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Psychology > Issues And Debates In Psychology > Flashcards

Issues And Debates In Psychology Flashcards

1
Q

What type of culture was psychology developed in?

A

Western cultures

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2
Q

Three possible reasons for not having studied other cultures

A
  • Psychologists may have viewed other non-Western cultures as primitive or not worthy of studying
  • Cross-cultural research is expensive, time-consuming, and demands many resources
  • Psychologists may have made an assumption that other cultures were the same as their own
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3
Q

Etic research

A

When research based on one culture is generalised and applied to all cultures

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4
Q

Strengths of etic research

A
  • Humans from various cultures do have similarities
  • Human physiology is fairly consistent across all cultures
  • Certain behaviours are also universal: language development, aggression levels and cognitive development
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5
Q

Weaknesses of etic research

A
  • The vast majority of scientific research involves taking samples of a whole population
  • Researchers can be biased due to an imposed etic
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6
Q

Emic research

A

Based on studying a specific culture

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7
Q

Strengths of emic research

A
  • By doing these studies, researcher can avoid cultural bias and bias because of imposed etic
  • They are not trying to generate universal laws
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8
Q

Weaknesses of emic research

A
  • Bias can still happen
  • This is due to researchers over-emphasising the differences between the cultural groups and not looking at the differences within the cultural groups
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9
Q

Alpha bias

A
  • Exaggerating the differences between men & women.
  • Theories assume there are real and enduring differences between men and women.
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10
Q

Beta bias

A
  • Exaggerating the similarity between men & women.
  • They minimise gender differences.
  • Assume all people are the same and so it is reasonable to apply theories/research to both men and women.
  • Often happens when findings obtained from men are applied to women without additional validation.
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11
Q

Androcentrism

A

Taking male thinking/behaviour as normal, regarding female thinking/behaviour as deviant, inferior, abnormal, or ‘other’ instead of just being different.

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12
Q

Ethnocentric psychology

A
  • Research is based on one culture
  • Theories are then generalised to all cultures
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13
Q

Asch (1951)

A
  • Conformity research
  • Only Americans were used so the research is ethnocentric
  • There study also only used males which makes it an example of gender bias
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14
Q

Milgram (ethnocentrism)

A
  • Milgram’s obedience experiments is an example of ethnocentric research
  • The study was conducted after the atrocities committed by the Nazis in WW2
  • This research has imposed etic as only American were used and he did not take into account the cultural differences between Maui Germany and USA
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15
Q

Social implications of culture bias

A

If studies are culturally biased then the theories from the studies will also be culturally biased. These theories have an impact on broader society and this can be problematic when culturally biased theories affect psychological practice and therapies.

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16
Q

Cochrane and Sashidharan

A
  • Examined diagnosis rates of schizophrenia in the UK
  • They compared rates in people of African-Caribbean origin to the rest of the population
  • Found that those of African-Caribbean origin were seven times more likely to be diagnosed
  • People could conclude that people of African-Caribbean origin may have a higher genetic predisposition to schizophrenia but rates in the Caribbean are no higher than the UK so people could have a misconception about schizophrenia rates in African-Caribbean’s
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17
Q

Littlewood and Lipsedge (1989)

A
  • Regarding schizophrenia they found that African- Caribbean patients were more likely to be prescribed stronger doses of medication
  • The symptoms could be exactly the same as patients of other ethnicities and they would still be prescribed higher doses
  • This suggests that doctors were interpreting the symptoms as being much more severe
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18
Q

Two main issues with cross-cultural research

A
  • Difficulty in interpretation
  • Difficulty in replicability. This causes results to be less valid
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19
Q

Reasons for difficulty in interpretation and replicability

A

Interpretation:
- Challenging communication between different languages with beliefs, customs and colloquialisms being difficult to translate or understand
- Results in data being misinterpreted
- Can result in ethnocentric bias because researchers are judging behaviours against their own cultural norms

Replicability:
- There is a decreased ability to properly translate procedures

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20
Q

Cultural relativism (reducing culture bias)

A

The idea that there is no universal standard to behaviour

21
Q

Representative sampling (reducing culture bias)

A
  • All sub-groups within a larger group should be represented
  • Sampling should be representative of all sub-groups from which you want to draw conclusions
  • This will allow for generalisability of results
22
Q

Context (reducing culture bias)

A
  • Research should be conducted in meaningful contexts and use researchers local to the culture being studied
  • This allows for issues of imposed etic to be reduced
23
Q

What are the two competing theories about what guides behaviour?

A

Determinism
Free will

24
Q

Biological determinism

A

Focuses on the argument that genes determine our dispositions, behaviours and responses

25
Q

Psychic determinism

A

Focuses on learned unconscious behaviours (rather than conscious decisions) guiding our behaviour
The assumption that adult behaviour is determined by a mix of innate drives and early experiences

26
Q

Environmental determinism

A

Focuses on things like conditioning (to survive in an environment we may have to learn a behaviour) and this learned behaviour will then determine our actions

27
Q

A disadvantage of determinism

A

It is unfalsifiable

28
Q

Reaction range

A

Gottesman (1963) says that certain characteristics, like height, weight and intelligence have a reaction range
Everyone has a genetic potential (genotype) for these characteristics but but the environment will determine to what extent this potential will be achieved

29
Q

Reactive

A

A persons experiences can be moulded by their genetics e.g. people usually act more positively towards attractive people

30
Q

Active

A

When people with certain genetic qualities actively seek out particular environments e.g. those who inherited height IQ might actively seek out universities

31
Q

Nomothetic research

A
  • Tries to find universal laws that can be applied to whole populations of people
  • Quantitative research
32
Q

Strengths of nomothetic research

A
  • It is a highly scientific approach as it is quantitative
  • The studies can be highly controlled, avoid extraneous variables and bias
  • Objective data can be obtained rather than subjective data
33
Q

Weaknesses of nomothetic research

A
  • Low ecological validity due to lab studies which means it is rare that the results can validly verify applied to real life
  • By examining the whole population, some details are going to be missed or ignored
  • Behaviour that does not fit into the norm of the genera’s laws created is sometimes not explained
34
Q

Idiographic research

A
  • Focuses on individuals (remember ‘I’ for individual)
  • Looks at the individual in detail
  • Relies on qualitative methods such as questionnaires, case studies, interviews and observations of individuals
35
Q

Strengths of idiographic research

A
  • It can be useful in different cases
  • By focusing on the individual, a more complete explanation is likely compared to the nomothetic approach
36
Q

Weaknesses of idiographic research

A
  • By focusing on individuals, such as in case studies, it is difficult to generalise findings to a whole population
  • Idiographic research is usually qualitative, so it can be more subjective. For this reason, it can be seen as less scientific than nomothetic research
37
Q

Self-determination

A

Free from external influences, free to choose.

38
Q

The humanistic approach and free will

A
  • Humanistic psychologists argue that self-determination is a necessary part of human behaviour
  • Rogers claimed that if your behaviour is controlled by other factors, we cannot take responsibility for it
39
Q

Moral Responsibility

A
  • The basis of moral responsibility is that an individual is in charge of their own actions
  • According to the law, children and the mentally ill do not have this level of responsibility. Otherwise there is the assumption that a ‘normal’ adult’s behaviour is self determined
  • Humans are accountable for their actions , regardless of innate factors for the influences of early experience
40
Q

A counterargument for biological determinism

A

Twin studies do not have 100% concordance rate so no behaviour/disorder is 100% genetic

41
Q

Examples of environmental determinism

A
  • Phobias - you do not choose to be afraid of something
  • Learning theory of attachment
  • Differential association theory
42
Q

Scientific determinism

A
  • Scientific research is based on the belief that all events have a cause
  • Due to the manipulation of an IV to measure the effect on the DV
  • Science is based on cause and effect
  • The goal of psychology is to predict behaviour so every behaviour must have a determining cause
43
Q

Evaluation of free will vs determinism (oversimplistic)

A
  • A simple debate of free will vs determinism is oversimplistic
  • Another point of view is that free will and determinism can coexist together
  • This is soft determinism
  • Even the humanistic approach allows some restrictions on behaviour
  • While biology and past experience do determine some behaviours, we also have some choice as well
44
Q

Evaluation of free will vs determinism (scientific determinism)

A
  • Scientific determinism has had hugely useful applications e.g. the development of treatments
  • As we are able to predict and control human behaviour in a scientific manner, therapies for schizophrenia such as antipsychotics can be effective
45
Q

Evaluation of free will vs determinism (research support for determinism)

A
  • Determinism has some research support
  • Libet et al (1983)
  • Recorded EEG activity in motor areas of the brain before the person had a conscious decision to move their finger
  • Suggesting that the ‘choice’ was only a read -out of a pre-determined action
  • fMRI studies have found activity in the prefrontal cortex can happen up to 10 seconds before the decision
  • However, Trevena and Miller (2009) suggested that the brain activity is simply a ‘readiness to act’ rather than an intention to move
46
Q

Evaluation of free will vs determinism (create a depressing view of human nature)

A
  • Assumptions of determinism create a depressing view of human nature
  • Free will/determinism is also a highly socially sensitive research field e.g. is it central to ideas about how crimes should be punished?
  • May be associated with an external locus of control
  • Thinking that we can’t change a bad world is a feature of Beck’s negative triad
47
Q

Evaluation of free will vs determinism (ethnocentric)

A
  • The value placed on individual free will is very ethnocentric
  • The importance of self-determination may vary between different cultures
  • More prominent for individualist societies
  • Collectivist cultures place a greater value on behaviour determined by group needs
  • They may find determinism less of a depressing prospect as a result
48
Q
A

Psychology (17 decks)

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