issues + debates

• what is universality

  any underlying characteristic of human beings that can be applied to many despite differences in upbringing and experience
• what threaten universality

  gender bias and culture bias
• what is gender bias

  psychological research or theories may offer a view that doesn't represent the experience of men or women (usually women)
• what is androcentrism

  male - centred. when normal behaviour is judged according to the male standard, which mean that female behaviour that is different to this may be viewed as abnormal
• what is alpha bias

  when psychological theories over exaggerate the differences between male and female
• what is beta bias

  theories that ignore or minimise the difference between males and females
• what is cultural bias

  the tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the lens of ones own culture
• what is ethnocentrism

  judging other cultures by the standards and values of ones own culture, which may lead to prejudice and discrimination of other cultures
• what is cultural relativism

  the idea that norms and values as well as ethics and moral standards can only be understood within specific social and cultural contexts
• what is imposed etic

  when a theory that is developed in one culture is imposed to study people in other cultures e.g. ainsworth
• what is an emic approach

  something that only applies in one culture
• what is free will

  the notion that humans can make choices and aren't determined by biological or external forces
• what is determinism

  the view that an individuals behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than the individuals will to do something
• what is hard determinism

  implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always controlled by internal or external events beyond our control
• what is soft determinism

  all events including human behaviour have causes, but this cause could also be our own choice
• what is biological determinism

  the beliefs that behaviour is caused by biological influences which we cannot control
• what is environmental determinism

  the belief that behaviour is caused by features the environment that we cannot control. e.g. systems of reward and punishment
• what is psychic determinism

  the beliefs that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control
• what is the nature-nurture debate

  the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics
• what is heredity

  the genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics from one generation to the other
• what is the environment

  any influence on human behaviour that is not genetic. this ranges from influences in the womb to historical and cultural influences at a historical level
• what is the interactionist approach

  the idea that nature and nurture are linked so much that it doesn't make sense to separate the two, so researchers look at how they influence and interact with each other
• what is holism

  an argument that proposes that it only makes sense to an indivisible system
• what is reductionism

  the belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down to its smaller constituent parts
• what is biological reductionism

  attempts to explain social and psychological phenomena at a lower biological level
• what is environmental reductionism

  attempts to explain behaviour in terms of stimulus and response links that have been learnt through experience
• what is the idiographic approach


  focuses more on the individuals case as a way of understanding behaviour. is a private and personal approach.
• what is the nomothetic approach

  attempts to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws
• what are ethical implications

  the impact research has on society and how it may influence public policy or the way certain groups are viewed
• what is social sensitivity

  any research that may be controversial and have possible consequences for ppts in the research or the class of individuals in the study
• what are the ethical issues in socially sensitive research

  • implications - wider effects of research
  • uses / public policy - what is the research likely to be used for
  • validity - research must be upfront about biases and preconceptions that may be present in research
• what are the implications of gender bias

  may create misleading assumptions of female behaviour as wells as this it may provide a scientific justification to deny women opportunies in wider society and the workplace
• outline sexism within the research process


  there is a lack of women appointed at senior research level which means that female concerns may not be reflected in the research process
• outline reflexivity in gender bias

  research may reflect the values and assumptions of the researcher. rather than seeing this bias as problem they embrace it in their research
• what are examples of alpha bias within psychology

  • freuds psychosexual stages - electra and oedipus complex
  • attachment - bowlby monotropic theory is centred on women
  • schizophregenic mother - centred on the mothers role in the development of schizophrenia
• what are examples of beta bias within psychology

  • maguire taxi driver study - male sample, results were generalised to women
  • milgrams resrach - assumed womens obedience level would be the same
  • schizophrenia diagnosis - assumes men and women with schizophrenia would present similarly
  • brain studies - usually carried out on men
• what is an etic approach

  attempts to look at universal human behaviours, this is done by contrasting and comparing behaviours across cultures this is done by an outsider. this approach is favoured within science and it is objective and impartial in nature
• what is an emic approach

  when a culture is studied from within and looks at culturally specific behaviours and researchers are often from the culture they are studying
• what are examples of imposed etic theories

  • ainsworth - an american study conducted in britain
  • ash / milgram / zimbardo
  • biopsychology
• what is an example of an ethnocentric theory

  schizophrenia diagnosis