Issues and debates (definitions) Flashcards
Free will
The notions that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces
Determinism
The view that an individual’s behaviour is controlled (fully or partially) by internal or external forces rather than the individual’s free will
Hard determinism
The view that free will does not exist and our behaviour is always controlled by forces beyond our control
Soft determinism
The view that human behaviour is affected by both internal and external forces, and free will
Biological determinism
The view that behaviour is cause by biological influences that we cannot control (e.g. genes, neurochemistry, hormones)
Environmental determinism
The view that behaviour is caused by aspects of the environment that we cannot control (e.g. socialisation, conditioning)
Psychic determinism
The view that behaviour is caused by unconscious processes that we cannot control (e.g. the conflict between the id and superego)
Gender
Behavioural, cultural, and psychological characteristics that distinguish males from females
Universality
The ability of the findings from a piece of research to be applied to anyone, anywhere
Gender bias
The tendency to treat one gender differently to another either during or as a result of psychological research
Androcentrism
The tendency to judge what is ‘normal’ by a male standard, making female behaviour abnormal
Alpha bias
Psychological research that exaggerates or overestimates the differences between the sexes
Beta bias
Psychological research that minimises or underestimates the differences between the sexes
Reflexivity
The self-conscious, self-critical analytic scrutiny of the affect of values and attitudes on the self as a researcher
Nativism
The view that our behaviour is determined by nature; innate, inherited factors (e.g. Descartes)
Empiricism
The view that our behaviour is determined by nurture; environmental influences both physical and social, and pre-natal and post-natal (e.g. Locke)
Interactionist approach
The claim that nature and nurture both affect behaviour, interacting and influencing each other
Constructivism
Creating your own ‘nurture’ by actively seeking environments appropriate to your ‘nature’ a.k.a niche-picking or niche-building
Passive interaction
The way a parent’s genes influence the way they treat their child
Evocative interaction
The way the child’s genes influence the environment in which they grow up
Active interaction
The way the child creates its own environment through the people and experiences it selects
Culture
The shared patterns of behaviour and interaction, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialisation
Ethnocentrism
Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture
Cultural relativism
The understanding that norms and values can only be meaningfully understood within specific social and cultural contexts
Cultural bias
The tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all human behaviour through the ‘lens’ of one’s own culture, assuming universality
Etic approach
Studying behaviour across many cultures in order to find universal human behaviours
Emic approach
Studying cultures in isolation by identifying behaviours that are specific to that culture
Imposed etic
A test, measure, or theory devised in one culture that is used to explain behaviour in another culture
Reductionism
The claim that human behaviour is best explained when broken down into its constituent parts
Holism
The claim that human behaviour is best understood when studied as a whole, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Biological reductionism
A form of reductionism which attempts to explain social and psychological phenomena at a lower biological level (e.g. through genes, neurochemistry)
Environmental reductionism
A form of reductionism which attempts to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links learned through experience (e.g. behaviourist approach)
Levels of explanation
Different ways of explaining the same phenomena, varying in level of reductionism (from sociocultural to biological)
Scientific parsimony
The claim that complex phenomena should be explained by the simplest underlying principles possible
Ethical implications
Issues which arise from research and have a social impact (e.g. through public policy or the perception of a particular group in society)
Socially sensitive research
Studies of ‘taboo’ topics in which there are potential consequences or implications for the class of individuals represented by the research
Implications
The wider effects of socially sensitive research including prejudice and discrimination
Uses/public policy
What socially sensitive research findings are used for once they have been released (including in government public policy)
Validity of research
The effect of the release of findings from socially sensitive research which are invalid for whatever reason
Nomothetic approach
Using scientific methods to study human behaviour and produce general principles and universal laws
Idiographic approach
Focusing on the individual in order to study human behaviour rather than attempting to generalise
