Issues and debates

Question 1

Gender bias

Answer 1

The idea that research and theory in psychology may not equally represent the experience of men and women

Question 2

Universality

Answer 2

Theories applying to all people regardless of gender or culture

Question 3

Androcentrism

Answer 3

A male centred view as psychology has been male dominated. It may lead to alpha or beta bias

Question 4

Alpha bias

Answer 4

Exaggerates the difference between men and women. consequently theories that are alpha biased are fixed and unchanging leads to devaluing one gender

Question 5

Beta bias

Answer 5

Minimises the differences between men and women. consequently as they seem more similar the needs of the other is ignored leading to the them being abnormal if they don’t meet the standard of the other gender

Question 6

Research to support Alpha bias

Answer 6

Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity, therefore exaggerating the difference between men and women. His concept of penis envy and the Oedipus complex suggests women are are morally inferior as they cannot fully develop a superego

Question 7

Research to support Beta bias

Answer 7

Stress research (fight and flight) mainly focuses on men, they assume it will be the same for women. Taylor challenges this finding the female stress response to be ‘tend and befriend’ rather than ‘fight or flight’.

Question 8

Examples gender bias

Answer 8

Kholberg developed a theory of moral reasoning basing it on men when women are less morally developed. Carol Gilligan found that women were not less morally developed just different

Question 9

Bias in the research process

Answer 9

Institutional sexism
standardised procedure
dissemination of research results

Question 10

Rosenthal ( researchers)

Answer 10

Male researchers are more friendly to female participants, thus male participants do not perform as well.

Question 11

Feminists argue that lab experiments …

Answer 11

disadvantage females and results in real life situations are more similar to men than in lab studies

Question 12

Institutional sexism

Answer 12

Men predominate at senior research level. Research agenda follows male concerns female concerns may be marginalised.

Question 13

Standardised procedure

Answer 13

Women and men might respond differently to research situations. men and women may be treated differently by researchers and could create artificial differences or mask real ones

Question 14

Dissemination of research results

Answer 14

Publishing bias towards positive results. Research that finds gender differences more likely to get published than that which doesn’t. Exaggerates gender differences

Question 15

Reverse alpha bias

Answer 15

some argue we should develop theories which show differences between men and women but emphasise the value of women

Question 16

Research for reverse alpha bias

Cornwell et all

Answer 16

Girls outperform boys on reading tests, while boys score at least as well as girls on maths and science tests
Boys who perform equally as well as girls in those tests are graded less favourably

Question 17

Avoiding Beta bias

Answer 17

Equal treatment under law has allowed gender access for women to education

Question 18

Research for to avoid beta bias

Hare-Mustin and Marecek

Answer 18

this draws attention away from special needs of women and differences between men and women
For example equal rights to parental leave ignores the biological demands of pregnancy, child-birth and breastfeeding and subsequently disadvantages women.

Question 19

Strength of Gender bias

reflexivity

Answer 19

Dambrin and Lambert

Question 20

Strength of Gender bias

it can be avoided

Answer 20

Worell and Remer

Question 21

Weakness of Gender bias

sexism in the research process

Answer 21

Nicolson

Question 22

Weakness of Gender bias

Essentialist argument

Answer 22

Walkerdine

Question 23

Culture bias

Answer 23

The tendency to judge all people in terms of your own cultural assumptions
Culture bias leads to ethnocentrism

Question 24

Ethnocentrism

Answer 24

Seeing things from the point of view of ourselves and our social groups

Question 25

Cultural relativism

Answer 25

The view that behaviour cannot be judged properly unless it is viewed in the context of the culture in which it originates

Question 26

Imposed Etic

Answer 26

This is when a technique or theory is developed in one culture is used to study the behaviour of people in another culture For example Ainsworth 'strange situation' Over diagnosis of African Caribbean immigrants with mental disorder

Question 27

Emic

Answer 27

This is when individual cultures are studied and generalisations are only made within that culture For example DSM-IV, 'Koro' an episode of sudden and intense anxiety that the penis will recede into the body and cause death mostly experienced by Chinese men

Question 28

How to deal with imposed etic

Answer 28

Is by taking an emic approach. however psychology is guilty of using an epic approach to suggest behaviour is universal based on research from an epic approach from a single culture. therefore emic approach is not enough to reduce culture bias.

Question 29

Cultural relativism

Answer 29

The view that behaviour cannot be judged properly unless seen in the context of its own culture. IF researchers are aware this will help to minimise the effects of ethnocentrism Eg. auditory hallucinations are listed as a symptom is DSM. however it is not a sign of mental illness in all cultures.

Question 30

Strength of culture bias | Range of evidence to show CB is a problem

Answer 30

Humanist theory, Maslows hierarchy of needs

Question 31

strengths | we have a greater understanding of culture bias

Answer 31

This has led to improvements in practice, DSM 5 includes guidance for psychiatrists on how people from ethnic minorities may present symptoms differently. New research methods are reducing the impact of cultural bias

Question 32

Weakness of culture bias | Negative consequences

Answer 32

The use of Amry IQ tests

Question 33

weakness of culture bias | imposed epic is shown through research

Answer 33

Ainsworth's strange situation | Germans were more avoidantly attached leading to mothers being labelled as cold and rejecting.

Question 34

Culture bias can result in improvements

Answer 34

best understanding comes from looking at both universal and culturally relative behaviour

Question 35

Determinism

Answer 35

All behaviour is determined and therefore predictable

Question 36

Free Will

Answer 36

The idea that we have choices in how we act. it separates intention of the individual and what has been created by other causes. therefore we are self determining.

Question 37

Hard determinism

Answer 37

The view that all behaviour can be predicted and there is no free will

Question 38

Soft determinism

Answer 38

A version of determinism which allows for free will

Question 39

Environmental determinism

Answer 39

behaviour is caused by previous experience through operant and classical conditioning

Question 40

Biological determinism

Answer 40

Behaviour is determined by our genes and subsequently neurotransmitters eg dopamine and serotonin

Question 41

Scientific determinism

Answer 41

All events have a cause and an independent variable can be manipulated to observe the causal effect on the dependant variable. the cause is explained through general law

Question 42

Approaches that support free will

Answer 42

Cognitive and humanist

Question 43

Approaches that support determinism

Answer 43

Biological, psychodynamic and behaviourist

Question 44

What did skinner say about free will

Answer 44

'Free will is just an illusion'

Question 45

Case for determinism | Neurological evidence shows evidence against free will

Answer 45

Libet and Chun Siong Soon et al demonstrated that brain activity may determine outcome of our simple choices may predate our knowledge of having a choice. some decisions may occur 10 secs before being consciously aware.

Question 46

Case for determinism | Consistent with the aims of science

Answer 46

put on on the same level as more established science. the prediction and control of behaviour has lead to the development of treatments, therapies and behavioural intervention. eg Sz

Question 47

Case against determinism | Hard determinism not consistent with the law & unfalsifiable

Answer 47

'individual choice is not the cause of behaviour' is not consistent with our legal system as offenders are held morally accountable. & determinism is based on the use that causes if behaviour will always exist, impossible to prove this is wrong lacks external validity

Question 48

Case for free will | legal system

Answer 48

Good external validity as it is excerpted through our legal system

Question 49

Case against free will | Skinner argued

Answer 49

Free will is an illusion, people might choose to each certain film but this choice was predetermined as they had already picked movies to screen

Question 50

What is the nature nurture debate ?

Answer 50

is our behaviour a result of nature or nurture

Question 51

Nature

Answer 51

Behaviour is caused by innate characteristics, physiological and biological characteristics - determined by biology ( hereditary factors - genetic make-up). Genes provide a blueprint for all behaviours

Question 52

Nurture

Answer 52

determined by the environment- things people teach and observe. all human behaviour is a result of interactions. Born an empty vessel (tabula rasa) waiting to be filled up by experiences, depending on the quality

Question 53

What is the hereditability co-efficient

Answer 53

tool used to assess heredity, it classifies the extent to which behaviour is caused by genetics for IQ it 0.5 suggesting that environment and genetics are important

Question 54

Nature - Nurture where do the approaches lie on the debate

Answer 54

Biological, psychodynamic, cognitve, humanist, behaviourist

Question 55

studies to support nature

Answer 55

Gessel Chomsky Gottesman and Shields

Question 56

Gessel's study | support for nature

Answer 56

Asserted that children go through the same stages f development (Maturation). Carried out many observational studies and documented a set of behavioural norms to show predictable patters of growth and development

Question 57

Chomsky | support for nature

Answer 57

proposed that language is gained through the use an innate language acquisition device in the brain. argues that unless children have significant innate knowledge of grammar they will not be able to learn a language as quickly as others learn

Question 58

Gottesman and Shields | support for nature

Answer 58

genetic basis of Sz, found an increased incidence of Sz in adoption studies of adopted children with a biological Sz parent

Question 59

studies to support Nurture

Answer 59

Bandura little Albert zimbardo Piaget

Question 60

studies to support Nurture

Answer 60

Bandura Watson and Raynor - little Albert zimbardo Piaget

Question 61

Bandura | support for Nurture

Answer 61

stated that aggression is learned from the environment through observation and imitation asa result of the social learning process. 44 thieves study

Question 62

Watson and Raynor - little Albert | Support for nurture

Answer 62

Classically conditioned little Albert to be scared of white fluffy objects/things

Question 63

Piaget | support for nurture

Answer 63

Explains that a child constructs a mental model of the world, disagree with the idea that intelligence is a fixed trait. Emphasised the importance of schemas in cognitive development.

Question 64

Interactionist view

Answer 64

believe that nature and nurture interact and we cannot isolate one from the other.

Question 65

Diathesis-stress, - what is it

Answer 65

The diathesis genetic vulnerability to something stress is used to explain how genetic vulnerability in a person cane triggered by their environment. stress + diathesis = mental illness

Question 66

Evaluation for nature v nurture | Diathesis stress model

Answer 66

Tienari et al looked at adopted children from Finland with Sz biological mothers , compared to control group. Found that high criticism and conflict influenced schizophrenia but only in those with pre-existing genetic kink.

Question 67

Evaluation for nature v nurture | Nature affects nurture

Answer 67

Genetic factors create an infants micro environment - genetically more aggressive may provoke an aggressive response from others. Rutter and Rutter

Question 68

Rutter and Rutter | nature affects nurture

Answer 68

Describe how aggressive children think and behave in ways that lead other children to respond to them in a hostile manner. This reinforces the antisocial view of the work the child has they tend to experience aggressive environments because they elicit aggressive behaviour

Question 69

Evaluation for nature v nurture | Nurture affects nature

Answer 69

life experiences can affect your biology - Maguire et al taxi drivers.

Question 70

Reductionism

Answer 70

All complex systems can be understood in terms of their components (breaking things down)

Question 71

Reductionism - levels of explanation

Answer 71

There are different ways of viewing the same phenomena in psychology, some are more reductionist. Sociocultural, psychological, physical, physiological and neurochemical

Question 72

Biological reductionism | Type of reductionism

Answer 72

Human behaviour is reduced to a physical level (a popular way to explain mental illness)

Question 73

Environmental reductionism | Type of reductionism

Answer 73

Behaviourists would argue all behaviour is explained in terms of a stimulus - response link

Question 74

Experimental reductionism | Type of reductionism

Answer 74

Reducing complex behaviours to isolated variables

Question 75

Holism

Answer 75

All parts of any whole cannot exist and cannot be understood except in their relation to their whole

Question 76

Gestalt psychology | (Examples of Holism)

Answer 76

its a school of thought that looks at human mid and behaviour as a whole when trying to make sense of the world around. Suggest we do not simply focus on every small component

Question 77

Humanism | example of holism

Answer 77

A psychological perspective that emphasises the study of the whole person they look at behaviour through the eyes of the observer and the eyes of the person doing the behaving

Question 78

Evaluation of Reductionism | strengths

Answer 78

Easier to explain behaviour in concrete and concise terms. Consistent with scientific approach. breaking down phenomena into smaller components means the empirical method can be used. high predictive power.

Question 79

Evaluation of reductionism | weaknesses

Answer 79

Focus on a single level of an explanation leaves out other levels of explanation. Ignores complexity of behaviour and can be over simplified context is more important in understanding the meaning of behaviour

Question 80

Evaluation of holism | strengths

Answer 80

Provides a more complete picture. Behaviour is influenced by many factors so holistic explanations may be more useful. Accepts and deals with the complex nature of behaviour

Question 81

Evaluation of Holism | weaknesses

Answer 81

More hypothetical - not based on empirical evidence. Lacks predictive power of more scientific explanations. Neglects importance of biological influences. It is difficult to investigate many differing types of levels of explanation

Question 82

Idiographic definition

Answer 82

Understanding behaviour through studying individual cases

Question 83

Idiographic approach

Answer 83

individuals, can't generalise as we are unique. behaviour is understood in terms of subjective experience. only an individual can explain what a behaviour means. an observer's explanation is worthless

Question 84

Nomothetic definition

Answer 84

Understanding behaviour through developing general laws that apply to all people