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Flashcards in Issues And Debates Deck (27)
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1
Q

What is universality ?

A

An underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all despite differences of experience and upbringing. Gender bias and culture bias threaten the universality of findings in psychology.

2
Q

What is gender bias?

A

A tendency to treat one individual or group in a different way, in context of gender bias, psychological research or theory may offer a view that doesn’t justifiably represent the experience and behaviour of men or women.

3
Q

What is androcentrism?

A

Male-centred - normal behaviour is justified according to male standard (female behaviour abnormal by comparison).

4
Q

What is alpha bias?

A

Psychological theories suggesting there are real and enduring differences between men and women. Theses may enhance or undervalue members of either sex (especially females).

5
Q

What is Beta Bias?

A

Theories that ignore differences between sexes.

6
Q

What is cultural bias?

A

Refers to tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the ‘lens’ of ones own culture.

7
Q

What is ethnocentrism?

A

Judging other cultures by the standards and values of ones own culture. The belief in the superiority of ones own culture leading to prejudice and discrimination towards other cultures.

8
Q

What is cultural relativism?

A

Idea that norms and values, ethics and moral standards, can only be meaningful and understood within specific social and cultural contexts

9
Q

What is Free Will?

A

The notion that humans can make choices and are more determined by biological or external forces.

10
Q

What is determinism?

A

View that persons behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than will to do something.

11
Q

What is Hard Determination?

A

Implies that free wiki is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal/external events beyond our control.

12
Q

What is soft determination?

A

All events have causes but behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices in absense of coercion. Contrast of hard.

13
Q

What is biological determination?

A

Belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control (e.g. genetics).

14
Q

What is Environmental determinism?

A

Belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment (reward and punishment) that we cannot control.

15
Q

What is Psychic determinism?

A

Belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflict that we can’t control.

16
Q

What is the nature-nurture debate?

A

Concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics.

17
Q

What is heredity?

A

The genetic transmission of mental and psychical characteristics from one generation to another.

18
Q

What is the environment?

A

Any influence on human behaviour that is non-genetic, ranging from pre-natal influences in the womb through to cultural and historical influences at a societal level.

19
Q

What is the Interactionist approach?

A

Idea that nature and nurture are linked to such an extent that is does not make sense to separate the two, so researchers study how they interact and influence each other.

20
Q

What is Holism?

A

An argument or theory which proposes that it only makes sense to study an indivisible system rather than its constituent parts.

21
Q

What is reductionism?

A

The belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller separate parts.

22
Q

What is Biological Reductionism?

A

A form of reductionism which attempts to explain social and psychological phenomena at a lower biological level (in terms of action of genes, hormones, etc.)

23
Q

What is Environmental reductionism?

A

Attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience.

24
Q

What is the idiographic approach?

A

‘Idios’ meaning private and personal in Greek, it’s an approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour, rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behaviour.

25
Q

What is the nomothetic approach ?

A

‘Nomos’ meaning ‘law’ in Greek, this attempts to study human behaviour through development of general principles and universal laws.

26
Q

What are ethical implications?

A

Impact that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of others, especially participants. This includes influencing public policy and the way in which certain groups are regarded.

27
Q

What is social sensitivity?

A

‘Studies in which there are potential consequences or implications, either directly for the pp in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research.’ - Sieber and Stanley 1988.