnocentrism

Question 27

weaknesses/consequences of culture bias

Answer 27

(-) culturally biased research can have negative real world effects by e.g. amplifying + validating damaging stereotypes, before WW1 America used an IQ test culturally biased towards white majority + therefore showed African-Americans at bottom of scale, increasing negative opinions + stereotypes about them

Question 28

What are the Ethical Guidelines?

Answer 28

A set of principles set by the BPS that help psychologists behave honestly and with integrity

Question 29

What are Ethical Implications?

Answer 29

The impact psychological research has on the rights of other ppl not just the pps

Question 30

What is Socially Sensitive Research?

Answer 30

Research that can have implications for the group of ppl the pps represent

Question 31

What were the ethical implications of Milgrams study?

Answer 31

Pps in Milgrams experiment were deceived and therefore not able to give informed consent and some also suffered distress

But they were debriefed and a follow up interview was conducted a year later showing no long term effects

But the findings of this showed that Germans weren’t “evil” for obeying Hitler and letting everything happen and that any other nation would do the same and helped our understanding of obedience

Question 32

What were the ethical Implications of Bowlby’s monotropic theory?

Answer 32

It has positive implications such as leading to childcare being developed

but also negative implications as it suggested women’s place is at home with the children and can make women feel guilty for wanting to return to work after birth

Question 33

How can Milgrams research be considered socially sensitive ?

Answer 33

The findings of the study can help people make others obey commands that they may not want to which could cause severe ethical issues

Question 34

How can Bowlby’s monotropic theory be socially sensitive?

Answer 34

It could be used to make mothers stay at home out of guilt

Question 35

What did Sieber and Stanley identify as concerns that psychologists should be mindful of when conducting socially sensitive research?

Answer 35

Implications

Validity

Uses(of it)

Question 36

What is meant by “implications” as a concern when conducting socially sensitive research?

Answer 36

The wider effects of such socially sensitive research as sometimes these studies have provided scientific credence for prejudice/discrimination e.g. study about a racial basis of intelligence

However not all effects can be predicted from the offset

Question 37

What is meant by “uses” as a concern?

Answer 37

How are the findings going to be used after publishment? Could it be used wrongfully?

Question 38

What is meant by “validity” as a concern?

Answer 38

Some studies that have been seen as objective and value free have actually turned out to be in some cases fraudulent e.g. Burt’s research

Question 39

What was Burt’s study and what was wrong with it?

Answer 39

He published research claiming that intelligence is genetic and therefore led onto the development of the 11+ which was used to determine a child’s “natural” intelligence and determine where they go for education next (grammar or modern secondary)

It was later found that he actually made up some of his evidence

Question 40

Positive impacts of ethical implications

Answer 40

(+) benefits of socially sensitive research include an increased sensitivity and understanding within psychology; by developing our understanding of sensitive issues we become more sensitive and understanding e.g. conducting research about the effect of cultural bias on the diagnosis of schizophrenia

(+) also helps prevent miscarriages of justice in our legal system after socially sensitive research was carried out on the unreliability of eyewitness testimony and the effect of that esp in the Ronald Cotton case (who was wrongfully convicted and jailed for 10 bc of false eyewitness identification) highlights the positive implications of socially sensitive research

(+)the realisation that research is socially sensitive allows for psychologists to be more reflexive and makes them think about the possible implications of there work leading to them taking more responsibility and ensuring their work isn’t abused ; this is a positive Impact

Question 41

Negative impacts of ethic implications

Answer 41

(-)socially sensitive research has been used for discriminating practices, in ‘20s/30s a large number of US states approved laws that allowed the compulsory sterilisation of citizens deemed to be “feeble-minded” and drains on society, this cake about bc of research from psychology and science that deemed these ppl “unfit” to breed

Question 42

Another evaluation of ethical implications

Answer 42

Despite there being negative consequences of socially sensitive research it is important for psychologists to be able to carry out the research they want so if laws come about to prevent socially sensitive research this can limit their freedom and rights as a psychologist but can also become bc of political reasons rather than ethical, so it may just be the case of psychologists ensuring the benefits outweigh the cost

Question 43

What is free will?

Answer 43

The belief that humans beings are essentially self determining and in control of their own thoughts and decisions

Question 44

What is meant by determinism?

Answer 44

The view that an individual’s behaviour is determined by internal and external forces that cannot be controlled

Question 45

What is hard determinism?

Answer 45

There is no room for any free will -it is impossible

Question 46

What is soft determinism?

Answer 46

Behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices as-well as being controlled by forces

Question 47

What is biological determinism

Answer 47

The belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control
E.g the influence of the autonomic nervous system during periods of stress and anxiety and the fact that many mental disorders have a genetic basis

Question 48

What is environmental determinism?

Answer 48

The belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control
E.g BF skinner famously said that free will is just an illusion and that everything we have learnt is through conditioning

Question 49

What is psychic determinism

Answer 49

The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control, there is no such thing as free will according to both Freud and skinner
E.g. even “slips of the tongue” aren’t random, they can also be explained by the underlying authority of the unconscious

Question 50

What is meant by the scientific emphasis on causal explanations?

Answer 50

• science aims to find the cause of things, it’s based on the principle that every event has a cause which can be explained using general laws
• psychology aims to be a science and therefore adopts the scientific method

Question 51

What is the scientific method?

Answer 51

Manipulating an IV to observe the effect on the DV

Question 52

Arguments supporting determinism

Answer 52

Determinism is consistent with the aims of science

And bc of this it can be placed on equal footing with more established sciences like physics

Determinism claims that everything has a cause and behaviour is orderly and obeys laws linking to the principle of cause and effect and this allows for psychologists to control and predict behaviours

This has led to the development of treatments, therapies and behaviour interventions e.g the development of antipsychotic drugs after establishing the dopamine hypothesis

Question 53

Arguments criticising determinism

Answer 53

taking a hard determinist stance is not consistent with the legal system

A hard determinist stance means strongly believing that everything is caused by uncontrollable external and internal forces

but the legal system operates by the fact that offenders are responsible for their actions and held accountable for them and that’s why we can punish them

Question 54

Arguments supporting free will

Answer 54

The concept of free will has face validity;on the surface it makes sense

Robert et al conducted a study with adolescents and found that those with a strong belief in fatalism are more likely to develop depression than those who have an internal locus of control

This shows that a belief in free will has a more positive effect and impact on the mind and behaviour

Question 55

Arguments criticising free will

Answer 55

There is evidence from neurological studies that we don’t have free will over decisions

Libet and siong soon et al found that the brain activity that determines the outcome of a simple decisions predates our own knowledge of making that decision; pps were told to choose to press a button either with their left or right hand and it was found that brain activity associated with making this decision occurred up to 10s before pps reported making a conscious decision

Suggests that even the most basic of decisions and experiences are determined by our brain

Question 56

A middle ground between free will and determinism?

Answer 56

An interactionist approach may be the better way of explaining behaviour ; an interactionist approach acknowledges that a range of factors are involved

The social learning theory and the cognitive approach are both examples of approaches that take an interactionist approach

Bandura argues that although the environment is key for learning, we as humans still have a choice to choose what and who we attend to - this is a soft determinist stance

Question 57

Describe the nature side of the nature-nurture debate

Answer 57

It emphasises that human characteristics are innate

Nativists argue that characteristics are the result of heredity

Question 58

What is the heritability coefficient?

Answer 58

It’s used to asses heredity

It ranges from 0-1 and it indicates the extent of genetic basis

A value of 1 means it’s 100% genetically inherited

Question 59

Describe the nurture side of the nature nurture debate

Answer 59

Describes that characteristics are a result of influences from the environment

Empiricists argue that the mind is a blank slate at brith and the influence of the environment shape and add to that slate

The “environment” can refer to pre-natal and post-natal experiences such as the social and historical contexts the child grows up in

Question 60

Why is the Nature Nurture debate impossible to answer?

Answer 60

It’s impossible to separate the two as environmental influences begin as soon as a baby is born

Even in twin studies, it’s difficult to tell whether high concordance rates are bc of shared upbringing or genetics

As there’s also never been 100% concordance rates, it’s clear both heredity and the environment are involved in the development of behaviour

Question 61

Interactionist approach(nature + nurture)?

Answer 61

this is the idea that nature and nurture are linked so closely. it doesn’t make sense to separate the 2

Question 62

what is the Diathesis-stress model and what does it suggest about psychopathology?

Answer 62

the model suggests that psychopathology is caused by a biological/genetic vulnerability(diathesis) which is only expressed when a biological or environmental trigger triggers it (stress)

Question 63

What did Tienari et al find?

Answer 63

in a group of Finnish adoptees, those that were more likely to develop schizophrenia had biological relatives with a schizophrenic history and also had “dysfunctional” relationships with their adoptive families

Question 64

What is meant by Epigenetics?

Answer 64

it refers to a change in our genetic activity without changing our genetic code

Question 65

What are epigentic marks and what do they do?

Answer 65

Epigenetic “marks” occur on our DNA from aspects of our lifestyle and events we encounter

these marks tell our bodies which genes to ignore and which to use, this can actually be passed on to the next generation

Question 66

What did Dias and Ressler find and do?

Answer 66

• they gave male lab mice electric shocks every time they were exposed to acetophenone (chemical in perfume)
• found every time they smelt that after they showed fear rejection
• but so did their children and grandchildren

Question 67

Arguments against the nature side of the debate?

Answer 67

• could be negative implications from taking an extremist determinist stance that our inherited genetic makeup determines our characteristics
• but believing this has led to governments linking race,gender and intelligence together leading to eugenics policies being put in place e.g. in america those classed as “feeble-minded” were sterilised so they couldn’t pass on their genes
• assumptions from this side of the debate should be carefully considered

Question 68

Arguments for the nurture side?

Answer 68

• empiricists would suggest that behaviour can be changed by altering environment
• has led to practical application such as in therapy; undesirable behaviours ignored/punished + desirable behaviours reinforced

Question 69

Arguments against the nurture side?

Answer 69

(could be used as counter)-
-empiricists would suggest behaviours can be shaped/changed

• although this is good it can also have negative implications
• if taken to extreme, it can lead one to advocate a model of society using this idea by manipulating citizens; this is an ethical issue as its removing free will from individuals

Question 70

Arguments for the interactionist (N+N)approach

Answer 70

(+)PKU, a genetic disorder caused by 2 recessive alleles, can be reverted by altering the environment
PKU prevents the breakdown of phenylalanine causing mental retardation but if child diagnosed early, they can be placed on low protein diet and can stop PKU from being expressed
this demonstrates how nature and nurture can interact

(+)evidence support from tienari et al study

Question 71

What is holism?

Answer 71

An argument/theory that suggest we study human behaviour indivisibly and as a whole rather than looking at it’s constituent Parts

This view is shared by humanists

Question 72

What is reductionism?

Answer 72

The belief that human behaviour is best understood when broken down into its smaller constituent parts to make it a simple explanation to understand

Question 73

What is biological reductionism?

Answer 73

Attempting to explain social and psychological phenomena from a lower biological level

Question 74

What is environmental reductionism?

Answer 74

Attempting to explain phenomena in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned from experiences

Question 75

What are levels of explanation?

Answer 75

Different ways of viewing the same phenomena, some ways being more reductionist than the others

e.g, understanding OCD at a socio-cultural level of producing behaviour such as repetitively washing hands, at a psychological level, the experience of having obsessive thoughts, at a physical level, the process of washing hands, at a physiological level, hypersensitivity in the basal ganglia, at a neurochemical level, an underproduction of serotonin

Question 76

Arguement for(and against-counter) holism

Answer 76

(+)sometimes, the only way to understand what is going on is by studying the whole picture

e.g, studying conformity to social roles is best understood only when the behaviour of the group as a whole is studied rather than the individual members like in the Stanford Prison Experiment, it was important to see the interactions between the pps

(-)HOWEVER despite this, taking a holistic viewpoint has limited real-world application; difficult to establish how much each individual factor contributes to the behaviour e.g with explaining schizophrenia, the dopamine hypothesis explains it by focusing on the impact of dopamine imbalance and that’s led to focused drug therapy, holistic viewpoint doesn’t allow us to develop focused treatments

Question 77

Argument for reductionism

Answer 77

(+)scientists are drawn to reductionism as it allows for smaller constituents to be scientifically tested in a much more controlled manner

e.g.Miller only studied capacity not coding or duration

bc of this approaches like the biological approach and behaviourist approach are regarded as scientific but humanistic isn’t

Question 78

Argument against reductionism

Answer 78

(-)being reductionist can lead to oversimplification of very complexed behaviours

e.g. attempting to explain schizophrenia occurs because of a dopamine imbalance in the brain ignores the many other factors involved and its argued that for smog so complex like schizophrenia, it needs to be considers at other levels

the holistic approach attempts to overcome this criticism and therefore can be considered as providing the complete and realist explanation of human behaviour

Question 79

What is the idiographic approach?

Answer 79

• an approach that focuses on the individual and their unique experiences
• makes no attempt to formulate laws or make generalisations that ppl can be compared against
• favours qualitative research methods like case studies, unstructured interviews, thematic analysis etc to gain an in-depth insight into human behaviour
• e.g, is the humanistic approach

Question 80

What is the nomothetic approach?

Answer 80

• an approach that wants to establish laws and make generalisations by using large groups of people
• use these generalisations as a benchmark to compare/classify/measure ppl + to predict and control future behaviours
• prefers quantitive methods such as experiments and correlations
• e.g. behaviourism, Biological and cognitive

Question 81

What’s an approach that is both nomothetic and idiographic and why?

Answer 81

Psychodynamic approach bc it made universal laws about personality development but used case studies to detail peoples lives

Question 82

A counter-argument for idiographic approach

Answer 82

(+)the idiographic approach provides a complete and global account of individuals that can acc complement the nomothetic approach

e.g.the study of KF revealed that there’s more than 1 type of STM and challenged the MSM

(-)HOWEVER, idiographic approach uses non scientific methods that can be subjective which means conclusions drawn can be open to bias

Question 83

A counter argument for nomothetic approach

Answer 83

(+)the process involved in nomothetic research tends to be more scientific

They tend to test under standardised conditions, use stat analysis, use data sets to calculate group averages + have controlled conditions

(-)HOWEVER in lab conditions, pps tend to get treated as numbers/set of scores etc+ their subjective experience is ignored meaning nomothetic approach can overlook the richness of human experience