issues and debates

Question 1

define ethnocentrism

Answer 1

judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture. in its extreme form it is the belief in the superiority of one’s own culture which may lead to prejudice and discrimination towards other cultures

Question 2

example of ethnocentrism

Answer 2

strange situation - reflecting only the norms ands values of western cultures.
secure attachment type - ideal attachment type - American rearing norms
Japanese infants - insecure resistant - distress on separation - rearing styles.

Question 3

define of a paradigm shift

Answer 3

the result of a scientific revolution when there is a significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline

Question 4

define social sensitivity

Answer 4

studies in which there are potential consequences or implications, either directly for the participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research

Question 5

define determinism

Answer 5

the view that an individual’s behavior is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual’s will to do something

Question 6

define hard determinism

Answer 6

the view that all behavior is caused by something, so free will is illusion

Question 7

define soft determinism

Answer 7

the view that behavior may be predictable but there is also room for personal choice from a limited range of possibilities

Question 8

biological determinism

Answer 8

the belief that behavior is caused by biological influences that we cannot control.
eg. autonomic nervous system on stress and genes on mental health

Question 9

environmental determinism

Answer 9

the belief that behavior is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control
skinner - conditioning and reinforcing through our live time

Question 10

psychic determinism

Answer 10

the belief that behavior is caused by unconscious psychodynamic conflicts that we cannot control

Freud - free will illusion - human behavior is influenced by unconscious conflict repressed in childhood - Freudian slip (no such thing as an accident)

Question 11

evaluation of determinism - the law

Answer 11

limitation - position of the legal system on responsibility
hard determinism stance - individual choice doesn’t cause of behavior
this not consistent in the which our legal system works
in law offenders are held responsible for their actions
main principle of law is that the defendant exercised their free will to commit crime
therefore the determinism argument doesn’t work in real world.

Question 12

determinism evaluation - helped to establish psychology as a science

Answer 12

by adopting methods of natural sciences to produce general laws of human behavior.
also led to the development of behaviorism.
also hard determinism has effective real world application in drug therapies and treatment for mental health issues e.g. flooding for phobias

Question 13

define ethical implication

Answer 13

the consequence of any research in terms of the effects on individuals participants or on the way in which certain groups of people are subsequently regarded.

Question 14

ethical guideline for research

Answer 14

confidentiality 
deception 
withdraw 
informed consent 
protection from harm

Question 15

implications for research process - social sensitivity

Answer 15

research question = warn the phrasing and investigation may influence the findings. e.g. heterosexual bias = judged against heterosexual norms

dealing with participants = informed consent, confidentiality, psychological harm. e.g sexual abuse victims

findings use = consider in advance, scientific credence to existing prejudice.