Issues and Debates (PAPER 3)

Question 1

(AO1) What is gender bias in psychology?

Answer 1

The tendency to treat one gender differently, often based on stereotypes.

Question 2

(AO1) What is androcentrism?

Answer 2

Male-centered research — behaviour judged according to a male standard.

Question 3

(AO1) What is alpha bias?

Answer 3

Exaggerates differences between genders (e.g., men = aggressive, women = caring).

Question 4

(AO1) What is beta bias?

Answer 4

Minimises or ignores differences between genders — assumes results apply to all.

Question 5

(AO3) Example of beta bias?

Answer 5

Fight or flight research used only male animals — assumed same for females.

Question 6

(AO1) What is cultural bias?

Answer 6

Interpreting all behaviour through the lens of one’s own culture.

Question 7

(AO3) Example of alpha bias?

Answer 7

Freud’s theory — women’s superegos are less developed = morally inferior.

Question 8

(AO1) What is ethnocentrism?

Answer 8

Judging other cultures by the standards of your own (e.g., Western norms).

Question 9

(AO1) What is cultural relativism?

Answer 9

Recognising behaviour can only be understood within its cultural context.

Question 10

(AO3) Example of ethnocentrism?

Answer 10

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation — judged attachment based on US norms.

Question 11

(AO1) What does the nature side argue?

Answer 11

Behaviour is determined by genetics and biology.

Question 11

(AO3) Why is cultural relativism important in psychology?

Answer 11

Prevents misdiagnosis and promotes understanding of cultural diversity.

Question 11

(AO1) What does the nurture side argue?

Answer 11

Behaviour is learned through experience and environment.

Question 12

(AO1) What is the interactionist approach?

Answer 12

Nature and nurture interact — e.g., diathesis-stress model in schizophrenia.

Question 13

(AO3) What’s an issue with the nature-nurture debate?

Answer 13

Hard to separate nature and nurture — e.g., twin studies share both genes and environment.

Question 14

(AO1) What is determinism?

Answer 14

Behaviour is shaped by forces outside our control.

Question 15

(AO1) What is free will?

Answer 15

We are active agents with the ability to make our own choices.

Question 16

(AO1) Name three types of determinism.

Answer 16

Biological, environmental, psychic.

Question 17

(AO3) Which approaches are deterministic?

Answer 17

Biological, behaviourist, psychodynamic.

Question 18

(AO3) What’s a strength of determinism?

Answer 18

Consistent with science — allows prediction and control.

Question 19

(AO3) What’s a strength of free will?

Answer 19

Fits with legal and moral responsibility — promotes accountability.

Question 20

(AO1) What is holism?

Answer 20

Looking at the whole system rather than individual parts.

Question 20

(AO1) What is reductionism?

Answer 20

Breaking behaviour down into smaller components.

Question 21

(AO1) What is biological reductionism?

Answer 21

Explaining behaviour in terms of genes, hormones, brain structure.

Question 22

(AO1) What is environmental reductionism?

Answer 22

Explaining behaviour in terms of stimulus-response associations.

Question 23

(AO3) Strength of reductionism?

Answer 23

Allows scientific testing — leads to practical applications (e.g. drug therapy).

Question 24

(AO3) Weakness of reductionism?

Answer 24

Oversimplifies complex behaviour — ignores social context.

Question 24

(AO1) What is the idiographic approach?

Answer 24

Focuses on individual cases to understand behaviour.

Question 25

(AO1) What is the nomothetic approach?

Answer 25

Aims to create general laws of behaviour from large samples.

Question 26

(AO3) Which approaches are idiographic?

Answer 26

Humanistic (e.g. Rogers) and psychodynamic (e.g. case studies like Little Hans).

Question 27

(AO3) Which approaches are nomothetic?

Answer 27

Behaviourist, biological, cognitive — use experiments and stats.

Question 28

(AO3) Strength of idiographic?

Answer 28

Provides rich detail and insight into individual experiences.

Question 29

(AO3) Strength of nomothetic?

Answer 29

Scientific and generalisable — useful for predictions and treatments.

Question 30

(AO1) What are ethical implications in research?

Answer 30

The wider impact of research on participants, groups, or society.

Question 31

(AO1) What is socially sensitive research?

Answer 31

Research that may affect public policy or opinions on specific groups.

Question 32

(AO3) Example of socially sensitive research?

Answer 32

Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory — blamed working mothers.

Question 33

(AO3) How can psychologists deal with ethical implications?

Answer 33

Include ethics committees, thorough peer review, and debriefing.

Question 34

(Application) How does the nature-nurture debate link to schizophrenia?

Answer 34

Diathesis-stress model — genes (nature) + stressors (nurture).

Question 35

(Application) How does gender bias affect psychological research?

Answer 35

May lead to misrepresentation or underdiagnosis in women.

Question 36

(Application) Which issue is relevant to drug treatments for mental illness?

Answer 36

Biological reductionism — focuses on brain chemistry alone.