Issues & Debates - A2 Flashcards
What is universality and what is its significance for bias in psychology?
- Universality: conclusions drawn can be applied to everyone everywhere, anywhere, regardless of time or culture
- Culture & Gender bias undermine psychology’s claims to universality
What is gender bias?
- Gender bias results when one gender is treated less favourably than the other, often referred to as sexism
What is alpha bias?
- Exaggerating the differences between men & women
- Theories assume there are real & enduring differences between men & women
What are some examples of alpha bias within psychology?
- Freud’s theory of psychosexual development
- During phallic stage, both boys & girls develop a strong desire for their opposite gender parent
- Boys: castration anxiety - resolved when the boy identifies with his father
- Girls: eventual identification with same-sex parent is weaker -> suggests superego is weaker
- Girls are morally inferior to boys
What is beta bias?
- Exaggerating the similarity between men & women
- They minimise gender differences
- Assumes all people are the same and so it’s reasonable to apply research/theories to men & women
- Often happens when theories obtained from men are applied to women without additional validation
What are some examples of beta bias within psychology?
- Fight or flight response
- Biological research has favored using male animals as female behaviour is affected by regular hormonal changes due to ovulation - ignores any possible differences
- Early fight/flight research assumes men & women respond to threatening situations with fight/flight
- Taylor et al - ‘tend & befriend’ - love hormone oxytocin is plentiful in women -> women respond to stress by increasing oxytocin -> reduces fight/flight, enhances tend/befriend
What is androcentrism?
- Taking male thinking/behaviour as normal, regarding female thinking/behaviour as inferior or abnormal instead of just being different
- Alpha & Beta bias are consequences of androcentrism
- Women’s behaviour has been misunderstood, & at worst, pathologised - taken as a sign of ilness
What are the strengths of gender bias in psychological research? (A03)
- Increases awareness of bias: research into gender bias highlights the prevalence of androcentrism & other forms of bias in psychological studies - researchers can work towards more balanced & inclusive approaches in designing studies & interpreting results
- Improves generalizability: addressing gender bias improves external validity of psychological research -ensures findings are applicable to all genders, not just 1 group -> theories more representative of the human experience
What are the weaknesses of gender bias in psychological research? (A03)
- Research challenging gender biases may not be published: Formanowicz (2018) analysed 1000+ studies relating to gender bias published over 8 yrs -> gender bias research is funded less + published in less prestigous journals - held true for other biases e.g. ethnic bias -> gender bias not taken seriously
- Gender differences falsely presented as fixed & enduring: Maccoby & Jacklin - found several gender studies concluded girls have superior verbal ability, boys superior spatial ability + suggested these differences are hardwired into the brain before birth - Joel et al found no sex differences in brain structure/processing (findings fit stereotypes of girls as ‘talkers’ & boys as ‘doers’ -> popularised) - research findings might be better explained as social stereotypes not biological facts
- Counter: research by Ingalhikar suggest the popular strerotype that women are better multitaskers may have biological truth to it - seems a women’s brain may benefit from better connections between RH & LH than men -> may still be biological differences
- Real-world implications: gender-biased research can reinforce harmful stereotypes or justify discrimination (e.g. in the workplace or healthcare)
What did Heinrich et al find and what does WEIRD mean?
- Reviewed hundreds of studies in leading psychology journals - found 68% of research ppts came from USA, and 96% from industrialised nations
- WEIRD: the group of people most likely to be studied by psychologists - Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich Demorcracies
- If the norm for a particular behaviour is set by WEIRD people, then the behaviour of non-westernised people = abnormal
What is cultural bias?
A tendency to interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture, ignoring the effects that cultural differences might have on behaviour
What is ethnocentrism?
- Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture
- In its extreme - the belief in the superiority of one’s own culture which may lead to prejudice towards other cultures
What are some examples of ethnocentrism within psychology?
- Asch concluded that people will conform to the majority opinion (even when incorrect) - used only Americans + males
- Ainsworth’s Strange Situation: only reflects the norms/values of the Western culture -> misinterpretation of child-rearing practices in countries seen to deviate from the American norm - Japanese infants more likely to be classed as insecurely attached (rare separation of mothers & babies - Takahashi)
What is cultural relativism?
The idea that cultures can only be understood from within that culture
What is etic research?
When research based on one culture is generalised and applied to all cultures
What are strengths and weaknesses of etic research?
Strengths:
- Humans from various cultures do have similarities - human physiology is fairly similar + certain behaviours are universal e.g. language development, aggression levels
Weaknesses:
- The vast majority of research involves taking samples of a whole population - challenging to apply the principles & conclusions drawn to all cultures -> researchers can be biased due to an imposed etic
What is emic research?
- Based on studying a specific culture
- Results/conclusions drawn are not to be applied to all cultures
- The focus is to study behaviour within the group and between groups within the culture
What are the strengths & weaknesses of emic research?
Strengths:
- Researchers can avoid cultural bias & bias from imposed etic
- Not trying to generate universal laws
Weaknesses:
- Bias still possible - researchers can over-emphasise differences between cultural groups & not looking at differences within cultural groups
What are the 3 ways of reducing cultural bias?
- Cultural relativism: the idea that there is no universal standard to behaviour
- Representative sampling: all sub-groups within a larger group should be represented ->allows for generalisability of results
- Context: research should be conducted in meaningful contexts & use researchers local to the culture being studied -> reduces imposed etic
What are the strengths of cultural bias in psychology (A03)
- Emergence of cultural psychology: the study of how people shape/ are shaped by cultural experience (Cohen) - incoorprates work from researchers in other disciplines e.g. sociology -> cultural psychologists strive to avoid ethnocentic assumptions - take an emic approach + tend to focus on just 2 cultures -> modern psychologist know the dangers of culture bias
- Improves external validity: addressing cultural bias ensures findings are applicable across diverse populations rather than limited to a single culture (often WEIRD populations) - enhances ecological validity of psychological research
What are the weaknesses of cultural bias in psychology (A03)
- Many of the most influential psychological studies are culturally biased: Asch & Milgram’s og studies were conducted with US ppts - Asch type replications in collectivist cultures found higher conformity rates than original US studies -> understanding of topics like social influence should only be applied to individualist cultures
- Counter: in an age of increased media globalisation, the individualist-collectivist distinction may no longer apply - Takano & Osaka found 14/15 studies comparing USA & Japan found no evidence of collectivism or individualism
- Temporal validity:
cultures evolve over time, & findings from older studies may no longer reflect current cultural norms or practices - hard to draw long-lasting conclusions about cultural influences on behavior - Language barriers:
in cross-cultural research, translating materials such as questionnaires or interview protocols can lead to translation errors or loss of meaning - some concepts may not have equivalent terms in different languages, affects validity of the measures - Sampling issues: samples in cross-cultural studies are often unrepresentative of entire cultures, relying on accessible participants such as university students (often WEIRD populations) - limits generalizability of findings to broader populations within the studied culture
What is free will?
- Humans are self-determining & free to choose their own thoughts and actions
- Implies we are able to reject external forces if we wish because we are in control of our own thoughts/behaviour
- Free will can be subjective e.g. school setting
What is determinism?
The view that free will is an illusion & behaviour is controlled by internal/external forces over which we have no control
What is the difference between soft and hard determinism?
- Hard determinism: also known as fatalism - suggests all human behaviour has a cause & it should be possible to identify & describe these causes - assumes everything we think/do is controlled by internal/external forces
- Soft determinism: human behaviour may be predictable but we have the freedom to make rational conscious choices in everyday situations
What is biological determinism?
- Behaviour is causes by biological influences we can’t control
- Biological approach emphasises biological determinism of behaviour e.g. influence of ANS on stress response
What is environmental determinsim?
- Based on ideas of conditioning, and that this learned behaviour will then influence our actions
- Skinner described free will as an illusion + all behaviour is the result of conditioning
- Our experience of choice is merely the sum of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives
What is psychic determinism?
- Belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious psychodynamic conflicts we can’t control
- Freud emphasised the influence of biological drives & instincts - saw behaviour as determined by unconscious conflicts, repressed in childhood
Why is there a scientific emphasis on causal explanations in psychology?
- One of the basic principles is that every event in the universe has a cause which can be explained by general laws (hard determinism)
- In psychology, the lab experiment is the ideal of science - allows researchers to show causal relationships
What are the strengths of the free will/determinism debate? (A03)
- Free will has practical value: common sense idea is we exercise free choice everyday, even if not, thinking we do have free choice can improve our mental health - Roberts et al looked at adoloscents who believed in fatalism -> found these adolescents at a greater risk of depression -> seems people with an external LOC are less likely to be optimistic -> believing we have free will has a positive mental impact
- High scientific rigor in deterministic approaches: rely on empirical, replicable methods e.g. brain imaging (e.g., fMRI) to investigate neural activity & its relationship to behavior + experimental designs to isolate variables & test hypotheses about causation -> enhances the reliability & validity of findings & contributes to psychology’s scientific credibility
- Prediction & control: helps develop effective treatments & interventions based on predictable laws of behaviour (e.g. drug therapies for OCD)
What are the weaknesses of the free will/determinism debate? (A03)
- Brain scan evidence doesn’t support free will: Libet et al instructed ppts to choose a random moment to flick their wrist while he measured their brain activity & ppts had to say when they felt they felt the conscious will to move -> unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision came 1/2 second before the ppt felt they decided to move -> even our most basic experiences are determined by our brain
- Counter: just because action comes before conscious decision to act, doesn’t mean there was no decision - jus that the decision took time to reach consciousness -> our conscious awareness of the decision is simply a ‘read out’ of our unconscious decision-making
- Overreliance on correlational data: most evidence for determinism comes from correlational studies, e.g. twin studies or research on brain activity -> can’t establish causation - weakens the argument for a purely deterministic explanation of behavior
- Legal + moral implications: removes personal responsibility – if all behaviour is determined, it’s harder to hold individuals accountable
- Reductionism in deterministic research: often reduces complex behaviors to single causes, e.g. biological or environmental factors - reductionist view overlooks the multifaceted nature of human behavior, including cultural, emotional, & cognitive influences
What is the interactionist approach (nature-nurture)?
- The nature perspective focuses on the innate genetic potential of an individual while the nurture perspective focuses on the impacts of the environment
- Interactionism states that nature and nurture interact to form human personality - environment & heredity interact
What is the diathesis-stress model?
- Suggests behaviour is caused by a biological or environmental vulnerability which is only expressed when coupled with a biological/ environmental stressor
- Diathesis = genetic potential or vulnerability of a person developing a disorder
- Stress = environmental trigger
What is epigenetics?
- Refers to a change in our genetic activity without changing the genes themselves - caused by interaction with the environment
- Aspects of our lifestyle or events we encounter leave marks on our DNA which switch genes on and off
- Epigenetics adds a third element to the nature-nurture debate - life experience of previous generations
What is the nature side of the nature-nurture debate?
- Genetic perspective
- Nature is due to the genetics, biology, inherited influences or heredity
- Descartes - all human characteristics, even knowledge, are innate
- Nativist theory - Rousseau’s theory of innate characteristics
What is the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate?
- Environmental perspective
- Examines how environment & learning influence a person
- Empiricists (Locke) argue the mind is a blank slate at birth
How is nature & nurture measured?
- Concordance (the degree to which two people are similar on a particular trait) can be shown by a correlation coefficient
- Provides an estimate to which the extent a train is inherited (heritability)
- A figure of .01 (1%) = genes contribute almost nothing to individual differences, 1.0 (100%) = genes are the only reason
- Heritability in IQ = .5
What is heritability?
The proportion of differences between individuals in a population, with regards to a particular trait, due to genetic variation
What are the strengths of the nature-nurture debate? (A03)
- Use of adoption studies: separate the competing influences of nature & nurture - if adopted children are found to be similar to adoptive parent = environment is the bigger influence (and vice versa) -> Rhee & Waldman meta-analysis of adoption studies found genetic influences accounted for 41% of the variance in aggression -> research can separate influences of nature/nurture
- Epigenetics: example of how environmental effects can span generations through epigenetic effects = WW2 - Dutch Hunger Winter (Nazi’s controlled food supply) -> pregnant women during the famine had low weight babies + babies 2x likely to develop schizophrenia than normal population -> life experiences of previous generations can leave epigenetic markers
- Real world application: research suggests OCD is heritable (Nestadt et al put the heritability rating as .76) - can inform genetic counselling -> high heritability doesn’t mean inevitable - people with high OCD genetic risk can receive advice about the likelihood of development + prevention -> debate is important at a practical level
What are the weaknesses of the nature-nurture debate? (A03)
- Difficulty separating nature & nurture:
challenging to isolate genetic influences from environmental factors due to their complex interaction - e.g. identical twins typically share similar environments -> hard to distinguish whether similarities are due to genetics or upbringing - Reductionist: attempts to quantify the contributions of nature and nurture (e.g. using heritability estimates) - oversimplifies complex traits/behaviors, ignoring the nuanced ways genetic & environmental factors interact
What is holism?
- Looks at a system as a whole & sees any attempt to subdivide behaviour or experience into smaller units as inappropriate
- Takes a broader approach to the study of behaviour
What is reductionism?
- Breaks down behaviour into the simplest or most basic parts
- Rather than looking at complex theories entirely, theories are broken down into basic parts
What are the levels of explanation in psychology?
- Lowest level: Biological - the biological approach pares down complex explanations to one, ‘pure’ idea (e.g. that one single factor such as hormones is responsible for complex behaviour like aggression)
- Middle level: Psychological - faulty information- the psychological/cognitive approach takes more factors and variables into consideration when explaining aggression (e.g. the mind distorts reality but this is often based on a person’s experience and learning)
- Highest level: Social & Cultural - sociocultural explanations offer the broadest & least reductionist approach to behaviour as they consider a wide range of factors (least scentific)
What is the difference between biological and environmental reductionism?
- Biological reductionism: refers to the way that biological psychologists try to reduce behaviour to a physical level and explain it in terms of neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones, brain structure (biological level)
- Environmental reductionism: stimulus-response reductionism, proposes all behaviour is learned & acquired through interactions with the environment
What are the strengths of the holism/reductionism debate? (A03)
- Reductionist approach - scientific basis -> well-controlled research with operationalised variables - conduct experiments/observations in a reliable & objective way e.g. research on attachment (Strange Situation) operationalised component behaviours -> greater credibility
- Counterpoint: Oversimplifies complex phenomena -> reduces validity - explanations that operate at the level of gene/neurotransmitter don’t consider behaviour within its social context e.g. pointing your finger -> partial explanation
- Real-world applications of holism: holistic approaches are valuable in applied settings, e.g. therapy - treatments like family therapy for schizophrenia consider social & environmental influences alongside biological factors -> effective outcomes.
What are the weaknesses of the holism/reductionism debate? (A03)
- Reductionism can only be understood at a higher level: some aspects of social behaviour only emerge within a group context & can’t be understood by observing ppts as individuals e.g. the effects of conformity to social roles in prisoners & guards in S.P.E - no conformity gene -> for social processes, holistic explanations provide a better account
- Subjectivity in holism: holistic approaches often rely on qualitative subjective data interpretations -> lacks reliability & replicability of reductionist method -> inconsistencies in findings across studies
- Loss of ecological validity in reductionism: reductionist studies often rely on artificial, highly controlled experiments -> enhances internal validity, but reduces applicability of findings to real-life contexts - behavior in controlled settings may not reflect behavior in natural environments
What is nomothetic research?
- Tries to find universal laws that can be applied to whole populations
- Research mostly contains quantitative research in the form of lab studies & correlation research - statistical data is generally reliable + valid
- From these studies, general laws & theories of human behaviour can be made
What are the strengths and weaknesses of nomothetic research?
Strengths:
- Quantitative research -> highly scientific approach
- Studies can be highly controlled - avoid bias & extraneous variables
- Obtains objective rather than subjective data
Weaknesses:
- Scientific -> low ecological validity - results can’t be validly applied to real life
- By examining whole populations, some details will be missed/ignored
- Behaviour that deviates from the norm of general laws created is sometimes not explained
What is idiographic research?
- Focuses on individuals in detail as a means of understanding behaviour rather than trying to form general laws
What are the strengths & weaknesses of idiographic research?
Strengths:
- Focusing on the individual -> complete explanation
Weaknesses:
- Focusing on individuals e.g. in case studies -> harder to generalise findings to a whole population
- Qualitative research -> subjective -> less scientific
What is the nomothetic approach to psychological investigation?
- Hypotheses are formulated, samples of people are assessed in a standardised way, the numerical data produced is analysed for its statistical significance
- Seeks to quantify human behaviour
What are some examples of the nomothetic approach in psychology?
- Forensics: Eysenck’s Theory of Personality suggested criminality is due to stable personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism)
- Attachment: Ainsworth’s Strange Situation - categorised attachment into three universal types: secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant -later extended by Main & Solomon
- Social Influence: Asch – Conformity - identified general laws of conformity, showing majority influence affects most individuals
- Skinner studied animals to develop the general laws of learning - his research looked at one aspect of behaviour in few animals but the main aim was to establish general laws
- Sperry’s split-brain research involved repeated testing + was the basis for understanding hemispheric lateralisation
- MSM: proposes general stages of memory
What is the idiographic approach to psychological investigation?
- Mostly qualitative
- Ppts would be interviewed in depth & the focus may be on a particular facet of human behaviour
- Data is then analysed & emergent themes are identified
- Conclusions may help others going through other experiences
What are some examples of the idiographic approach in psychology?
- Humanistic & psychodynamic approach
- Rogers tried to explain the role of self-development including the process of unconditional positive regard -> derived from in-depth conversations of clients in therapy
- Freud’s observations of individuals were the basis of his explanations of human nature e.g. Little Hans used to explain how a phobia might develop
What are the strengths of the nomothetic/ idiographic debate? (A03)
- Both approaches have scientific credibility: nomothetic research processes are similar to those used in natural sciences e.g. establishing objectivity through standardisation & control + idiographic researchers objectify their research through triangulation (findings from a range of studies using different qualitative methods are compared as a way of increasing their validity)
- Rich, detailed data: idiographic approach provides in-depth insights into individual cases, e.g. case studies like Little Hans offer valuable qualitative data that reveal unique aspects of behavior not captured by general laws
- Complete account - the idiographic approach contributes to the nomothetic: idiographic uses in-depth qualitative methods of investigation providing a global desciption of one individual - complements nomothetic by shedding light on & challenging general laws e.g. a single case (HM) may generate hypotheses for further study -> still helps form general scientific laws
- Counterpoint: idiographic research still restricted - uses case studies -> hard to build effective general theories
What are the weaknesses of the nomothetic/ idiographic debate? (A03)
- Nomothetic -> loss of understanding of the individual - preoccuppied with general laws accused of ‘losing the whole person’ within psych - knowing there’s a 1% risk of schizophrenia tells us litte about what life is like for a schizophrenic -> understanding subjective experience is more useful for devising treatments -> nomothetic fails to relate to experience
- Time-consuming & resource-intensive:
Collecting & analyzing detailed, qualitative data takes considerable time & effort -> idiographic research is less practical for studying large groups/developing broad theories - Reductionist - oversimplification of complex behavior ->
focuses on general laws, + overlooks the uniqueness of individual experiences, e.g. applying standardized diagnostic criteria to mental health conditions may ignore personal circumstances that influence the condition
What are ethical implications?
The consequences of any research in terms of the effects on individual ppts or on the way in which certain groups of people are subsequently regarded
Why might psychologists consider ethical issues?
- Psychologists must consider ethical issues not just when carrying out the method but for what the results may tell society e.g., certain research findings can negatively impact individuals/groups
- They can also impact the ppts themselves or their families
- Some findings may cause stereotypes or stigma to develop against these individuals or groups.
What is social sensitivity?
Socially sensitive research deals with topics that, if handled badly by the researcher, could have negative consequences for the groups involved due to how the findings could be interpreted or even manipulated by external sources like the media
e.g. criminality, addiction, race
What are the strengths of socially sensitive research?
- Minority or underrepresented social groups can be given the ‘spotlight’: higher profile allows perspectives, attitudes & experiences that are not those of the dominant group to be heard -> widens the social & cultural landscape & highlights the richness of human experience on a broader scale
- Helps to highlight inadequacies in the care of vulnerable people e.g. Rosenhan’s (1973) study on the de-humanising treatment of patients in mental hospitals in the USA led to a review of how such institutions were run & their potential for labelling people
What are the weaknesses of socially sensitive research?
Some socially sensitive studies have been conducted in ways which are far from ethical and have in turn led to the perpetuation of bias and discrimination e.g.
Burt (1955) invented data that led to the implementation of the 11+ examinations in the UK
The results of this exam segregated children according to their IQ which could act as a self-fulfilling prophecy
Researchers who conduct socially sensitive research must take care not to exploit their participants, particularly if those participants are vulnerable e.g.
Griffiths (1994) study into gambling addiction used regular gamblers who were asked to play on slot machines which could reinforce their need to gamble
This is a limitation as it pushes the boundaries of what is ethical in research
What are the implications of social sensitivity for the research process?
- Research question: Barbara & Stanley - the way in which research questions are phrased & investigated may influence how findings are interpreted
- Dealing with ppts: informed consent, confidentiality & psychological harm are important e.g. studying domestic abuse ppts may worry ex-partners will find out - such ppts may give informed consent at the start of the study but not fully understand the effects of the research
- The way findings are used: may impact what data they collect - important as research findings may be seen as giving scientific credence to existing prejudices e.g. studying the ethnic basis of intelligence + the media is more interested in sensitive info
What are the strengths of ethical implications of research studies & theory (A03)
- It can have benefits for the groups being studied e.g. homosexuality - the DSM-1 listed this as a sociopathic personality disorder in 1952 (changed in 1973) -> credited to the Kinsey report (based on anonymous interviews with men about their sexual behaviour) which concluded homosexuality is a typical expression of human behaviour
- Counter: some studies could have negative consequences e.g. research investigating the genetic basis of criminality found a criminal gene -> someone being convicted on the basis of having this gene -> careful consideration for socially sensitive topics
- Real world application: certain groups e.g. policymakers rely on socially sensitive research -> when developing social policies, gov looks at decisions related to child care, crime etc (better to be based on scientific research) - independent groups like ONS collect data about UK economy, society and population + used in psychological research -> psychologists play important role in providing research
Improved validity through ppt well-being: addressing ethical implications ensures that participants feel comfortable & respected, reducing stress/discomfort -> more accurate & reliable data, as ppts are more likely to behave naturally
What are the weaknesses of ethical implications of research studies & theory (A03)
- Poor research design -> erroneous findings e.g. Burt’s research was exposed (2 imaginary research assistants) - 11+ still used today + access to many independent schools is based on performance in entrance exams + based on same reasoning that genetic potential has revealed itself by this age -> socially sensitive research must be planned to ensure valid findings -> enduring effects
- Compromises experimental control: efforts to minimize harm/ discomfort -> use of less invasive methods, which could compromise experimental control or reduce validity of findings, e.g. self-report measures may replace observational studies to avoid ethical concerns but can introduce biases
What are the weaknesses of interactionism?
- Less scientific than very reductionist explanations
- It violates the principle of parsimony as it introduces higher levels of explanation & requires us to use more than one level of explanation
What is the principle of parsimony?
If we have several different explanations for behaviour, all completely explaining the same thing, we should choose the simplest explanation
