Issues and debates Flashcards
what is reductionism
the idea that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into smaller component parts
what is environmental reductionism
all behaviour can be reduced to simple stimulus-response associations and complex behaviours are just a chain of stimulus response associations
what is holism
human behaviour should be viewed as the whole integrated experience and not separate parts
what are the levels of explanation in relation to reductionism
lowest: biological
middle: psychological explanations
highest: social and cultural explanations
give an example of biological reductionism from an area of psychology you have studied
the biological approach argues that OCD is caused by increased levels of dopamine and reduced levels of serotonin and so reduces the cause of OCD to purely an imbalance of neurotransmitters
give an example of environmental reductionism from an area of psychology you have studied
the behaviourist approach argues that phobias are caused by classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning
what is experimental reductionism
the idea that to test a theory in psychology it is usually reduced to just one variable eg peterson and peterson looked at memory but reduced it down to how duration affects stm
outline the rat study that links to the nature/nurture debate
one group of rat mothers licked their babies, one group didn’t and it was found that the baby rats that were licked went on to lick their babies (they carried their mothers actions on)- nurture.
argued that this could be a genetic thing so rat babies were given to different mothers and it was found that rats became high lickers if they were brought up by high lickers regardless of genetic relation
how can nurture affect our nature
epigenetics- markers are switched on and off depending on the environment and what we experience
what is alpha bias
where differences between males and females are exaggerated- can be used to undervalue one of the sexes
what is beta bias
differences between males and females are ignored or minimised
what is androcentrism
where males are viewed as being the centre of culture and males behaviour is viewed as the norm
what is estrocentrism
where female behaviour is seen as the norm (rarer than androcentrism)
how did freud’s theory show gender bias
described male behaviour as the norm and explained female behaviour as anything that differed from the norm eg girls suffering ‘penis envy’
how did asch’s theory show gender bias
androcentric as he used a male only sample meaning his results couldn’t be generalised to women
define culture
a set of customs, social roles, behavioural norms and moral values that are shared by a group of people
what is etic research
research from a specific culture that is then applied to other cultures to find universal laws
what is an imposed etic
generalising the findings of one study on one culture to the whole population
what is emic research
research based on a specific culture thats used to understand that culture from within (not generalised to other cultures) but studies variations in behaviour between groups of people
how can bias still occur with emic research
differences between cultural groups can be exaggerated
what is ethnocentrism
where our culture is taken as the norm and we study other cultures against it
what are the problems with doing cross cultural research
can be difficult to interpret what p’s say and do sometimes even with a translator- findings may be misinterpreted and then can be ethnocentric
also cross cultural replications are difficult to do as procedures have different meanings in different cultures so the studies lack validity
what is cultural relativism
accepting that there are no universal standards for behaviour and any research done must take the culture into account
how can you avoid an imposed etic (berry 1969)
conducting research in meaningful contexts and using local researchers who are part of the culture being studied
what is free will
people are able to choose how to behave and their behaviour is not a response to external or biological factors and isn’t influenced by past behaviour
what is determinism
all of the physical events in the universe occur in cause and effect relationships. thoughts, beliefs and behaviours are determined by past events and causes
one pro and one con of determinism
pro: very scientific- physics has shown that events in the universe operate according to cause and effect relationships
con: unfalsifiable- can’t be proved wrong as assumes that events can be the result of forces that haven’t been discovered yet
one pro and one con of free will
pro: people can explain behaviour in terms of decisions and intentions
con: subjective- people may think they’re choosing how to behave but they’re actually being influenced by other forces
what is reductionism
the scientific view that is should be possible to explain complex things by reducing them to their most simple structures or processes
what is holism
human behaviour is more complex than scientific processes so it should be viewed as the product of different influences which all interact
what are the levels of explanation in psychology from most scientific (reductionist) to the least scientiic (holistic)
1) molecular level (physics)
2) cellular level (biochemistry)
3) parts of individuals (biology)
4) behaviour of individuals (psychology)
5) behaviour of groups (sociology)
what is the nature vs empiricist argument
naturist: (Jean Rousseau) argued that all human characteristics were inborn
empiricists: (John Locke) claimed everyone is a blank slate when born and the environment ‘writes’ unique characteristics onto us
what is the interactionist approach
nature and nurture interact because personality and behaviour are influenced by both
what does the diathesis stress model suggest
people have genetic predispositions for disorders like schizophrenia. someone with a higher diathesis (vulnerability) is more likely to develop the trait but whether they do depends on the stress they experience (environment)
what are the 3 types of genotype-environment correlations identified by plomin et al
1) passive- people with similar genes (family) are likely to experience similar environments eg 2 siblings may both be aggressive due to inheriting aggressive traits or because they had a hostile home environment
2) reactive- genetically determined characteristics may shape a person’s experiences eg people react more positively to attractive people
3) active- people with particular inherited tendancies may seek out certain environments (environment determines behaviour and behaviour determines environment)
what is the nomothetic approach
applies general laws and theories to explain behaviour across the whole population
uses lab experiments and correlational research to draw conclusions (quantitative methods)
what is the idiographic approach
focuses on the individual in detail- looks at what makes each person different and doesn’t make general laws or theories
uses case studies, interviews and observations (qualitiative methods)
one pro and one con for the nomothetic approach
pro: research methods frequently used which means its controlled, objective and scientific
con: creating general laws ignores individual differences so its not useful for explaining behaviour that doesn’t fit in with the norms of the general laws
one pro and one con of the idiographic approach
pro: focuses on the individual so can give a more complete explanation of behaviour
con: fewer people are studied (but in more detail) so its hard to generalise findings to larger populations
