Issues & Debates Flashcards
Universalism
A trait is an underlying human characteristic so conclusions can be applied to everyone
Essentialism
Differences are inevitable because of the ‘fixed’ nature of a group
Types of gender bias
Alpha bias, beta bias, androcentrism
Gender bias: alpha bias
Differences between men & women are exaggerated (M+F characteristics emphasized)
Gender bias: alpha bias (strengths)
Led to Gilligan to assert worth + valuation of ‘feminine qualities’
Led to healthy criticism of cultural values that praise certain ‘male’ qualities (aggression, individualism) as desirable, adaptive and universal
Gender bias: alpha bias (limitations)
Focus on differences between genders so ignores many ways women differ from each other
Sustain prejudices + stereotypes
Gender Bias: beta bias
Differences between men and women are minimised
When findings obtained from men are applied to women without additional validation
Gender Bias: Beta bias (strengths)
Makes people see men and women same led to equal treatment in legal terms + equal access to education/employment
Gender Bias: Beta bias (limitations)
Draws attention from differences in power
Egalitarian approach results in major misrepresentation of both genders
Gender Bias: Androcentrism
Taking male thinking/ behaviour as normal, regarding female thinking/ behaviour as deriant, inferior, abnormal
Gender example: alpha bias
Freudian Psychosexual Development
- males develop castration anxiety in phallic stage resolved by identifying with father developing super ego
- females cannot experience + Freud argued this resuls in females developing weaker morality + being inferior
- feminity is failed masculinity + girls experience penis envy
Gender example: Beta bias
Moral Development (Kohlberg)
- value of justice + everyone goes through set stages of moral reasoning HOWEVER based on male sample
- opponents (Gilligan) argued female morality centred on care - according to K’s theory females be at lower level of moral reasoning thus devaluing them
Gender Bias in research processes
Use of standardised procedures in research studies (most methodologies based on standardised treatment of PPs - assumes men ad women respond same way)
Institutional sexism (although female psychology students outnumber male, at senior teaching/ research level in university men dominate) (research agenda follows male conerns)
Reducing gender bias in psychology
Drawing attention to sources of bias and under-researched areas in psychology like childcare, sexual abuse, prostitution
Feminist psychology performed valuable functions of reducing institutionised gender bias
Equal opportunity legislation
Gender bias: the feminist perspective
View women as normal humans, not deficient to men
Skepticism towards biological determinism
Research agenda focusing on women’s concerns
A psychology for women rather than of women
culture bias: key words
cultural relativism (appreciating behaviour varies between cultures)
ethnocentrism (emphasising importance of one’s own culture’s values over others)
culture bias: Pike
proposed 2 ways of doing research
1. etic approach (look at group from ‘outside’ using standard of our culture)
2. emic approach (looking at group from inside)
culture bias: Berry
argues psychology guilty of imposing etics: pushing values onto other cultures assuming they are universal norms
overview of culture bias
psychology predominantly white Euro-American enterprise (64% researchers from US) (90% studies have US participants) (samples predominantly white middle-class)
incorporated particular worldview (Western) into ways it tries to understand people
Alpha Bias: culture example
individualist-collectivist divide (western more indiv + eastern group-focused)
leads to theories being adapted for other cultures based on assumption they behaviour differently
Culturally Biased Research: Ainsworth
Strange Situation ethnocentrism: based on American-British views of child-parent relationships
separation anxiety varies cross-culturally (Germany avoidant (parents focused independence) / Japan resistant (parenting focusers interdependent))
etic approach, using US/UK values as reference point
Culture Bias example: US Army Intelligence Testing
before WW1, US army used IQ test which contained questions about culture & sports that only white majority understanding meaning AA low scores strengthening damaging stereotype + impacted majority’s view on this group
Culture Bias example: IQ testing (Eysenck)
designed to measure European person’s understanding of what intelligence is, not valid measurement of intelligence of other continents
non-westerners disadvantages and viewed as inferior
Culture Bias: Alpha Bias negative and positive consequences
- devaluing 1 culture; overlooking what makes us similar
+ research finds culture differences improve understanding
Culture Bias: beta bias negative and positive consequences
- overlooking difference where they can exist can make it harder for 1 culture
+ minimising differences can improve equality + access if everyone treated same
Culture Bias: Reducing & Modern Approaches
equal opportunity (legislation aim to rid psychology of culture bias/racism)
reflexivity (ability to reflect own potential bias/subjectivity and effect on research)
indigenous psychology (movement associated with ‘native’ psychologists developing theories for own culture)
Gender Bias: Worrell & Remer
following should be considered:
1. women not ‘subjects’ but genuinely ‘participate’ e.g. self-report & qualitative data
2. within-group differences thus recognising not all females same and different from males
3. recognition behaviour result of dispositional-environmental interaction: gender only 1 factor involved + shouldn’t assign to much value to it
free will
notion human can make choices
may be biological/environmental forces that exert some influence on behaviour but able to reject these forces as masters of our destiny
HUMANISTIC
COGNITIVE - although we have free will, its’s constrained by our circumstances + others
determinism
individuals behaviour shaped/controlled by internal/external forces
hard determinism
implies free will isn’t possible as our behaviour always caused by internal/external events beyond our control
cause is identifiable
compatible with aims of science (to uncover causal laws that govern thoughts & action)
soft determinism
all events have causes, but behaviour can be determined by our conscious choices in the absence of coercion
William James first to put forward notion
COGNITIVE
biological determinsim
belief behaviour caused by biological influence we can’t control (genetic, hormonal)
BIOLOGICAL: physiological & neurological processes aren’t under conscious control e.g. influence of autonomic nervous system during periods of stress - lots of behaviours/characteristics thought to have genetic basis + research demonstrated effect of hormones e.g. role of testosterone aggressive - role of COMT and SERT genes in OCD
modern biopsychologists recognise mediating influence of environment on biological structures meaning we are ‘doubly-determined’ in ways we can’t control
environmental determinism
belief behaviour caused by features of environment we can’t control (system of reward/punishment)
Skinner: all behaviour result of conditioning - behaviour shaped by environmental events & agents of socialisation
Bobo Doll & aggression
psychic determinsim
belief behaviour caused by unconscious conflicts we can’t control
Freud: influence of biological drives/instincts - behaviour determined & directed by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood
Strengths of determinism
consistent with aims of science (led to development of treatments, therapies, behavioural interventions e.g. psychotherapeutic drug treatment controlling & managing schizophrenia)
genetic determinism supported by evidence e.g. Joseph et al: rates for schizophrenia 40% (however demonstrates behaviour not 100% determined by genes)
evidence: Bandura’s Bobo Doll: boys more likely to imitate physical aggression - both biological and environmental contributing factors
Weaknesses of determinism
hard determinist stance - individual choice not cause of behaviour - not consistent with way legal system operates (court of law, offenders held morally accountable)
unfalsifiable despite scientific credentials - behaviour always exist event though they may not yet have been found suggesting determinist approach to behaviour not as scientific
mental illness - ignores treatment like therapy
Strengths of free will
face validity (makes cognitive sense) - everyday experience gives impression we constantly exercise free will
research - people with internal LOC tend to be more mentally healthy - Roberts et al: adolescents with strong belief in fatalism significant greater risk depression suggesting even if we don’t have free will the fact we think we do has positive impact on mind/behaviour
emphasises important of individuals + studying individual differences
fit’s society’s view of personal responsibility e.g. if you break law you’ll be punished
Weaknesses of free will
neurological studies of decision making
Libet et al: brain activity determines outcome of simple choices may predate our knowledge of having made choice - found activity related to whether to press button with left/right hand occurs in brain up to 10 secs before participants report being consciously aware of decision showing even most basic experiences of free will decided + determined by brain before we become aware of them
subjective + some argue it doesn’t exist
impossible to scientifically test concept
Scientific Determinism
belief events have cause
IV manipulated to observe effect on DV - if there’s change we logically infer cause & effect
in order to infer causation, extraneous variables must be controlled - lab
emphasis on causal explanations allows us to come up with general laws and predict/control future events
nature
nature: inherited, innate factors (genetic) BIOLOGICAL
early nativists (Rene Descartes) argued human characteristics are innate: result of heredity
nature-nurture: interactionism
heredity (nature) + environment (nurture) have influence on each other
nature-nurture: epigenetics
change in genetic activity without changing genetic code e.g. smoking
nature-nurture: heredity
genetic transmission of mental & physical characteristics from one generation to another
nature-nurture: the interactionist approach
idea nature-nurture linked to such extent it doesn’t make sense to separate two so researchers study how they interact & influence each other
nurture
environment (socialisation experience) BEHAVIOURIST (tabula rasa - John Locke)
Lerner identified different levels of the environment: defined in narrow pre-natal terms (mothers physical/psychological state during pregnancy) or post-natal experiences (social conditionings + cultural/historical context)
nature-nurture: equal debate
heritability coefficient used to assess heredity - numerical figure ranging from 0-1.0 indicating extent to which characteristic has genetic basis
figure for heritability is IQ is around 0.5 across multiple studies in varying populations suggesting both genetics & environment important factors in intelligence
Lerner: environmental influence in child’s lift as soon as born - nature-nurture so closely intertwined makes little sense to separate e.g. twin studies difficult to tell whether high concordance rates result of shared genetics or shared upbringing)
Interactionist approach: attachment patterns are ‘two-way street’ (child’s innate temperament influence parents response + their responses affect child’s behaviour) thus natures creates nurture; heredity & environment interact
Diathesis-stress model: suggests psychopathology caused by genetic vulnerability (diathesis) which only expressed when coupled with environmental trigger
Epigenetics: 3rd element to debate - smoking/diet/pollution leave epigenetic ‘marks’ on DNA - tells bodies which genes to ignore/use + may go on to influence children
Diathesis-stress model: Pikka Tienari et al
group of Finnish adoptees those most likely to develop schizophrenia has biological relatives with history of disorder (vulnerability) + had relationships with adoptive families defined as ‘dysfunctional’ (trigger)
Epigenetics: Dias & Ressler
male lab mice electric shock when exposed to smell of acetophenone - fear reaction to smell-rat’s kids feared smells & grandkids
weaknesses of nature argument
extreme determinist stance led to controversy that which attempted to link race, genetics, intelligence
strength of nurture argument
behaviourist - behaviour shaping had practical application in therapy (desirable behaviours reinforced/undesirable behaviours punished/ignored)
strength of interactionist approach to nature nurture debate
genotype-environment interaction: Scarr & McCartney theory of gene-environment include 3 types
1. passive interaction (parents genes influence way they treat children (musically gifted liked to play to child + encouraged music))
2. evocative interaction (child’s genes influence environment in which they grow up (musically talented picked for school concerts))
3. active interaction (child creates own environment through the people + experience it selects (child chooses similar musically talented friends + seeks out musical experiences)
weakness of interactionist approach to nature-nurture debate
idea of shared & unshared environment - influence of environment complicated by fact siblings raised with same family may not have shared same upbringing - suggests individual differences mean siblings experience life events differently - explain finding MZ twins reared together don’t show perfect concordance rates supporting view heredity + environment can’t be meaningfully separated
holism
only makes sense to study an indivisible system rather than constituent parts
HUMANISTIC saw successful therapy as bringing together all aspects of whole person
reductionism
belief human behaviour best explained by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts
based on scientific principle of parsimony (all phenomena explained using most basic (lower level) principles)
biological reductionism
attempts to explain social & psychological phenomena at lower biological level e.g. actions of genes, hormones
work backwards e.g. drugs that increase serotonin found to be effective treating OCD therefore working backwards, low serotonin cause of OCD - have reduced OCD to level of neurotransmitter activity
environmental reductionism
attempt to explain behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience
BEHAVIOURIST explain behaviour in terms of conditioning focused on simple stimulus-response links, reducing behaviour to these elements
e.g. learning theory of attachment reduces idea of love (between baby & mother) to learned association between mother (neural stimulus) & food (UCS) resulting in pleasure (CR)
Holism vs Reductionism - levels of explanation in psychology
different ways of viewing same phenomena in psychology
e.g. OCD understood in socio-cultural context as producing behaviour that people regard as odd/irrational - psychological level anxiety, physical level compulsions, environmental/behavioural level learning experiences, physiological level abnormal functioning in frontal lobes, neurochemical level underproduction of serotonin
each level more reductionist
weaknesses of holism
lacks practical value - holistic accounts of human behaviour hard to use as become complex e.g. if we accept many factors contributing to depression difficult to know which most influential
strengths of reductionist
scientific approach (objective &reliable) - need to operationalise variables) e.g. Strange Situation operationalised separation anxiety
weaknesses of reductionist
oversimplify - decreases validity - explanations that operate at the level of gene/neurotransmitter don’t include analysis of social context
only understood at higher level - aspects of social behaviour that only emerge within group context + can’t be understood in terms of individual group members e.g. Stanford Prison experiment
idiographic
focus on individual + recognition of uniqueness
private, subjective + conscious experiences
no general laws possible because of chance, free will, uniqueness of individuals
everyone unique + therefore everyone studied in individual way
nomothetic
attempts to establish laws + generalisations about people
objective knowledge through scientific methods + experiments
quantitative methods
idiographic methods of investigation
qualitative data
case study, unstructured interviews, self-reports, autobiographies, personal documents
examples: HUMANISTIC (studying individual + conscious experiences) PSYCHODYNAMIC (Freud’s use of case studies)
strengths of idiographic
more complete or global understanding of individual from in-depth qualitative methods
complement nomothetic approach in adding detail/understanding to general laws
focuses mean individual feels valued & unique
real-life application: HM - brain damaged individual - finding may reveal important insights about normal functioning
weaknesses of idiographic
difficult to generalise from narrow, detailed subjective knowledge about one person
regarded as non-scientific as subjective experience cannot be empirically tested
neglects biological especially genetic influences
Freud: many of key concepts e.g. Oedipus complex developed from detailed study of single case - generalisations can’t be made without farther examples
examples of idiographic
e.g. Rodgers & Maslow: phenomenological approach to study human beings + interested in documenting conscious experience of individual or ‘self’
e.g. psychodynamic approach because Freud’s use of case study when detailing lives of patients - however Freud assumed he identified universal laws of behaviour & personality development (nomothetic approach)
examples of nomothetic
BEHAVIOURIST, COGNITIVE, BIOLOGICAL
Skinner: studied responses of hundreds of rats, cats, pigeons to develop laws of learning
cog: infer structure/processes of human memory by measuring performance of large samples of people in lab tests
bio: countless brain scans conducted on human brains to make generalisations about localisation of function
strengths of nomothetic
scientific - testing under standardised conditions, using data sets that provide group averages, statistical analysis, prediction & control e.g. in field of IQ testing
enabled psychologists to establish norms of ‘typical’ behaviour e.g. average IQ of 100, arguably giving discipline of psychology greater scientific credibility
weaknesses of nomothetic
accused of ‘losing whole person’
knowing there is 1% lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia tells us little about what life is like with disorder
lab studies involving test treats participants as scores rather than individual + subjective experience of people ignored - overlooks richness of human experience
social sensitivity
Sieber & Stanely defined as ‘studies with potential consequences either directly for participants or for class of individual represented’
e.g. genetic basis of criminality
attract attention from psychologists, media, public
Aronson: shouldn’t lead to ‘shying away’ instead because of undoubted importance of research, psychologists may have social responsibility to carry it out
ethical implications
impact psychological research may have in terms of the rights of others
ethical guidelines established to protect
concern with wider ethical implications - may exercise control over methods but little say in how finding represented, impact on public policy + how it may influence perception of particular groups
Ethical issues in socially sensitive research
Sieber & Stanely identified concerns to be mindful of when conducting SSR
implications: wider effects should be considered - some may be seen giving ‘scientific’ credence to prejudice/discrimination - may be difficult to predict at start
uses/public policy: what is it likely to be used for? what would happen if used for wrong purpose? findings may be adopted by government for political ends/shape public policy
validity of the research: some findings presented as objective turned out highly suspect/fraudulent - many modern social constructionist researchers more up-front about biases/preconceptions + include comment on reflective nature of their work
benefits of socially sensitive research
Scarr: studies of underrepresented groups + issues may promote greater sensitivity/understanding - help reduce prejudice + encourage acceptance
benefitted society: research into (un)reliability of EWT has decreased risk of miscarriages of justice
evaluation of socially sensitive research and ethical implications: framing the question
Sieber & Stanely: way research questions phrased/investigated influence way findings interpreted
e.g. cross-cultural research may be blighted by cultural superiority + ethnocentrism
Kitzinger & Coyle: research into ‘alternative relationships’ guilty of form of ‘heterosexual bias’ within which homosexual relationships compared/judged against heterosexual norms
suggests must approach research with ‘open mind’ + be prepared to have preconceptions challenged
evaluation of socially sensitive research and ethical implications: who gains
used by government/other institutions to shape social policy despite dubious nature + without full consideration of moderating effects of environment on characteristics (intelligence)
