Issues and debates - paper 3

Question 1

What is meant by culture relativism?
(2 marks)

Answer 1

The idea that behaviour can only be properly understood in the context of the norms or values of the culture it occurs within.

Question 2

Jonny is 25yrs old, he is an anxious person. Colleagues tease him at work because he chews his pen all the time and spends hours tidying his desk. He finds it difficult to make friends.
Use your knowledge of psychic determinism to explain Jonny’s behaviour.
(4 marks)

Answer 2

• Psychic determinism suggests adult behaviour is determined by early experiences and unconscious drives.
• Experiences that occur in the psychosexual stages of development have unconsciously influenced his experience (hard determinism).
• Jonny is unaware of early experiences as his memories have been repressed but they manifest themselves in his behaviours.
• pen chewing is linked to conflict in the oral fixation/ anal retentiveness and relationship problems is linked to conflict in genital stage

Question 3

Discuss gender bias in psychological research. Refer to one topic you have studied in your answer.
(8 marks)

Answer 3

AO1
-Failure to consider adequate differences between men and women
-Historically in psychology there has been a predominance of research based on samples of men.
-Alpha bias: overemphasises differences between men and women
-Beta bias: underestimates differences between men and women.
AO2
-Much work on fight/flight is done on men, women react differently (tend and befriend)
-Traditional psychological research is typically done on men (Asche, Milgram)
AO3
-May result in androcentrism
-Ways of avoiding gender bias
-Implications when interpreting findings and conclusions from psychological research, may lead to stereotypes.

Question 4

Outline what is meant by soft determinism.
(2 marks)

Answer 4

The idea that behaviour is to an extent governed by by internal and external forces. However, we still have a degree of control over our behaviour.