Issues And Debates Flashcards
(19 cards)
What is alpha bias?
When differences between males and females are overstated.
Example: The difference in mating behaviours between males and females is exaggerated, suggesting males are more promiscuous by nature.
What is androcentrism?
A bias towards a male-centred view in psychology.
What is beta bias?
When differences between males and females are understated.
Example: The fight-or-flight response was thought to be equally adopted by male and female animals, but females can also adopt the ‘tend-and-befriend’ response.
What is biological determinism?
The idea that all human behaviour stems from your genetic code in some way.
What is biological reductionism?
The idea that behaviour can be reduced to simple physical components such as nerves and ions.
What is cultural relativism?
To view a person’s culture from the perspective of someone within that culture, rather than your own.
What is determinism?
The idea that things are predetermined and everything has a cause.
What is environmental determinism?
The idea that all human behaviour is a direct result of the environment and outside forces.
What is environmental reductionism?
The idea that behaviour can be reduced to simple responses to stimuli.
What is ethnocentrism?
A bias towards your own culture, and judging other cultures by that subjective standard.
What is hard determinism?
The idea that free will is non-existent; all choices and behaviour arise due to pre-existent causes.
What is holism?
A type of learning approach that suggests to understand human behaviour we must look at the human as a whole.
What is the idiographic approach?
A type of learning approach that suggests we should focus on the unique experiences of each individual to understand human behaviour.
What is the interactionist approach?
The idea that all human behaviour has multiple causes that stem from the simplest causes (genes) to complex causes (social and cultural systems).
What is the nomothetic approach?
A type of learning approach that suggests we should establish general laws.
What is psychic determinism?
The idea that all human behaviour is a result of unconscious mental processes.
What is reductionism?
A type of learning approach that suggests that, to understand human behaviour, we must reduce it to its simplest parts.
What is social sensitivity?
The possibility for studies to have results that could negatively impact some groups of people.
What is soft determinism?
The idea that although the choices we pick from are limited and predetermined, humans still have the free will to pick within these predetermined choices.
