Issues and Debates Key Terms

Question 1

Universality

Answer 1

Any underlying characteristics of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences in experience and upbringing

Question 2

Gender Bias

Answer 2

When considering human behaviour, bias is a tendency to treat one individual or group in a different way. In terms of gender, research or theories may offer a view that does not represent male or female behaviour

Question 3

Androcentrism

Answer 3

When normal behaviour is judged to a male standard

Question 4

Alpha Bias

Answer 4

Theories that suggest there are real differences between men and women, these typically undervalue women

Question 5

Beta Bias

Answer 5

Theories that ignore or minimize the differences between the sexes

Question 6

Cultural Bias

Answer 6

Refers to a tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the “lens” of their own culture

Question 7

Ethnocentrism

Answer 7

Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture. In an extreme form, it is the belief in the superiority of one’s own culture which could lead to prejudice and discrimination

Question 8

Cultural redativsm

Answer 8

The idea that norms and values can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts

Question 9

Free Will

Answer 9

The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces

Question 10

Determinism

Answer 10

The view that an individuals behaviour is shaped or controlled by external or internal forces rather than an individual’s will to do something

Question 11

Hard Determinism

Answer 11

Implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal or external forces beyond our control

Question 12

Soft Determinism

Answer 12

All events have causes,but behaviour can also be caused by our choices in the absence of coercion

Question 13

Biological Determinism

Answer 13

Behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control

Question 14

Environmental Determinism

Answer 14

Behaviour is caused by features in the environment that we cannot control

Question 15

Psychic Determinism

Answer 15

Behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control

Question 16

The Nature-Nuture Debate

Answer 16

Concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics

Question 17

Heredity

Answer 17

The genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another

Question 18

Environment

Answer 18

Any influence on human behaviour that is not genetic. This may range from pre natal influences in the womb through to cultural and historical influences at a societal level

Question 19

The Interactionalist Approach

Answer 19

The idea that nature and nurture are linked to such an extent that it does not make sense to separate the two, so researchers instead study how they link and relate to each other

Question 20

Holism

Answer 20

An argument or theory which proposes that it only makes sense to study an indivisable system rather than it’s parts

Question 21

Reductionism

Answer 21

The belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller parts

Question 22

Biological Reductionism

Answer 22

A form of reductionism which attempts to explain social or psychological phenomena in terms of genes, hormones etc

Question 23

Environmental Reductionism

Answer 23

The attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimuli-response associations that have been learned via experience

Question 24

Idiographic Approach

Answer 24

An approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour, rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behaviour

Question 25

Nomotheic Approach

Answer 25

Attempts to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws

Question 26

Ethical Implications

Answer 26

The impact that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of other people. This includes the way in which certain groups of people are regarded

Question 27

Social Sensitivity

Answer 27

Studies in which there are potential consequences or implications either for the participants or the individuals represented in the research