Issues & Debates

Question 1

What is meant by Universality

Answer 1

Any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experience and upbringing. Gender bias and culture bias threaten the universality of findings in psychology.

Question 2

What is meant by Gender bias

Answer 2

When considering human behaviour, bias is a tendency to treat one individual or group in a different way from others. In the context of gender bias, psychological research or theory may offer a view that does not justifiably represent the experience and behaviour of men or women (usually women).

Question 3

What is meant by Androcentrism

Answer 3

Male-centered; when ‘normal’ behaviour is judged according to a male standard (meaning that female behaviour is often judged to be ‘abnormal’ or ‘deficient’ by comparison).

Question 4

What is meant by Alpha bias

Answer 4

Psychological theories that suggest there are real and enduring differences between men and women. These may enhance or undervalue members of either sex, but typically undervalue females.

Question 5

What is meant by Beta bias

Answer 5

Theories that ignore or minimise differences between the sexes.

Question 6

What is meant by Cultural bias

Answer 6

Refers to a tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through thre ‘lens’ of one’s own culture.

Question 7

What is meant by Ethnocentrism

Answer 7

Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture. In its extreme form it is the belief in the superiority of one’s own culture which may lead to prejudice and discrimination towards other cultures.

Question 8

What is meant by Cultural relativism

Answer 8

The idea that norms and values, as well as ethics and moral standards, can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts.

Question 9

What is meant by Free will

Answer 9

The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces.

Question 10

What is meant by Determinism

Answer 10

The view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual’s will to do something.

Question 11

What is meant by Hard determinism

Answer 11

Implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal or external events beyond our control.

Question 12

What is meant by Soft determinism

Answer 12

All events, including human behaviour, have causes, but behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices in the absence of coercion. In contrast with hard determinism.

Question 13

What is meant by Biological determinism

Answer 13

The belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment (such as systems of reward and punishment) that we cannot control.

Question 14

What is meant by Psychic determinism

Answer 14

The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control.

Question 15

What is meant by The nature-nurture debate

Answer 15

Concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics.

Question 16

What is meant by Heredity

Answer 16

The genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another.

Question 17

What is meant by Environment

Answer 17

Any influence on human behaviour that is non-genetic. This may range from pre-natal influences in the womb through to cultural and historical influences at a societal level.

Question 18

What is meant by The interactionist approach

Answer 18

The idea that nature and nurture are linked to such an extent that it does not make sense to separate the two, so researchers instead study how they interact and influence each other.

Question 19

What is meant by Holism

Answer 19

An argument or theory which proposes that it only makes sense to study an indivisible system rather than its constituent parts (which is the reductionist approach).

Question 20

What is meant by Reductionism

Answer 20

The belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts.

Question 21

What is meant by Biological reductionism

Answer 21

A form of reductionism which attempts to explain social and psychological phenomena at a lower biological level (in terms of the actions of genes, hormones, etc.).

Question 22

What is meant by Environmental reductionism

Answer 22

The attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience.

Question 23

What is meant by Idiographic approach

Answer 23

Derived from the Greek ‘idios’ meaning ‘private or personal’. An approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour, rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behaviour (the nomothetic approach).

Question 24

What is meant by Nomothetic approach

Answer 24

Derived from the Greek ‘nomos’ meaning ‘law’. The nomothetic approach attempts to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws.

Question 25

What is meant by Ethical implications

Answer 25

The impact that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of other people especially participants. This includes, at a societal level, influencing public policy and/or the way in which certain groups of people are regarded.

Question 26

What is meant by Social sensitivity

Answer 26

Sieber and Stanley (1988) define socially sensitive research as, ‘studies in which there are potential consequences or implications, either directly for the participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research’.