issues and debates

Question 1

what is gender bias

Answer 1

distorted view of what behaviour is typical and atypical for men and/or women

Question 2

what is androcentrism

Answer 2

research focused on men (neglect women)

Question 3

what are the two types of gender bias

Answer 3

alpha and beta bias

Question 4

what is alpha bias

Answer 4

tendency to exaggerate differences between men and women (devalues one gender)

Question 5

what is an example of alpha bias

Answer 5

sigmund Freuds theories reflected the culture of his time when men where more educated and powerful than women regarded as superior

Question 6

what is beta bias

Answer 6

tendency to ignore/minimise differences between men and women, assumes findings from studies of men will apply equally to women

Question 7

what is an example of beta bias

Answer 7

fight/flight response - biological research usually conducted on male animals as female animals hormones fluctuate too much making research difficult so its assumed what’s true for males is true for females

Question 8

disadvantages of gender bias

Answer 8

alpha bias can reinforce inequality within society - emphasising differences can lead to discrimination

gender bias may reduce validity - by overgeneralising findings lack population validity

can create harmful assumptions - by assuming equal findings major differences may be left out resulting in poor real lifer applications e.g medicine, therapies

Question 9

what is culture bias

Answer 9

research judge people from other cultures using the standards of one culture (usually western)

Question 10

what is alpha bias (culture)

Answer 10

occurs when cultural differences are exaggerated making one culture appear superior to another

Question 11

example of alpha bias (culture)

Answer 11

bowlby argued that a child needs close attachment to one primary caregiver for development but in many other cultures multiple family members raise children together (sometimes viewed as worse) that exaggerates cultural differences suggesting western parenting is superior

Question 12

what is beta bias (culture)

Answer 12

theories that ignore/minimise cultural differences assume all people are the same and therefore reasonable to use the same theories across all cultures groups

Question 13

example of beta bias (culture)

Answer 13

intelligence testing - IQ tests used by western psychologists to study intelligence in many different cultures, researchers assume their view of intelligence applies to all cultures equally (African sitting gcse paper)

Question 14

what is ethnocentrism

Answer 14

refers to the use of our own culture group as a basis for judgements about other groups,

this is a tendency to view the beliefs of our own culture as normal whereas others are strange

Question 15

how can ethnocentrism show alpha bias

Answer 15

because one’s own culture is considered to be different and the consequence of this is other cultures being devalued

Question 16

how can ethnocentrism show beta bias

Answer 16

if psychologists believe their world view is the only way

Question 17

what is cultural relativism

Answer 17

idea that all cultures are worthy of respect and that in studying another culture we need to try understand the way a particular culture see’s the world

Question 18

how can cultural relativism show alpha bias

Answer 18

where the assumption of real differences lead psychologists to overlook universals

Question 19

how can cultural relativism show beta bias

Answer 19

behaviours that are statistically infrequent may be statistically more frequent in another culture

Question 20

Disadvantages of culture bias

Answer 20

can overstate cultural differences - some behaviours are biologically influenced and fairly universal if we focus too much on culture we may ignore real human similarities e.g basic emotions

cross cultural research is expensive, time consuming and harder to control making it very hard

Question 21

advantage of culture bias

Answer 21

promotes cultural awareness - highlighting culture bias forces psychology to recognise behaviour isn’t universal, showing the importance of individualist (USA) vs collectivist (India) cultures widening thinking beyond western ideology

Question 22

what is free will

Answer 22

we are free to choose our own thoughts and behaviours

Question 23

what is determinism

Answer 23

individuals behaviour is controlled by internal/external forces

Question 24

what is hard determinism

Answer 24

all human behaviour has a cause everything we do is dictated by forces we can’t control

Question 25

what is soft determinism

Answer 25

there is room for manoeuvre in the determinants of behaviour people have conscious mental control

Question 26

what is biological determinism

Answer 26

evidence of genetic influences on behaviour, genes influence

Question 27

what is environmental determinism

Answer 27

behaviourists believe all behaviour is caused by previous experience through classical and operant conditioning phobias can form as a consequence of conditioning linking e.g dog bite to all dogs

Question 28

what is psychic determinism

Answer 28

Freuds psychodynamic theory suggests adult behaviour is determined by a mix of innate drives and early experiences the ID is our pleasure principle and the ego balances it

Question 29

advantages of free will approach

Answer 29

supports personal responsibility - individuals can be held accountable for their actions supports judiciary system encourages growth - free will implies we can conciously alter our behaviour actively striving for self improvement

Question 30

disadvantages of free will approach

Answer 30

ignores biological influences - evidence shows behaviour is influenced by genes and brain chemistry ignores environmental influences - studies like B.F skinner behaviourism show behaviour is shaped by reinforcement and conditioning not pure choice

Question 31

advantages of deterministic approach

Answer 31

scientific creditability - supports the idea behaviour has cause and affect allowing researchers to make hypothesises e.g biological determinism links aggression to hormone levels which is measurable useful for treatment - if behaviour has identifiable causes we can treat it e.g biological determinism = drug therapy

Question 32

disadvantages of deterministic approach

Answer 32

ignores free will - suggests behaviour is automatic and we have no real choice this clashes with everyday experiences reducing personal responsibilities justifies discrimination - if criminal behaviour is seen as purely genetic it could lead to social control. removes accountability

Question 33

what is the nature nurture debate

Answer 33

argument as to whether a persons development is mainly due to their genes or to environmental influences

Question 34

what is an example of the influence of nature

Answer 34

evolutionary explanations - a behaviour that promotes survival and reproduction will be naturally selected this is because such behaviours are adaptive and thus genes for the behaviour are passed down through generations

Question 35

what is an example of the influence of nurture

Answer 35

behaviourism - behaviourists assume behaviour can be explained in terms of experience alone B.F skinner used the concepts of classical and operant conditioning to explain learning swell vicarious reinforcement in SLT

Question 36

what is the interactionist approach

Answer 36

view that all processes of nature and nurture work together rather than in opposition

Question 37

what is an example of the interactionist approach

Answer 37

attachment - bowl by believed children are biologically programmed to form attachment (nature) but the quality depends on caregiver responsiveness (nurture)

Question 38

disadvantages of nature-nurture debate

Answer 38

nature needs nurture - genes exert an indirect influence in number of ways e.g children who are genetically more agressive seek out experiences/environments that suit their genes highlighting how nature affects nurture nurture affects nature - Eleanor Maguire (2000) London cab study showed how life experiences shape our biology as after learning the routes and roads of London their grey matter in navigational area of brain increased

Question 39

advantages of nature - nurture debate

Answer 39

understanding whether behaviour is influenced by genes or environment helps treatment e.g depression = meds (nature) phobias = behaviour therapy (nurture)

Question 40

what is holism

Answer 40

approach focuses on systems as a whole rather than on individual parts

Question 41

what is reductionism

Answer 41

involves breaking system down into more simplistic components

Question 42

what are levels of explanation in reductionism

Answer 42

suggests there are different ways of viewing the same system in psychology, there are three levels

Question 43

what is the highest level

Answer 43

cultural and social explanations of how social groups affect our behaviour

Question 44

what is the middle level

Answer 44

psychological explanations of behaviour (cognitive and behavioural)

Question 45

what is the lower level

Answer 45

biological explanation of how hormones and genes affect our behaviour

Question 46

what is biological reductionism

Answer 46

attempts to explain social and psychological phenomena at lower level (genes)

Question 47

what is environmental reductionism

Answer 47

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

Question 48

advantages of holism

Answer 48

more realistic explanation of behaviour - human behaviour is complex and holism reflects this complexity rather than oversimplifying it e.g maslows hierarchy looks at different needs not one

Question 49

disadvantages of holism

Answer 49

can be vague - holistic explanations can lack clarity because it doesn't specify what factor is most important this limits falsifiability

Question 50

advantages of reductionism

Answer 50

scientific creditability - reductionist approach allows controlled expts through isolating variables increasing reliability and objectivity

Question 51

disadvantages of reductionism

Answer 51

oversimplifies complex behaviour - humans are more than just chemicals e.g reducing depression to serotonin levels ignores life stresses or trauma therefor lacks depth

Question 52

what is the idiographic approach

Answer 52

focuses on the individuals case as a means of understanding behaviour rather than formulating general laws of behaviour

Question 53

what is the nomothetic approach

Answer 53

seeks to formulate general laws of behaviour based on the study of groups and use of statistics (aims to summarise differences between people through generalisation)

Question 54

example of idiographic approach in use

Answer 54

Phineas gage - after his incident psychologists studied him individually to understand how brain damage affects personality

Question 55

example of nomothetic approach

Answer 55

Mary Ainsworth - the strange situation classified infants into attachment types creating general attachment categories

Question 56

advantages of idiographic approach

Answer 56

provides rich detailed data - deep insight into individual behaviour this is not available in nomothetic studies

Question 57

disadvantages of idiographic approach

Answer 57

lacks generalisability - studying one person doesn't mean the finding apply to everyone so don't represent wider population

Question 58

advantages of nomothetic approach

Answer 58

scientific creditability - uses objective measurements and statistical analysis increasing reliability e.g Mary Ainsworth strange situation created general attachment types

Question 59

disadvantages of nomothetic approach

Answer 59

ignores individual differences - humans very massively as two people can respond very differently to the same situation therefor lacks reliability

Question 60

what is socially sensitive research

Answer 60

refers to studies in which there are potential social implications either directly for ops in research or individuals represented by the research

Question 61

what is an example of socially sensitive research

Answer 61

milligrams study on obedience - the pps where deceived unable to provide fully informed consent swell the research was distressing to the pps however the findings on authorities affect on obedience where greater than the implications therefor the ethical issues where positive

Question 62

what are the concerns Sieber and Stanley (1988) identified that researchers should be mindful off when conducting socially sensitive research

Answer 62

implications - the wider effects of research should be carefully considered as some studies could give scientific backing to prejudice and discrimination public policy - what is the research likely to be used for and what happen if it was used in the wrong purposes the validity of the research - some findings that were presented as objective and value free in the past have turned out to be highly fraudulent

Question 63

what where the 10 ethical issues seiber and Stanley identified that relate to socially sensitive research (1988)

Answer 63

confidentiality - pps may be less willing to give info in the future if confidentiality is breached deception - includes self deception research leads to people forming untrue stereotypes informed consent - potential pps may not comprehend what's involved

Question 64

advantages of socially sensitive research

Answer 64

promotes social change - findings can influence laws, policies and public attitudes e.g zimbardos study led to prison reforms increases understanding - helps us better understand complex social issues e.g discrimination can challenge stereotypes

Question 65

disadvantages of socially sensitive research

Answer 65

risk of psychological harm - pps may feel anxiety or embarrassment, discussing sensitive topics can be emotionally triggering risk of stigmatisation - findings may stereotype certain groups e.g findings linking intelligence to race