issues and debates

• gender bias - universality

  any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences in upbringing and experiences. gender bias and cultural bias threaten the universality of findings in psychology

  • aim of psychology that all research can be applied to everyone in any social situation
• gender bias


  The differential treatment or representation of men and women based on stereotypes rather than real differences - research that does not represent the experiences of males and females equally
• androcentrism


  a study conducted/theory concerned with only males but is generalised to females, bvr is judged from a male standard
• alpha bias


  differences between men and women are exaggerated, can tend to heighten or devalue a gender

  e.g women have a weaker gender identify according top Freud due to less identification in phallic stage as no castration anxiety experienced
• beta bias


  differences between men and women are minimised and generalised to both sexes

  e.g fight or flight response - women more likely to tend and befriend - Taylor et al
• gender bias AO3


  • promotes sexism in research - women remain underrepresented in university departments and research is more likely to be conducted by men which may disadvantage women e.g male researchers expects women to be irrational and unable to complete complex tasks - Nicolson 1995, so women may underperform in R producing gender biased findings
  • Furthermore R challenging gender bias less likely to be published found has been funded less and published by less prestigious journals -may not be taken seriously in research
• gender bias AO3 implications

  • can create misleading assumptions on women, discriminatory F more likely to be diagnosed with depression may hinder hiring - changes to research methodology over the years and emergence of feminist psychology attempts to reduce such discrimination by research into the area
• cultural bias


  act of interpreting and judging bvr and psychological characteristics lens of one's ow culture ignoring the effects of cultural differences on bvr

  psychologists routinely use WEIRD participants, white educated people from industrialised rich democracies
• ethnocentrism


  belief that one cultural group is superior, belief that any bvr that does not conform to standards of dominant (normally western) cultures model is abnormal

  e.g Ainsworths' strange situation - study developed in America yet applied to other cultures, judged collectivist cultures such as Japan who are closer to mothers and show more stress on separation (Takahashi) as insecure so abnormal
• cultural relativism


  idea that norms and values are only meaningful within the specific social and cultural contexts in which they are observed

  an etic approach looks at bvr from outside a given culture and attempts to describe bvrs that are universal

  an emic approach looks within cultures and identifies bvr specific to the culture

  e.g Ainsworth - imposed etic, ideal att type assumed secure for all based on ideas of own culture
• cultural bias AO3


  • classic studies in psychology culturally bias e.g Asch, ethnocentric H/ in age of increased media globalisation, individualist/collectivist less defined Takano and Osaka - 14/15 traditional distinction did not exist - may be overemphasised
  • implications - reinforces negative stereotypes e.g Yerkes IQ test imposed etc, uses western norms to test other cultures - resulted in black and southern European as low IQ - eugenic social policies and minorities deemed mentally unfit
  • practical/ theoretical applications - diagnoses DSM now culture specific bvr
• free will and determinism

  to what extent behaviour is determined by internal or external factors or a matter of choice

  • free will - humans are self-determining and can make choices on bvrs/thoughts and can reject influencing factors
  • determinism - individuals bvr is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces with no choice in actions
• hard determinism


  traits and bvrs are entirely out of an individuals control

  all human bvr has a cause - compatible with aims of science
• soft determinism


  bvr may be predictable and determined by internal/external forces yet there is room for an individual to exercise some control e.g cognitive approach via thought processes
• types of determinism


  biological - belief bvr is governed by biological influences that we can't control

  environmental - bvr governed by external forces such as experiences and upbringing

  psychic - bvr governed by unconscious instincts and drives caused by unresolved childhood conflicts
• The scientific emphasis on causal explanations


  basic principles of science to establish cause and effect relationships by finding mechanisms for bvr and thought, using hypothesis and empirical testing methods to show the significance

  one factor is caused (determined) by a change in the other

  e.g Loftus and palmer leading questions reduced the accuracy of EWT
• case for and against determinism

  for - consistent with aims of science, can be used to predict bvr and control by treatments - practical value

  against - hard determinism stance not consistent with the criminal justice system can have adverse effects is no longer accountable for actions
• case for and against free will

  for - impression of choice has face validity, Roberts et al found that adolescents with a strong sense of fatalism were more at risk of developing depression than those with internal LOC, even if there is no free will belief has a positive impact - in line with the humanistic approach

  against - neurological studies of decision making find that brain activity takes place when move right/left hand to press a button 10 seconds before actively aware of choice being made - interpreted as even most basic experiences lack free will and are determined to some extent
• the nature-nurture debate


  the extent to which aspects of behaviour are a product of inherited or acquired characteristics

  the interactionist approach - concerned with how nature and nurture interact considering both biological influences and social/psychological - diathesis-stress model to Sz
• heredity and the environment

  heredity -the genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another

  environment - any influence on human bvr that is non-genetic - prenatal, cultural, historical etc

  measuring nature and nurture - nature, heritability coefficient, nurture concordance rates in twin studies e.g IQ heritability coefficient of 0.5 and OCD 0.76
• epigenetics


  change in our genetic activity without changing the genes themselves - caused by interaction with the environment, lifestyle or event leave markers on DNA that can be inherited
• nature nurture AO3


  • Real-world application - understanding can inform genetic counselling, high heritability e/g OCD does not always mean will develop however can seek advice on likelihood and prevention
  • adoption study - separate competing nature-nurture forces e.g Soohee and waldman genetic influence accounted for 41% variance in aggression
  • support foir epigenetics - Susser and ShangLin women pregnant during famine 2x likely to give birth to children with Sz and low birth weight
  • nature - deterministic in line with science
• holism reductionism debate


  reductionism - belief that bvr is best understood by breaking it down into constituent parts - the law of parsimony finding the simplest explanation is the best

  holism - proposes that a system should be studied as a whole with bvr as more than just a sum of its parts but rather how they work together on different levels and interact
• levels of explanation


  there are several ways to describe bvr, lowest levels consider biological and physiological bases and are the most reductionist, middle levels consist of psychological explanations whilst the highest levels consider social and cultural influences and are the least reductionist
• types of reductionism


  biological - reducing bvr to physiological levels e.g brain structure or genes - maguire taxi drivers

  environmental - reducing bvr to stimulus-response links which can be tested and explained with lab ex - e.g learning theory of att
• the case for and against reductionism

  for - scientific approach, variables are operationalised to establish a causal relationship of IV on DV, reducing bvr into component parts allows control of extraneous variables giving reliable and objective methods to observing and studying bvr - greater scientific credibility

  against - h/ can lead to oversimplification, explanations on genetic and neurochemical level do not take into account social context in which bvr occurs so loses validity as only a partial explanation
• the case for and against holism

  for - some bvrs can only be understood at a higher level of explanation for example conformity to social roles

  against - lacks scientific credibility due to lack of empirical evidence and lacks practical value as difficult to know what variable are most influential for effective treatment
• nomothetic approach


  • concerned with finding general law for all bvr in people
  • three kinds - classification, principles and dimensions
  • uses scientific method and quantitative data to make objective predictions
  • e.g behaviourists
• idiographic approach


  should study individuals as unique and should not generalise to others, bvr is understood as subjective and uses qualitative methods such as case studies, interviews

  e.g humanistic approach
• case for and against the nomothetic approach

  • for - use of experimental methods with quantitative data e.g IQ testing to establish typical, controlled methods help establish psychology as a scientific discipline and allows testing of theories to obtain empirical evidence
  • against - loses sight of the 'whole person' due to fixation on statistical analysis, only provides superficial understanding e.g Milgram 65% obeyed as ordered to but failed to provide an explanation therefore may be inaccurate to predict an individuals actions
• case for and against the ideographic approach

  • for - case studies provide in-depth insight, e.g KF, can highlight flaws in theory and help to contribute to further research which can give a nomothetic approach
  • against - qualitative methods time consuming and may be unrepresentative e.g little hans furthermore methods are least scientific and can result in bias due to interpretations by researcher being subjective
• ethical implications


  impact which psychological research could have on the rights of individuals, this could be how the research affects public policy or how certain groups are viewed or treated

  socially sensitive research is any research which has implications that impact outside the research context

  Sieber and Stanley used the term socially sensitive to describe studies where there are potential consequences or implications directly for the Ps or the class of individuals concerned
• implications for the research process in socially sensitive research

  • the research question - a cost-benefit analysis judges the implications of such research
  • methodology uses - need to consider rights to confidentiality and anonymity, in some groups that are socially sensitive r may be concerned that the sample may have suffered experiences that impact their ability to provide certain information so informed consent, the sample should also not exclude certain groups of people e.g disabled
  • institutional context - how info will be used
  • interpretation and application of findings
• evaluation of ethical implications and socially sensitive research

  • can have benefits for the group studied e.g homosexuality used to be a mental illness h/ R by Kinsley helped change this h. cost-benefit analysis as may have adverse consequences
  • real world application - government looks to research so by conducting more research on such topics policies can be more informed
  • poor research findings errors which when in public continue to have an impact e.g Burt, 11+ fraudulent R for the genetic basis of IQ still used today - therefore such r. needs to be planned carefully