Psychology a level - issues and debates

ao1 and ao3

what does universality mean

any underlying characteristic of humans that is capable of being applied to everyone, despite differences of experience; gender bias and culture bias threaten the universality of findings in psychology

what is gender bias

the differential treatment or representation of males and females, based on stereotypes and not real differences

what is androcentrism

male-centredness, where ‘normal’ behaviour is judged according to a male standard

what is alpha bias

exaggerating the differences between men and women

what is beta bias

minimising the differences between men and women

example of androcentric concept

fight or flight; Taylor et al (2000) point out women show the tend and befriend response instead as stress increases oxytocin production in females

example of research that shows beta bias

Milgram’s obedience study

example of research that shows alpha bias

Freud’s theory of psychosexual development - particularly the Oedipus and Electra complex’s

study suggesting gender differences in skills to have biological basis and counter-study to suggest they’re not

Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) presented the findings of several studies that had concluded that girls had better verbal ability while boys had better spacial ability and argued these differences to be ‘hardwired’

Joel et al (2015) used brain scanning and found no gender difference in structure or processing, suggesting the previous conclusions to be based on steotypes

study suggesting gender differences in multitasking ability to have a biological basis

study in 2014 found a woman’s brain may benefit from better connections between the two hemispheres than a man’s, supporting the stereotype that women are better multitaskers

research on studying gender bias

an analysis of over 1,000 articles relating to gender bias published over 8 years found studies on gender bias are funded less often and published in less prestigious journals

what is cultural bias

a tendency to interpret all phenomenon through one’s own cultural lens, ignoring cultural differences in behaviour

what is ethnocentrism

judging other cultures by the standards and values of one’s own culture

what is cultural relativism

the idea that norms and values can only be meaningful and understood within specific cultural contexts

example of ethnocentric research

Ainsworth’s ‘strange situation’

what % of psychological researchers are from the USA

64%

what is an emic

approaching research from within a culture and identifying behaviour specific to it

what is an etic

approaching behaviour from outside a culture and identifying it as universal

study suggesting that in today’s globalised world, the distinction between collectivist and individualist cultures no longer exists

a 1999 study found that 14/15 studies that compared the US to Japan found no evidence of individualism or collectivism

what is cultural psychology

the study of how people shape and are shaped by their cultural experiences, taking an emic approach often alongside local researchers and using culturally-based techniques - (a strength of understanding culture bias is that it gave rise to cultural psychology)

example of how culture bias has been used to justify prejudice

ethnocentric IQ tests (such as featuring questions on US presidents etc) around the time of WWI found racial differences in IQ which reinforced eugenic policies

what is free will

the idea that humans make their own choices and are not influenced by internal or external factors

what is determinism

the view that individual behaviour is wholly shaped by internal or external forces

what is the difference between hard and soft determinism

no free will vs free will within certain predetermined parameters

what is biological determinism

the belief that behaviour is caused by uncontrollable biological influences

what is environmental determinism

the belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environment and experience

what is psychic determinism

the belief that behaviour is caused by uncontrollable, unconscious psychodynamic conflicts

what is the scientific emphasis on causal explanations

the basic principle of science that everything has a cause which can be explained by general laws

study showing it’s more beneficial to believe in free will

Roberts et al (2000) found that adolescents with a strong belief in fatalism were at a significantly greater risk of developing depression

brain scan study supporting determinism

Libet et al (1983) found around ½ of a second of unconscious brain activity before participants consciously decided to flick their wrist

what is the nature-nurture debate

the extent to which human behaviour is a product of inherited or acquired characteristics

what is heredity

the genetic transmission of characteristics from one generation to another

what do we mean by the environment in the nature-nurture debate

any influences that are not genetic

what is the interactionist approach to the nature-nurture debate

explaining behaviours in terms of a range of factors, including both the biological and the psychological

what is epigenetics

a change in genetic activity caused by interaction with the environement

research support epigenetics

a (1992) report found that women pregnant during the Dutch famine in 1944 gave birth to low weight babies who were twice as likely to develop schizophrenia when they grew up compared to the general population

what is the concordance rate for IQ generally thought to be

50%

two examples of ways of studying nature-nurture debate

adoption studies, twin studies

adoption study on nature/nurture influence on aggression

meta-analysis in 2002 found genetic influences accounted for 41% of variances in aggression

how does the nature-nurture debate have real-world application

genetic counselling: a process involving both individuals and families understand the psychological impacts of genetic contributions to diseases, helping them understand the disease and get genetic testing if needed

what is holism

studying human behaviour as individual systems rather than reducing it to its constituent parts

what is reductionism

the belief that human behaviour is best understood by studying its smaller constituent parts

what is biological reductionism

a form of reductionism that attempts to explain behaviour at its lowest biological level i.e. in terms of hormones, genes etc

what is environmental reductionism

a form of reductionism that explains all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learnt through experience

what are levels of explanation

the idea that there are several different ways of explaining behaviour, each featuring different levels of reductionism. from lowest to highest these are: biological explanations, psychological, and social and cultural

apply the levels of explanation to OCD

biological: underproduction of serotonin and overproduction of dopamine, underperforming worry-circuit in the frontal lobes

psychological: a persons’ experience of anxiety

social cultural: disrupting social relationships

example of environmental reductionism

learning theory of attachment

example of biological reductionism

biological explanation of OCD

why does holism have less practical value than reductionism

reductionism allows for generalised diagnosis and treatment in a way holism does not

how does reductionism relate to a scientific approach? use an example

behaviours are broken down in scientific experiments into their constituent parts - operationalisation - to improve studies’ reliability

Strange Situation

example of a behaviour that can only be understood at a higher level of explanation, using an example

conformity, as there is no “conformity gene” to explain why people conform in research e.g. Asch’s study

what does an idiographic approach mean

an approach to research that focuses on individual cases in understanding behaviour, not formulating general laws

what does a nomothetic approach mean

an approach to research that studies human behaviour by developing general principles and universal laws

what kind of data would an idiographic approach produce

subjective and qualitative

what kind of data would a nomothetic approach produce

objective and quantitative

example of nomothetic research

Sperry’s split-brain studies

example of idiographic research

Rogers’ humanism and research on unconditional positive regard

how might an idiographic approach contribute to a nomothetic approach? give an example

one in-depth case study may inspire more general, scientific research e.g. Clive Wearing

what is triangulation and how does this help make an idiographic approach scientific

findings from a range of studies using different qualitative methods are compared as a way of improving validity, objectifying idiographic methods

give an example of how idiographic and nomothetic approaches can compliment each other

Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment are nomothetic, while idiographic case studies of extreme neglect highlight the subjective experience of never forming an attachment in the first place; attachment can be explained by both approaches complimenting each other

what does ethical implications mean

the consequence of research in terms of its effects on individual participants or the group they represent

what is social sensitivity

Sieber and Stanley (1988) define it as: “studies in which there are potential consequences or implications, either directly for the participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented” where the findings or conclusions of research can have wider societal impacts

examples of how research questions have shown social sensitivity

research into relationships often has “heterosexual bias“ where homosexual relationships are judged against heterosexual norms

example of beneficial socially sensitive research

‘The Kinsey Report’ in 1948 anonymously interviewed 5,000 men about their sexual behaviour and concluded that homosexuality is a normal human behaviour, contributing to it’s removal from the DSM as a ‘sociopathic personality disorder’ in 1973

example of harmful socially sensitive research

Cyril Burt (1955) forged twin studies that suggested intelligence was detectable by the age of 11 and was highly heritable, influencing government policy in differentiating children at this age based on intelligence through 11+ exams. when he was later publicly discredited, the consequences of his research had already played out and still persisted

statistic showing how often socially sensitive research is approved in the USA

in 2001 it was reported that the APA approved 95% of non-SS research, but only 50% of SS research