Issues and debates

• What is the free will vs determinism debate in general about?

  • Is our behaviour a matter of free will or a product of internal/external influences
  • Biological and behaviourist approach are determinist
  • The humanistic approach supports free will
• What does the free will aspect of the free will vs determinism debate argue?

  • Free will doesn’t deny the influence of biological/environmental forces
  • Humans are self-determining and we are free to choose our thoughts and actions
  • However we can reject these forces as we are in control of our thoughts and actions
• What is hard determinism?

  • Also known as fatalism
  • Extreme view that all behaviour has a cause and we can identify and describe these causes
  • Everything we do/think is always due to internal/external forces
• What is soft determinism?

  • Important feature in the cognitive approach
  • Scientists need to explain what determines our behaviour
  • Doesn’t retract our freedom in making everyday decisions
• What types of determinism are there?

  1. Biological determinism
  2. Environmental determinism
  3. Psychic determinism
• What is biological determinism?

  • The role of biology in determining our behaviour e.g the influence of autonomic nervous systems on the stress response
  • Modern biologists recognise mediating influence on environment on biological structures
• What is environmental determinism?

  • Skinner argued behaviour is a result of conditioning
  • Experience of “choice” is a sum of reinforcing circumstances we have acted upon
• What is psychic determinism?

  • Freud emphasised the role of biological drives/instincts
  • Behaviour is determined on unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood
• Why is the lab experiment the ideal science in the free will and Determinism debate?

  • Knowledge of causes and the formulation of laws are important as they allow scientists to predict and control events in the future
  • The lab experiment allows psychologists to demonstrate causal relationships (all variables can be controlled)
• How does the free will side of the debate have practical value (1/4)?

  • It’s a common sense view we exercise free will on a regular basis
  • Thinking we have free will can improve mental health
  • Rebecca Roberts et.al looked at adolescents who were determinist and found they were at a greater risk of gaining depression
  • People who have a external LOC are less likely to be optimisitic
  • This suggests free will may have an impact on mind and behaviour
• What contradicting research evidence does free will have that does not support it(2/4)?

  • Brain scan evidence don’t support free will
  • Libet et.al instructed participants to randomly flick their wrist while they measured activity in the brain
  • Participants say when they had the conscious will to move and found unconscious brain activity leading to conscious decision can 1/2 a second before ppts moved
  • COUNTERPOINT: This is be expected as could be perceive that the decision to act took time to reach consciousness
  • Conscious awareness of a decision is a “read out” of unconscious decision
• How is the law a limitation of determinism (3/4)?

  • Limitation of determinism is the position of the legal system on responsibility
  • Hard determinism beliefs are inconsistent with the operation of the legal system as the main principle of the legal system is that offenders are held responsible for their actions
  • This suggests in real life, determinist arguments do not work
• Do we want determinism (3/4)?

  • Determinism had helped establish Psychology as a science and has produced many effective real world application e.g therapies and behaviour intervention
  • COUNTERPOINT: Free will has an intuitive appeal as most Of us see ourselves as making our own choices
  • This can be liberating for people e.g criminals or someone with a genetic vulnerability to a mental disorder
• What is universality?

  Any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied despite the differences in upbringing and experience
• What is Androcentrism?

  • Theories/Research produced tend to represent/favour a male world view
  • Androcentrism can lead to alpha and beta bias
• What are examples of androcentrism in Psychology?

  1. American Psychological Association published a list of 100 most influential psychologists of the 20th century and it only included 6 women
  2. Feminists argued against the diagnosing of premenstrual syndrome as it medicalised valid emotions by a women and it considers women’s behaviour to be an illness
• What are consequences of androcentrism?

  • Alpha bias
  • Beta bias
• What is Alpha bias in Psychology?

  • Differences between males and females are exaggerated
  • This can undervalue either sexes (usually women)
  • Assumes real and enduring differences between sexes
  • Attributed to biological differences i.e genetics, hormones
• What are examples of alpha bias in Psychology?

  1. Freud saw females as a form of “failed masculinity” and suggested women have inferior morals due to their underdeveloped superegos
  2. Alpha bias can also favour women as Chodorow (1968) suggested mother and daughters have better connections than sons and mothers due to biological similiarities
• What is beta bias?

  • The differences/similarities between genders are ignored/minimised
  • Happens when research/theories use one gender and attempts to generalise it to the whole population
• What is an example of beta bias in Psychology?

  • Biological Psychology uses male animals to test theories i.e fight or flight response in women, they have high oestrogen levels so they adopt a ”tend and befriend” response in a stressful situation
• How is sexism in research a limitation of gender bias research in Psychology (1/4)?

  • Gender bias promotes sexism in research processes
  • Women are underrepresented in university departments even though most undergraduates are women
  • Lecturers in Psychology departments are more likely to be men (Murphy. et. al)
• What are consequences of beta bias (2/4)?

  • Beta bias can be beneficial to women
  • Beta bias minimised differences between sexes
  • Women now can have equal opportunities in occupations and education
  • COUNTERPOINT: Equalising differences between men and women can divert attention from women’s special needs e.g childcare, pregnancy and breastfeeding
• How is biological vs social explanations a limitation of gender bias research (3/4)?

  • Gender differences are presented as fixed and enduring ie. alpha bias when they’re not
  • Maccoby & Jacklin concluded girls have superior verbal ability whereas boys have spatial ability
  • They suggested these differences are “hardwired” into their brain before birth
  • They were popularised as it fitted existing stereotypes of girls as “speakers” and boys “doers”
  • This suggests we should be wary of accepting research findings as biological facts rather than social stereotypes
• How is reversing alpha bias a strength of gender bias research?

  • There may be biological differences men and women but maybe not as much
  • To reduce exaggeration feminist researchers have shown instances where women perform better than men
  • Cornwell et.al (2013) found women are better learners as their more attentive, flexible and organised
  • This reduces androcentrism view and challenges gender stereotypes thus reducing gender bias
• Why do most psychological techniques have a basis in western world views?

  • Researchers assume people in the west are the same as others
  • Belief that non-western lives are more primitive and less worthy of study
  • Researchers lack time and resources to do cross cultural research
  • Critics argue how psychologists generally ignore culture as an important influence to behaviour
• What is ethnocentrism?


  Judging other cultures by the standards of values of ones own culture. Belief that your own cultural values are superior than other ethnic groups
• What can ethnocentrism lead to?

  • Alpha bias = Independence vs Dependence
  • Beta bias = Use of the same IQ test globally
• What are examples of ethnocentrism in Psychology?

  • Ainsworth’s study led to misinterpretations in child bearing practices in other countries
  • Asch’s line study measured conformity levels to an unambiguous task bit used USA participants
• What is a emic approach in culture bias of Psychology?

  Functions from the inside of a culture and identifies behaviour specific to that culture
• What is a etic approach within culture bias in Psychology?

  Looks at behaviour from the outside of a given culture and attempts to describe those behaviours as universal
• What is cultural relativism in culture bias research within Psychology?

  The idea that norms and values as well as ethics and moral standards can only be understood within specific social and cultural contexts
• What was Sternberg (1985) research on emic/etic approach in culture bias Psychology?

  • Suggested that coordination skills may have been important in the pre-literate society but is irrelevant in a “developed society”
  • Intelligence in most cultures is not measured by motor skills
• What was Margaret Mead’s research (1935) on emic/etic approach in culture bias Psychology?

  • Looked at social groups in Paupa New Guinea and found Arapesh men and women to be more gentle, responsive and cooperative
  • Mundugmor men and women were violent and aggressive
• Why is classic studies a limitation in culture bias within Psychology (1/4) (Counterpoint)?

  • Influential studies in Psychology are culturally bias
  • In social influence studies Asch & Milgram‘s original studies were with USA participants
  • Asch type experiments in collectivist cultures found higher rates of conformity
  • Our understanding of topics like social influence are limited to individualistic cultures
  • COUNTERPOINT: Global media decreases individual/collectivist differences so culture bias is less of an issue
  • Takano & Oeaka found 14/15 studies have no proof of individual & collectivist
• How is the emergence of cultural psychology as strength of culture bias within psychology (2/4)?

  • Cohen said cultural Psychology is how people are shaped by their cultural experience
  • Incorporates work from researchers in other disciplines e.g political science, sociology etc
  • Cultural psychologists want to avoid ethnocentric assumptions by taking an emic approach
  • Modern psychologists are aware of the issue and are working to avoid it
• How does ethnic stereotyping lead to culture bias in Psychology (3/4)?

  • Stephen Jay Gould said the first intelligence test led to eugenic policies in the US
  • Psychologists gave the test to WW2 recruits
  • The test were ethnocentric asking questions assuming everyone would know all the US presidents
  • Groups from south Eastern Europe and African Americans received the lowest scores
  • Poor performance was used to inform racist discourse and genetic inferiority of particular groups
• Relativism and universality in culture bias within Psychology (COUNTERPOINT) (4/4)?

  • It can challenge dominant individuals ways of thinking and viewing the world
  • Cultural Psychology allows us a better understanding of human nature
  • COUNTERPOINT: Shouldn‘t be assumed that all Psychology is culturally relative and there is no such thing as universal human behaviour
  • Ekman suggests basic facial expressions for emotions are the same for humans and animals
  • Features of human attachment e.g imitation and Interactional synchrony are universal
• What is the nature vs nurture debate?

  The extent to which aspects of behaviour is inherited or environmentally acquired characteristic’s
• What is nature?

  • Behaviour is caused by innate characteristics
  • Genes provide the blueprint for all behaviour
  • Behaviour is determined by biology