Issues and Debates AO1 and AO3

Question 1

How does Universality link to Psychology and Gender Bias?

Answer 1

The conclusions drawn from research must be able to link to people across different times and cultures but psychologists are usually influenced by their environment so this may be difficult to achieve

Question 2

Give an example of Alpha bias in psychology

Answer 2

• The sociobiological theory of relationship formation which suggests that males have to pass on their genes so it is in their best interest to impregnate as many women as possible but females can only pass on their genes by nurturing the offspring they have

Question 3

Give an example of Beta bias in psychology

Answer 3

• The fight or flight response was based on male animals because their hormones were less likely to fluctuate and the findings were then assumed to be universal.
• It was recently found that the fight or flight response has evolved in females and they will now befriend other females to protect their offspring

Question 4

Outline how implications of gender bias may be a limitation of gender bias (AO3)

Answer 4

Implications of gender bias may include the failure to challenge negative stereotypes which is a disadvantage as it offers ‘scientific justification’ for discrimination against women

Question 5

Outline the sexism that may be occurring in the institution of psychology as a limitation of gender bias(AO3)

Answer 5

Males and more likely to be
Females are less likely to reach research level in Psychology as well as less likely to have their work published but males are.
This proves that work that has gender bias is having an influence on people in real life

Question 6

Oultine one strength of gender bias known as reflexivity(AO3)

Answer 6

Gender bias in research allows for reflexitivty which is where researchers look back at their work and try to fix mistakes they’ve made. This means that we can have more solid research without bias

Question 7

Outline essentialism as a limitation for gender bias (AO3)

Answer 7

This is where politically motivated arguments are presented as facts to people and suggest that we should follow, them. For instance, the idea that women going to university causes the ovaries to shrink which creates a double standard for males and females

Question 8

Outline feminist psychologists as a strength of gender bias (AO3)

Answer 8

Worrel (1992) and other feminist psychologists have put forward a criteria that research should meet in order to avoid gender bias such as studying women in real life contexts to investigate their behaviours

Question 9

What type of people are suggested to dominate the field of psychology?

Answer 9

White American Males

Question 10

Outline Androcentrism

Answer 10

A type of beta bias that states that conclusions from research conducted on males is normal and if behaviour of females deviates from this they are abnormal

Question 11

What is free will?

Answer 11

The notion that humans are able to choose our own thoughts and actions. There may be other factors but we are able to reject these.

Question 12

What is determinism?

Answer 12

This is the idea that our behaviour is pre-determined by factors out of our control

Question 13

What are 3 examples of determinism

Answer 13

• Biological determinism
• Environmental determinism
• Psychic determinism

Question 14

What is biological determinism?

Answer 14

Physiological and neurological processes that aren’t under our control determine our behaviour

Question 15

What is environmental determinism?

Answer 15

Our ‘choice’ is due to reinforcement which occurs through life

Question 16

What is psychic determinism?

Answer 16

Behaviour is due to unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood

Question 17

What is soft determinism?

Answer 17

All human action has a cause and but people also have conscious mental control

Question 18

What is hard determinism?

Answer 18

All behaviour has a cause and it should be possible to identify these causes

Question 19

What is the case for determinism?

Answer 19

It is consistent with the aims of science as it suggests it is possible to control and predict human behaviour using lab experiments

Question 20

What is the case against determinism?

Answer 20

It is not consistent with the legal system in the UK as people are always held morally accountable for their actions.

Question 21

What is the case for free will?

Answer 21

There is evidence which suggests that people with an internal LOC have better mental health which suggests that having free will has a positive impact on us

Question 22

What is the evidence against free will?

Answer 22

There is evidence that suggests that brain activity may determine the outcome of our behaviours which suggests that our basic experiences are decided for us by our brains

Question 23

What is the interactionist approach for the free will/determinism debate?

Answer 23

This occurs in social learning theory and Bandura suggested that although environmental factors are key in learning, we are free to choose what to attend to

Question 24

What is holism?

Answer 24

The idea that any attempt to break up behaviour is inappropriate

Question 25

What is reductionism?

Answer 25

Breaking it down into different parts and it should all be explained using basic principles

Question 26

What are the levels of explanation?

Answer 26

• Sociology
• Psychology
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics

Question 27

What is biological reductionism?

Answer 27

Organisms are made from physiological structures and processed and all behaviour can be explained through neuro-chemical, evolutionary and genetic influences

Question 28

What is environmental reductionism?

Answer 28

Breaking complex behaviour into stimulus-response factors that are measurable in a lab

Question 29

What i the case for holism?

Answer 29

There are many aspects of behaviour that only occur in group contexts and cannot be understood by looking at individual members For instance, conformity looks at the group and the people in it so it gives a complete understanding

Question 30

What is the case against holism?

Answer 30

They don’t offer much scientific testing and can be vague as they become more complex. Holism has lack of empirical evidence which is a problem to finding real life solutions

Question 31

What is the case for reductionism?

Answer 31

These offer basis for scientific research as it is important to break down behaviours into smaller parts so they can be tested. This gives psychology greater credibility

Question 32

What is the case against reductionism?

Answer 32

It may oversimplify behaviours and this can lead to loss of validity. For instance, only looking at the genes don’t look into the social context. This approach can only form part of the explanation

Question 33

What is the interactionist approach to the holism/reductionism debate?

Answer 33

This considers different levels of explanations and the diathesis-stress model suggests that mental disorders may occur through having a disposition and being triggered by the environment which has led to treatments including CBT and drug therapy

Question 34

What is the idiographic approach?

Answer 34

Aims to look into the behaviour of the individual and their subjective experiences

Question 35

What research methods is the idiographic approach associated with?

Answer 35

Case studies, unstructured, qualitative data