issues and debates - key words

Question 1

universality

Answer 1

an underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all despite the differences of experience and upbringing

Question 2

gender bias

Answer 2

treating an individual or group of people differently based on their gender

Question 3

androcentrism

Answer 3

this is when normal behaviour is judged according to a male standard

Question 4

alpha bias

Answer 4

exaggerates or overestimates the difference between gender or culture

Question 5

beta bias

Answer 5

ignores or minimises the difference between gender or cultures

Question 6

culture bias

Answer 6

treating an individual or group of people differently based on their culture

Question 7

ethnocentrism

Answer 7

judging other cultures by the standards and values of ones own culture, often from a western standpoint seeing others as abnormal

Question 8

cultural relativism

Answer 8

findings found in research may only make sense from the perspective of the culture within it was found

Question 9

free will

Answer 9

humans can make choices and their behaviour/thoughts are not determined by biological or external forces

Question 10

hard determinism

Answer 10

fatalism- all behaviour is determined by an internal or external force we are unable to resist

Question 11

soft determinism

Answer 11

accepts behaviour has a cause but allows room for manoeuvre in conscious mental control

Question 12

biological determinism

Answer 12

emphasises the role of biological influences on our behaviour such as hormones or genes

Question 13

environmental determinism

Answer 13

behaviour is a result of conditioning and reinforcement as a result of experience

Question 14

psychic determinism

Answer 14

behaviour is a result of influences of biological drives and instincts in the unconscious, including repressed conflicts

Question 15

the nature nurture debate

Answer 15

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

Question 16

heredity

Answer 16

genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics from one characteristic to another

Question 17

the interactionist approach

Answer 17

relative contribution of each influence, therefore nature and nurture debate is about discussing how nature and nurture interact and the extent of them

Question 18

holism

Answer 18

studies an indivisible system rather than its constituent parts

Question 19

reductionism

Answer 19

analyses behaviour by breaking it down into its constituent parts

Question 20

biological reductionism

Answer 20

based on the premise that we are biological organisms made up of physiological structures and processes, such as neurochemicals

Question 21

environmental reductionism

Answer 21

observed behaviour is broken down into simple stimulus response links, like classical conditioning

Question 22

idiographic approach

Answer 22

uses case studies and qualitative research and focuses on the individual or small group in the research

Question 23

nomothetic approach

Answer 23

generalisation of behaviour in order to create general principles and laws of behaviour

Question 24

ethical implications

Answer 24

concerns the wider impact that research may have at a societal level

Question 25

social sensitivity

Answer 25

studies in which there are potential consequences or implications either directly for the participants involved in the research or the group represented by them