issuses and debates Flashcards
explain the levels of explanation in reductionism
highest level - cultural and social explanations
middle level - psychological explanations
Lowry level - biological explanations and of hormones/genes affect our behaviour
explain the three types of reductionism
biological - since all humans are made up of atoms, then human behaviour must be explainable at this level
environmental (stimulus- response) - behaviourists suggest that all behaviour can be explained in terms of simple stimulus response links
experimental - reducing complex behaviours to isolated variables is a useful strategy for conducting research. Behaviours are reduced to operationalised variables which can be manipulated and measured to determine causal relationships
Alpha bias
- differences between males and females are exaggerated
- used to undervalue one of the sex’s
Beta bias
- differences between males and females are ignored
- happen when studies include participants of one gender but conclusions applied to whole population
Estrocentrism
- female behaviour seen as the norm
What things in research design should be considered to prevent gender bias
- be careful that they’re not unconsciously including any gender stereotypes in aim
- participants selected in a no biased way
- treat female and male participants equally
Which two theories show gender bias
- Freud’s psychodynamic approach. Male behaviour as norm. Female behaviour as anything that suffered from the norm. Proposed that when girls find out they don’t have a penis they suffer from penis envy
- Asch’s conformity. Male only sample
Ethnocentrism
- where our own culture is taken as the norm that we judge other cultures against
How did Asch and Milgram show ethnocentrism
- Asch - only studied Americans. Generalised results to members of groups that hadn’t been studied
- Milgram - challenged the view that the German soldiers who had carried out the holocaust must be inherently evil. Used American participants and didn’t take cultural differences between Germany and USA into account
2 ways to reduce cultural bias in research
- research should recognise cultural relativism. Accepting that there are no universal standard of behaviour
- samples should be representative of the groups you want to generalise the results to
Explain how the psychodynamic approach falls on both sides of the nature nurture debate
- Freud argues that personalities are the result of an interaction of nature and nurture.
- he emphasised the importance of inborn instils and drives (represented in the ID)
- however, he also said that experiences can result in fixations in the stage of development
Explain how the biological approach is in the nature side of the approach
- emphasises genetically determined brain structures and processes
- evolutionary psychology states that many behaviours are genetically influence because they have survival value
Explain his behaviourist is most heavily on the nurture side of the debate
- all behaviours are learnt through conditioning , apart from inborn reflexes and instincts
Explain how the cognitive approach can be seen on both sides of the nature nature debate
- studies genetically determined mental processes
- but accepts that the environment influences their development and functioning
Soft determinism
- we choose our behaviour, but the choices we make are the result of our own personality traits and intentions
Why does Freud think behaviour is determined
- determines by unconscious force
- this is psychic determinism.
- e.g. if you forget to go to a dentists appointment , you might consciously think it was an accident
- but feud would claim that it was actually determined by unconscious influences
Why does behaviourist think that behaviour is determined
- skinner claimed that behaviour is determined by the environment and is the result of punishment and reinforcement
- environmental determinism
Levels of explanation
- the molecular level (physics )
- the cellular level (biochemistry )
- parts of individuals ( biology )
- the behaviour of individuals ( psychology )
- the behaviour of groups ( sociology )
Is the psychodynamic approach holistic or reductionist
- holistic
- considers unconscious forces and childhood experiences
- Freud emphasised that personality is the result of interaction between different components - more holistic view
3 evaluation points of the nomothetic approach
- research methods frequently used in the nomothetic approach mean that it’s a pretty controlled, objective and scientific approach. Theories can be scientifically tested
- research methods can lack ecological validity
- individual differences ignores. Less useful for explaining behaviour that doesn’t fit in with the norms
2 evaluation points of the idiographic approach
- focuses on individual. More complex, detailed explanation
- fewer people are studied. Tricky to generalise . Can be seen as less scientific
Why is biological nomothetic
- aims to find the cause of behaviour in biological structures and process
- assumes they are the same across the population
Why is behaviourist nomothetic
- psychologists from the behaviourist approach apply cause and effect laws to explain behaviour in general, which is thought to be the result of classical and operant conditioning
Socially sensitive research
- findings from psychological research may highlight social issues that create negative effects or reactions in society
- this May lead to certain groups of people being stigmatised
- research that may have implications for the individuals in the research or groups in society
Explain how research into genetic influences raises many issues
- research into whether there are genetic influences in criminal behaviour could have important consequences
- generics could be used as a defence against being convicted for a crime or could be used to stigmatise people who have the relevant genes even if they haven’t shown bad behaviour
Explain why using a factor like race as an independent variable is a very sensitive issue
- some studies using IQ tests have shown possible racial differences in intelligence
- the issue is whether this is an appropriate topic for research because of social tensions
