A2 Aqa Psychology, Issues And Debates

Front 1

What is universality?

Back 1

Anything that can be applied to all

- psychologists beliefs cause bias

- bias threatens universality

Front 2

What is gender bias?

Back 2

The tendency to treat one sex in a different way to the other

- view that doesn't represent the behaviour of men and women

Front 3

What is alpha bias?

Back 3

Psychological theories which suggest real differences between men and women

- typically undervalues females

Front 4

What is an example of alpha bias?

Back 4

Sociobiological theory of relationship formation

- male sexual promiscuity innate but not for women

Front 5

What is beta bias?

Back 5

Theories that ignore and minimise differences between the sexes

- when females not included in research process

Front 6

What is an example of beta bias?

Back 6

Fight or flight response

Taylor: females have tend-and-befriend response

Front 7

What is androcentrism?

Back 7

When behaviour is decided as 'normal' from a male standard

- female behaviour is seen as abnormal

Front 8

What is an example of androcentrism?

Back 8

PMS diagnosis

- trivialises female experience

- social construction to invalidate human emotion

Front 9

What are the evaluation points of gender bias?

Back 9

- implications of gender bias

- sexism within the research process

- reflexivity

- essentialism

- feminist psychology

Front 10

What is the 'implications of gender bias' evaluation point of gender bias?

Back 10

- creates misleading assumptions of female behaviour=validate discrimination

- scientific proof to deny opportunities

- damaging consequences that affect lives of real women

Front 11

What is the 'sexism with the research process' evaluation point of gender bias?

Back 11

- less women in senior research=fem. concerns not reflected

- males researchers=published work

- fem. participants w/male researcher=labelled unreasonable/irrational

Front 12

What is the 'reflexivity' evaluation point of gender bias?

Back 12

- embrace bias as critical aspect of research

Dambrini/Lambert: study of women executives in accounting;reflection on gender experiences influencing interpretation

- awareness of personal bias

Front 13

What is the 'essentialism' evaluation point of gender bias?

Back 13

- gender difference is 'fixed' in nature

1930s: scientific research;intellectual activity shrivels ovaries

- politically motivated;disguised as biological;creates double standard

Front 14

What is the 'feminist psychology' evaluation point of gender bias?

Back 14

Worrell: criteria to avoid gender bias in research;women studied in real context and participate in research

- diversity within women examined;greater emphasis on qualitative data

Front 15

What is cultural bias?

Back 15

- tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret everything from own culture perspective

- 1992: 64% psychology researcher were American

Front 16

How does cultural bias affect the universality of findings?

Back 16

- psychology claims to find universal truths, but findings only apply to studied culture

- assumes Western culture applies to the world

Front 17

What is ethnocentrism?

Back 17

- judging a culture by the standards of another

- believing own culture is superior=discrimination of other cultures

Front 18

What is an example of ethnocentrism in psychology?

Back 18

- behaviour not 'typical' in Western culture=unsophisticated e.g Ainsworth's Strange Situation

- only reflected Western norms/values (separation anxiety)

- German parenting seen as cold than encouraging independence

Front 19

What is cultural relativism?

Back 19

- idea that norms/values (including ethics/moral standards) only understood in specific social/cultural contexts

Front 20

How does Ainsworth's resarch show cultural relativism?

Back 20

- imposed etic: imposed her own cultural understanding onto other countries

Front 21

According to Berry, what is emic and etic?

Back 21

Emic: identifying behaviours in a culture specific to that culture

Etic: looks at behaviour outside a culture and describes these behaviours as universal

- psychology uses etic approach when research is emic

Front 22

What are the evaluation points for cultural bias?

Back 22

- individualism and collectivism

- cultural relativism versus universality

- unfamiliarity with research tradition

- operationalisation of variables

- challenging 'implicit' assumptions

Front 23

What is the 'individualism and collectivism' evaluation point of cultural bias?

Back 23

Individualist: Western;value independence

Collectivist: China;needs of the group

- global communication=no longer distinction

Takano/Osaka: 1415 studies of USvsJPN=no evidence of distinction

- cultural bias less of an issue than the past

Front 24

What is the 'cultural relativism versus universality' evaluation point of cultural bias?

Back 24

- shouldn't assume all research culturally relative/no human behaviour is universal

Ekman: basic emotional facial expressions same across humans/animals

Front 25

What is the 'unfamiliarity with research tradition' evaluation point of cultural bias?

Back 25

- knowledge/faith in scientific research not extended to other cultures

- demand characteristics exaggerated when working with local population=adverse effect on validity

Front 26

What is the 'operationalisation of variables' evaluation point of cultural bias?

Back 26

- variables not experienced same by all

- emotional behavioural expression different across cultures

- invasion of personal space normal in China not West

Front 27

What is the 'challenging implicit assumptions' evaluation point of cultural bias?

Back 27

- cross-cultural research challenge Western ways of thinking

- promotes sensitivity to individual difference

- conclusions more valid if they recognise culture influence

Front 28

What is free will?

Back 28

- idea that humans choices aren't determined by biological/external forces e.g. humanistic approach

Front 29

What is determinism?

Back 29

- view that individual behaviour controlled by internal/external forces than free will

- two types: hard and soft determinism

Front 30

What is hard determinism?

Back 30

- free will doesn't exist

- behaviour always controlled by internal/external events beyond control

Front 31

What is soft determinism?

Back 31

- all events have causes, but behaviour can also be determined by conscious choice

Front 32

What is biological determinism?

Back 32

- behaviour is caused by biological influences we cannot control e.g. biological explanation for schizophrenia

Front 33

What is environmental determinism?

Back 33

- behaviour caused by features of the environment (reward systems) we can't control

e.g. SLT of gender development/behaviour modification/BF Skinner

Front 34

What is psychic determinism?

Back 34

- the belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts we cannot control

e.g. Freud's psychoanalytic theory of gender development

Front 35

How are determinist approaches more scientific?

Back 35

- every event has cause explained by general laws

- allows scientists to predict/control events in the future

- lab experiment=stimulate conditions/remove extraneous variables=control

Front 36

What are the evaluation points for free will and determinism?

Back 36

- case for determinism

- case against determinism

- case for free will

- case against free will

- compromise

Front 37

What is the 'case for determinism' evaluation point of free will and determinism?

Back 37

- consistent with established sciences

- prediction/control led to treatment development e.g. psychotics for schizo

- schizo=lose control=doubt of free will

Front 38

What is the 'case against determinism' evaluation point of free will and determinism?

Back 38

- hard determinism not consistent with legal system (offenders morally accountable)

- cases of behaviour may not be found=unfalsifiable

- determinist approach not entirely scientific

Front 39

What is the 'case for free will' evaluation point of free will and determinism?

Back 39

- everyday experience of choice gives impression=face validity

- research: internal locus of control=more mentally healthy

- illusion of free will has positive impact on mind/behaviour

Front 40

What is the 'case against free will' evaluation point of free will and determinism?

Back 40

Libet: brain activity determining simple choices occur prior to awareness of choice (ten seconds before)

- basic free will determined by brain before we're aware

Front 41

What is the 'compromise' evaluation point of free will and determinism?

Back 41

- interactionist approach=best compromise e.g SLT adopts soft determinism

- environment=learning;choose attention/performance of behaviour

Front 42

What is the nature nurture debate? How did it originate?

Back 42

- the extent to which behaviour is inherited or learned

Descartes: human characteristics innate

Locke: mind is blank/learn from environment

Front 43

What is heredity?

Back 43

- genetic transmission of mental/physical characteristics from generations

Front 44

What is the heritability coefficient?

Back 44

- 0 to 1 indicating extent of characteristic's genetic basis

Front 45

Why is the nature-nurture debate nearly impossible to solve?

Back 45

- environmental influence straight after birth

- difficult to separate

Front 46

What is the interactionist approach to the nature-nurture debate?

Back 46

- attachment: child's innate behaviour influence parent response=nature creates nurture

Front 47

What is the diathesis-stress model approach to the nature-nurture debate?

Back 47

- mental illness caused by genetic vulnerability

- expressed with environmental trigger

Front 48

What are the evaluation points of the nature-nurture debate?

Back 48

- implications of nativism and empircism

- shared and unshared environments

- constructivism

- genotype-environment interaction

- relationship to other debates

Front 49

What is the 'implications of nativism and empiricism' evaluation point of the nature-nurture debate?

Back 49

- two different schools of thought

- nativists: determinist stance=controversy (link race, genetics and intelligence)

- empiricism: behaviour changed by environment=practical application

Front 50

What is the 'shared and unshared environments' evaluation point of the nature-nurture debate?

Back 50

- siblings raised together may not have same upbringing

Dunn/Plomin: individual differences=experience life events different (age/temper)

- MZ twins not 100% concordance=gene/environ not separable

Front 51

What is the 'constructivism' evaluation point of the nature-nurture debate?

Back 51

- notion that genes and environment interact

- create nurture: seek environment appropriate for nature

Plomin: niche picking/building=impossible to separate influences

Front 52

What is the 'genotype-environment interaction' evaluation point of the nature-nurture debate?

Back 52

- passive interaction: parent genes influence child treatment

- evocative interaction: child genes shape environ

- active interaction: child creates environment through selected experiences

- complex multi-layered relationship

Front 53

What is the 'relationship to other debates' evaluation point of the nature-nurture debate?

Back 53

- nativists emphasise nature

- empiricists emphasise nurture

- equates to biological and environmental determinism

Front 54

What is holism?

Back 54

- argument proposing it only makes sense to study indivisible system that has constituent parts as a whole

Front 55

What is reductionism?

Back 55

- belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts

Front 56

What are levels of explanation in psychology?

Back 56

- different ways of viewing the same psychological phenomena e.g. OCD:

Socio-cultural: OCD produces repetitive behaviour

Psychological: experience of obsessive thoughts

Physiological: hypersensitivity of the basal ganglia

Front 57

What is biological reductionism?

Back 57

- attempt to explain social/psychological phenomena at lower biological level

- application e.g. psychoactive drugs for schizophrenia

Front 58

What is environmental reductionism?

Back 58

- attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links learned through experience e.g. Watson (learning behaviour)

Front 59

What are the evaluation points for holism and reductionism?

Back 59

- case for holism

- case against holism

- case for reductionism

- case against reductionism

- the interactionist approach

Front 60

What is the 'case for holism' evaluation point for holism and reductionism?

Back 60

- aspects of social behaviour only understood in group context e.g. conformity

- holistic explanation provides complete understanding of behaviour

Front 61

What is the 'case against holism' evaluation point for holism and reductionism?

Back 61

- can't be scientifically tested;vague as more complex (humanistic psychology)

- depression: accept many factors=hard to establish most influential

- for practical applications, lower level explanations more appropriate

Front 62

What is the 'case for reductionism' evaluation point for holism and reductionism?

Back 62

- forms basis of scientific research

- create operationalised variables=experiments

- better credibility=equal to natural sciences

Front 63

What is the 'case against reductionism' evaluation point for holism and reductionism?

Back 63

- oversimplify complex phenomena=lose validity

- genetic explanations don't include social contexts (behaviour meaning)

- only form part of the explanation

Front 64

What is the 'interactionist approach' evaluation point for holism and reductionism?

Back 64

- different levels of explanation combine e.g diathesis-stress for schizophrenia

- led to more holistic approach (drugs+therapy)=lower relapse rates

Front 65

What is the idiographic approach?

Back 65

- approach focusing on individual case to understand behaviour than aiming to form general laws of behaviour

e.g. case studies/unstructured interviews (qualitative data)

Front 66

What is the nomothetic approach?

Back 66

- attempts to study human behaviour through developing general principles/laws

Front 67

What are examples of idiographic approach in psychology?

Back 67

Psychodynamic: Freud used case studies when detailing patients lives

Humanistic: only documented conscious experience of individual

Front 68

What are examples of nomothetic approach in psychology?

Back 68

Reductionist/determinist: atavistic form

behaviourist/cognitive/biological: Skinner=laws of learning

Front 69

What are the evaluation points of idiographic and nomothetic approaches?

Back 69

- case for idiographic approach

- case against idiographic approach

- case for nomothetic approach

- case against nomothetic approach

- complementary rather than contradictory

Front 70

What is the 'case for idiographic approach' evaluation point for idiographic and nomothetic approaches?

Back 70

- complete global account of individual=complement nomothetic

- generate hypothesis for further study

- insight to normal functioning (HM)

Front 71

What is the 'case against idiographic approach' evaluation point for the idiographic and nomothetic approaches?

Back 71

- concepts developed from single case=no meaningful generalisations

- methods least scientific

- conclusions=subjective interpretation

Front 72

What is the 'case for nomothetic approach' evaluation point for the idiographic and nomothetic approaches?

Back 72

- methods more scientific (standardised conditions/statistical analysis)

- establish norms of behaviour=psychology scientific credibility up

Front 73

What is the 'case against nomothetic approach' evaluation point for the idiographic and nomothetic approaches?

Back 73

- lose the whole person in psychology e.g. knowing about schizo doesn't tell what its like

- lab=treated like scores=subjective experience ignored

- overlooks richness of human experience

Front 74

What is the 'complementary rather than contradictory' evaluation point for the idiographic and nomothetic approaches?

Back 74

- not mutually exclusive;consider both idiographic/nomothetic

- e.g. gender development:nomothetic=Bem's BSRI;idiographic=David Reimer

- both involved in modern psychology

Front 75

What are ethical implications?

Back 75

- impact on research on rights of others (participants) = influencing how groups are regarded

Front 76

According to Sieber and Stanley, what is social sensitivity?

Back 76

- studies with potential consequences for individuals represented by the research

- e.g. research into genetic basis of criminality

Front 77

What should researchers be concerned with when conducting socially sensitive research?

Back 77

Implications: wider effects of research considered;could give scientific credit to discrimination

Uses/public policy: what will research be used for? Used by govt to shape policy

Validity: findings shown as objective when not

Front 78

What are the evaluation points of ethical implications of research studies and theory?

Back 78

- benefits of socially sensitive research

- framing the question

- who gains

- social control

- costs and benefits

Front 79

What is the 'benefits of socially sensitive research' evaluation point of ethical implications of research studies and theory?

Back 79

- studying minor groups promotes acceptance

- benefit society: research to reliability of eyewitness testimony=down miscarriages of justice

Front 80

What is the 'framing the question' evaluation point of ethical implications of research studies and theory?

Back 80

- phrasing influences interpretation of findings

Kitzinger/Coyle: research to homo relationships judges from hetero norms

- approach research with open mind

Front 81

What is the 'who gains' evaluation point of ethical implications of research studies and theory?

Back 81

- used by govt=shape policy despite invalid

1950s: subliminal message research used;Coke sales up;Packard: made findings up

- research to manipulate=ethical implications

Front 82

What is the 'social control' evaluation point of ethical implications of research studies and theories?

Back 82

1920s: US;compulsory sterilisation of lower people in society (low IQ, alcohol addicts)

- supported by scientific/psychological research

- socially sensitive research can promote discrimination

Front 83

What is the 'costs and benefits' evaluation point of ethical implications of research studies and theories?

Back 83

- some social consequences of vulnerable group research hard to predict

- assessments of worth subjective