Issues and debates

What is a criticism of psychological theories?

It has often not acknowledged differences in cultures, and developed theories based on 1 culture

What are the statistics that support the view that psychological research is narrow?

-1992: 64% of psychology researchers were American

-1991: 94% of studies in a textbook on social psychology were conducted in North America

Define cultural bias

The tendency to interpret ideas, information etc. through one’s own cultural standards

Define ethnocentrism

-Judging other countries by the standards of one’s own culture

-It can cause the belief that one’s own culture is superior, leading to discrimination of other cultures

-In psychological research this causes a view that behaviours that are not Western are unsophisticated

Define ethic approach

looking at behaviour from outside the culture and describing it using universal ideas

Define emic approach

looking at behaviour from within the culture and identifies behaviours specific to that culture

What is an example of an ethic approach?

Mary Ainsworth’s study:

-stated that the defining variable of attachment type was the child’s anxiety when being separated from parents

-The ideal level of distress was moderate (showed secure attachment)

-It reflected American norms so it’s an example of an imposed ethic

Define cultural relativism

-The idea that norms and ethics can only be understood within specific and cultural contexts

-Berry (1969) argues that psychology imposes ethic approaches even though the theories came from emic research from one culture

-Although researchers work with people from other cultures they don’t work within the culture so may see their own culture as superior

-WEIRD: Western, Educated and from Industrialised, Rich and Democratic countries

How can cultural bias be evaluated through individual and collectivist cultures?

-It is suggested that individualist and collectivist cultures have few differences due to interconnectedness through global communication

-1999: Takano and Osaka found 14/15 studies comparing USA and Japan had no evidence of this cultural difference

-Therefore, it is argued that cultural bias is over emphasised

How can cultural bias be evaluated through universality?

-Basic facial expressions are universal

-Some features of human attachment are universal (interaction synchrony)

-Therefore, not all psychology is culturally relative

Define gender bias

psychological research not fully including the experience of one gender

Define universality

idea that certain ideas can be applied across everyone

Define androcentrism

male centred

Define alpha bias

when differences between the sexes are exaggerated

Define beta bias

when differences between the sexes are ignored

What is an example of alpha bias?

Bowlby’s Monotropic theory:

-Law of accumulated separation states that having a large amount of time from a primary attachment figure causes poor quality attachment that has negative implications on the child

What were the problems of Bowlby’s theory?

-Socially sensitive because it had strong influences on the choices of mothers when they had young children

-Feminists argue that this causes a terrible burden of responsibility on mothers

What is an example of beta bias?

Studies into the effects of hormones because most studies were done with men because of hormonal fluctuations in women

How can gender bias be evaluated through biological vs social explanations?

-A limitation is gender differences are often explained as fixed (alpha bias) even when they are not

-Attachment research in the past suggested that women were more ‘biologically equipped’ to be caregivers

-More recent research (Feldman) showed new fathers and mothers produce the same amount of oxytocin (involved in bonding)

-Shows research should not be considered a fact when representing social stereotypes

How can gender bias be evaluated through theories that emphasise the value of women?

-Cornwell and others found women are better at learning because they are more attentive, flexible and organised

-Focused on positive qualities of women, helping to challenge gender stereotypes and change people’s preconceptions

Define free will

The belief that humans can make their own choices and are not determined by biological/ external factors - links to humanistic approach

Define determinism

the belief that humans’ behaviour is shaped by internal/external forces that are not conscious

Define hard determinism

-also called fatalism

-Suggests all behaviour has a cause and these can be identified and described; every action is dictated by internal or external forces we cannot control - no free will

-Compatible with the aims of science - to uncover casual laws

Define soft determinism

-Put forward by philosopher William James

-Believed all actions have a cause but there is ‘room to manoeuvre’ - people have conscious mental control over how they behave

Define biological determinism

The belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control

-e.g In 1876 Lombroso (Italian physician) suggested criminals were genetic throwbacks and recognisable from their atavistic form

Define environmental determinism

-Belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment

-Choice is the sum total of reinforcement actions that have acted upon us - we think we are acting independently but our behaviour is shaped by the environment agencies of socialisation

-Skinner described free will as an illusion and all behaviour is a result of conditioning

Define psychic determinism

-The belief that behaviour is caused by uncontrollable unconscious conflicts (repressed in childhood)

-No accidents, not even a slip off the tongue (called parapraxes)

-Freud agreed free will is an illusion but placed more emphasis on the influence of biological drives and instincts

What are the arguments for determinism?

-Consistent with aims of science

-Prediction/control of behaviour led to the development of treatments and therapies that have benefitted many

-Unlikely that people would choose to have conditions e.g mental health

What are the arguments against determinism?

Hard determinism not consistent with legal system:

-Offenders are held morally accountable for their behaviour and actions

-Law of Diminished Responsibility is only used in extreme circumstances

What are the arguments for free will?

-Face validity if the concept - everyday experience gives the impression we are making own choices

-People with an internal locus of control believe they have a high degree of influence over their own behaviour - which is found to lower risk of depression

What are the arguments against free will?

-Chun Siong Soon and others (2008) demonstrated that the brain activity that determines the outcome of choices happen before we know we have made that choice

-Research found that brain activity related to which button to press happened up to 10 seconds before participants reported being aware of the decision

What is a compromise between the debate?

-An interactionist position provides us with a compromise in the debate

-Social Learning Theory has a soft determinist position - it acknowledges environmental and cognitive factors e.g freedom to choose who or what to learn from

-Bandura suggested reciprocal determinism where we are influenced by our environment, but we also influence our environment

define nature-nurture debate

Debate on which aspects of behaviour are either a product of inherited characteristics or acquired characteristics

Define heredity

Genetic transmission of mental/physical characteristics through generations

Define environment

non genetic influences on behaviour

Define the interactionist approach

The idea that nature and nurture are intertwined so shouldn’t debate between them. Instead should study how they interact and influence each other

What is natism?

-Promoted by French philosopher René Descartes

-The idea that characteristics and aspects of knowledge were hereditary

-Links to nature

What is empiricism?

-Promoted by Locke

-The idea that the mind was a blank slate and the environment causes it to become populated with learning and experience

-Links to nurture

Define heritability coefficient

-A scale between 0 and 1 which assesses the extent of the genetic basis of a characteristic

-links to interactionist approach

Define epigenetics

-Genetic activity changing (codes being switched on or off) without genetic code changing

-Caused by environmental factors e.g diet which leave epigenetic marks on DNA

-Epigenetic marks can affect the next generation’s genetic code

What is an experiment that shows the effects of epigenetics?

-2014 Dias and Kessler gave rats electric shocks when exposed to a component of perfume, causing them to fear it

-The rat’s offspring also feared the component of perfume despite not being exposed to the perfume or experiencing an electric shock

How does epigenetics affect the nature-nurture debate?

Complicates it because it shows that the life experiences of previous generations can influence the next generations (AO3)

How far towards nature/nurture are the approaches?

Nature - biological

psychodynamic

Interactionist - cognitive

humanistic

Nurture- behaviourist

How can adoption studies be used to evaluate the nature -nurture debate?

-can separate nature and nurture

-Plomin (1994): suggested nature drives people towards certain environments and choices despite nurture (way they were raised) being different

How can the implications of the debate evaluate the nature nurture debate?

The implications of the debate are profound:

-Is the nativist (genetics) or behaviourist (any behaviour can be changed through behaviour shaping) idea?

How can the applications of the nature nurture debate be used to evaluate it?

Can help and explain problems e.g genetic counselling

Define holism

-The idea that human behaviour should be viewed as a whole integrated experience (not separate parts)

-View shared by humanist psychologists (e.g Rogers and Maslow). They saw successful therapy as bringing together all aspects of the person (e.g client-centred therapy)

Define reduction

-The idea that behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller parts

-Based on the scientific principle parsimony; all phenomena should be broken down into the most basic principles

What are the 3 levels of explanation?

1. Social and cultural explanations (influence of social groups on behaviour) - widest/ broadest

2. Psychological explanations (cognitive, behavioural, environmental)

3. Biological explanations (neurochemical, genetic, brain structure) - narrowest

what are the arguments for holism?

-There are aspects of social behaviour that only emerge within a group context

-Effects of conformity to social rules and the de-individuation of the prisoners and guards in the Stanford Prison Experiment could not be understood by studying their participants as individuals - the interaction of the group was important

-The holistic approach provided a complete understanding of behaviour than the reductionist approach

What are arguments against holism?

-Holistic explanations usually do not stand up to rigorous scientific testing - they can be vague and speculative (humanist psychology lacks empirical evidence and is a loose set of concepts)

-Difficult to establish practical approaches when considering a wide range of factors

What are the arguments for reductionism?

-A reductionist approach often forms the basis of scientific research - to create operationalised variables it is necessary to break target behaviours into constituent parts

-Makes it possible to conduct experiments or record observations (behavioural categories)in a meaningful and reliable way e.g behaviourist approach was able to break down behaviour into stimulus-response relationships

-Gives psychology greater credibility on equal terms with natural science

What are the arguments against reductionism?

-Can oversimplify complex behaviours leading to a loss of validity

-Biological explanations does not include analysis of social context

-Stanford Prison Experiment showed the power of conformity of social roles and has been used to explain real world examples

How can the holism vs reductionism debate be evaluated through the interactionist approach?

-It looks at different levels of explanation and how they combine and interact

-Combination of usually a genetic predisposition and an environmental trigger

-Led to a more multi-disciplinary approach to treatment e.g combining drugs and therapy

Define idiographic

 using case studies (individuals) to examine and understand behaviour

Define nomothetic

 Using general laws to understand behaviour (laws apply to all people)

What are the qualities of the idiographic approach?

-Rejects the scientific methods

-Studies individuals so shouldn't generalise

-Behaviour should be understood in terms of individuals own experience and only individual can explain what a behaviour means

-Qualitative data

What is an example of the idiographic approach?

Freud's Little Hans case study;

-Investigated his patient's lives in order to understand and help them overcome psychological disorders

-Idiographic because each disorder derived from their childhood experience

-However, he attempted to generalise his findings into nomothetic theories (psychosexual stages, Oedipus and Electra complex), therefore his psychodynamic approach can be seen as nomothetic

What are the strengths of the idiographic approach?

-Can gain detailed and informative descriptions of behaviour

-Can uncover causes for behaviour that nomothetic approach can't

-Develop holistic understanding of individuals

-Provide hypotheses for future scientific study

What are the limitations of the idiographic approach?

-Cannot generalise to wider population

-Methods are subjective, flexible and unstandardised so replication, prediction and control of behaviour is difficult

-Time consuming methods

What is the nomothetic approach?

-Main feature is similarities between people and laws governing behaviour

-Three kinds of general laws:

Classification e.g attachment types

Establishing theories and concepts e.g conformity and obedience

Establishing dimensions e.g IQ

-Uses scientific methods

-Quantitative data

-Group averages are statistically analysed, and predictions made

-Objective

What are the applications of the nomothetic approach?

-Biological psychologists (e.g depression linked to neurotransmitters leading to drug therapy)

-Cognitive psychologists (e.g Atkinson and Shiffrin to develop the MSM of memory)

-Social psychologists (e.g Milgram - situational factors responsible for obedience)

-Attachment psychologists (e.g Aisworth - categorised attachment types)

What are the strengths of the nomothetic approach?

-Can generalise to wider population

-Scientific - methods are objective, measurable and can be verified so replication, prediction and control of behaviour can be done

What are the limitations of the nomothetic approach?

-Generalised laws and principles may not apply to some individuals

-Understanding often superficial

How can the debate between idiographic and nomothetic approaches be evaluated?

-Holt (1967) argues both approaches sould be seen as complimentary, not conflicting

 -The insights from an idiographic approach can help provide more understanding on the general principles of the nomothetic approach

 For example, from memory topic:

• George Miller's research is nomothetic:

• Produced general law of human behaviour: that short term memory has a capacity of 7 + or - 2 items

• Law that short term memory has a standard and limited span, was determined through testing many people under experimental conditions

• Henry Molaison' research is idiographic:

• He provided a case study for psychologists and neuroscientists

Therefore both approaches can provide greater understanding for certain topics (e.g memory) so are valuable

What must researchers consider when deciding to research something socially sensitive?

-Implications: wider effects e.g giving scientific validity to prejudices

-Uses/public policy: e.g can justify new government policies

-Validity of research: e.g will the results be influenced by the researcher

What are the costs of breaking ethical guidelines?

-Studies not considering participants' human rights

-Not considering social impact of controversial research

-Can negatively affect future human behaviour

What are the benefits of breaking ethical guidelines?

-Better understanding can help combat discrimination/racism

-Combating public complacency

-Making sure justice is served (eye witness testimonies)

-Combat power abuse (e.g Abu Graib prison)

-Decide what is suitable for children to watch on TV

What are the costs of Milgram’s experiment?

-Didn't properly consider mental/psychological harm

-Right to withdraw not clarified

-No fully informed consent/ deception used

-Research can be used as an excuse for people who have committed immoral acts

What are the benefits of Milgram’s experiment?

-Caused efforts to be made to improve ethical considerations in psychological research

-Cannot claim some races are crueller than others - the majority behave in immoral ways in certain circumstances

-New psychologists attracted to psychology because of interesting research

-If the experiment was not completed, understanding of obedience would be poorer

What are the problems of socially sensitive research?

-consequences of the research

-Risk of inaccurate findings: poor research design, investigator bias, bad science could have harmful effects

What are the uses of socially sensitive research?

-Benefits to group (e.g Kinsley report and homosexuality)

-Applications: relied upon as a source of socially sensitive research by policy makers to be more progressive

-Vital understanding comes from controversial research

Define ethical implications

The impact that psychological research may have in term of the rights of other people, including participants and wider society

Define ethical guidelines

A set of principles designed to help professionals behave honestly and with integrity

Define social sensitivity

Studies in which there are potential consequences or implications, either directly for the participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research

Define reflexive

A qualitative researcher will reflect or think critically during the research process about the factors that affect the behaviour of both researchers and participants. This reflective process recognises the social dynamics of the research process and how this affects data collected