issues and debates ao3

Question 1

culture bias (social influence research)

Answer 1

• influential studies are biased
• asch/milgram only studied US ppts
• emic = US and etic = other countries
• research replicated (asch) in collectivist = found conformity higher
• social influence research culturally biased

Question 2

culture bias (media globalisation)

Answer 2

• live in a time of media therefore culture bias may not exist due to media
• trad view US = individualistic China/India = collectivist
• researchers found 14/15 studies comparing US/Japan found no distinction
• suggests distinction lazy and recent research not affected by bias
• distinction almost non existent

Question 3

culture bias (ethnic stereotyping)

Answer 3

• researchers highlight how first IQ test lead to eugenic social policies
• IQ test (very enthnocentric) done by army = eastern europe and African american got low scores
• used against them denied education/opportunites added to racial idea (genetic inferiority)
• issue as lead to discrimination

Question 4

holism reductionism debate (practical value)

Answer 4

• holism lack practical value as it becomes to complex eg humanistic approach
• to difficult to know whats important and what to look for in treatment
• however strength of reductionism takes complex ideas break them down
• easier to pinpoint factors and what to look for in treatment
• strength of reductionism weakness of holism

Question 5

holism reductionism debate (scientific approach)

Answer 5

• reductionist appraoch seen as scientific holism not (weakness)
• scientific research need to operationalise variables and break down behaviour = so can study objectively/reliably
• rises many features of science = increase scientific credbility of psych
• however oversimplify behaviour = lower validity = miss important context = take interactionist

Question 6

holism reductionism debate (higher level studying)

Answer 6

• some behaviours can only be studied at higher level than lower
• eg zimbardos study into social conformity can only be understood with group interactions and context
• therefore studying some behaviours at higher level = more advantageous than reductionist

Question 7

gender bias (social vs biological explanations)

Answer 7

• gender differences seen as fixed and enduring when not = lead to gender bias = specifically alpha
• previous research suggests girls have better verbal skills while boys have spatial = was accepted + seen as biological
• recent researcher= brain scan = no difference = shows research was biased and fit into stereotypes
• shows be careful when accepting research as biological = could lead to bias = as showing stereotypes than biologcial differences

Question 8

gender bias (researchs should still study gender differences)

Answer 8

• should still study even with risk of gender bias
• researcher said some biological truth behind women being better multitaskers = as have more connections between hemispheres
• not alpha bias case as actual biological truth
• researchers should be careful when explaining biological differences effecting behaviour = dont exaggerate = could lead to bias in some cases

Question 9

gender bias (sexism in research)

Answer 9

• can lead to sexism in research = women underrepresented in uni psych departments = even tho women take up majority psych undergrad = men more likely to be lecturers/researchers
• disadvantage to women = research shows male researchers think women irrational in tasks = leading them to underperform
• insitutional structure bias to men and psychology methods can lead to gender biased results

Question 10

idiographic nomothetic approach in investigations (approaches work together)

Answer 10

• idiographic and nomethetic work together
• idiographic uses qualitative methods to give indepth research for individual accounts = complements nomothetic
• more insight into general laws or challenge them eg HM case study = more hypotheses on memory studies
• so work together to form general laws

Question 11

idiographic nomothetic approach in investigations (scientific approach)

Answer 11

• nomothetic seen as scientific as it uses similar porcesses as natural sciences
• make sures studies objective through standardisation, stats test and control
• idiographic tries to be more scientific using methods like triangulation to increase validity
• both nomothetic and idiographic approach raise scientific credibility of psych but nomothetic in line with scientific approach more

Question 12

idiographic nomothetic approach in investigations (lose understanding of a person)

Answer 12

• nomothetic focuses on general laws, controls etc so lose understanding of person and their experiences
• eg 1% chance of developing SZ but doesnt tell us of suffering/experience of SZ which may be more useful when looking for treatments for patients
• therefore weakness doesnt give indept detail on behaviour/experiences
• highlights strength of idiographic which does which gives valuable insight

Question 13

free will vs determinism debate (research support for free will)

Answer 13

• research shows that those who have internal LOC (free will) are more likley to be mentally healthy
• further research shows adolescents who believe in fatalism (external LOC) greater risk of developing depression
• shows believing in free will has positive impact on our MH = strength
• determinism negatively affects our MH = weakness

Question 14

free will vs determinism debate (aligns with science + real life application)

Answer 14

• determinism aligns with science as aims to find cause and effect and believing human behaviour follows laws puts psych next to more established sciences
• determinism research has led to development of treatments therapies etc
• eg SD and flooding use environmental deterministic stance of learning phobia via 2 process model and can unlearn via counterconditioning
• strength of determinism as has real life application onto treatment/therapies and help people with psychological problems

Question 15

free will vs determinism debate (doesnt align with legal system)

Answer 15

• determinism states that we cant control our behaviour however legal system states we are responsible for our behaviour
• some criminals may appeal sentence and say they were biologically determined etc
• in legal systems eye determinism doesnt exist and only free will issue for determinism shows it doesnt apply to real life situations

Question 16

ethical implications on research studies (real life application)

Answer 16

• government relies on research to make social policies about school etc
• important to base policies off research
• government has group called the Office that collects and analyses objective data so can be used in research
• therefore psychologists play role to provide high quality social sensitive research + real life application because used to make policies

Question 17

ethical implications on research studies (benefits for groups)

Answer 17

• one researcher did 5K anonymous interviews on men about their sexual behaviour
• found that homosexuality is normal sexual expression
• credited when DSM removed homosexuality from DSM 1 where previously seen as social personality disorder
• positive / importance of social sensitiver research

Question 18

ethical implications on research studies (poor study design)

Answer 18

• poor study design = errors in finding = ethical implications once in public
• eg researcher said intelligence genetic and can be detected at 11 = where 11+ came from still used today
• independent schools use same idea for entrance exams
• be careful about study design can lead to ethical implications on certain groups = shows importance

Question 19

nature nuture debate (adoption studies)

Answer 19

• NN debate uses adoption studies as able to seperate NN
• is child more like adoptive parents or biological parents?
• meta analysis done on adoption studies found 41% of variance in aggression was influenced by genetics so 59% was nuture
• strength as can understand nature nuture and its impact using adoptions studies

Question 20

nature nuture debate (nature nuture interaction)

Answer 20

• some psychologist argue NN cant be separated but form a continuum of nature nuture interactionism
• psychologists found people choose their environment based on whats appropiate for their nature through niche picking eg
• aggressive child makes aggressive friends which influences them
• supports NN cant be separated and supports interactionism

Question 21

nature nuture interactionism (epigenetics)

Answer 21

• epigenetics support NN and it is the change of genetic activity due to interactions with environment = can leave genetic markers passing onto offsprings
• eg Nazis blocked food for Dutch = mass starvation = killed 22K babies = women pregnant gave birth to low weight babies = babies 2x as likely to develop SZ
• shows experiences of previous generations can leave markers for future ones affecting their health = support NN interaction