Issues And Debates

Question 1

What are the issues with psychology, historically?

Answer 1

It is male dominated. Either the Female voice hasn’t been heard at all or it has been minimised, marginalised or judged as abnormal.

Question 2

What is universality?

Answer 2

When conclusions drawn can be applied to everyone, anywhere, regardless of time, culture or gender. They are objective and not influenced by their own values.

Question 3

What is gender bias?

Answer 3

When psychological research may offer a view that doesn’t justifiably represent the experience of men or women.

Question 4

What is alpha bias?

Answer 4

The misrepresentation of behaviour because researchers overestimate/ exaggerate difference and they often devalue women.

Question 5

What is beta bias?

Answer 5

The misrepresentation of behaviour because researchers underestimate or minimise gender differences e.g female participants not included.

Question 6

What is androcentrism?

Answer 6

If our understanding of what normal behaviour is comes from research involving men, the behaviour deviating from these norms is seen as abnormal. Female behaviour is then misunderstood as abnormal.

Question 7

Positive evaluation of gender bias. (3)

• published
• ovaries
• work

Answer 7

• male researchers are more likely to get published than female. Also research that finds differences between culture is more likely to be published.
• provides justification for denying women opportunities. In 1930s research showed intellectual activity (like attending university) shrivels up woman’s ovaries and reduces their chances of conceiving.
• gender differences are based on essentialist perspective; idea that gender differences are fixed, inevitable and determined by nature. This is not the case because women work too and men also do chores and take care of children. So psychological differences are less.

Question 8

Negative evaluation for gender bias. (2)

• recognise
• criteria

Answer 8

• many researchers have recognised the effect of their research. Psychologists included a reflection of how their own gender related experiences affected their reading of events when they investigated the reason for the lack of women in accountancy firms.
• psychologist made number of criteria to avoid gender bias; women should be studied in meaningful contexts, should genuinely participate in research (not just as participants), diversity within groups of women and should be more collaborate research methods collecting qualitative data.

Question 9

What is culture bias?

Answer 9

If the standard of behaviour is judged only from the standpoint of a particular culture, then any cultural differences will be seen as abnormal or inferior.

Question 10

What is ethnocentrism?

Answer 10

Emphasising the importance of behaviour of ones own culture and any behaviour that doesn’t conform is deficient, unsophisticated or underdeveloped.

Question 11

What is cultural relativism?

Answer 11

How behaviour varies between cultures.

Question 12

What is the etic approach?

Answer 12

This looks at behaviour from outside of the given culture and describes those behaviours as universal.

Question 13

What is the emic approach?

Answer 13

This functions from within the culture a culture and identifies behaviours that are specific to that cultures.

Question 14

What is imposed etic?

Answer 14

When a researcher imposes their culturally specific idea on another culture.

Question 15

Positive evaluation of culture bias. (3)

• individualistic
• African
• Koro

Answer 15

• the study of individualistic and collectivist cultures is unhelpful and inaccurate. Individualistic cultures value personal freedom and collectivist cultures place more emphasis on the needs of the group. 14 out of 15 studies comparing USA and Japan were compared and no evidence of traditional distinctions were found.
• African- Caribbean immigrants are 7 times more likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness. This questions that validity of the DSM and ICD for diagnosing individuals outside of culture they were developed in.
• some mental illness are specific to certain cultures. In West Africa’s, Brain Fag is used for a person experiencing difficulty concentrating or thinking. In China, Koro is when a man believes his penis is retracting into his body.

Question 16

Negative evaluation of culture bias.(2)

• universal
• cross-cultural

Answer 16

• some human behaviours are universals, like the basic facial expressions for emotions like happiness of disgust, which is the same in all cultures and with animals. Intersectional synchrony is also found in all cultures.
• cross-cultural research prevents cultural bias as it shows how knowledge and concepts are not shared by other people around the world. This counters scientific racism and increases validity.

Question 17

What is free will?

Answer 17

The idea that humans are self determining and able to choose their own thoughts and actions.

Question 18

What is determinism?

Answer 18

The idea that our traits and behaviours are outside of our control due to factors, either internal or external.

Question 19

What is hard determinism?

Answer 19

The idea that all of a persons traits and behaviours are entirely out of the individuals control.

Question 20

What is soft determinism?

Answer 20

The idea that traits and behaviours are determined by external or internal forces but the individual can exercise some control via thought processes.

Question 21

What is the scientific emphasis on causal explanations?

Answer 21

Science is heavily deterministic as it seeks to discover whether the IV directly affects the DV. In a controlled situation this is determined. Having a control group enables the researcher to determine cause and effect. The goal is to predict and control human behaviour.

Question 22

What is biological determinism?

Answer 22

The idea that traits and behaviours are governed by internal biological factors, like genes, neurochemistry, brain structures, etc.

Question 23

What is environmental determinism?

Answer 23

The idea that traits and behaviours are governed by external forces, such as experiences, upbringing, learning, schools, parents, peers, etc.

Question 24

What is psychic determinism?

Answer 24

The idea that traits and behaviours are governed by unconscious instincts and drives.

Question 25

Positive evaluation of determinism. (3)

• button
• predict
• treatments

Answer 25

• brain activity that determines simple choices occurs before we are aware of making a choice. Participants had to decide whether to push a button with left or right hand. Brian imaging showed they made their decision up to 10 seconds before they were consciously aware of doing so.
• determinism is fundamental to scientific focus on investigating causes of behaviour and being able to predict behaviour
• lead to the development of treatments, therapies and behavioural interventions, e.g psychotherapeutic drug treatment for schizophrenia.

Question 26

Negative evaluation for determinism.(2)

• face
• locus

Answer 26

• free will has more face validity because everyday experiences give people the impression that they are constantly exercising their free will.
• people with an internal locus of control are more likely to be mentally healthy. So free will has a positive impact on our mind and behaviour.

Question 27

What is the nature vs nurture debate?

Answer 27

This is about the relative combination of each of the influences in determining an individuals behaviour.

Question 28

What is the nature debate?

Answer 28

It assumes that genes, hormones, etc are more important.

Question 29

What is the nurture debate?

Answer 29

It assumes that the environment and a persons experiences etc are more important.

Question 30

What theories relate to the nature debate?

Answer 30

The Natavist theory, which suggest that knowledge and abilities are innate, concordance rate studies (closer concordance rates for individuals with the same gene), and evolutionary approaches (protection and passing on genes for survival).

Question 31

What theories relate to the nurture debate?

Answer 31

The Empiricist theory, which suggests that knowledge derived from learning; environmental influences are acquired through interactions, including the physical and social wold, and pre-natal environmental influences have an effect too. The learning theory, part,h the social learning theory and the double bind theory.

Question 32

Negative evaluation for the nature vs nurture debate. (5)

• Interactionist
• diathesis
• suit
• taxi
• epigenetics

Answer 32

• Interactionists suggest that nature and nurture are very closely intertwined. The general heritability figure in IQ tests is 0.5, which means intelligence is affected by genetics and the environment.
• the diathesis stress model suggests a genetic vulnerability and environmental stressor cause a mental illness. Those who were most likely to get schizophrenia from a group of Finnish adoptees, had biological relatives with the disorder and had family dysfunction.
• nature affects nurture. As children get older they seek experiences that suit their genes, and this increases.
• nurture affects nature. London taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus than controls because this area deals with spatial memory.
• epigenetics the change in genetic activity without changing our genetic code. Aspects of our lifestyle like smoking leave an epigenetic mark in our lifestyle. These tell our bodies which genes to ignore and which to use and can be passed down to next generations. This introduces a third element. Psychologist gave make lab mice electric shocks every time they were exposed to the smell of a perfume. They began to show fear when the scent was presented and so did their offspring.

Question 33

What is reductionism?

Answer 33

This involves breaking a complex phenomenon down into constituent elements. The highest level is cultural and social explanations, medium is psychological and behavioural and the lowest is biological.

Question 34

What is biological reductionism?

Answer 34

This reduces human behaviour to the level of the action of neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones and genes.

Question 35

What is environmental reductionism?

Answer 35

This argues that behaviour can be reduced to a simple relationship between behaviours and events.

Question 36

What is holism?

Answer 36

This focuses on systems as whole rather than on the constituent parts and suggests behaviour of the whole system cannot be predicted by knowledge of individual components.

Question 37

What is gestalt psychology?

Answer 37

This approach was favoured by German psychologists in the first part of the 20th Century. It focused on the perception that explanations for what we see should be considered as a whole

Question 38

What is humanistic psychology?

Answer 38

This believes that the individual reacts as an organised whole rather than a set of stimulus response links.

Question 39

What is cognitive psychology?

Answer 39

It recognises the importance of understanding an entire system if internal processes.

Question 40

Positive evaluation of reductionism. (2)

• scientific
• drugs

Answer 40

• biological and environmental reductionism are scientific because they can be scientifically tested.
• biological reductionism has lead to the development if biological treatments like SSRI’s which are more effective that placebos in treating OCD and reducing symptoms for up to 3 months after. It reduces anxiety.

Question 41

Negative evaluation for reductionism. (3)

• understanding
• animals
• meaning

Answer 41

• biological reductionism can lead to errors of understanding and it ignores cognitive interaction. For example drugs treating ADHD only reduce the symptoms but the varied factors aren’t addressed.
• environmental reductionism used non human animals which ignored social context in humans that are embedded from earliest moments in life.
• environmental reductionism causes the true meaning of behaviour to be overlooked. For example a woman who had a phobia of insects was treated using SD but there was no improvement. They found out her husband who she wasn’t getting along with had an insect sounding name. So her phobia was an expression of her marital affairs.

Question 42

What is the idiographic approach?

Answer 42

This involves the study of individuals and the unique insights they provide. The focus is on gaining insights into human behaviour by studying on person in depth so qualitative research methods are used. The focus is on quality not quantity.

Question 43

Which approach does the psychodynamic approach favour?

Answer 43

This is idiographic because Freud used case studies like the case study of Little Hans. This was 150 pages of verbatim quotes recorded by his father, a description of events in his life and Freud’s interpretation.

Question 44

Which approach does the humanistic approach favour?

Answer 44

This is idiographic because it is concerned with studying the whole person and seeing the world from their perspective. The persons subjective experience is what matters.

Question 45

What is the nomothetic approach?

Answer 45

This is the study of a large representative sample, ideally selected using random sampling, to collect large amounts of data and to test a hypothesis. It seeks to formulate general laws that apply to everyone. It favours quantitative research methods that are based on numbers.

Question 46

What approach does the biological approach favour?

Answer 46

This is the nomothetic approach because it seeks to portray the basic principles of how the body and brain work.

Question 47

What approach does the behaviourist approach favour?

Answer 47

This favours the nomothetic approach because it produces general laws of human behaviour and seeks one set of rules for all humans and non human animals

Question 48

Which approach does the cognitive approach favour?

Answer 48

It is nomothetic because it aims to develop general laws of behaviour which apply to all people. They use case studies but these are necessary to understand the working of the mind.

Question 49

Positive evaluation for the idiographic approach. (2)

• depth
• reflexivity

Answer 49

• it provides rich and in depth information about single cases. Only by knowing a person as a person can we predict what they will do.
• some elements, like case studies or thematic analysis, are scientific and objectively done. They use reflexivity to identify the influence of any bias.

Question 50

Negative evaluation of the idiographic approach. (3)

• scientific
• limiting
• expensive

Answer 50

• it is not very scientific and not very evidence based.
• general predictions could be useful but this approach doesn’t produce any. For example it would be too time consuming to do personal therapies for every person with a mental illness. However it could allow for general predictions to be made once enough data has been gathered from detailed observation.
• it is more time consuming and expensive. Data can be generated and processed more quickly.

Question 51

What is socially sensitive research?

Answer 51

These are research studies which have potential social consequences for the participants who take part and/or for the target population. Scientists should have a responsibility for the way their research will be used in the future.

Question 52

What are the four aspects that raise ethical implications in socially sensitive research?

Answer 52

• the research question- consider whether it may be damaging to members of a particular group
• the methodology used- treatment of the participants and their right to confidentiality and anonymity needs to be considered.
• the institutional context- should be mindful about how research will be used and who is funding it. They should consider the type of institute, why they are funding research and their intentions with the findings.
• interpretations and application of findings- need to consider how findings will be interpreted and applied to the real world and if they could used to inform government policy.

Question 53

Negative evaluation of socially sensitive research. (3)

• increased
• ethical
• suffered

Answer 53

• there are always some social consequences and thus potential is increased and has a more indirect impact in social sensitive research. It’s not sufficient to safeguard their interests.
• ethical guidelines protect the immediate needs of participants not the ways the research may inflict harm in a section of society. For example ethical guidelines don’t ask the psychologists how their research may be used by others.
• some have suffered the consequences of being excluded and misrepresented. Our understanding of human behaviour has lessoned because of this.

Question 54

Positive evaluation of socially sensitive research. (2)

• avoided
• responsibility

Answer 54

• socially sensitive research should be avoided all together to prevent negative consequences. However this would leave psychologists with unimportant topics to research. Avoiding controversial topics may be seen as avoiding responsibility.
• to reduce their data being mishandles, psychologists should take responsibility for what happens to their findings and be aware that it could lead to abuse or discrimination.