Issues and Debates Flashcards
What are issues and debates in psychology? How are they different?
Issues in psychology are about biases which may affect researchers, the problems with applying research universally and the implications of doing so on certain groups - e.g gender bias, cultural bias and ethical implications (not to be confused with ethical issues - it’s about the consequences of research conclusions for certain groups, not the impact of psychological methods on individuals within studies).
Debates in psychology are about disagreements between 2 concepts relating to different positions and paradigms in psychology, different approaches towards conducting research and different interpretations of big psychological questions - e.g free will vs determinism, nature vs nurture, holism vs reductionism, idiographic vs nomothetic.
What are the 7 issues and debates in psychology? How are ethical implications different to ethical issues? What revision phrase is useful for remembering issues and debates?
Issues:
-Gender bias - universality, alpha/beta bias, androcentrism/gynocentrism, sexism in research.
-Cultural bias - universality, ethnocentrism, cultural relativism.
-Ethical implications - factors like social sensitivity. Ethical issues are about problems within the research itself in terms of adhering to ethical guidelines (privacy, consent, right to withdraw, protection from harm etc…) - ethical implications are about the conclusions drawn from research (or a theory) and how they relate to the way in which certain groups are subsequently regarded - it’s about the research consequences on a wider societal level, taking into account social and historical context, not just individuals in studies.
Debates:
-Free will vs determinism - all behaviour is selective through decisions, versus all behaviour has a cause and is pre-determined (bound by causality). Determinism is about the cause of behaviour in relation to free will, not other forms of determinism. *Likely to come up in exam.
-Nature vs nurture - behaviour is driven by biology, versus behaviour is driven by the environment and learning. *Likely to come up in exam.
-Holism vs reductionism - how should causality be broken down (or not) to best understand a behaviour - emphasis on the person or behaviour as a whole, versus breaking down complex issues into single parts - reducing the person or behaviour down to one particular factor.
-Idiographic vs nomothetic - focusing on the uniqueness of the individual, versus establishing universal laws of behaviour which can be applied to the wider population.
Revision phrase - GRENADE:
-Gender bias - alpha/beta - I
-Reductionism vs holism - D
-Ethical implications - I
-Nature vs nurture - D
-Approach - idiographic vs nomothetic - (individual case studies vs large groups) - D
-Determinism vs free will - D
-Ethnocentrism - culture bias - I
What is universality? What do psychologists believe about universality?
Any underlying human characteristic that is capable of being applied to all in spite of differences of experience and upbringing.
-Essentially, psychologists believe that some behaviours are the same for everyone, regardless of gender or culture - suggesting that men and women are more similar than different.
-Psychologists look to establish these universal laws of behaviour through research - this can be achieved by having as much representation as possible in studies.
What is bias? What is gender bias in the context of psychological research?
Bias is a tendency to treat an individual or group in a different way from others - e.g gender, race, religion etc…
-In psychological research, gender bias exists in the form of representing males and females in a different way based on stereotypes rather than real differences - can also be about failing to adequately consider differences between men and women.
-It’s offering a view that does not justifiably represent the experience of men of women.
Why is it that gender bias presents itself in psychological research? Why is it a problem?
Psychologists, like all humans, hold beliefs and values that are influenced by the social and historical context within which they live.
-Because these beliefs may be biased - e.g reflective of old-fashioned attitudes towards women and other gender roles - they reduce the value of ‘objective’ findings or discoveries which may in fact be subjective.
-Gender bias undermines psychology’s claim to universality because the findings can’t be generalised to the whole population - if the research supporting the theory is biased, the theory can’t be taken seriously.
What are the two forms of gender bias?
1) Alpha bias
2) Beta bias
-Both reduce validity of research.
What is alpha bias?
Any potential differences between men and women are maximised/exaggerated.
-Research focuses on differences, but presents them in an exaggerated way - leads to males and females appearing different when they’re not.
-These differences are typically presented as fixed and inevitable.
*Likely to be in exam.
What is beta bias?
Any potential differences between men and women are minimised or ignored.
-Research may focuses on one gender (usually men), but generalises the finding to both, emphasising similarities between men and women.
What are some examples of alpha-biased research (supporting theories)?
Favouring men (positive light):
-Freud (1905) - psychosexual development - during the phallic stage (3-6yo), Freud said that boys experience the Oedipus complex - castration anxiety - resolved by the development of the superego as the moral identity of their father is taken on. Freud said that girls’ experiences of this stage - the Electra complex - leads to a weaker identification with their same-sex parent (mother) and a weaker superego. Thus, Freud (from the Victorian era) is suggesting that women and girls have weaker moral principles than men and boys - i.e girls inferior to boys.
-Darwin (1871) - evolutionary explanation for partner preference (sexual selection) - portrays male promiscuity as normal and acceptable as they need to have as many sexual partners as possible to pass in their genes, whereas promiscuity in women is presented as abnormal and unacceptable - based on and reinforcing existing stereotypes about societal standards for relationships.
Favouring women (positive light):
-Bowlby’s monotropic theory (1969) and maternal deprivation hypothesis (1951) - suggested that women are better caregivers and should be the primary caregivers - reinforces the expectation for mothers to stay at home and look after the children - role of the father largely ignored as women assumed to be the sole primary caregivers.
*Chodorow (1968) - suggested that daughters and mothers have a greater connectedness than sons and mothers because of biological similarities. As a result of the child’s closeness to the mother, women develop better abilities to bond with others and empathise.
*not seen in other topics
What are some examples of beta-biased research (supporting theories)?
Excluding/ignoring women:
-Any androcentric study (especially common in the past and usually due to beta-bias) - Zimbardo, Milgram (American men), Asch - these social influence studies only used men, yet made sweeping conclusions about social roles, conformity and obedience for men and women.
-‘Fight or flight’ research by biological psychologists has generally favoured using male behaviour due to female behaviour being affected by regular hormone changes due to ovulation - as a result, any differences between men and women have been ignored. Taylor et Al (2000) discovered that there was a different stress response for women due to evolution of female biology and the role of oestrogen in increasing oxytocin (protects from effects of stress) - resulting in a tend and befriend response, rather than the typical male response of aggression (fight or flight).
Excluding/ignoring men:
-Any gynocentric study (less common) - focuses on women and generalises to men and women.
What are the consequences of alpha-biased and beta-biased research?
Alpha:
-Theories often devalue women in relation to men, presenting them as the weaker sex - more emotional, less rational, less moral - often excuses male behaviour (e.g football hooliganism).
-Leads to stereotyping, and legitimising existing stereotypes and social roles.
-Can lead to androcentrism (less common) - if you say that men and women are different, you will come to see female behaviour as abnormal and hence focus on male behaviour - e.g Freud.
-A misrepresentation of behaviour due to an exaggeration/overestimation of gender differences.
Beta:
-Leads either to male and female behaviour being seen as the same, or male behaviour being seen as the norm.
-Leads to androcentrism (more commonly than alpha) - viewing men as the standard of normal behaviour (because you think that men and women behaviour is the same so only focus on men).
-A misrepresentation of behaviour due to a minimisation/underestimation of gender differences.
Both:
-Contribute to the continual presence of androcentrism, which in turn, creates and reinforces prejudice and stereotyping - institutional sexism.
What is androcentrism? What does it look like? What is it caused by, but also cause? Why is androcentric research institutionally sexist?
Androcentrism - male-centred or focused - represents a male point of view.
-‘Normal’ behaviour is judged according to a male standard as men are believed to be the norm.
-Therefore, male behaviour is presented as universal and any behaviour typical of women is judged to be abnormal or deficient.
-Androcentric research only focuses on males.
Causes (and consequences):
-Gender bias on a systemic level, particularly beta bias as it focuses on making universal conclusions based only on men, is both a cause and a consequence of androcentrism.
-Androcentrism is caused by gender bias because androcentrism is as a result of biased views - men prioritised as the human standard.
-Androcentrism also causes gender bias because androcentism reinforces gender bias.
-Historically, psychology has traditionally been for men, by men and about men - hence a male-dominated version of the world has been presented, leading to any potential differences in female behaviour being ignored.
Sexist:
-If our understanding of normal behaviour is drawn from all male samples, then behaviour that deviates from this is seen as abnormal by comparison - thus female behaviour is misunderstood and deemed inferior.
What are some examples of androcentric research?
Beta-biased androcentrism (most common):
-Rahe et Al (1970) - looks at life changes as a source of stress, but only focuses on men in the US navy - this minimises differences between men and women (beta bias).
-Zimbardo, Milgram and Asch - all used male-only samples - social influence conclusions present male obedience as the norm.
Alpha-biased androcentrism (less common):
-Freud (1905) femininity presented as an expression of failed masculinity in a moral sense - females form a weaker superego as they can’t identify with their same-sex parent to resolve the Electra complex in the same way as boys do to resolve the Oedipus complex. The Electra complex was an afterthought for Freud but still led to exaggerating differences.
-Freud (others) - said that vanity is a defence mechanism for females to make up for sexual inferiority, also said that females suffer from hysteria.
-Feminists have objected to the diagnostic category of pre-menstrual syndrome, on the grounds that it medicalises women’s emotions, such as anger, in a way which men’s anger is not. Women’s anger explained in hormonal terms, men’s anger seen as a rational response to external pressures - Brescoll and Uhlmann (2008).
-Forensics - Eysenck and Eysenck (1977) - only used male prisoners and male controls to test scores for extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism (assessing criminal personality).
What is gynocentrism? Why is it less significant?
The female equivalent to androcentrism - female-centred.
-Gynocentrism less significant because most research is male-focused.
-Attachment research largely focuses on the role of the mother - role of the father ignored.
How can gender bias be dealt with? What must not happen?
-Promoting and encouraging diversity in psychological research.
-Promoting the idea that not all men and not all women are the same - challenging stereotyping.
-Challenging and recognising the historical context of research from past eras - e.g Freud in Victorian era.
-Tackling gender bias needs to be taken seriously - some research challenging gender bias may not be published.
-Feminist psychology - aims to tackle the imbalances in theory and research - accept there are real biological sex differences, but that they have been applied in a patriarchal society.
However:
-Psychologists shouldn’t avoid studying possible gender differences - still beneficial.
What is cultural bias?
A tendency to interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture, and ignoring the effects that (potential) cultural differences might have on behaviour (cultural variations) - it’s about a lack of consideration/awareness when conducting research.
What does universality mean in terms of culture? What is the impact of cultural bias on universality?
Any underlying human characteristic that is capable of being applied to all in spite of differences of experience and upbringing - a universal law of behaviour.
-In terms of culture, psychologists believe that some behaviours are the same for everyone, regardless of culture - i.e cultures are more similar than different.
-However, because psychology has been dominated by men, and these men mostly from one culture (American), assumptions or laws about human behaviour may not actually be universal. Essentially, everything we know about human behaviour has a strong cultural bias.
-Henrich et Al (2010) - 68% of research participants in leading psychology journals came from the US, 96% from industrialised nations.
-Henrich coined the term ‘WEIRD’ to describe the group of people most likely to be studied by psychologists - Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich Democracies.
What does cultural bias in psychology lead to? What is ethnocentrism? How does it threaten research conclusions?
Ethnocentrism - judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture (i.e interpreting behaviour through one’s own cultural lens), with a tendency to judge one’s own group as superior.
-It’s an extreme form of cultural bias (the judgement element is the distinguishing factor) - all about superiority.
Threatens research conclusions:
-If a behaviour is judged to be the standard of what is normal human behaviour, anything outside of that will be deemed abnormal and thus treated as inferior.
-This threatens research conclusions as they are not universal laws of behaviour.
-Think ‘WEIRD’ - psychologists tend to study Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich Democracies - therefore non-westernised, less educated people from non-Industrialised poorer cultures will not just be forgotten, but seen as abnormal from the perspective of their culture.
-Also need to consider whether the society is individualistic or collectivist - links to westernised.
What are some examples of studies that are culturally biased or ethnocentric? What’s a real life example of something that was ethnocentric?
Culturally biased:
-Zimbardo, Asch and Milgram - all American - this key social influence findings should only be applied to individualistic culture.
-Marmot et Al (1997) - workplace stress (job control the prominent factor - works against workplace stress from high workload, reducing the risk of stress-related illness) - 10,000 UK civil servants.
-Any study that’s all one culture. Think WEIRD.
Ethnocentric (an ethnocentric view of human behaviour - it’s about judging behaviour):
-Ainsworth’s Strange Situation - attachment to the primary caregiver - attachment types created, but there criteria very much in line with western norms - suggested what ideal ‘secure’ attachment. Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) - a cross-cultural study - found, using Ainsworth’s criteria, that secure was the most common type, but that insecure-resistant (type C) was higher in Japan, and insecure-avoidant (type A) highest in Germany - suggests that Japanese and German babies’ behaviour is abnormal - this is ethnocentric because Ainsworth’s criteria is westernised and is based on western child rearing practices.
-Takahashi (1986) - found that 90% of Japanese children were insecure-resistant. This is because Japanese children rarely leave their mother’s side and would be shocked more than anything, not suffering from intense attachment-related anxiety.
Practical example:
-Voter registration, IQ tests, citizenship tests - e.g African-Americans given culturally biased questions to say they had a lower IQ - a judgement of inferiority then made based on their poor performance.
What is cultural relativism? What is it not? How can cultural relativism be used to solve cultural bias?
The idea that norms, values, ethics and moral standards, can only be meaningful and understood when specific cultural contexts are considered.
-A self-awareness that your own terms of analysis, understanding and judgement are not universal - taking into account the cultural context.
-Cultural relativism is NOT about accepting that everything another culture does is right, it’s about recognising that the law of behaviour they have discovered may only make sense from the perspective of the culture within which they were discovered.
Solution to bias:
-Recognising cultural relativism is a solution to cultural bias.
What is the difference between an emic, etic and imposed etic approach? Which approach is psychology guilty of? What are some examples in psychology of an imposed etic approach where cultural relativism is needed?
-An emic approach - looks at behaviour from inside a given culture (albeit ignoring sub-cultural variations) and identifies behaviours specific to that culture - cultural uniqueness.
-An etic approach - looks at behaviour from outside a given culture and attempts to describe those behaviours as universal - cultural universals.
Summary:
-Emic = studied inside - says they’re specific to that culture (applies to inside)
-Etic = studies outside a culture - says they’re universal (applies outside).
*Imposed etic = studies inside a culture (usually western) and then assumes the behaviour is universal (applies to outside) - basically taking emic research and making it etic by presenting it as universal (hence imposed etic) - e.g Eurocentrism (common in psychology), or Afrocentrism.
-Psychology guilty of an imposed etic approach - theories, models, concepts are presented as universal when they actually came about through emic research - therefore any behaviour identify should be viewed as specific to that culture.
Examples (imposed etic approach - should be more mindful of cultural relativism):
-Ainsworth = imposed etic - they studied inside one culture (America) and then assumed they could apply their methods and attachment types universally.
-Definitions of abnormality - DSN, SI, FFA, DIMH. E.g for DSN in Japan if you don’t work you’re seen as crazy, whereas if you don’t work in the UK it’s not looked at as a mental illness (a culture bound syndrome). For DIMH, Jahoda’s 6 criteria include autonomy and self-actualisation - not part of a collectivist culture.
-Buss - relationships.
What are the implications of cultural bias? What test demonstrated how cultural content on intelligence tests was culturally biased?
Ethnocentrism —> stereotyping —> prejudice —> discrimination.
-The main negative implication of cultural bias.
E.g WW1 IQ testing controversy - African-American given ethnocentric questions - therefore failed test and deemed less intelligent or genetically inferior than white Americans (a judgement) - led to eugenic social policies in the US.
-Chitling Test (1968) assessed how streetwise someone is (blacks scored higher) - so demonstrated how cultural content on IQ tests may lead to culturally biased score results.
How do you reduce or avoid cultural bias in psychology? Which new type of psychology has emerged to study culture?
-Do not attempt to apply findings/theories to cultures not represented in the research sample.
-Avoid an imposed etic approach. Stick to an emic approach to understand a culture - don’t then make it imposed etic by applying findings to all cultures.
-Do not assume universal norms or standards across cultures - should be mindful of cultural relativism (although don’t assume that all human behaviour is culturally relative as this can equally lead to bias).
-Use researchers native to or families with the culture being investigated - so they understand the cultural context.
-Cross-cultural (variations) or trans-cultural (similarities) research should be carried out in all research areas - e.g attachment - VI and Kroonenberg a cross-cultural study.
-Consider cultural norms when designing research and reporting findings.
-Diversify research participants and conduct studies in different areas.
Cultural psychology:
-Cultural psychology has emerged to study the way in which people are shaped by their cultural experience - strives to avoid ethnocentric assumptions.
What must researchers not assume when attempting to avoid cultural bias?
They cannot assume that:
-All human behaviour is culturally relative.
-There is no such thing as universality - some behaviour may well be.
-All people within a culture behave the same - sometimes cultural variation within cultures is greater than between cultures - the individualist-collectivist distinction is less prominent due to media globalisation.
What is the nature-nurture debate concerned with? What does it centre around?
Concerned with the relative extent/contribution to which aspects of human behaviour are a product of innate biological instincts (e.g genetic factors, hormones, neurotransmitters) or acquired characteristics from the environment (e.g upbringing / experience).
-Centres on nature and nurture’s relative contribution to human development - both undoubtedly shape human behaviour, but which side adequately explains it.
-Not a debate about one or the other, as any behaviour or characteristic arises from a combination of both - even eye colour is not 100% genetic.
*Likely to come up in exam
What is nature (in psychology)? What is heredity? What are examples of innate influences that affect characteristics? What are the strengths and limitations for nature?
Nature is the view that behaviour is the product of innate biological or genetic factors - all about inherited influences.
-A determinist view - biologically/genetically determinist.
-Heredity, or genetic inheritance, is the process in which physical and mental traits are passed down from one generation to the next through genetic transmission.
-Don’t confuse with heritability - the amount of variation in a behaviour (within a population) that can be attributed to genetic differences as opposed to the environment - i.e greater genetic influence = greater heritability. This feeds into the nurture side of the debate as well as the nature side.
Examples of influences:
-Innate characteristics are influenced by genes, hormones, neurotransmitters, physiology, brain structures etc.
-However, many of these things are also subject to the environment. Nature stresses that heredity is the stronger explanation.
Strengths:
-Largely scientific.
-Useful for treatment - e.g drugs.
Limitations:
-Neglects the role of the environment.
-Hard to find twins or adoption studies to relate to a topic of interest.
What is nurture (in psychology)? What is meant by environment? What are some examples of environmental influences? What are the strengths and limitations for nurture?
Nurture is the view that behaviour is the product of environmental influences - shaped by interactions with the environment - born as blank slates.
-A determinist view - environmentally determinist.
-The environment refers to any influence on human behaviour that is non-genetic - can include biological influences which are non-innate - e.g physical growth and mental development may be affected by the food you eat - quality of environment key.
Examples of environmental influences:
-People, places, events, experiences, the physical world, biological influences (food), cultural factors and historical factors.
Strengths:
-Takes the environment into account.
-Has created useful treatments - e.g behaviour therapy.
Limitations:
-Neglects the role of innate biological and genetic factors on behaviour.
-Hard to find twins or adoption studies to relate to a topic of interest.
What are some examples of research on the nature side of the debate? What approaches in psychology fall on the nature side of the debate? Which are in both?
-Bowlby’s monotropic theory (1969) - an evolutionary explanation for attachment behaviour - MICIS - proposed that children come into the world biologically programmed to form attachments for survival - suggests that attachment behaviours are naturally selected (evolution) and passed on through heredity mechanisms (genetic inheritance). E.g social releasers send signals to caregivers.
-Lorenz’s imprinting theory influenced Bowlby (but obviously we’re more interested in human behaviour). Harlow’s monkeys more in the middle.
-Relationships - sexual selection.
-Bouchard twins - IQ concordance rates for Mz twins reared apart (72%) were higher than biological siblings reared together (47%) - suggests nature has a greater influence on IQ - but problems with this is that the role of nurture in rearing is ignored, also the fact that concordance rates for Mz twins are never 100% (on average 49%), despite sharing 100% genes, suggests there are other factors involved (nurture).
-OCD - neural and genetic explanations:
-Genetic explanations - Nestadt (2000) found an 11.7% prevalence of OCD in the relatives of OCD patients, compared to a 2.7% prevalence in the relatives of a non-OCD control group of patients. First degree relatives (parents or siblings) of the OCD group were 5x more likely of developing OCD.
-Billet (1998) - Mz twins twice as likely to develop OCD if their twin had it, when compared to DZ twins - again, like with Bouchard’s IQ twin studies, it ignores environmental explanations (nurture).
Approaches:
-Biological - Nature - behaviour the result of innate biological factors (genes, hormones, neurotransmitters etc.)
-Psychodynamic and Cognitive - Nature and Nurture - interactionist approaches (see ahead).
What are some examples of research on the nurture side of the debate? What approaches in psychology fall on the nurture side of the debate? Which are in both?
-Behaviourism - the idea of the mind being a blank slate (tabula rasa) was originally put out by empiricists like John Locke - now part of the behaviourist approach. Classical conditioning - Pavlov’s dogs. Watson & Rayner’s study of Little Albert (CC for phobia acquisition).
-SLT - Bandura’s Bobo Doll - observation and imitation of models - vicarious reinforcement.
-Attachment (can be on both sides). Dollard and Miller’s Learning Theory (classical and operant conditioning).
-Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis - if deprived of a mother figure (environmental), there are long-term environmental effects.
-Lerner (1986) - prenatal physical factors (smoking) or psychological factors (music) can affect a foetus.
Approaches:
-Behaviourist (tabula rasa), SLT (observation and vicarious reinforcement), Humanistic (strive to self-actualise in their environment) - Nurture.
-Psychodynamic and Cognitive - Nature and Nurture - interactionist approaches (see ahead).
What is the interactionist approach? What are some examples of research that is interactionist? What approaches in psychology are interactionist?
The interactionist approach is the view that both nature and nurture work together to shape human behaviour.
-Heredity and environment interact.
Examples:
-Kagan’s temperament hypothesis (1984) proposed that a baby’s innate personality or temperament (nature) creates the parent’s response (nurture) - thus nature and nurture both affect the attachment relationship.
-Forensics - Eysenck’s theory of criminal personality - personality types have a biological basis in relation to the type of nervous system we inherit - the criminal personality (PEN) has this biological basis (nature), but high extraversion can lead to a person not conditioning/learning easily (affects nurture).
-Maguire et Al (2000) - taxi driver study - the brain has the capacity for plasticity - crucially innate brain structures (nature) can alter in response to environmental demands (nurture) - found more volume of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus (responsible for creating new memories) of taxi drivers that had completed ‘The Knowledge’ exam.
-Diathesis-stress model - suggests behaviour is caused by a biological or environmental vulnerability (diathesis), only expressed with a biological or environmental trigger. E.g OCD - a person inheriting a genetic vulnerability for OCD may not develop the disorder, but combined with a psychological trigger may result in the disorder appearing - the genes provide the blueprint, the environment carries it out.
Approaches:
-Psychodynamic - trauma stored in the unconscious mind is from the environment (nurture), but the stages of psychosexual development suggest that there is some kind of pre-wiring (nature). The interaction is how you progress from each stage to resolve trauma.
-Cogntive - schemas are from past experiences (nurture), but brain structures and processing are innate (nature) - the interaction is when external stimuli impact structures or processing.
*Likely to be in exam
