Define universality
conclusions about human behaviour should apply to everyone at all times across all cultures.
define bias
a tendency to view one individual or a group in a different way to others, creating a distorted view of the world.
Gender bias AO1
gender bias: a type of bias where psychological research or theory may offer a view that does not justifiably represent the experience of men or women.
two types of gender bias:
1) alpha bias: when theories exaggerate differences between men and women.
2) beta bias: when theories minimise the differences between men and women- assume findings for men apply to women.
Androcentrism: consequence of beta bias. when male behaviour taken as norm and female behaviour seen as abnormal e.g. Asch.
Freud’s theory highlights alpha bias: exaggerates gender differences- girls develop weaker superego and weaker morality. devalues women compared to men.
Theories demonstrating beta bias is fight or flight response- most research done on males so assumed females would respond the same way. However, Taylor et al found women show more ‘tend and befriend’ response.
Gender Bias Evaluation
PEEL++: Gender bias can result in differences being seen as fixed when they’re not. Maccoby and Jacklin found that girls have better verbal ability, boys have better spatial ability. Suggested these differences are hard-wired in brain from birth so cannot be changed. Findings widely accepted in society leading to fixed stereotypes. However, Joel et al used brain scanning and found no gender differences in brain structure and processing. Suggests Maccoby and Jacklin’s findings only accepted as they fit existing stereotypes, but they are not actually true. However, Ingalhalikar et al suggests that the stereotype that women are better at multi-tasking may have biological evidence. Women’s brains have better connections between two hemispheres than men. Suggests that there are biological differences, but should not be exaggerated and should be researched carefully.
PEEL: Gender bias promotes sexism in research. Psychological research more likely to be done by men, so puts female pps at a disadvantage. Male researchers may expect women to not be able to completely harder tasks and so they end up underperforming, meaning the findings are gender-biased and not genuine so can’t be generalised.
Culture Bias AO1
Culture bias: the tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture.
Ethnocentrism: practice of judging one’s own culture by the norms, standards and values of one’s own culture. It can result in one viewing their own culture as superior. Leads to prejudice and discrimination.
Cultural Relativism: the idea that behaviours, norms and values can only be properly understood if they are studied within its specific social and cultural contexts.
e.g. of CR: Sternberg, Intelligence: looks different in different cultures. e.g. pre-literate societies value practical skills, whilst literate societies academic skills are important.
Most psychological research come from US: Henrich introduced the term W.E.I.R.D (western, educated, industrialised, rich, democratic).
e.g. culture bias studied, Asch, Milgram, Ainsworth.
Emic research: understanding a culture from the perspective of someone in that culture group.
Etic research: analysing a culture from an external point of view.
Imposed etic: researchers incorrectly believe they have a universal behaviour and so apply their theory to all cultures.
Evaluation of Culture Bias
PEEL+: Limitation is that influential studies can’t be used to draw conclusions and generalise. Main psychological studies e.g. Asch, Milgram= culturally biased, only conducted in W.E.I.R.D societies. Replications produce different findings, suggesting our understanding of social influence should only be applied to individualistic countries. However, due to rise of globalisation, some argue that divide between culture no longer exists. e.g. Takano and Osaka reviewed 15 Asch like studies comparing findings from US and Japan and found that in 14 no evidence for a divide. Maybe culture bias is less of an issue nowadays.
PEEL+: limitation of culture bias is that it can cause prejudice. In order to recruit WWI soldiers, US army did an intelligence test on US knowledge, e.g. names of US presidents. AA and south-east Europeans performed the worst, leading to them being viewed as unfit for the army and also resulting in them being denied of opportunities such as jobs in the US. However, researchers are now attempting to avoid culture bias by using emic research, conducting research within a culture, in order for a proper understanding to be achieved, reducing the likelihood of ethnocentrism.
what is free will (free will determinism debate)
the idea that humans play an active role and choose how we behave. We are self-determined and can choose our behaviour. e.g. Roger’s client centered therapy and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
What is determinism
the view that an individual’s behaviour is controlled either by internal or external forces, rather than an individual’s will to do something.
What are the two versions of determinism
1) Hard determinism: forces outside are control shape our behaviour - no free will
2) Soft determinism: behaviour is constrained by the environment, or biological make-up, but only to an extent, and there is an element of free will in all behaviour.
what are the three types of determinism
1) Biological determinism: idea that human behaviour is innate, determined by genes, neurochemistry and brain structure, rather than free will. e.g. OCD- biological explanations suggest due to neurochemical imbalances- serotonin levels too low.
2) Environmental determinism: behaviour is determined by external forces in the environment, especially past learning experiences. e.g. classical conditioning.
3) Psychic determinism: behaviour by controlled by unconscious conflicts, childhood experiences, and innate drives. e.g. Freud’s psychosexual stages of development.
What is scientific determinism
science states that everything has a cause and these causes can be explained using general laws. By discovering these causes and creating general laws, behaviour can be predicted and controlled.
Evaluation of Free Will vs Determinism
PEEL++: argument against free will: neurological studies on decision-making challenges idea of free will. Libet’s experiment pps asked to move their finger and report when they decided to do so, whilst brain activity measured. Found that brain activity relating to the decision started before the conscious thought to make the decision. Suggests decisions happen unconsciously before we are consciously aware so limits free will. However, just because not consciously aware, doesn’t mean we don’t make the decision. Decision making may be more complex, involving both conscious and unconscious processes. Conscious awareness may just lag behind unconscious, but still helps to recgonise and interpret decisions. However, Soon et al found that brain activity in the prefrontal cortex was up to 10 seconds before a person was aware of their decision. Further supports that unconscious processes drive our decisions.
PEEL: argument against determinism is that it doesn’t agree with the current legal system- excuse for crime as behaviour predetermined. e.g. Stephen Mobley argued that he was born to kill due to his family having a disposition towards violence after killing a pizza shop manager. By removing free will it allows ppl to avoid responsibility and causes issues with liability.
what is nature and who was it introduced by
began with Descartes
nature means that some of our characteristics are innate that we have inherited.
What is nurture and who was it introduced by
began with empiricists
our characteristics come from experience and the environment. Humans are born with a blank slate and behaviour is shaped through upbringing and the environment.
In what levels does the environment affect us: nurture
1) prenatal condition: before birth e.g. how psychological influences affect the foetus.
2) Social conditions: relationships with others.
3) cultural and historical conditions: where you live and when you live.
How to measure nature nurture
uses concordance rates which shows how similar two people are on a trait using a correlation coefficient. It gives an estimate to what extent a trait is inherited: 1: completely genetic, 0: no genetic influence.
e.g. IQ: IQ heritability is 50-50: 50% due to genes and 50% due to environment.
Interactionist Approach
nature and nurture work together- solves debate (only one solved).
this is explained by diathesis-stress model: behaviour comes from a vulnerability and a trigger. In order to develop a behaviour, must be vulnerable to it and experience something to cause gene to be expressed. e.g. may have gene vulnerability to OCD but only expressed after a traumatic event.
Scar and McCartney: support for interaction between nature and nurture
suggest genes may influence certain traits and behaviours.
1) passive interactions: parent’s genes affect the environment they provide.
2) Evocative interaction: child’s gene influence and shape the environment they grow up in.
3) Active interaction: the child chooses the environment that match their genetic traits.
what is epigenetics
when the environment influences how our genes are expressed without changing the DNA base sequence of the genes themselves. they leave a mark on the DNA sequence. can influence the genetic code of our children.
Introduces a third element into nature-nurture which is the life experience of previous generations.
Evaluation of the nature-nurture debate
PEEL+: research support for interactionist approach. Maguire et al study on London taxi drivers. Found increased grey matter on posterior hippocampus of taxi drivers compared to control group. Provides support that nature and nurture do interact with one another to influence one’s behaviour. In addition to this, Gottesman found in schizophrenia studies that concordance rates of both monozygotic twins developing sz 48% not 100%. If only nature then would be 100% since they have the same genes. Nurture must have impact so clearly work together.
PEEL+: strength is adoption studies which show effects of nature nurture separately. In adoption studies, if adopted child more similar to adoptive parents then nurture has dominated but if more similar to biological parents then nature has taken control. However many researchers e.g. Plomin argue nature and nurture can’t be studied separately as so much interaction between the two. Due to person’s nature, they choose their own nurture, which further influences their development. e.g. aggressive child may become friends with other aggressive children, which further influences how he behaves. Therefore cannot be studied separately.
define holism
this is the idea that humans behaviour should be viewed as whole integrated experiences. It focuses on the individual experience.
two examples of holism
1) Humanistic Approach: views people as whole, unique individuals, instead of a collection of processes. Emphasises the importance of understanding the entire person and their experiences. prefer qualitative methods.
2) Insight learning: humans look at all elements of a situation and then create a solution.
Define reductionism
the idea that complex behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into simpler components.
What are the levels of explanation in reductionism and e.g. with OCD
this suggests that there are different ways to explain behaviour.
1) Socio-cultural level: explains behaviour through social context and cultural norms. OCD causes problems with social anxiety.
2) Psychological level: focuses on thoughts, emotions and individual experiences. Refers to their anxiety.
3) Physical level: looking at observable and measurable behaviour. Movements of person with OCD often repeatable e.g. washing hands.
4) Environmental level: explains behaviour through learning and conditioning.
5) Physiological level: considers biological systems e.g. hormones, genes and brain structures. People with OCD have abnormal functioning in frontal lobes.
6) Neurochemical level: focuses on neurotransmitters. Ppl with OCD have underproduction of serotonin.
