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Psych Paper 3 > Issues & Debates > Flashcards

Issues & Debates Flashcards

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1
Q

Universality

A

A characteristic which can be applied to all, despite different experience/upbringing

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2
Q

Gender Bias

A

The tendency to treat one gender in a different way from one another without valid reason
- Can occur in 3 ways

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3
Q

3 ways gender bias can occur

A
  • Reserach being conducted on all-male samples but the findings are generalised to women
  • Male behaviour is seen as the standard & if women’s behaviour differs from that of men, its seen as atypical
  • As there are biological differences between men and women, there will be a difference in behaviour between sexes
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4
Q

Alpha bias

A

Exaggerating differences between men & women

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5
Q

Beta bias

A

Minimising or ignoring differences between men & women

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6
Q

Androcentricsm

A

‘Normal’ behaviour is judged according to male standard. If the behaviour of women differs, it’s judged as abnormal

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7
Q

Cultural Bias

A

A tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through one’s own cultures norms

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8
Q

Ethnocentrism

A
  • Judging other cultures by the standards & values of one’s own culture
  • In extremity, this is the belief that one culture is superior to another (or all) which may lead to prejudice & discrimination
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9
Q

Cultural Relativism

A

Idea that norms/values/behaviours can only be meaningful and understood within specific social & cultural contexts
- social norms are culturally relative as what’s considered normal in one culture may be abnormal elsewhere

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10
Q

Free Will

A
  • People are free to choose how to think & behave
  • Given the same situation we could choose to act differently (unpredictable)
  • Behaviour is not random (without cause) but assumes influences can be regected/ignored at will
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11
Q

Determinism

A
  • Behaviour is determined/caused by factors beyond our control
  • Predictable
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12
Q

Hard Determinism

A
  • Suggests that all behaviour is caused by preceding biological, environmental, and/or psychic factors
  • NO FREE WILL
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13
Q

Soft Determinism

A
  • Determinism exists but there’s also the ability to choose in some circumstances
  • Suggests that behaviour is to some extent determined by factors outside of our control but that free will exists if there’s no coercion or compulsion
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14
Q

Biological Determinism

A

All behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control:
- genes & evolution
- brain physiology
- biochemistry
INTERNAL DETERMINISM

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15
Q

Psychic Determinism

A

All behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts which we cannot control
INTERNAL DETERMINISM

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16
Q

Environmental Determinism

A
  • Behaviour occurs because there’s a cause in the environment
  • All behaviour is under the control of environmental stimuli and external forces of rewards & punishment
    EXTERNAL DETERMINISM
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17
Q

Scientific Emphasis on Causal Explanations

A
  • Determinism places a strong emphasison causal laws which are the basis of science, aims to reveal the laws to predict and control the future.
  • All behaviour should be predictable and able to be scientifically studied and analysed through lab experiments
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18
Q

Nature-Nurture Debate

A

The relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour

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19
Q

Free Will - Determinism Debate

A

The extent to which behaviour is down to free will or determined by internal and/or external factors outside of our control

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20
Q

Nature

A
  • Emphasis on biology (influence of genes, biochemistry, brain physiology) on behaviour
  • Associated with heredity & argue individuals are born with an inherited genetic blueprint that determines behaviour
  • Pesimistic (very little that you can do to change behaviour)
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21
Q

Nurture

A
  • Focus on how learning & experience can influence behaviour
  • Associated with the environment and believed that the mind is a blank slate
  • Implies behaviour can be changed through reinforcement & manipulation of environmental conditions
  • Optimistic (change behaviour through enviroinment)
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22
Q

Methods of investigating nature-nurture

A
  • Twin Studies
  • Adoption Studies
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23
Q

Twin Studies for N/N

A
  • Looks at the CC rates between Mz & Dz twins either reared together or apart
  • Designed to produce a heritability estimate
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24
Q

Adoption Studies for N/N

A
  • Investigates the heritability of a particular trait by comparing adopted individuals with their bio or adoptive parents
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25
Q

Interactionist Approach for N/N

A
  • Anywhere between the extreme positions of nature/nurture
  • Both biology & environment play a role in determining behaviour
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26
Q

Holism-Reductionism Debate

A

Whether behaviour is better understood looking at it as a whole (holism) or by breaking it down into smaller parts (reductionism)

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27
Q

Reductionism

A
  • A single explanation or a single cause
  • Behaviour is explained by breaking down into smaller, more basic constituent parts
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28
Q

Levels of Explanation

A

The belief that psychological phenomena will eventually be explained within the framework of sciences lower down the hierarchy

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29
Q

What does Reductionism argue about the Levels of Explanation?

A

That the sciences towards the top of the hierarchy will eventually be replaced by those at the bottom
- All psychological phenomena will be able to be explained in physiological & biochemical terms

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30
Q

What are the subjects in the Levels of Explanation?

A

Sociology
Psychology
Environment
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Maths

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31
Q

What happens as you move up the Levels of Explanation?

A

They become less precise & more general

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32
Q

Schizophrenia (Auditory Hallucinations) Example using LoE

A

Sociological: Unable to function in society (deviation from social norms/cultural norms
Psychological: Beck & Rektor (Dysfunctional thought processing)
Environmental: Family Dysfunction (learning experiences/condition)
Biological: Candidate genes (PCM1), Neural Correlate (Low activity levels in ventral striatum & reduced grey matter)
Biochemical: Dopamine Hypothesis (high levels)

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33
Q

Types of Reductionism

A
  • Biological
  • Environmental
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34
Q

Biological Reductionism

A
  • Behaviour can be reduced to biology (brain structure/function & genes)
  • Analysis occurs at Biology LoE
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35
Q

Environmental Reductionism

A
  • Behaviour is reduced to the consequence of learned associations, such as simple stimulus-response (conditioning)
  • Analysis occurs at Environmental LoE
36
Q

Holism

A
  • Behaviour should be viewed & studied as a whole
  • Emphasises the whole person/behaviour/experience rather than its component parts
  • Based on ‘Gestalt Psychology’
37
Q

What did Gestalt Psychology argue?

A

Argued that the nature of human experience or behaviour is ‘greater than the sum of its parts’

38
Q

Interactionism for Reductionism-Holism

A
  • Shows how many (but not all) aspects of a phenomenon can work together to provide understanding
  • Several levels of an explanation are necessary to explain behaviour
39
Q

What’s the key difference between interactionism & holism?

A

Holism considers the highest level of explanation, whereas interactionism considers the interaction between different levels of explanation

40
Q

Idiographic-Nomothetic Debate

A

Whether behaviour is better understood by studying individuals in detail (idiographic) or by studying groups & making general laws

41
Q

Idiographic

A
  • Everyone is unique & therefore we should study people as individuals to capture the richness of human individuality
  • No general laws are possible because of chance, free will, and uniqueness of individuals
42
Q

Nomothetic

A
  • Involves studying large groups of people & trying to understand why people behave similarly in certain situations
  • Formulates general laws of behaviour (don’t have to be about everyone)
43
Q

Methods of investigation - Idiographic

A

Focuses on the individual and the recognition of their uniqueness, including numerous aspects of individuality: private & subjective experience, feelings, beliefs, and values.
- Tend to be qualitative
- Case Studies

44
Q

Methods of investigation - Nomothetic

A

Focuses on similarities between people and laws that govern behaviour and can be applied to large populations of people
- Tend to be Quantitative
- Scientific Methods/Experiments
- 3 types of Laws

45
Q

3 Types of General Laws from Nomothetic Research

A
  • Classifying people into groups
  • Establishing principles of behaviour that can be applied to people in general
  • Establishing dimensions/continuums on which people can be placed to allow comparisons to be made between people
46
Q

Ethical Implications of Research Studies & Theory

A
  • The impact that research/theory may have in terms of the rights of people (especially ppts)
  • Includes influencing public policy and/or the way certain groups of people are thought of or treated
47
Q

Social Sensitive Research

A

Any research that has wider ethical implications that impact outside of the research context
- May affect people/groups in society in 3 ways

48
Q

3 Ways Social Sensitive Research affects people

A
  • Long-term effects on ppts (outside of research) and family & friends as a consequence
  • Researcher(s) may also be affected which may have an effect in the institution which they work for
  • Groups such as those w/ certain religious/political beliefs, ethnic minorities, or groups of a certain sexual preference/sexuality
49
Q

Gender Issues AO2 (Forensics)

A

ALPHA BIAS
- The psychodynamic explanation of offending states that women have a weaker superego and thus are more likely to offend
- Overemphasises differences as it suggests all women have weaker superegos compared to all men
- States all women are more likely to become offenders than men, however it’s likely to be incorrect as men are much more likely to offend & are more likely to have weaker superegos

50
Q

Gender Issues AO2 (Obedience)

A

UNIVERSALITY & BETA BIAS
- Milgram only studied male ppts in his original research and then used his results to explain obedience in both genders
- Minimises the differences between males and females even though obedience may change between genders (is beta bias as there’s no evidence for females)

51
Q

Culture Issues AO2 (Gender)

A

UNIVERSALITY & CULTURAL RELATIVISM
- Mead illustrates the differences across cultures & how the Western gender stereotypes does not generalise across the world
- Suggests gender is culturally relative as it varies from culture to culture and is therefore not a universal concept

52
Q

Culture Issues AO2 (Schizophrenia)

A

UNIVERSALITY & CULTURAL RELATIVISM
- Auditory hallucinations are interpreted as a sign of powers in some cultures, and therefore isn’t indicative of mental illness in those cultures.
- Suggests auditory hallucinations are interpreted differently between cultures & therefore the interpretation is not universal, so should be studied in different cultures

53
Q

Free Will-Determinism AO2 (Humanism)

A

FREE WILL
The theories of both Maslow & Rogers stress the concept of free will, personal choice & the power of individuals to direct their lives according to their self-chosen goals

54
Q

Free Will-Determinism AO2 (Chromosomes)

A

HARD DETERMINISM, BIO DETERMINISM, CAUSAL EXP
- Atypical sex chromosomes demonstrate a lack of choice or control over their chromosomes, so there’s no control over the development of Kleinfelters or Turners syndrome
- Turners or Kleinfelters is determined by biological factors (no. of sex chromosomes) and there’s no control over these factors
- Allows predictions of whether someone is likely to develop these disorders

55
Q

Nature-Nurture AO2 (Language Centres)

A

INTERACTIONISM
- Chomsky claimed that each child is born with an innate potential to acquire language, but the particular language we learn & fluency is due to the environment
- Suggests both nature (innate potential) and nurture (exposure to language) are important to language development

56
Q

Nature-Nurture AO2 (Diathesis-Stress Model)

A

INTERACTIONISM
- States diathesis combined with stressor results in a hihger likelihood of developing a disorder
- The diathesis is typically biologial (genes) with the stressor being environmental (stress)
- Both bio & environment interact and are required to develop Sz

57
Q

Holism-Reductionism AO2 (Humanism)

A

HOLISM
- The humanist approach rejects scientific methodology and claims we should study the whole person
- Attempts to break up/reduce human experience are inappropriate

58
Q

Holism-Reductionism AO2 (Dopamine Hypothesis)

A

BIO REDUCTIONISM
- The dopamine hypothesis claims thta sz is linked to high levels of dopamine
- Reduces a complex behaviour of sz down to a single explanation such as high levels of dopamine
- Ignores evidence from other possible explanations

59
Q

Idiographic-Nomothetic AO2 (Humanism)

A

IDIOGRAPHIC
- The humanist approach believes people are unique and believe in free will
- Believes people should be studied as individuals

60
Q

Idiographic-Nomothetic AO2 (Psychodynamic approach of gender)

A

IDIOGRAPHIC & NOMOTHETIC
- The psychodynamic approach uses idiographic methods (case study) to formulate nomothetic theories (general laws) about gender and theoedious & electra complexes

61
Q

Ethical Implications AO2 (Forensics)

A

SOCIALLY SENSITIVE
- Neural explanations of offending showed that damage around the frontal lobe was in most offender’s brains
- Implies those w/ damage will become violent criminals (self-fulfilling prophecy) and justifies violence
- OR the ppts may believe their violence is uncontrollable so may not try to reform/rehabilitate

62
Q

Ethical Implications AO2 (Schizophrenia diagnosis)

A

SOCIALLY SENSITIVE
- Any reserach on psychopathology is potentially socially sensistive as it could affect the individual w/ sz & family
- Issues could lead to misdiagnosis
- Lack of diagnosis leads to lack of treatment & symptoms get worse (so negative impact on relationships w/ family & friends

63
Q

Gender & Culture Strengths

A
  • Takano & Osaka found 14/15 studies comparing US & Japan there was no evidence for individualism or collectivism (suggests cultures are similar so cul. bias may not be an issue)
  • Developed ways to avoid culture bias (don’t extrapolate, native researchers, cross-cultural research, sensitive)
  • Cross-cultural research may challenge Western ways of thinking (conclusions will be more accurate & can be generalised if applicable)
64
Q

Gender & Cultures Limitations

A
  • Problems with research (unfamiliarity with scientific research, variables may be experienced differently)
  • Research has consistently shown that rates of conformity & obedience vary between cultures (so theories aren’t universal so are culturally relative)
65
Q

Free Will Strengths

A
  • High external validity as it aligns with society
66
Q

Free Will Limitations

A
  • Unethical & unpractical
  • Mental disorders follow idea that free will is an illusion
  • Subjective & unfalsifiable
  • Less scientifically credible
67
Q

Determinism Strengths

A
  • Compatible with science (gives scientific credibility)
  • Widely accepted by many theories and approaches (so more reliable)
68
Q

Determinism Limitations

A
  • Low external validity (incompatible with society)
  • Oversimplistic
  • Unfalsifiable
69
Q

Nature-Nurture Strengths

A
  • Use of adoption studies help separate n/n so are useful in understanding the debate
70
Q

Nature-Nurture Limitations

A
  • Links w/ determinism (same limitations)
  • Individual differences (some are more susceptible to env. influence)
  • Difficult to assess the relative influence of n/n in twin studies as they may have experienced some env. influence
71
Q

Holism Strengths

A
  • More detailed & looks at everything
  • Required to study some phenomenon (e.g. Zimbardo’s study)
72
Q

Holism Limitations

A
  • Less scientific as holism makes it hard to predict & study, so holistic explanations can become vague and more complex
73
Q

Reductionism Strengths

A
  • Bio reductionism helps development of treatments
  • Simple explanations are argues to be more effective as they’re easier to understand
  • Allows empirical study and leads to scientific credibility
74
Q

Reductionism Limitations

A
  • Oversimplistic as it’s unlikely that behaviour has one explanation
75
Q

Nomothetic Strengths

A
  • Useful as it allows theories of behaviour to be worked out so treatments can be made
  • Scientific so has more credibility
  • Most of psychology operates on a nomothetic basis
76
Q

Nomothetic Limitations

A
  • Inaccurate as not everyone is the same, can’t generalise theories so treatments won’t work for all
  • Overlooks individuality & takes a very reductionist perspective
77
Q

Idiographic Strengths

A
  • Detailed (exp with case studies) and THEORETICALLY should be more accurate
78
Q

Idiographic Limitations

A
  • Time consuming so less accessible & doesnt generalise to all
  • Narrow focus & doesn’t generalise so less useful
  • Open to bias as theyre qualitative & isn’t objective
79
Q

Ethical Implications Strengths

A
  • Code of ethics means there should be fewer ethical implications
  • SS research may promote greater understanding which can reduce prejudice
80
Q

Ethical Implications Limitations

A
  • Too restrictive as it may prevent some research as fear of tarnished reputations
  • Difficult to predict how research will be used & the worth of the study (so may stop research from going ahead due to worry)
  • Subjective (ressearcher bias, overplay benefits & underplay costs)
81
Q

Gender

A

Behavioural, cultural and psychological characteristics that distinguish males and females

82
Q

Cultural Universality

A

A characteristic which can be applied to all cultures

83
Q

Heredity

A

Born with an inherited blueprint

84
Q

Environment

A

The mind is a blank slate

85
Q

Relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour

A

Don’t adopt an extreme position of either nature or nurture as both are essential for any behaviour/characteristic

Psych Paper 3 (4 decks)

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