issues & debates Flashcards
1
Q
universality & bias
A
universality: underlying characteristics of human beings that can be applied to everyone, despite differences of experiences + upbringing
- universality of findings in psychology are threatened by gender + cultural bias
bias: tendency to treat 1 individual/group in a different way from others, when considering human behavious
2
Q
gender bias
A
- occurs when men/women are represented differently
- offering a view that doesn’t justifiably represent the experience/behaviour of either 1
3
Q
alpha bias
A
- exaggerates/overestimates differences between the sexes
- usually supported w biological evidence
- can generate stereotypes
e.g. sociobiological theory of relationship formation
- explains human sexual attraction + behaviour through ‘survival efficiency’
- male’s interest to impregnate as many women as possible to increase chance of his genes being passed on
- female’s interest to preserve her genes by ensuring healthy survival of the few offspring she can produce
- sexual promiscuity in males = genetically determined
- but females who do same = going against their nature
- exaggeration of the differences between sex
- essentialist
4
Q
beta bias
A
- ignores/minimises differences between men + women
- occurs when female ptps aren’t included in research
- and it’s assumed that research findings apply equally to both
e.g. fight or flight response
- early research was based exclusively on male animals (as female hormones fluctuate)
- was assumed to be a universal response
- however more recently Taylor et al suggested that female biology has evolved to inhibit fight or flight
- shifting attention to caring for offspring + forming defensive networks w/ other females (tending + befriending)
5
Q
androcentrism
A
- consequence of beta bias
- if our understanding of ‘normal’ behaviour is drawn from research involving all-male samples
- then any behaviour that deviates is judged as abnormal/deficient
- leads to female behaviour being misunderstood + pathologised (taken as a disorder)
e.g. PMS
- stereotypes female experiences
- critics claim PMS is a social construction which medicalises female emotions (especially anger) by explaining it in terms of hormones
- whereas male anger is seen as a rational response to external pressures
6
Q
gender bias
AO3
A
✔ reflexivity
✔ feminist psychology
- has led to devlopment + improvement in feminist psychology
✘ implications of gender bias
- create misleading assumptions about female behaviour
- fails to challenge negative stereotypes + validates discriminatory practices
- provide scientific ‘justification’ to deny women opportunities
- e.g. PMS within workplace
- gender biased research has damaging consequences
✘ based on essentialism
- that the gender differences in question are inevitable + fixed in nature
- e.g. scientific research in the 1930s revealed how intellectual activity (e.g. attending uni) would shrivel a woman’s ovaries + harm her chances of giving birth
- often politically motivated arguments disguised as biological ‘facts’
- creates a double standard
7
Q
culture bias
A
- tendency to ignore cultural differences + interpret all phenomena through lens of one’s own culture
- majority of psychological research conducted by + on people from a western background (mainly white, american males)
- claim to have discovered ‘facts’ that are ‘universal’
- but have ignored culture as an important influence on behaviour
e.g. conformity + obedience
- originally conducted on US ppts
- revealed v different results when replicated elsewhere
8
Q
ethnocentrism
A
- judging other cultures by the standards + values of one’s own culture
- belief in the superiority of own culture - leads to prejudice
- behaviours that don’t conform are seen as deficient/underdeveloped
e.g. the strange situation
- developed within an american context so reflects norms of american culture
- leads to misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in other cultures
- secure attachment = seen to be most ideal attachment type + is identified by infant showing moderate stress when left alone
- whereas in germany, this indicates a child’s independence - so german mothers seen as cold + rejecting for encouraging independence
- so SS = inappropriate measure
9
Q
cultural relativism
A
- idea that behaviour can’t be judged properly unless viewed in the cultural context in which it originates
e.g. schizophrenia - in the UK, hearing voices is likely to be interpreted as an auditory hallucination + a symptom of schizophrenia, but is socially acceptable in other cultures
10
Q
etic & emic
A
- etic approach looks from outside of a given culture + attempts to identify behaviours that are universal
- emic approach functions from within certain cultures + identifies behaviours specific to that culture
- ainsworth’s SS = imposed etic - assumed US model = norm + imposed this upon rest of the world
11
Q
culture bias
AO3
A
✘ cross-cultural research may be prone to demand characteristics
- in western cultures, ppts are familiar w general aims + objectives of scientific enquiry
- however, this may not extend to cultures that don’t have same historical experience of research
- there4 local populations may be more affected by demand characteristics than western ppts
- challenges validity of research
✘ cultural relativism vs universality
- shouldn’t be assumed that ALL behaviour is culturally relative or that there’s no such thing as universal behaviour
- Ekman found that basic facial expressions are the same all over the world
- research has also found that some features of attachment, e.g. imitation + synchrony are universal
- suggests that for a full understanding of human behaviour, both universal + culturally relative behaviour must be studied
✘ individualist-collectivist distinction may be outdated
- inidividualistic cultures refer to those which value personal freedom + independence whereas collectivist cultures are said to place more emphasis on interdependence + the needs of the group
- however, critics argue that this is a lazy + simplistic distinction that no longer applies due to global communication + interconnectedness
- Osaka et al found that 14/15 studies that compared US + Japan found no evidence of distinction
- could suggest that cultural bias is less of an issue it once was
12
Q
free will & determinism
A
free will:
- notion that humans can make choices + aren’t determined by bio/ext factors
- doesn’t deny influence of these factors on behaviour but implies that we can reject these forces
determinism:
- view that all behaviour is shaped by int/ext factors + not an individual’s will to do something
13
Q
soft & hard determinism
A
hard:
- fatalism
- suggests all behaviour has a cause beyond our control + so free will is impossible
soft:
- acknowledges that behaviours have causes but this doesn’t detract from the freedom we have to make conscious choices
- consistent w cognitive approach
14
Q
biological, environmental & psychic determinism
A
biological:
- behaviour influenced by innate biological factors out of our control
- genetic basis of mental disorders - schizophrenia
- neurochemical causes of behaviour - dopamine
- effect of hormones on behaviour - testosterone on aggression
- autonomic nervous system - fight/flight
environmental:
- behaviour is result of conditioning
- influenced by features of env (reward + punishment systems) + past experiences
- skinner - ‘free will is an illusion’
- everything is predetermined
psychic:
- behaviour influenced by unconscious
- freud agreed w skinner
- but placed more emphasis on bio drives + instincts
- no accidents - even random slip of tongue has underlying roots in our unconscious
15
Q
determinism
AO3
A
✔ consistent w aims of science
- uncovering causal laws that govern behaviour
- puts psychology on equal level of other established sciences
- gives psychology credibility
✔ practical application
- prediction + control of behaviour has led to the development of many beneficial treatment + therapies
- e.g. drug therapy to manage symptoms of schizophrenia
✘ negative implications w the legal system
- provides an excuse for immoral behaviour
- takes away responsibility for actions
- ‘criminal gene’
16
Q
free will
AO3
A
✔ positive impact on mind + behaviour
- people w an internal locus of control tend to be more mentally healhty
- Roberts et al discovered that adolescents w a strong belief in fatalism were at greater risk of depression
✘ counter-evidence via brain studies
- brain studies by Libet found that brain activity related to the decision to press a button w the right or left hand occurred up to 10 seconds before ppts reported being consciously aware of their decision
- provides evidence against free will as it suggets our choices are decided by our brain before we become aware
✘ mental disorders
- existence of disorders e.g. schizophrenia, depression, ocd, cast doubt over the concept of free will
- no one would choose to be depressed/schizophrenic
