issuses and debates

Question 1

explain the levels of explanation in reductionism

Answer 1

highest level - cultural and social explanations

middle level - psychological explanations

Lowry level - biological explanations and of hormones/genes affect our behaviour

Question 2

explain the three types of reductionism

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Alpha bias

Answer 3

• differences between males and females are exaggerated

- used to undervalue one of the sex’s

Question 4

Beta bias

Answer 4

• differences between males and females are ignored

- happen when studies include participants of one gender but conclusions applied to whole population

Question 5

Estrocentrism

Answer 5

• female behaviour seen as the norm

Question 6

What things in research design should be considered to prevent gender bias

Answer 6

• 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

Question 7

Which two theories show gender bias

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

Ethnocentrism

Answer 8

• where our own culture is taken as the norm that we judge other cultures against

Question 9

How did Asch and Milgram show ethnocentrism

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

2 ways to reduce cultural bias in research

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

Explain how the psychodynamic approach falls on both sides of the nature nurture debate

Answer 11

• 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

Question 12

Explain how the biological approach is in the nature side of the approach

Answer 12

• emphasises genetically determined brain structures and processes
• evolutionary psychology states that many behaviours are genetically influence because they have survival value

Question 13

Explain his behaviourist is most heavily on the nurture side of the debate

Answer 13

• all behaviours are learnt through conditioning , apart from inborn reflexes and instincts

Question 14

Explain how the cognitive approach can be seen on both sides of the nature nature debate

Answer 14

• studies genetically determined mental processes

- but accepts that the environment influences their development and functioning

Question 15

Soft determinism

Answer 15

• we choose our behaviour, but the choices we make are the result of our own personality traits and intentions

Question 16

Why does Freud think behaviour is determined

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

Why does behaviourist think that behaviour is determined

Answer 17

• skinner claimed that behaviour is determined by the environment and is the result of punishment and reinforcement
• environmental determinism

Question 18

Levels of explanation

Answer 18

• the molecular level (physics )
• the cellular level (biochemistry )
• parts of individuals ( biology )
• the behaviour of individuals ( psychology )
• the behaviour of groups ( sociology )

Question 19

Is the psychodynamic approach holistic or reductionist

Answer 19

• holistic
• considers unconscious forces and childhood experiences
• Freud emphasised that personality is the result of interaction between different components - more holistic view

Question 20

3 evaluation points of the nomothetic approach

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

2 evaluation points of the idiographic approach

Answer 21

• focuses on individual. More complex, detailed explanation

- fewer people are studied. Tricky to generalise . Can be seen as less scientific

Question 22

Why is biological nomothetic

Answer 22

• aims to find the cause of behaviour in biological structures and process
• assumes they are the same across the population

Question 23

Why is behaviourist nomothetic

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

Socially sensitive research

Answer 24

• 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

Question 25

Explain how research into genetic influences raises many issues

Answer 25

• 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

Question 26

Explain why using a factor like race as an independent variable is a very sensitive issue

Answer 26

• 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