issues and debates Flashcards
what universality?
underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experience or upbringing. Gender bias and cultural bias threaten the universality of findings
what are the two forms for gender bias?
alpha bias and beta bias
what is alpha bias?
research that focuses on differences between men and women and therefore tends to present an exaggerated view of this bias. -Example of this is is psychosexual stages- during phallic stage castration anxiety is resolved when the boy identifies with his father, however a girls eventual identification with her same mother is weaker, meaning her super ego is weaker (develops as a result of taking on the same gender’s moral perspective) suggesting women are morally inferior to men.
what is beta bias?
research that focuses on similarities between men and women and therefore tends to present a view that ignores or minimized differences.
-E.g.: fight or flight response has generally favored using male animals due to female hormones creating a possible confounding variable. This ignores any differences. Research into fight or flight did this, and assumed both male and female respond the same way to fight or flight.
This shows how research that minimizes gender differences may result in misinterpretation of womens behavior.
what is androcentrism
male centered- when normal behavior is judged according to male standard (meaning female behavior is often judged to be abnormal or deficient) aplha bias and beta bias are both consequences of this. This has been evident in the past- women even been classed as ill with things such as ‘premenstrual syndrome’
strengths of gender bias
+counterpoint to gender differences being presented as fixed when they are not: this should not mean that psychologists should avoid studying possible gender differences in the brain. E.g. suggestion that possibility of women being better at multitasking may be true- women’s brain can make better connections between right and left hemisphere than mans brain. This suggests there may be biological differences but we should still be wary of exaggerating the effect they may have on behavior.
limitations of gender bias:
-often presented as fixed and enduring when they aren’t. E.g. researchers suggesting women having superior verbal ability and men spatial ability after presenting findings of multiple studies. These became widely reported and seen as facts. Brain scan showed no difference, meaning it could be possible it became popularized as it fitted stereotypes as girls being speakers and boys being doers. This suggests we should be wary of accepting research findings as biological facts
-promotes sexism in research process. Women remain underestimated in departments. Lecturers are more likely to be men even though more women take the subject. May teach the class to ‘fit the women’. This means that the institutional structures and methods of psych may produce findings that are gender bias.
-research challenging gender bias may not be published. Research of 1000 gender bias articles published over 8 years found it is funded less often and is published by less big journals. This means less people will apply it within their work as they are not aware of it. This still held true when compared to other bias. This suggests gender bias in psych research may not be taken as seriously as other forms of bias
what is cultural bias
a tendency to interpret all phenomena through the lens of ones own culture, ignoring effects cultural differences may have on behavior. Universally, reviews have found 68% of research participants came from the US, 9^% from industrialized nations. Suggests there is a strong cultural bias.
what is ethnocentrism?
judging other cultures by the standards and values of your own culture, in extreme form the superiority of your culture which may lead to prejudice and discrimination
-E.g. is strange situation: criticized as reflecting only norms of western cultures. Attachment type classifications lead misinterpretations of child rearing practices in other countries that deviate from american norms.
what is cultural relativism?
idea that norms and values as well as ethics and moral standards can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts. Etic approach- looks at behavior from outside of a culture and attempts to describe these as universal, emic from inside and identifies with behaviors specific to that culture.
-arguments that psych is often etic- arguing models etc are universal when they have come from the source of a specific culture.
strengths of cultural bias
+emergence of cultural psychology: how people are shaped by their cultural experiences. Cultural psychologists strive to avoid ethnocentric assumptions by taking an emic approach + conducting research from inside a culture, often alongside local researchers. This suggests modern psychologists are mindful of the dangers of cultural bias and are taking steps to avoid it
+ COUNTERPOINT to influential studies being culturally bias: In the age of increased media localisation, it is argued individualistic-collectivist distinction no longer applies. It is argues collectivist cultures value society while individualistic countries value Independence, however research showed 14 out of 15 studies that compared US and japan found no evidence of I and C. This suggests that cultural bias in research may be less of an issue in more recent psychological research.
limits of cultural bias:
-most influential studies are culturally bias: E.g. Asch’s and Milgrams were conducted with Us Ps. Replications of these studies in diff countries produced diff results. E.g Asch’s in collectivist cultures found higher conformity rate. This suggests our understanding of topics such as social influence should only be applied to indiv. cultures
-led to prejudice against groups of people. Psychologists used WW1 to pilot their first IQ tests on 1.75 million arm recruits. Many of the items on the tests were ethnocentric- e.g. assuming everyone one would know the names of US presidents. It was results from SE Europe and African americans who received the lowest score. This was used to inform racist discourse about the inferiority of particular cultural or ethnic groups. Ethnic minorities were deemed mentally unfit and feeble minded in comparison to the white majority and were denied educational and professional opportunities as a result. This illustrates how cultural bias can be used to justify prejudice and discrimination towards certain cultural and ethnic groups
what is the free will determinism debate?
is our behavior a matter of free will (selected without constraint) or are we the product of a set of internal/external influences that determine what we are and do? Most approaches are determinist like biological approach, but some are free will- humanistic.
what is free will?
the notion that humans can make choices and their behavior/ thoughts are not determined by external/ internal forces
what is determinism?
individuals behavior is shaped or controlled by internal/ external forces rather than an individuals will to do something.
what are the five types of determinism?
biological
environmental
psychic
soft
hard
what is soft determinism?
the view that behavior may be predictable (caused by internal/ external factors) but there is also space for personal choice from a limited range of possibilities (restricted free will)
important in cognitive approach
what is hard determinism
the view that all behavior is caused by something (internal / external) so free will is an illusion.
what is biological determinism?
belief behavior is caused by biological influences we cannot control, such as genetics.
E.g. influence of autonomic NS on stress response.
what is environmental determinism?
belief behavior is cause by features of the environment that we cannot control, such as reward or punishment)
Skinner- behaviorism result of conditioning
what is psychic determinism
the belief behavior is cause by unconscious psychodynamic conflicts we cannot control- e.g freud suggesting behavior is driven by unconscious and repressed conflicts
what is a causal explanations?
causes and formulation of the behavior is able to be explained due to evidence in things such as lab studies. Science explains every behavior we observe has a cause/ is DETERMINED by another behavior
Question E.g- why is it appropriate to claim there was a causal explanation?
lack of extraneous variables due to a highly controlled study ensure that IV was affecting DV and results were due to change in IV.
what’s the scientific emphasis on causal explanations:
One of the basic principles of science is that every event in the universe has a cause and that causes can be explained using general laws. Knowledge of causes and the formulation of laws are important as they allow scientists to predict and control events in the future
‘referring to the text above, explain what a paradigm shift is’
a paradigm shift is a change and development in an approach or underlying assumptions, in the case of 1960 the scientific community along side the paradigm shift from causal and deterministic explanations to free will with the humanistic approach and then back to deterministic with the emergence of cognitive neuroscience. This occurs due to conflicting evidence arising.
strengths of free will
+practical value: even if free will is not accurate, thinking we do exercise free will can improve our mental health. Study looked at adolescents who had a strong belief that their lives were decided outside their control and found they were at greater risk for developing depression. Seems that those who exhibit external LOC are leas likely to be optimistic. This suggests that even if we do not have free will the fact we believe we do may have a positive impact on mind and behavior.
+COUNTERPOINT to brain scans not supporting free will: the fact that the action becomes before the conscious awareness of the decision does not mean that there was no decision to act- just that the decision took time to reach the consciousness. Our conscious awareness of the decision is simply read out of our unconscious decision making. Suggests this evidence is not appropriate as a challenge to free will.
