Issues & Debates

Ethical implications

The impact research can have on the public after it has been published

Marginalized groups

Groups treated as insignificant, not given the same opportunities as other groups & often at a disadvantage in society

Socially sensitive research

Research that can have negative consequences on a minority group/marginalized groups, studies into taboo topics

Influence of the media from research

• Summarizes long research papers into key headlines to capture the audience’s attention

• Ovesimplifies complex phenomena & puts more weight on slim findings which gives it publication bias

Influence of the media from research - Zimbardo

• His research found ppl are quick to conform to social roles & excessively comply to what is expected of that social role

• had to speak out agaisnt an anti-mask group using his research to support their stance

• ppl belived that the mask would create blind obedience to the government just like how the PP took on their roles in the prison experiment

Influence of the public policy from research

• research can affect political decisions & changes in law/policies

• Can be good for social change & progress but has downsides

Influence of the public policy from research

• Cyril Burt made evidence for the genetic basis of intelligence conducted on twins w a heritability coefficient of .77

• He used his research to encourage the gov to implement the 11+ exam in UK to decide if kids should go to grammar schools

• to seperate kids based on natural intelligence

• do well in exam = go to good school

Influence of the marginalised groups from research

• research can be used to justify things like racism, classism, homophobia & misogyny

• if it shows difference in certain groups it can put at-risk ppl at a further risk

Influence of the marginalised groups from research

• Bowlby’s research found serious psychological effects if kids were deprived of contact w their moms in early childhood (MD)

• He later became a WHO adviser and influenced the UK gov to not offer free childcare places to kids under 5

• Negatively affects working class moms (they need these free childcare places)

Ethical implications strengths (2)

✅Can shine light on underrepresented groups

• Helps promote greater understanding & ∴ reduce prejudice instead of encouraging acceptance

• SSR can also hv great value in improving laws/policies (e.g Bowlby) & the legal system

• E.g creation of the cogntive interview through psychological research on the unreliability of EWT

• ∴ its a great benefit to society as a whole

✅Ethical committes introduced to oversee reserch designs to ensure no PPs get harmed

• But the social consequences of research involving vulnerable groups can be hard to anticipate

• So we won’t know findings until the research has completed

• Judgements made by ethical committees are also subjective

• Often the real impact of SSR is only known once it was made public which is where the IRL danger lies if misrepresented by the media

Ethical implications weaknesses (2)

❌SSR can be misused negatively

• Findings can be oversimplified by the media & used to scaremonger or further marginalize groups

• ZImbardo’s research caused ppl to be anti-mask during COVID bc they thought it would create blind obedience to the gov & the prisoners & guards

• so it can manipulate the public & hv detrimental effects on welfare of marginalized groups

❌Just don’t do SSR to guarantee no misuse

• Researchers could avoid sensitive topic areas like rare, LGBTQ+ classes bc potential negative effects that would be of control (protecting PPs)

• Some argue this is “avoidance of responsibility” — its a psychologists duty to conduct SSR to enact social change/justice

• Psychologists should be active & engage w policy makers, taking responsibility for their findings

Universality

Any underlying characteristics of human beings that is capable of being applied to all

Gender bias

• The tendency to treat 1 gender in a diff way to others

• research might not represent experience of both men & women

Examples:

• Anorexia is underdiagnosed in men bc of a symptom = amenorrhea loss of menstrual cycle for 3 months = no equivalent in men = less chance to be diagnosed

• Autism is underdiagnosed is women bc the key criteria = limited social skills, relationships, comunication bc autistic females are often better in social contexts

  • Could be misdiagnosed in forms of depression, anxiety, OCD

Androcentrism

• Male-centered, when norm behaviour is judged according to male standards

Examples

• Psychology is dominated by male researchers which causes female behaviour to be misunderstood/pathologized (regarding smo as psychologically abnormal/unhealthy)

• Premenstrual syndrome has been objected by females bc it medicalizes female emotions (male anger is more often seen as a rational response)

Estrocentrism

• Female-centered, when norm behaviour is judged according to female standards

Examples:

• Schaffer & Emerson = attachment in females

• jacob’s study on digit span

Alpha bias

• When a study/theory over-exaggerates the differences between the genders

• undervalues or enhances members of either sex

Examples:

• Freud’s theories relfect his culture where men were more powerful

• Psychoanalysis views women as lesser, a form of failed masculinity (e.g penis envy)

Beta bias

• Ignoring or minimising the differences between the genders

Examples:

• Biopsychologists looking at fight or flight typically on male animals to research

• But recent research found females tend to usse a tend & befriend response

Gender Bias strengths (2)

✅Gender biased research potential encouraged modern researchers to use reflexivity

• When researchers reflect on their own values & assumptions of gender & how they might have impacted their work/research

• Research can also be used uplift women positively

• E.g Cornwell Et Al notedthat women are better at learning as they are more attentive & organized

• This type of research helps to reduce or challenge stereotypes = important in reducing bias

✅Feminist psychologists set out a series of requirements needed to ensure equality in psychological research

• E.g studying women in IRL contexts, genuinely participate in research, equal no. of M&F PPs, get diverse groups of women, collaborative research w senior psychologists

• These methods are more preferable & less gendr biased than a rigid lab environment

Gender Bias weaknesses (2)

❌Institutional sexism

• Senior researchers are more likely to be men so female issues are less likely to be addressed

• Male researchers = more likely to be published

• Potential for women to be treated as lab rats w male researchers in a powerful position to draw conclusions on their behaviour

• Can create further bias & inequality in psych theories & research

❌Gender differences can be politically motivated arguments presented as scientific facts

• Walkerdine (1990) analysis shows how scientific research published in 1930s described how engaging in ‘intellectual activities’ like going to uni can make womens ovaries shrivel & harmher chances of having kids

• Ethical implications of such research = can scientifically justify reasons to deny women opportunities in work & wider society

• Shows how gender bias isn’t just a methodological issue in psych but can have significant negative implications IRL

Cultural Bias

• The tendency to judge all people in terms of your own cultural expectations

Ethnocentrism

• Judging other cultures by the standards/values of your own

• Extremes of this could be believing your own culture is superior (lead to prejudice/discrimination)

Examples:

• Zimbardo has only USA PPs

Cultural Relativism

• The idea that norms/values can only be understood within specific cultural & social contexts

• Some things only exist in specific cultures

Example:

• Malsow’s hierarchy of needs (individualistic based theory)

Universality

• Any underlying characteristic of a culture that can be applied to all

Alpha bias

• When a study/theory over-exaggerates the differences between cultures

• May enhance/undervalue members of either cultures

Beta bias

• Ignoring/minimizing differences between cultures

Emic Construct

• A theory that can only be applied to a specific cultural group

Etic construct

• A theory that is assumed to apply to all cultures

Imposed etic

• When an emic contruct is assumed to be an etic construct (only apply to 1 thing but apply to everything)

Examples of cultural bias

• Milgram = 65% go to 450v

  • Kilham & Mann

  • Lower levels of obedience in females than males

• 16% women to 450v

• 40% men to 450v

Ainsworth

• 0% of babies were insecure avoidant

• Had to stop for 905 of infants bc too much distress

Zimbardo

• Prisoners didn’t conform to their role & took control of the prison

Cultural bias strength (1)

✅Cross-cultural research is important to challenge implicit assumptions

• Understanding that certain concepts/knowledge we take for granted may not be shared by others can help reduce imosed etic & challenges typical western way of thinking

• Encourages researchers investigate cultural differences in behaviour & challenge previous claims of ‘scientific racism’

• So future conclusions drawn by psychologists are likely to be more internally/externally valid w more recognition of the importance of culture

Cultural bias weaknesses (3)

❌Operationalising variables can be a problem when conducting cross-cultural research

• Not all PPs will experience certain variables the same way

• E.g invasion of personal space in China = normalized, but in UK it can = threatening

• Also affects clinical diagnoses, e.g schizophrenia is over-diagnosed in African cultures bc talking to your ancestors is seen as a positive symptom of SZ

• These factors can make it harder to study certain phenomenon/theories across different cultures

❌Cultural differences = more blurred in modern times

• Psychologists often reference the individualistic-collectivist culture divide, w individualistic = more independence & collectivist = more interdependence

• But 14/15 studies into cultural differencesn between Japan & USA meta-analysis found no evidence of the divide btwn individualistic/collectivist cultures

• Now international travel, emigration & multi-culturalism is becoming more common = this classic view may be too simplistic

❌Important to consider cultural bias but doesn’t mean theres no universal behaviour

• Research suggests basic facial expressions for emotions are the same across humans & animals

• So eventhough Ainsworth’s SS & attachment types can be critiqued for imposed etic, research also shows some fetures of attachment e.g imitation/interactional synchrony are universal

• So we have to be culturally relative (know some behaviours are unique to certain cultures) & appreciate universal behaviour to understand human behaviour more fully

Nature/Nativism

• Early Nativists (e.g Descartes) argued human characteristics are innate: the result of hierarchy

• Heredity = genetic transmission of mental & physical characteristics from 1 generation to another

• Heritability coefficient = used to determine is something is influenced by genetics

  • Scale of 0-1 (1 = completely genetic, IQ is about 0.5)

• References evolutionary factors that we inherited too, e.g fight-or-flight response

Examples:

• OCD can be explained as an abnormality in the frontal lobes of the brain & parahippocampal area, responsible for locial thinking & processing unpleasant emotions

Nurture/Empiricism

• Empiricists (e.g John Locke) argued the mind is a blank slate at birth

• Environmental influences determine our behaviour (linked to behaiourist approach)

• Referred to as ‘experiences’ which range from pre-natal influences in the womb to cultural & historial influences at a societal level

• Nurture can also affect an individual before & after birth (pre & post-natal)

Example:

• Learning theory uses operant conditioning to explain how babies cry to recieve food, leading them to be fed = crying is reinforced & repeats

Interactionist approach

• Environmental influences begin right when a child is born so its almost impossible to seperate nature & nurture

• E.g in twin studies its hard to tell if high concordance rates are bc of shared genetics or a share upbringing

Diathesis-stress model

• Inherited predisposition to develop a disorder + environmental stressor = psychological disorder

Epigenetics

• Life experiences of previous generations leaves marks on genes as to whether to pass them down

• Can impact genetics of the next generation e.g being a smoker can give your offspring weaker lungs

Nature debate - strengths (1)

✅Strong research support for the influence of nature on human behaviour

• E.g Nestadt fouund that the concordance rate in MZ twins = 68% & for DZ twins = 31%

• Lewis also found concordance rate of 37% in parents & 21% in siblings with OCD

• Nativism also led to the development of treatments for psychopathology, e.g SSRIs which are used to increase levels of serotonin in the brain for ocD & DEPRESSION

Nurture debate - strengths (1)

✅Strong research support for influence of nurture human behaviour

• E.g in Zimbardo’s Stanford prison study, PPs quickly became deindividuated from the prisoner & guard uniforms & the simulated prison environment which made them strongly conform to their social roles

• & Bandura’s social learning theory said how kids learn by observing & imitating their role models in the environment who they identify with

  • The study also found boys were more likely to imitate the male models aggressive behaviour

• Empiricism also led o the development of systematic desensitisation which uses counter conditioning to graudally reduce phobias & reassociate them w relaxation

• Flooding involves immediate exposure tto make phobias extinct by unlearning the response

Nature & Nurture weaknesses (2)

❌Both sides can be dangerous

• Extremes of both sides of the debate can have negative implications

• Nativists suggesting genes determine behaviour can lead to controversies e.g in eugenics policies

  • 1920s US sterilised citizens deemed to be a drain on society (low IQ, drug/alcohol addicts, & mentally ill)

• Empiricists suggesting behaviour is influenced by the environment can be used to manipulate “undesirable behaviour”

  • E.g aversion therapy was used in 1960s UK to shock lesbian women to make them vomit when looking at images of women

• Both sides of debate are hard detemrinistic view = can be used to control society

❌Interactionist approach combining nature & nurture can be better/more sensible

• Research into twin studies hoping to seperate the 2 elements often ignore confounding variables of a share environment growing up

  • Means concordance rates arelikely due to nature & nuture

• Diathesis stress model = nature element says you are born w a genetic predisposition for something = makes you more vulnerable to developing a disroder but needs an environmental trigger = incorporates nature & nurture

• May be easier to investigate nature & nurture seperately but combining both = more beneficial for a more holistic explanation of beahviour

Free-will

Being self-determining & free to choose our thoughts & actions

Free-will strengths (2)

✅Can have a positive impact on society

• Robert Et Al showed that those w a strong belief in fatalism were at a greater risk of developing depression

• Pppl who exhibit an internal locus of control are more likely to be optimistic over those w an external locus of control

• Supports free-will cuz ppl believe they are in control of their own actions/choices = can live happier lives = more external validity

✅Goes with the way society operates

• Free-will stance is consistent with how the legal system operates which = offenders are held responsible for their actions in court unlike a hard deterministic stance

• Main principle of the legal system is that the defendant exercised their free-will in commiting the crime

• So it has more face validity unlike determinism

Free-will weaknesses (2)

❌Contradicting evidence

• Soon Et Al has PPs press a button w their left/right hand

• Found the PPs brains were active up to 10s before they reported being consciously aware of making the decision

• Shows that behaviour is pre-determined bc PPs didn’t consciously make the choice, going agaisnt free-will

❌Inconsistent w the aims of natural sciences

• Aims to find causal explanations where 1 thing is determined by another

• Knowledge of these relationships allow scientists to predict & control events

• So free-will stance can’t give psychology as much scientific credibility as a deterministic stance can

Determinism

Behaviour is governed by internal or external forces

Types:

Biological - behaviour governed by genes

Psychic - behaviour caused by innate drives & early experiences

Envrionmental - behaviour caused by previous experiences - classical/operant conditiong

Hard - all behaviour has a cause, no free-will

Determinism strengths (2)

✅Consistent w the aims of science

• Aim of natural sciences is to find causal explanations where 1 thing is determined by another

• Knowlede of these relationships can help sciencists predict & coontrol events

• Suggests that a deterministic stance would give psychology more scientific credibility

✅Supporting evidence

• Soon Et Al has PPs press a button w their left/right hand

• Found the brain was active up to 10s beofre PPs reported being consciously aware of making a deicision

• SHows that behaviour is pre-determined bc PPs didn;t consciously make the choice

Determinism weaknesses (1)

❌Contradicts the way society operates

• A hard deterministic stance isn’t consistent w how the legal system works bc offenders are held responsible for their actions in

• The main principle of our legal system is the defendant exercised their free-will in committing the crime

• Robert Et Al also shows that those who strongly believe in fatalism are at greater risk of developing depression

• Determinism lacks face validity unlike free-will so it may not be the best option for society bc it can lead to the innocent being prosecuted

Holism

• When human behaviour is studied as a system rather than its constituent parts

• Uses more qualitative methods, e.g the humanistic approach

Levels of explanation

• Socio-cultural level - behaviour influenced by ppl around you

• Psychological level - cognition behind behaviour

• Physical level - physical movements involved in behaviour

• Physiological level - activity within the brain & body (how neurotransmitters & hormones travel in the body, pathways)

• Neurochemical level - effect of neurotransmitters & hormones (e.g specific functions like of serotonin)

Holism strengths (1)

✅Certain behaviours only emerge in group contexts

• E.g Zimbardo’s research would not make sense on a reductionist level

• It was the PPs interactions w others & the prison environment that was significant

• & a reductionist approach is unable to consider the social triggers of disorders like depression/OCD

• So holism & the sociocultural level is better at explaining group behaviours

Holism weaknesses (1)

❌Less scientific approach

• Holistic explanations are often criticised for being unfalsifiable like the humanistic approach

• Also makes it difficult to create effective treatments when considering multiple factors

• So reductionism may be better for treating psychopathologies e.g the neurochemical level to create drugs

Reductionism

Human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts, explaning behaviour using the lowest levels of explanation

Reductionism strengths (1)

✅More scientific approach

• Operationalism is key in psychology & reductionism bc it allows variable to be defined clearly

• This makes it possible to conduct experiments & observations in an objective & reliable way

• By following the laws of natural sciences, psychology can gain more scientific credibility as a subject & make more nomothetic laws of behaviour

Reductionism weaknesses (1)

❌Can oversimplify complex phenomena

• Explanations that focus on neurochemicals ignore the social context in which behaviours occur

• So although treatments like drugs may help patients, they don’t address the social triggers of disorders like depression/OCD

• So reductionist explanations can only ever be part of an overall explanation

Idiographic approach

• A focuson studying unique ppl w subjective experiences to provide an in-depth understanding

Methods used:

• Small number of PPs

• Subjective experiences analysed

• Focus on understanding invididuals but can make generalisations

• Interviews

Examples:

• Little Hans

• Little Albert

• Humanistic approach

• Psychodynamic (everyone has a different childhood)

Idiographic approach strength (1)

✅Gives you a more complete understanding of an individual

• Uses in-depth qualitative methods which cn be used to shed light on/generate new laws of behaviour

• E,g the Phineas Gage case study helped psychologists to better understand localisation of function

• So although it may be a more limited way of working - it can inform scientific laws & practice

Idiographic weakness (1)

❌Narrow & restrictive way of thinking

• W/o gathering further examples for case studies, no meaningful conclusions can be drawn

• & methods like case studies are often subjective & prone to researcher bias

• The lack of scientific rigour makes it hard to build effective theories of human behaviour

Nomothetic approach

• The study of human behaviour through developing general principles & universal laws to provide a benchmark for comparison

Methods used:

• Quantitative research

• General principles of behaviour are deveoped & applied to individual situations

• Samples of ppl & animals

• Data analyzed by statistical tests

• Easily replicated

• Objective

Examples:

• NSI/ISI

• Schaffer & Emerson (all kids go through the same stages of attachment)

• Biological approach

• Zimbardo (law on conformity)

• Bandura (all kids follow a role model)

• Cognitive (MSM)

• Behaviourist (classical/operant conditioning)

• Psychodynamic (psychosexual stages)

Nomothetic strengths (1)

✅Its more scientific

• The processes invovled are similar to the natural sciences e.g standardisation, controlled, statistical testing

• Objective methods/large samples allow us to establish norms & produce resources like the DSM

• This makes it easier to diagnose psychopathology, understand human behaviour, & gives us more credibility

Nomothetic weaknesses (1)

❌Can lead to a loss of understanding of the individual

• By focusing on general laws of behaviour, we can miss important details & unique differences

• E.g knowing that theres a 1% overall lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia tells us little about the subjective experience of living w it

• So it can overlook the richness of human data & miss out on the important individualities