4.3.1 Issues & Debates In Psychology

Question 1

bias and universality

Answer 1

• bias refers to factors which may unfairly influence results, thus interfering with the validity
• universality is the assumption that one theory or set of attitudes / behaviours are the norm and can be applied to all people, irrespective of gender or culture
• theories may include bias, lack of validity, and issues with reliability, which all reduce the universality of findings

Question 2

gender bias

Answer 2

• when one gender is treated more favourably than another
• 2 types of gender bias;
• alpha bias; when a theory exaggerates differences between genders - e.g. freud’s psychoanalytic theory argues that women develop weaker superegos than men and have ‘penis envy’
• beta bias; when a theory ignores differences between genders, which can lead to androcentrism / estrocentrism - e.g. fight or flight research was based solely on males but was also generalised to females, which is now contradictory as more recent research suggests females tend to follow a ‘tend and befriend pattern’

Question 3

androcentrism and estrocentrism

Answer 3

• a result of beta bias
• androcentrism; when male thinking / behaviour is regarded as normal, and female thinking / behaviour is seen as abnormal
  when it deviates from typical male behaviours
• e.g. Asch’s (1951) study had an all-male sample, but results were also generalised to females, disregarding gender differences in psychology
• estrocentrism; when female behaviour is seen as the norm, but this is a much rarer phenomenon than androcentrism

Question 4

gender bias - strengths

Answer 4

• essentialist feminism argues that different psychology arises from biological explanations of behaviour, so androcentrism can be countered by a feminist view by overcoming biases with alternative methodologies
• the awareness of the issue can enhance the research process as it can lead to more critical evaluation, e.g. Dambrin and Lambert consider how their own experience influence their analysis of gender differences

Question 5

gender bias - limitations

Answer 5

• gender bias creates and reinforces negative stereotypes and may be used to justify unfair treatment of the sexes
• institutional sexism; males predominate at the senior researcher level and there’s a lack of female senior researchers
• in standardised procedures (lab studies), men and women may be treated differently and they may respond differently, creating artificial differences in the results
• if theories and studies are gender biased, it isn’t necessarily the genders that differ, but it may be the research methods used to test / observe them

Question 6

cultural bias

Answer 6

• the tendency to judge all behaviours, attitudes, values, etc. in terms of one’s own cultural assumptions

Question 7

Berry (1969) - emic and etic

Answer 7

• emic; researching a culture from within to understand that culture specifically, and not apply the findings to other cultures
• however, bias may still occur by exaggerating the differences between different cultural groups (alpha bias)
• etic; researching a culture to discover universal truths, i.e. applying the findings to people in all cultures
• researchers that do this can be guilty of bias in the form of an imposed etic

Question 8

ethnocentrism

Answer 8

• cultural bias may lead to this
• it’s when the behaviours of a certain ethnicity / culture are seen as the default and normal, so any behaviour which deviates from the norms of that culture may be seen as abnormal
• e.g. ainsworth’s strange situation stated that infants who were securely attached were seen as the ‘happiest’ which was the ‘best’ attachment type, but this only reflects the norms of American cultures, ignoring how childcare practices differ in other cultures

Question 9

cultural relativism

Answer 9

• the principle of regarding the behaviours of a culture from the viewpoint of that culture itself, i.e. taking an emic approach
• this helps to avoid cultural bias in research

Question 10

cultural bias - strengths

Answer 10

• etic research isn’t always bad - given that all humans have very similar biology, there are likely to be many universal psychological truths (the bias comes in when researchers assume their culture is the default; imposed etic)
• psychological research can avoid cultural bias by being conscious of cultural relativism
• takano and osaka found no evidence of behaviour differences in 14 / 15 studies comparing an individualist and collectivist culture, suggesting cultural differences may not be as big of a factor in research as previously thought
• some examples of universal behaviours include facial expressions and interactional synchrony in attachment, suggesting not all research findings are culturally relative

Question 11

cultural bias - limitations

Answer 11

• however, just because we’re aware of a biased perspective, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re able to change our perspective
• there seems to be an institutionalised cultural bias in psychology as a considerable amount of research is based on middle class
• prejudice, discrimination and racism are normalised
• the Western viewpoint usually becomes the ‘norm’ in research, which can lead to collectivist behaviour being viewed as abnormal

Question 12

how researchers can avoid gender and culture bias

Answer 12

• by using a representative sample; stratified sampling would achieve this as it reflects the gender and culture demographic within the target population
• conduct research within the context of the less favoured group itself
• ensure that female and ethnic minority researchers are given funding equal to the dominant group, and that published research is given an equal status too

Question 13

free will vs determinism

Answer 13

• there are differing opinions within psychology on whether humans have free will or not
• free will; the belief that humans are able to freely choose their behaviours
• determinism; the belief that human behaviours are caused by physical processes which can’t be overruled, e.g. our genetic makeup, our previous experiences, and our environment

Question 14

free will - humanistic psychology

Answer 14

• the humanistic approach is the only approach that truly encompasses free will
• it sees the individual at the heart of their own destiny, actively making decisions and shaping their life, rather than allowing external forces to do this for them
• while physical factors, e.g. genetics and the environment, may influence us, we’re able to transcend these and make free choices
• e.g. maslow’s hierarchy of needs and self-actualisation

Question 15

types of determinism

Answer 15

• hard
• soft
• biological (biological approach)
• environmental (behaviourist approach)
• psychic (psychodynamic approach)

Question 16

hard vs soft determinism

Answer 16

• hard; believes human behaviour is entirely caused by physical processes beyond our control, so free will is impossible
• e.g. Skinner’s idea that free will is an illusion
• soft; believes human behaviour is largely determined by physical processes, but in some circumstances humans are able to overrule these processes and exert their free will
• e.g. cognitive schemas - individuals have some choice and control to change their existing schemas

Question 17

biological determinism

Answer 17

• the view that behaviours are determined by biological processes, such as;
• genetics; many psychological disorders seem to have a strong genetic component as evidenced by twin studies, e.g. OCD
• hormones; hormone levels can change behaviours, e.g. increased testosterone can cause higher levels of aggression
• biological structures; brain scans show that OCD patients often have increased activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain
• physiological processes; autonomic nervous system has a big influence on behaviour, e.g. during fight or flight, but isn’t under conscious control

Question 18

environmental determinism

Answer 18

• the view that behaviours are determined by conditioning from our environment, e.g;
• positive reinforcements; e.g. getting given sweets as a child for good behaviour
• punishments; e.g. getting told off for bad behaviour

Question 19

psychic determinism

Answer 19

• the view that behaviours are governed by internal, unconscious desires which are derived from repressed conflicts, e.g;
• freud would say an unresolved oedipus complex in childhood can cause aggressive behaviour as an adult man
• freudian slips; e.g. calling your girlfriend ‘mum’ isn’t an accident, but rather an expression of the unconscious mind

Question 20

the scientific emphasis on causal explanations

Answer 20

• to establish the influences on behaviour, psychologists attempt to use the scientific method; controlling all extraneous and confounding variables as much as possible to be certain that the IV has affected the DV (result)

Question 21

free will - strengths / determinism - limitations

Answer 21

• free will is consistent with our moral intuitions and the legal system - if determinism was correct, then there’s an idea that people aren’t morally responsible for their actions, so it would be unfair to blame them for something they couldn’t help doing
• subjective validity; our own experience tells us we do have free will, e.g. it feels like we’re making a free choice when picking an outfit to wear
• determinism is unfalsifiable as it can’t pinpoint exactly what the causes of behaviour are

Question 22

free will - limitations / determinism - strengths

Answer 22

• evidence against free will; some neuroscientific experiments suggests humans don’t have free will, e.g. Soon et al. (2008) used brain scans and found activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortices up to 10 seconds before ppts were consciously aware of their decision
• free will is impossible to prove, as it’s in some sense non-physical, as it doesn’t have a physical cause (or else it would lead back to determinism), so it’s impossible to measure and quantify
• soft determinism can represent an in-between, e.g. Bandura’s SLT has elements of both

Question 23

nature vs nurture

Answer 23

• the debate about whether our behaviour is determined by genes / biology or the environment
• nature; behaviour is explained by heredity; i.e. inherited biological characteristics
• nurture; environmental influences explain behaviour, e.g. family life, peers, education, etc.

Question 24

nature

Answer 24

• behaviour is innate; a product of genetic inheritance
• it can be understood by studying biological processes / structures, such as hormones, neurotransmitters, brain structures
• methodologies include brain scanning (MRI, PET, etc.), concordance rates in twin studies, DNA analysis via urine / saliva samples
• extreme nature argument says some behaviours are entirely biologically-based, e.g. women are born to be carers and men to be providers
• e.g. - Bowlby’s theory of attachment is a pro-nature argument as he concludes attachment is an essential evolutionary mechanism needed for survival
• supported by the biological approach

Question 25

nurture

Answer 25

• behaviour is learned; a product of environmental factors
• behaviour can be understood by studying environmental influences such as upbringing, relationships, school, etc.
• methodologies include classical / operant conditioning, experiments on social roles such as the Stanford prison experiment, and field studies such as Schaffer and Emerson
• the extreme nurture view suggests humans are born as a ‘blank slate’ and all behaviours result from learning
• e.g. - the learning theory of gambling addiction is a pro-nurture argument as it’s based on the idea that gamblers are positively reinforced in their behaviour via financial rewards or physiological ones, e.g. a rush of adrenaline
• supported by the behaviourist approach

Question 26

nature - strengths / nurture - limitations

Answer 26

• understanding genetic inheritance has helped identify atypical chromosome patterns as seen in conditions such as Klinefelter’s syndrome, which clearly shows a biological basis to behaviour
• the discovery of a nicotine receptor in the brain is a pro-nature explanation of nicotine addiction
• although concordance rates in twin studies aren’t 100%, they’re still relatively high and are strong indicators that some behaviours may have a genetic basis
• the nurture side of the debate can’t account for individual differences within children raised in the same family environment, e.g one may become an alcoholic whilst the other child does not

Question 27

nature - limitations / nurture - strengths

Answer 27

• using a purely nature-based approach can result in prejudiced, deterministic assumptions being made about people based on their gender, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.
• twin studies don’t show 100% concordance rates between MZ twins, showing that the environment does play a role in behaviour
• behaviour can be shaped and changed by the environment as evidenced by the two-process model which states phobias are learned via classical and maintained via operant conditioning
• theories such as the deprivation model of aggression demonstrate that the situation may prevail over individual traits, so the environment produces aggression, not the person

Question 28

the interactionist approach

Answer 28

• says that nature and nurture interact to influence behaviour, i.e. our genetic nature predisposes us towards some behaviours more than others, but how these genes are expressed is often dependent on the environment
• it’s used by most psychologists as it’s more holistic than an extreme nature / nurture approach
• e.g. - the diathesis-stress model; a vulnerability to a behaviour such as a mental disorder is combined with a trigger to cause it to develop, and vulnerabilities and stress triggers may be biological or environmental
• e.g. - epigenetics; interactions with the environment can cause changes in genetic activity which affects the genes passed onto offspring
• e.g. dias and ressler (2014) found that a conditioned fear of a chemical smell in rats was also present in their offspring

Question 29

holism vs reductionism

Answer 29

• about levels of explanation; whether psychology should seek to understand a person’s behaviour as a whole or whether behaviours can be broken down and explained in smaller parts

Question 30

holism

Answer 30

• looks at the person as a whole to explain their behaviour
• takes into account various different explanations, rather than focusing on one limited explanation of a behaviour or phenomenon
• the humanistic approach is the most holistic
• e.g. Rutter’s romanian orphans study tracked their physical, cognitive, social and emotional development, and he took into account an array of factors which could’ve influenced this
• the cognitive interview is more holistic as it incorporates the full context of the event from multiple perspectives and timepoints

Question 31

reductionism

Answer 31

• explaining behaviour by breaking it down into a single cause
• involves using a specific and simplistic explanation for a complex behaviour
• biological reductionism; reductionism based on the idea that biological functions and structures can mostly explain behaviour
• theories within the biological approach tend to take a reductionist approach, e.g. Siffre’s cave study explained circadian rhythms as the result of endogenous pacemakers in the body
• environmental reductionism; reductionism based on the idea that external forces determine outcomes and behaviour
• e.g. the behaviourist approach reduces complex behaviours like phobias to a simplistic learning process of classical conditioning

Question 32

levels of explanation

Answer 32

• refers to the idea that there are increasingly holistic ways to explain behaviours
• the lower the level, the more reductionist it is
• 1. the lowest level of explanation is biological, e.g. behaviour is a result of genes
• 2. the middle level is based on psychological explanations, such as those of the cognitive approach, e.g. behaviour is a product of information processing
• 3. the highest level is based on social and cultural factors, e.g. behaviour is based on the influence of upbringing
• holism sees multiple levels of explanation as valuable, whereas reductionism thinks just one level can explain psychological phenomena

Question 33

holism - strengths / reductionism - limitations

Answer 33

• humans don’t live in a ‘bubble’ so taking a holistic approach reflects real life experiences more, increasing ecological validity
• holistic methods, e.g. as used in the humanistic approach, can promote good mental health
• although lacking scientific rigour, holistic research seems to have more explanatory power rather than statistical significance
• reductionism can over-simplify complex behaviours rather than focusing on the complex range of factors involved

Question 34

holism - limitations / reductionism - strengths

Answer 34

• humanistic research lacks empirical evidence as concepts such as ‘self-actualisation’ aren’t easily testable
• taking a holistic approach can become confusing, as if there are too many variables, it becomes hard to understand which are the most influential factors
• taking a reductionist approach helps to isolate key variables and enables studies to be conducted in a scientific way, i.e. repeatable, quantifiable and objective
• breaking down behaviour into component parts can help formulate therapies, such as systematic desensitisation in the treatment of phobias

Question 35

idiographic vs nomothetic

Answer 35

• about whether the best approach to psychology is to look at the similarities between humans or the differences that make them unique

Question 36

idiographic approach

Answer 36

• seeks to understand individuals as unique beings without comparing them to others
• believes that the uniqueness of each person means it’s almost impossible to identify general laws that apply across populations
• characteristics;
• emphasis on qualitative data
• looks at individual case studies over large-scale experiments
• more subjective, less objective
• strongly associated with the humanistic approach, and somewhat to the psychodynamic approach - e.g. freud’s theory seeks to understand the influence of childhood experience on behaviour, which differs for everyone

Question 37

nomothetic approach

Answer 37

• seeks to identify general laws of human behaviour by looking at similarities between people / groups of people
• e.g. classifications, principles, and theoretical models
• characteristics;
• emphasis on quantitative data
• prefers experiments with large sample sizes rather then individual case studies
• more objective, less subjective
• associated with behaviourist, cognitive and biological approaches, as they want to identify general laws

Question 38

idiographic - strengths / nomothetic - limitations

Answer 38

• idiographic approach provides a comprehensive, global understanding of an individual which can lead to better insight to inform therapies, such as psychotherapy or roger’s client-centred counselling
• reinstates human beings as the focus of psychological research and provides rich data, rather than the nomothetic approach which can ‘banish’ the individual from the process and miss important details
• nomothetic can’t explain why behaviour occurs as a large data set can’t explain the subjective experience of the individual, which may be more important and useful than a statistically significant result
• samples in research aren’t always large or representative enough to generalise results from, e.g. Milgram’s study only used 40 male ppts, so it would be unwise to generalise the results to the entire population
• there will always be exceptions to general laws as it’s practically impossible for them to apply to every human

Question 39

idiographic - limitations / nomothetic - strengths

Answer 39

• it’s not possible to generalise findings from idiographic research due to the restricted sample size, which limits overall usefulness of the research
• subjective methods tend to be used when studying single individuals, so they may suffer from researcher bias, etc.
• identifying nomothetic laws of human behaviour is likely to have useful practical applications, e.g. insights from Zimbardo’s prison study could inform policies in prisons to reduce abuse
• more scientific as experiments are objective, measurable and repeatable
• statistical methods can be applied to results, allowing psychologists to identify norms for specific behaviours, and this has high predictive power

Question 40

ethical implications of research

Answer 40

• researchers must be mindful of the impact their research has, both on ppts involved and when the research is published
• researchers face a dilemma on how much to reveal to ppts to satisfy guidelines of informed consent, and how much to conceal to ensure their findings are valid
• once research has been published, there’s little that can be done by researchers in terms of how the media will interpret and present the findings

Question 41

socially sensitive research

Answer 41

• any research that may have direct social consequences for the ppts in the research or the group they represent
• findings could be wrongly interpreted or even manipulated by external sources such as the media
• research into gender, race, criminality, addiction, sexual preference, etc. tend to be prone to media scrutiny
• e.g. bowlby’s monotropic attachment theory that maternal deprivation during the critical period (first 2 years of life) could have severe consequences for the child led to Britain being one of the only countries in the EU not offering free childcare for children under 5

Question 42

socially sensitive research - strengths

Answer 42

• minority / underrepresented social groups can be heard for once, allowing their perspectives, attitudes and experiences to have the ‘spotlight’, rather than those of the dominant groups
• research may have major positive impacts, such as challenging stereotypes or ‘scientific justifications’ for discrimination as it allows people to develop a greater understanding for these underrepresented groups
• cost benefit analysis takes place when deciding whether certain research projects should be allowed to continue

Question 43

socially sensitive research - limitations

Answer 43

• some socially sensitive studies have led to the perpetuation of bias and discrimination, e.g. Burt (1955) fraudulently produced data which still led to the implementation of the 11+ exams in the UK, which segregates children from the results, based on their IQ
• researchers must take care not to exploit their ppts, especially if they’re vulnerable
• even if a cost-benefit analysis is conducted, the impact of such research can be very hard to predict, as it depends how the public perceive such research