Issues and Debates Flashcards
(126 cards)
1
Q
Definition of Universality
A
An underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experience and upbringing
2
Q
Definition of Gender Bias
A
Psychological research or theories that may offer a view that does not justifiably represent the experience and behaviour of men or women
3
Q
Definition of Androcentrism
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Male centred, or when ‘normal’ behaviour is judged according to the male standard
4
Q
Definition of Alpha Bias
A
Research that focuses on differences between men and women, and therefore tends to present a view that exaggerates these differences
5
Q
Definition of Beta Bias
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Research that focuses on similarities between men and women, and therefore tends to present a view that ignores or minimises differences
6
Q
Alpha Bias - 3 Points
A
- Can sometimes favour women in psychodynamic approach
- Nancy Chodorow suggested that daughters and mothers have a greater connection than mothers and sons because of biological similarities
- As a result of child’s closeness, women develop better abilities to bond with others and emphasise
- It Favours men in psychodynamic, as due to weaker identification with the same sex parent, women have a weaker superego and are so morally inferior to men
7
Q
Alpha Bias Example - Phallic Stage of Psychosexual Stages - 2 Points
A
- Castration anxiety resolved when boys identify with their father, but a girl’s eventual identification with her same-gender parent is weaker which means her superego is weaker
- Suggests girls/women are morally inferior to boys/men
8
Q
Alpha Bias Example - James Q Wilson - 2 Points
A
- Males are more promiscuous because according to natural selection and ‘survival efficiency’, it is in males best interest to try to impregnate as many women as possible so they have the best chance of their genes being passed on to the next generation
- It is in a women’s best interest to ensure the healthy survival of the small amount of offspring that she has to ensure her genes are carried on
9
Q
Beta Bias - 3 Points
A
- Taylor et al put forward the tend and befriend response, in place of the F/F response for women
- The love hormone oxytocin is more plentiful in women and it sees that women respond to stress by increasing oxytocin production
- Reduces F/F response and enhances a preference for ‘tend and befriend’
10
Q
2 Examples of Beta Bias
A
- Fight or Flight response (biological approach)
- Early attachment research suggested only mothers provide emotional care (not fathers)
11
Q
Beta Bias Example - Biological Approach and Fight or Flight Response - 2 Points
A
- Biological research has generally favoured using male animals because female behaviour is affected by regular hormonal changes due to ovulation
- Early Research into F/F response also did this
12
Q
Androcentrism - 2 Points
A
- Both alpha and beta bias are consequences of this
- Women’s behaviour has been misunderstood and pathological
13
Q
2 Examples of Alpha Bias
A
- Phallic Stage of Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
- James Q Wilson
14
Q
3 Examples of Androcentrism
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- APA list of 100 most influential psychologists of 20th century
- Objection of pre-menstrual syndrome
- Brescoll and Uhlmann study
15
Q
Androcentrism Example - APA List of 100 Most Influential Psychologists of 20th Century - 2 Points
A
- American Psychological Association published a list of the 100 most influential psychologists of the 20th century which only included 6 women
- Suggests psychology has traditionally been a subject produced by men, for men, about men
16
Q
Androcentrism Example - Objection of Pre-Menstrual Syndrome
A
Feminists have objected to the diagnostic category of pre-menstrual syndrome on the grounds that it medicalises women’s emotions by explaining these on hormonal terms
17
Q
Androcentrism Example - Brescoll and Uhlmann
A
Men’s anger is often seen as a rational response to external pressures
18
Q
Gender Bias A03 - Biological Vs Social Explanation - 6 Points
A
- Gender differences are presented as fixed and enduring when they are not
- Maccoby and Jacklin - presented the findings of several gender studies which conducted that girls have superior verbal ability whereas boys have better spatial ability
- Suggested these differences are ‘hardwired’ into the brain before birth, which then became widely reported as fact
- Dapha et al - used brain scanning and found no such sex differences in brain structure or processing
- Possible that the data from Maccoby and Jacklin was popularised because it fitted existing stereotypes of girls as ‘speakers’ and boys as ‘doers’
- Suggests we should be wary of accepting research findings as biological facts when they might be explained better as social stereotypes
19
Q
Gender Bias A03 - Counterpoint to Biological Vs Social Explanation - 4 Points
A
- Doesn’t mean psychologists should avoid studying possible gender differences in the brain
- Research by Ingalhalikar et al suggests that the popular myth that women are better at multi-tasking may have some biological truth to it
- Seems a women’s brain may benefit from better connections between the right and left hemisphere than on a man’s brain
- Suggests that there are may be biological differences but we still should be wary of exaggerating the effect they may have in behaviour
20
Q
Gender Bias A03 - Sexism in Research - 5 Points
A
- Problems of sexism in the research process, and women still remain underrepresented in university departments (particularly in science)
- Murphy et al - lecturers in psychology departments are more likely to be men
- Means research is more likely to be conducted by men and this may disadvantage female participants
- Nicolson et al - a male researcher may expect women to be irrational and unable to complete complex tasks
- Means that the institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce findings that are gender-biased
21
Q
Gender Bias A03 - Gender Biased Research - 5 Points
A
- Research challenging gender bias may not be published
- Formanowicz et al - analysed more than 1000 articles relating to gender bias published over 8 years, and found that research on this subject is funded less often and published by less prestigious journals
- Fewer scholars become aware of it or apply it within their own work
- Researchers argued that this still held true when gender-bias was compared with other forms of bias and when other factors were controlled, such as gender of the author and methodology used
- Suggests gender bias in psychological research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias
22
Q
Gender Bias A03 - Understanding Bias - 5 Points
A
- Gender biased research may create misleading assumptions about female behaviour, fail to change negative stereotypes and validate discriminatory practices
- Tarvis - “it becomes normal for women to feel abnormal”
- Means gender-bias in research may have damaging consequences which affect the lives and prospects of real women
- Many modern researches now recognise the effect their own values and assumptions have eon the nature of their work (known as reflexivity)
- Rather than seeing bias as a problem that may threaten the objective status of their work, they embrace it as a crucial aspect of the research process
22
Q
Definition of Cultural Bias
A
A tendency to interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture, ignoring the effects that cultural differences have on behaviour
23
Q
Definition of Ethnocentrism
A
Judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture
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Definition of Cultural Relativism
The idea that norms and values, as well as ethics and moral standards, can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts
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2 Examples of Ethnocentrism
- TSS in Attachment Research
- Takashi
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Ethnocentrism Example - The Strange Situation in Attachment Research - 3 Points
- Criticised for only reflecting Western norms and values
- Suggested ideal attachment type was characterised by the babies showing moderate amounts of distress when left alone by their primary carer
- This led to misinterpretations of child-rearing practices in other countries which were seen to deviate from American norms
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Ethnocentrism Example - Takashi - 2 Points
- Japanese infants were more likely to be classes as insecurely attached because they showed considerable distress when separated
- Findings were most likely because Japanese mothers are very rarely separated from their infants
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Definition of Etic Approach
An approach that looks at behaviour from outside a given culture, and attempts to describe those behaviours as universal
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Definition of Emic Approach
An approach that looks at behaviour inside a given culture, and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture
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Cultural Relativism - 4 Points
- Berry has drawn a distinction between etic and emic approaches in the study of human behaviour
- Berry argues that psychology has often been guilty of an etic approach
- Psychology argues that theories, models, concepts etc are universal, when they actually came out though etic research inside a single culture
- Suggests that psychologists should be much more mindful of cultural relativism of their research and being able to recognise this is one way of avoiding cultural bias in research
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2 Examples of Cultural Relativism
- The Strange Situation in Attachment
- Definitions of Abnormality in Psychopathology
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Cultural Bias A03 - Classic Studies - 4 Points
- Many of the most influential studies in psychology are culturally biased
- Replications of these studies in other countries produced different findings than the original studies
- Smith and Bond - Asch-type experiments in collectivist cultures found significantly higher rates of conformity than the original studies in the USA
- Suggests our understanding of topics such as social influence should only be appleid to individualist cultures
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Cultural Bias A03 - Classic Studies Counterpoint - 3 Points
- However, in an age of increased media globalisation, it is argued that the individualist-collectivist distinction no longer applies
- Takano and Osaka found that 14/15 studies that compared the USA and Japan found no evidence of individualism or collectivism, describing the distinction as lazy and simplistic
- Suggests that cultural bias in research may be less of an issue in more recent psychological research
34
Cultural Bias A03 - Cultural Psychology - 5 Points
- One strength is the emergence of cultural psychology
- According to Cohen, it is the study of how people shape and are shaped by their cultural experience
- This is an emerging field and incorporates work from research indisciplines including anthropology, sociology and political science
- Cultural psychologists strive to avoid ethnocentric assumptions by taking an emic approach and conducting research from inside a culture, often alongside local researchers using culturally-based techniques
- Suggests that modern psychologists are mindful of the dangers of cultural bias, and are taking steps to avoid it
35
Cultural Bias A03 - Ethnic Stereotyping - 5 Points
- Gould explained how the first intelligence tests led to eugenic social policies in the US, when psychologists used the opportunity of WW1to pilot their IQ tests on 1.75 million army recruits
- Many of the items on the tests were ethnocentric, and the results were that recruits from south-eastern Europe and African-Americans received the lowest scores
- The poor performance of these groups was used to inform racist discourse about the genetic inferiority of particular cultural and ethnic groups
- Ethnic minorities were deemed 'mentally unfit' and 'feeble-minded' in comparison to the white majority and were denied educational and professional opportunities
- This illustrates how cultural bias can be used to justify prejudice and discrimination towards certain cultural and ethnic groups
36
Cultural Bias A03 - Relativism Vs Universality - 4 Points
- One benefit of cross-cultural research is that it may challenge dominant individualistic ways of thinking and viewing the world
- Being able to see that some of the knowledge and concepts we take for granted are not hardwired may provide a better understanding of human nature
- However, it should not be assumed that all of psychology is culturally relative
- Ekman suggests that basic facial expressions for emotions are the same all over the human and animal world
37
Cultural Bias Statistics - 4 Points
- In 1962, 64% of the world's psychology researchers were American
- In a 1991 textbook on social-psychology, 94% of the studies were conducted in North America
- In 2010, a review of hundreds of studies in a leading psychology journal found that 68% of research participants were from the US and 96% from industrialised nations
- WEIRD people are the group most likely to be studied
38
What Does WEIRD Stand For?
Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich, Democracies
39
Definition of Free Will
The notion that humans can make choices and their behaviours/thoughts are not determined by biological external factors
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Definition of Determinism
The view that an individual's behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external factors, so free will is an illusion
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Definition of Hard Determinism
The view that all behaviour is caused by internal or external factors, so free will is an illusion
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Definition of Soft Determinism
The view that behaviour may be caused by internal/external factors, but there is also room for personal choice from a limited range of possibilities
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Definition of Biological Determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control
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Definition of Environmental Determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control
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Definition of Psychic Determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious psychodynamic conflicts that we cannot control
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Free Will - 3 Points
- A belief in free will does not deny that there may be biological and environmental forces that exert some influence on behaviour
- Implies that we are able to reject these forces if we wish because we are in control of our thoughts/behaviour
- Advocated by the humanistic approach
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What are the 2 Ends of the Determinism Debate?
Hard determinism and soft determinism
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What are the 3 Types of Determinism
- Biological Determinism
- Environmental Determinism
- Psychic Determinism
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Hard Determinism - 2 Points
- Sometimes referred to as 'fatalism'
- Assumes that everything we think and do is dictated by internal or external forces we cannot control
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Soft Determinism - 2 Points
- Put forward by philosopher William James
- Important feature of cognitive approach
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Biological Determinism - 2 Points
- Emphasised in biological approach
- Recognise the mediating influence of the environment on our biological structures
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Environmental Determinism - 2 Points
- Skinner argued that all behaviour is the result of conditioning
- Our experience of 'choice' is merely the sum total of reinforcement contingencies that have acted upon us throughout our lives
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Psychic Determinism - 2 Points
- Linked with psychodynamic approach
- Freud emphasised the influence of biological drives and instincts
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Free Will and Determinism A03 - Practical Value - 3 Points
- Thinking we exercise free choice can improve our mental health
- Roberts et al - looked at adolescents who had a strong belief in fatalism (external LoC)
- Found that these adolescents were at significantly greater risk of developing depression
55
Free Will and Determinism A03 - Research Evidence - 5 Points
- Brain scanning evidence supports determinism
- Libet et al - instructed participants to choose a random moment to flick their wrist, whilst he measured activity in their brain (readiness potential)
- Participants had to say when they felt the conscious will to move
- Found that the unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move came around 1/2 second before the participant consciously felt they had decided to move
- May be interpreted as meaning that even our most basic experiences of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are aware of them
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Free Will and Determinism A03 - Counterpoint - 4 Points
- Libet's findings are not surprising
- Just because the action comes before the conscious awareness of the decision to act, just that the decision to act took time to reach consciousness
- Our conscious awareness of the decision is simply a 'read out' of our unconscious decision-making
- Suggests this evidence is not appropriate as a challenge to free-will
57
Free Will and Determinism A03 - The Law - 4 Points
- The hard determinist stance is that individual choices are not the cause of behaviour, which is not consistent with the way in which our legal system operates
- In a court of law, offenders are held responsible for their actions
- The main principle of our legal system is that a defendant exercised their free will in committing the crime, expect in extreme instances
- This suggests that determinist arguments do not work in real-life
58
Free Will and Determinism A03 - Do We Want Determinism? - 4 Points
- Determinist approaches helped establish psychology as a science
- Hard determinism has produced many effective real world applications, including therapies and behavioural interventions
- But, free will has intuitive appeal
- Free will may be liberating for some people in terms of 'not accepting one's fate', such as a history of mental illness or criminal activty
59
Definition of Idiographic Approach
An approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour
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Definition of Nomothetic Approach
An approach that aims to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws
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Idiographic Approach - 3 Points
- Research is small and often a case study
- Might include information from family, friends, or others
- Focus on the detail
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Qualitative Research in the Idiographic Approach - 3 Points
- Participants would be interviewed in depth and the focus may be on a particular part of human behaviour
- Data is then analysed and themes are identified
- Conclusions may help other people going through similar experiences and may help mental health professionals determine the best practice
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Idiographic Examples in Psychology - 5 Points
- Most associated with the humanistic and psychodynamic approaches
- Rogers sought to explain the process of self development
- Derived from in-depth conversations with clients in therapy
- Freud's careful observations of individuals was the basis of his explanations of human nature
- Little Hans case study was used to explain how a phobia might develop
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Nomothetic Approach - 2 Points
- Create general principles of behaviour which could then be applied in individual situations
- Seek to quantify behaviour
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Quantitative Research in the Nomothetic Approach - 3 Points
- Closely fits traditional models of the scientific method in psychology
- Hypotheses are formulated and samples are assessed
- The numerical data produced is analysed for its statistical significance
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Nomothetic Examples in Psychology - 3 Points
- Behaviourist and biological approaches are nomothetic
- Skinner studied animals to develop the general laws of learning
- Sperry's split-brain research involved repeated testing and was part of the basis of understanding hemispheric lateralisation
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Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches - Subjectivity VS Objectivity - 5 Points
- Key difference between these two approaches is how each relates to subjectivity and objectivity
- Nomothetic approach focus on objectivity
- Laws of behaviour are only possible if methods of assessment are delivered in a standardised and objective way
- Researchers working with the idiographic approach tend to believe that objectivity is not possible in psychology
- Focuses more on subjectivity
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Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches A03 - Complete Account - 5 Points
- Idiographic approach contributes to the nomothetic approach
- Idiographic approach uses in-depth qualitative methods of investigation, which provides a global description of one individual
- May complement the nomothetic approach by shedding further light on general laws or by challenging these laws
- Cases like HM may reveal important insights about normal functioning which may contribute to our overall understanding
- Suggests that even though the focus is on fewer individuals, the idiographic approach may still help form 'scientific' laws of behaviour
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Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches A03 - Counterpoint - 4 Points
- Supporters of the idiographic approach should still acknowledge the narrow and restricted nature of their work
- Meaningful generalisations cannot be made without further examples because there is no adequate baseline with which to compare behaviour
- Methods associated with the idiographic approach tend to be least scientific, in that conclusions often rely on the subjective interpretation of the researcher and are open to bias
- Suggests that it is difficult to build effective general theories of human behaviour in the complete absence of nomothetic research
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Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches A03 - Scientific Credibility - 4 Points
- Both approaches fit with the aims of science
- Processes involved in nomothetic research are similar to those used in the natural sciences
- However, researchers using the idiographic approach also seek to objectify their methods
- Modern qualitative researchers are careful to reflect upon there own biases and preconceptions as part of the research process
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Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches A03 - Losing the Person - 5 Points
- Nomothetic approach looses the understanding of the individual
- Preoccupied with general laws, prediction and control means it has been accused of 'losing the whole person' within psychology
- Knowing that there is a 1% lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia tells its little about what life for someone who has been diagnosed with the disorder
- But understanding the subjective experience of schizophrenia might well prove useful when it comes to devising appropriate treatment options
- Suggests the nomothetic approach may sometimes fail to relate to 'experience'
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Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches A03 - Distinct or Complimentary? - 4 Points
- Each approach is appropriate in different research situations for different aims
- In attachment, Schaffer's stages describe general stages of development (nomothetic) whereas case studies of extreme neglect highlight the subjective experience of never having formed an attachment (idiographic)
- There is a sense in which the approaches are just two ends of a continuum
- Millon explains that when diagnosing personality disorders, clinicians begin with general nomothetic criteria, then use this to focus on the individual and their unique needs (idiographic)
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Definition of Ethical Implications
The consequences of any research in terms of the effects on individual participants or on the way in which certain groups of people are subsequently regarded
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Definition of Social Sensitivity
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
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Who Defined Social Sensitivity?
Sieber and Stanley
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2 Examples of Ethical Implications and Social Sensitivity
- Research on LTM on a student population
- Study on depression
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Ethical Implications and Social Sensitivity Example - Research on LTM on a Student Population - 2 Points
- Unlikely to have consequences for individual participants or broader social groups
- Unlikely to be consequences for social policy
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Ethical Implications and Social Sensitivity Example - Study on Depression - 4 Points
- Likely to have consequences for individual participants, wider social groups, and social policy
- An individual participant, may reveal personal information that is later accessed by a prospective employer
- Findings from the study could suggest that people with depression may never fully recover an therefore are a risk as an employee
- Could inform social policy such as preferred treatment options provided by the NHS
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3 Ethical Implications from the Research Process
- Research question
- Dealing with participants
- The way findings are used
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Ethical Implications from the Research Process - Research Question - 2 Points
- Sieber and Stanley warn that the way in which research questions are phased and investigated may influence the way findings are interpreted
- Kitzinger and Coyle note how research into relationships has been Quilty of a form of heterosexual bias within which homosexual relationships were compared and judged against the heterosexual norms
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Ethical Implications from the Research Process - Dealing with Participants - 2 Points
- Issues such as informed consent, confidentiality and psychological harm may be especially important in socially sensitive research
- In a study of domestic violence, participants may worry that an ex-partner will find out about the study and describing their experiences may be very stressful
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Ethical Implications from the Research Process - The Way Findings are Used - 4 Points
- Researchers should consider in advance how research findings may be used, which may impact what data they collect
- Findings from research may be seen as giving scientific credence to existing prejudices
- Sensitive information is exactly what the media tends to be interested in and publicise
- Owen's research on people in a minimally conscious state received enormous media attention at the time, as it appeared he had made contact with patients who were thought to be 'unreachable'
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Ethical Implications A03 - Benefits for Groups - 6 Points
- Socially sensitive research can have benefits for the group being studied, such as homosexuality
- In 1952, the DSM-1 listed homosexuality as a 'sociopathic personality disorder' but finally removed it in 1973
- This change has been credited to the Kinsey et al report which was based on anonymous interviews with over 5,000 men about their sexual behaviour
- Concluded that homosexuality is a typical expression of human sexual behaviour
- Also included data on interviews with 6,000 women and caused outrage at the time because these were topics that no one discussed
- Illustrates the importance of researchers tackling topics that are sensitive
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Ethical Implications A03 - Counterpoint - 4 Points
- In some studies, there could be negative consequences for the groups being studied
- Research investigating the genetic basis of criminality has found that there is a 'criminal gene'
- If this is true, does it mean that someone could be convincted on the basis that they have this gene, or should they be excused because they cannot be held responsible?
- Suggests that, when researching socially sensitive topics, there should be consideration into the possible outcomes and their consequences
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Ethical Implications A03 - Real World Application - 6 Points
- Certain groups, such as policy makers, rely on research related to socially sensitive issues
- The government looks to research when developing important social policies related to child-care, education, mental health provisions, and crime
- Clearly preferable to base these policies on scientific research rather than politically-motivated views
- In the UK, there are groups, such as the ONS (Office of National Statistics), who are responsible for collecting, analysing, and disseminating objective statistics about the UK's economy, society and population
- This data is also used in psychological research
- This means that psychologists have an important role to play in providing high quality research on socially sensitive topics
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Ethical Implications A03 - Poor Research Design - 7 Points
- Poor research design may lead to erroneous findings which will continue to have an impact
- Burt was influential in establishing the 11+ exam which determines what type of secondary school a child goes to, which has impacts on their later life
- At the time, the government based its policies on Burt's twins studies, which showed that intelligence was highly heritable and could be detected by age 11
- Johnson found discrepancies in Burt's data, which revealed that much of it was fake
- The 11+ exam, and the idea that children should be separated on the basis of their 'natural' intelligence, remained for many years, and is still used in some parts of the UK
- Access to many independent schools is based on a child's performance in an entrance exam taken in Year 6 and is likely based on the same reasoning
- Therefore, research on socially sensitive topics need to be planned with care to ensure the findings are valid because of the enduring effects on particular groups of people
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Ethical Implications A03 - To Do or Not To Do - 4 Points
- One way to avoid dealing with socially sensitive research is to avoid doing it
- American Psychological Association reported that ethical committees approved 95% of non-sensitive proposals that didn't include ethical problems, whereas sensitive proposals were only approved about 50% of the time
- Sieber and Stanley advised that ignoring such topics is not a responsible approach
- One possibility is to follow qualitative researchers who are more up-front about their own biases and are reflexive in their approach
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Definition of Nature-Nurture Debate
Concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited acquired characteristics
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Definition of Heredity
The genetic transmission of both mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another
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Definition of Environment
Any influence on human behaviour that is non-genetic
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Definition of Interactionist Approach
A way to explain the development of behaviour in terms of a range of factors, including both biological and psychological ones
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Interactionist Approach Example - 4 Points
- Bowlby claimed that a baby's attachment type is determined by warmth and continuity of parental love
- Kagan proposed that a baby's temperament also affects the attachment relationship
- Thus, nature create nurture, so environment and heredity interact
- Psychologists are now ore likely to ask what combination of each influence there is
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Definition of Diathesis-Stress Model
A theory that suggests behaviour is caused by a biological or environmental vulnerability, which is only expressed when couple with a biological or environmental trigger
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Definition of Diathesis-Stress Model
A theory that suggests behaviour is caused by a biological or environmental vulnerability, which is only expressed when couple with a biological or environmental trigger
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Diathesis-Stress Model Example - 2 Points
- A person who inherits genetic vulnerability for OCD may not develop the disorder
- When combined with a psychological trigger, this may result in the disorder appearing
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Definition of Epigenetic
Refers to a change in our genetic activity without changing the genes themselves
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Epigenetic - 5 Points
- It is a process that happens throughout life and is caused by interaction with the environment
- Aspects of our lifestyle or events we encounter leave 'marks' in our DNA which switch genes on or off
- This explains why factors, such as smoking, have a lifelong influence even after you stop, because they have changed the way your genes are expressed
- These epigenetic changes may go on and influence the genetic codes of future generations
- Introduces a third element into the debate - the life experience of previous generations
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Nature - 3 Points
- Refers to inherited influences, or heredity
- Early nativists, such as Descartes, argued that all human characteristics are innate
- Both psychological and physical characteristics are determined by biological factors
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Nurture - 5 Points
- Refers to the influence of experience and the environment
- Empiricists, like John Locke, argued that the mind is a tabula rasa which is then shaped by the environment
- Lerner identified different levels of environment - prenatal and postnatal
- Prenatal includes physical and psychological influences on a foetus
- Development is influenced postnatally, such as social conditions
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Measuring Nature and Nurture - 4 Points
- Concordance provides an estimate about the inheritability of a trait
- A figure of 0.01 means genes contribute almost nothing to individual differences, and 1.0 means genes are the only reason for individual differences
- Plomin - general figure for heritability in IQ is about 0.5 across multiple studies in varying populations
- Means about half of a person's intelligence is determined by genetic factors and the other other half must be environmental
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Definition of Concordance
The degree to which two people are similar on a particular trait that can be represented by a correlation coefficient
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Definition of Heritability
The proportion of differences between individuals in a population, with regards to a particular trait, that is due to genetic variation
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Nature Nurture Debate A03 - Adoption Studies - 5 Points
- Adoption studies are useful because they separate the competing influences of nature and nurture
- If adopted children are found to be more similar to their adoptive parents, this suggests the environment is their bigger influence
- Vice-versa, if they are more similar to their biological parents
- Rhee and Waldman - a meta-analysis of adoption studies found that genetic influences accounted for 41% of the variance in aggression
- Shows how research can separate the influences of nature and nurture
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Nature Nurture Debate A03 - Adoption Studies - 5 Points
- Adoption studies are useful because they separate the competing influences of nature and nurture
- If adopted children are found to be more similar to their adoptive parents, this suggests the environment is their bigger influence
- Vice-versa, if they are more similar to their biological parents
- Rhee and Waldman - a meta-analysis of adoption studies found that genetic influences accounted for 41% of the variance in aggression
- Shows how research can separate the influences of nature and nurture
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Nature Nurture Debate A03 - Counterpoint - 5 Points
- Research suggests that this approach may be misguided, and nature and nurture are not two entities that can be simply pulled apart
- Plomin - people create their own 'nurture' by actively selecting environments that are appropriate for their 'nature'
- A naturally aggressive child is likely to feel more comfortable with children who show similar behaviours and will 'choose' their environment accordingly
- Then, their chosen companions further influence their development, known as 'niche-picking'
- Suggests that it doesn't make sense to look at evidence of either nature or nurture
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Nature Nurture Debate A03 - Epigenetic Support - 5 Points
- Example of how environmental effects can span generations presumably through epigenetic effects comes from WW2
- In 1944, the Nazis blocked the distribution of food to the Dutch people, and 22,000 died of starvation - known as the Dutch Hunger Winter
- Susser and Lin reported that women who became pregnant during the famine went on to have low birth weight babies
- These babies were twice as likely to develop schizophrenia when they grew up compared to more typical population rates
- Supports the view that the life experiences of previous generations can leave epigenetic 'markers' that influence the health of their children
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Nature Nurture Debate A03 - Real World Application - 5 Points
- Research suggests that OCR is a highly inheritable mental disorder
- Nestadt et al suggest OCD has a heritability rate of 0.76
- This understanding can inform genetic counselling, because it is important to understand that high heritability does not mean it is inevitable that they will develop the disorder
- Means that people who have a high genetic risk of OCD can receive advice about the likelihood of developing the disorder and how they might prevent this
- Shows that the debate is not just theoretical, but that it is important to understand the interaction between nature and nurture
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Nature Nurture Debate A03 - Implications of the Debate - 5 Points
- Nativists suggest that 'anatomy is destiny', in that out genetic make-up determines our characteristics and behaviour, with little environmental input
- This determinist stance has led controversy, such as linking ethnicity, genetics and intelligence, and the application of eugenic policies
- Empiricists suggest that any behaviour can be changed by altering environmental conditions
- Behavioural shaping has had practical application in therapy
- Desirable behaviours are selectively reinforced, and undesirable behaviours are punished or ignored
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Definition of Holism
An argument or theory which proposes that it only makes sense to study an individual system rather than its constituent parts
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Definition of Reductionism
The belief that human behaviour is best understood by studying the smaller constituent parts
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Definition of Levels of Explanation
The idea that there are several ways that behaviour can be explained
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3 Levels of Explanations
- Lowest level - physiological and biological explanations
- Middle level - psychological explanations
- Highest level - social and cultural explanations
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Definition of Biological Reductionism
A form of reductionism which attempts to explain behaviour at the lowest biological level
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Definition of Environmental Reductionism
The attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience
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Holism - 4 Points
- Looks at a system as a whole, and sees any attempt to subdivide behaviour or experiences into smaller units as inappropriate
- This was the view of Gestalt psychologists, who argued that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
- Believe that knowing about the parts does not help us understand the essence of that person
- Example - humanistic psychology focuses on the individual's experiences, which is not the something that can be reduced
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Reductionism - 2 Points
- Seeks to analyse behaviour by breaking it down into its constituent parts
- Based on the scientific principle of parsimony, where all phenomena should be explained using the simplest principles and lowest levels of explanation
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Levels of Explanations - Examples in OCD - 7 Points
- Socio-cultural level - OCD interrupts social relationships
- Psychological level - the person's experience of anxiety
- Physical level - movements, such as washing hands
- Environmental/behavioural level - learning experiences
- Physiological level - abnormal functioning in the frontal lobes
- Neurochemical level - underproduction of serotonin
- Each level is more reductionist than the one before
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Biological Reductionism - 4 Points
- Includes the neurochemical and physiological levels, and evolution and genetic influences
- Based on the principle that we are biological organisms, thus behaviour is at some biological level
- Biologically reductionist arguments often work backwards
- Example - drugs that increase serotonin have been found to be effective in treating OCD, therefore serotonin may be a cause of OCD
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Environmental Reductionism - 3 Points
- Behaviourist approach is built on environmental reductionism
- Explain behaviour in terms of conditioning, which is focused on simple stimulus-response links, reducing behaviour to these basic elements
- Example - learning theory of attachment reduces the idea of love to a learned association between the person doing the feeding and the food, resulting in pleasure
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Holism and Reductionism A03 - Lack of Practical Value - 3 Points
- Holistic accounts of human behaviour tend to become hard to use as they become more complex
- Example - if we accept that there are many different factors that contribute to depression, then if becomes difficult to know which is most influential
- Then it becomes difficult to know which to prioritise as the basis of theory
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Holism and Reductionism A03 - Scientific Approach - 5 Points
- Reductionist approach often forms the basis of a scientific approach
- To conduct well controlled research, we need to operationalise the variables to be studied, in order to break down target behaviours down into constituent parts
- Makes it possible to conduct experiments or record observations in a way that is objective and reliable
- Example - TSS in attachment operationalised component behaviours, such as separation anxiety
- Gives psychology greater credibility, by placing it on equal terms with the natural sciences
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Holism and Reductionism A03 - Counterpoint - 5 Points
- Reductionist approaches have been accused of oversimplifying complex phenomena, leading to reduced validity
- Explanations that operate at the level of the gene or neurotransmitter do not include analysis of the social context within which behaviour occurs
- Example - the physiological processes in pointing one's finger is the same regardless of the context
- An analysis of these will not tell us why the finger is pointed - it could be to draw attention to something or as an act of aggression
- Suggests that reductionist explanations can only ever from part of an explanation
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Holism and Reductionism A03 - Higher Level - 5 Points
- Some behaviours can only be understood at a higher level
- There are often aspects of social behaviour that only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood in terms of the individual group members
- Example - the effects of conformity to social roles in the prisoners and guards in the SPE could not be understood by observing the participants as individuals
- It was the interaction between people and the behaviour of the group that was important
- There is no conformity gene that we know of, so social processes like conformity can only be explained at the level at which they occur
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Holism and Reductionism A03 - Higher Level - 5 Points
- Some behaviours can only be understood at a higher level
- There are often aspects of social behaviour that only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood in terms of the individual group members
- Example - the effects of conformity to social roles in the prisoners and guards in the SPE could not be understood by observing the participants as individuals
- It was the interaction between people and the behaviour of the group that was important
- There is no conformity gene that we know of, so social processes like conformity can only be explained at the level at which they occur
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Holism and Reductionism A03 - Brain and Mind - 4 Points
- A reductionist account of consciousness would argue that thoughts are simply the result of what happens in our brain, which is the basis of cognitive neuroscience
- Neuroscientists struggle to explain the subjective experience of the same neural process
- Example - thinking about the colour blue involves the same region and activity in the brain as thinking about the colour red, yet the though we experience is different
- Known as the 'explanatory gap' in brain science according to Levine, and may suggest that thinking is at least one step beyond what is happening in the brain
