ISSUES AND DEBATES: Key Terms

Question 1

Gender bias

Answer 1

a tendency to treat one gender a different way from another, usually based on stereotypes rather than real differences

Question 2

universality

Answer 2

the aim to develop real theories that apply to everyone, gender/cultural biases threaten the universality of findings

Question 3

androcentrism

Answer 3

when ‘normal’ behaviour is judged according to a male standard, meaning female behaviour is often judged as abnormal

Question 4

alpha bias (gender)

Answer 4

theories that show real differences or exaggerate the differences between men and women, usually undervalues one gender

Question 5

beta bias (gender)

Answer 5

theories that ignore or minimises the differences between genders

Question 6

ethnocentrism

Answer 6

judging other cultures from the point of view of our own culture, may lead to prejudice or discrimination

Question 7

cultural relativism

Answer 7

the idea that behaviour can’t properly be judged unless its viewed in the same culture as the one it originates from

Question 8

culture bias

Answer 8

a tendency to ignore cultural differences and judge people in terms of your own cultural assumptions

Question 9

alpha bias (culture)

Answer 9

theories that show real differences or exaggerate the differences between cultures, usually undervalues one culture

Question 10

beta bias (culture)

Answer 10

theories that ignore or minimises the differences between cultures

Question 11

free will

Answer 11

the notion hat humans can make their own choices

Question 12

determinism

Answer 12

the view that behaviour is controlled by internal or external forces

Question 13

hard determinism

Answer 13

the view that free will isn’t possible as out behaviour is always caused by internal or external events

Question 14

soft determinism

Answer 14

the view that there is some element of free will (middle ground)

Question 15

biological determinsism

Answer 15

belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences

Question 16

environmental determinsim

Answer 16

belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we can’t control

Question 17

psychic determinism

Answer 17

belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we can’t control

Question 18

nature - nurture debate

Answer 18

asks to what extent which aspects of behaviour are due to inherited or acquired characteristics

Question 19

heredity

Answer 19

the process by which traits are passed down generations

Question 20

environment

Answer 20

any influence on behaviour which isn’t genetic

Question 21

interactionist approach

Answer 21

the view that the processes of nature and nurture work together

Question 22

nurture

Answer 22

behaviour is a product of environmental factors

Question 23

nature

Answer 23

behaviour is a product of innate/genetic factors

Question 24

holism

Answer 24

argument which proposes that we should study something as a whole, rather than in individual components

Question 25

reductionism

Answer 25

belief that human behaviour should be viewed in its individual components

Question 26

biological reductionism

Answer 26

a form of reductionism that reduces behaviour to biological factors like neurons, hormones etc.

Question 27

environmental reductionism

Answer 27

a form of reductionism that reduces behaviour to stimulus-reponse links that are learnt through experience

Question 28

idiographic approach

Answer 28

an approach which focuses on individuals rather than general laws of behaviour

Question 29

nomothetic approach

Answer 29

studies human behaviour through general laws and statistical techniques