Issues and debates

• Universality meaning

  Conclusions drawn can be applied to everyone and anywhere regardless of time or culture.
• Alpha bias

  Theories exaggerate the differences between males and females (oedipus and electra complex)
• Beta bias

  Theories that minimise/ignore sex differences
• What is an example of beta bias?

  Fight or flight response - assumes both male and females act this way in threatening situations, ignoring hormonal changes in women (PMS)
• What is an example of alpha bias?

  Freud's psychosexual stages - Only men have oedipus complex/castration anxiety which is supposed to make you stronger. When a girl identifies with mother, they are weaker but when boys identify with father, they are stronger
• Androcentrism meaning

  All-male sample (if normal behaviour is seen from all-male samples, other behaviours would be abnormal)
• Ethnocentrism meaning

  A belief in the superiority of one's own cultural group.
• Etic approach

  Looks at behaviour from a range of culture and describes those behaviours that are universal.
• Etic example

  Sample from US, UK, China, Germany, Japan
• Emic approach

  Functions from a specific culture and identifies behaviours that are specific to the culture.
• Emic example

  Sample from UK only
• Why is Ainsworth's strange situation an example of imposed etic?

  She studied behaviours within America and assumed her ideal attachment could be applied universally
• Cultural relativism meaning

  Findings should only be applicable to the culture of where the study was conducted - to avoid cultural bias
• P I L E structure for bias

  Practical application, implication (negative/positive), Link, Evidence
• Reflexivity meaning

  When researchers recognise the effect their own values and assumptions have on the nature of their work
• Free will meaning

  We can be the masters of our own destiny despite other factors
• Determinism meaning

  We have no or little control over our destiny
• Biological determinism - why and examples

  Genes and hormones influence our behaviour. Genes/low serotonin can explain OCD
• Environmental determinism - why and examples

  Belief that behaviour is caused by features of environment. Conditioning can explain phobia
• Psychic determinism - why and examples

  Behaviour's controlled by unconcious psychodynamic conflicts
• Soft determinism example for cognitive

  We choose what we pay attention to and what we keep in our memory but when information enters our sensory register and into our STM/LTM, that is uncontrollable and structured
• Soft determinism example for Social learning theory

  We have a choice whether to imitate behaviour to an extent however we imitate a role model when there is vicarious reinforcement
• Diathesis stress model - what is it for?

  To measure nature or nurture, from 0-10 to indicate to which extent a characteristic has a genetic basis
• Nature

  Genetic pre-disoposition
• Nurture

  Environmental factors
• Explanations and treatments for OCD

  Anti-depressants (SSRI - Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor)
• Practical applications for nurture - refer to aversion therapy

  Pairing your addiction with something unpleasant
• Conflicting evidence to argue psychology shouldn't be fully nature so how do concordance rates show this

  Most disorders don't have concordance rates of 100% showing it is more than just genetics
• Holism meaning

  Behaviours can only be understood by analysing the person as a whole
• Reductionism meaning

  Behaviours are analysed by breaking it down into parts
• Biological reductionism meaning

  Reduces to biological factors like hormones and genes. Examples - genetic influences, neurochemical
• Environmental reductionism meaning

  Reduces to enviromental factors and explains all behaviours in terms of a stimulus. Examples - attachment (cupboard love theory)
• Idiographic approach

  Attempts to describe the nature of the individual, focusing on the richness of an individual's experiences
• What methods do idiographic use?

  Case studies, interviews
• Nomothetic approach

  Produce general laws of human behaviour, allowing people to be compared/measured and predicts future behaviours
• What methods do nomothetic use?

  Experiments, questionaires
• Examples of idiographic studies

  Little Hans (interview/case study), Humanistic - process of self development, considering all aspects of a person(interview)
• Example of nomothetic studies

  Split brain (brain scan lab experiment), Skinner (animal studies)
• Ethical implications

  The impacts/effect that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of other people
• Social sensitivity meaning

  Studies/topics that are studying a particular social group (prisoners, thieves etc)