issues and debates

what is gender bias?

differential treatment of men and women based on stereotypes and not real differences
misrepresents women or men

→ e.g. freud says anatomy is destiny suggesting that there are real differences psychologically between men and women

what is the issue of establishing culture and real differences between men and women

• difficult to establish difference

• research found there is only a small number of real gender differences confirmed across cultures

• e.g. boys have greater visual and spatial abilities, girls have greater verbal abilities, boys are more aggressive than girls

what is androcentrism?

research that is centered on men and the male view point

most psychologists were male and theories have been made in response to the male view point

2 types of androcentrism: alpha bias and beta bias

what is alpha bias?

• theories which exagerate differences between men and women

• freud: argued that because girls don’t have the same oedipus complex that boys do, they don’t identify as strongly with their mothers as boys do their fathers, so develop weaker super egos. they resolve their electra complex differently

• evolutionary psychology: suggests evolutionary processes explain why men are more likely to be dominant and commit adultery and why women are more maternal
  → modern society and culture challenges this

explain beta bias

• minimised or ignored gender differences

• often assume what applies to men also applies to women

• zimbardo: studied only men and applied it that women would also conform to social roles in the same way, however, women have been found to be less aggressive than men

• animal research: uses male animals since they have fewer hormonal variations than females. assumed for fight or flight it would be the same, however, more recent research found women have a tend-and-befriend response instead

what is gynocentrism

research that is centered on women rather than men
→ e.g. women are more likely to be diagnosed with depression than men. this might be because it is more common or the diagnostic system being biased towards women

name 3 strengths on the reduction of gender bias

1. solutions created for gender bias
   psychologists have out forward lots of solutions
   → e.g. attempt to develop theories which emphasise importance of women
   research found women are better at learning as they are more attentive and organised
   → emphasises positive values of women
   → this type of research helps to reduce gender stereotypes
   

2. feminist psychology
   accepts biological differences between men and women
   research found women are less effective leaders than men
   however, purpose of this research was to help create training programmes aimed at increasing number of leaders in the real world
   

3. researchers can reduce gender bias
   since we are aware of it, we can make research more fair
   by using more diverse samples of women (diff social classes, backgrounds and cultures)
   studying women in natural environments rather than artificial
   using qualitative methods to understand women’s experiences
   allowing ppts to have more involvement in research process of behaviour
   → allows more validity

name 1 limitation of gender bias

1. unchallenged researcher bias can lead to inaccurate diagnoses
   gender bias might lead to a misinterpretation of psychological disorders
   autism diagnostic categories are based on men and boys so women and girls are significantly less likely to be diagnosed young
   if psychologists apply these androcentric views, they may prevent people getting necessary help or treatment

define culture bias

• culture: values, beliefs and behaviour by a group of peoole

• culture bias: judge people based on your own cultural assumptions
  → includes both beta and alpha bias again

what is ethnocentrism?

• seeing the world from own cultural perspective only

• believing your own culture is the normal and correct one

• lack of awareness of other cultures

give 2 examples of ethnocentrism

1. african-caribbeans are more likely to be diagnosed as mentally ill in britain due to their behaviour which is normal in their culture
   

2. strange situation: imposed etic
   found german children had higher rate of insecure-avoidant attachment but this is not because german mothers are insensitive, it’s because they value independent behaviour
   

what is cultural relativism?

• that behaviour can be properly understood only if cultural context is taken into consideration

• any study which draws sample from one culture and generalises findings is suspect

give an example of cultural relativism?

• research found meaning of intellegence isn’t the same everywhere

• coordination skills and motor skills are essential to live in some cultures but mostly irrelvant in others

name 3 strengths on the reduction of cukture bias

1. recognising it when it occurs
   research gound that 66% studies on social psychology were american, 32% european and only 2% from the rest of the world
   suggests psychological research is underrepresented
   can be fixed easily by selecting diff cultural groups to study
   

2. psychologists more open minded now
   more well-travelled and have therefore got a better understanding of cultural differences
   international psychology conferences increase ability to exchange ideas
   → helps reduce ethnocentrism
   allows more nuanced understanding
   led to development of indigenous psychology
   → theories based on diff cultural contexts like africa
   led to theories being more relevant to lives and cultures of african people
   

3. diagnosis of mental disorders
   DSM originally ignored mental disorders from non-american cultures
   1994- acknowledged poor approach and found culture-bound syndromes from around the world
   → for example: pa-fend (fear of the wind) in china
   better ability to help people

name a limitation of culture bias

1. significant real world effects
   amplify and validate damaging stereotypes
   US army used IQ test before WW1 which was culturally biased towards white majority
   test showed african-americans at the bottom of IQ which had negative effects on attitudes of americans
   highlights negative impact culturally biased research has

what is universality?

• when a theory is described as universal it means it can apply to all people
  → irrespective of gender and culture

• however, this means that it needs to include real differences

• in relation to gender, this means developing theories theories which show similarities and differences without devaluing either gender

• for culture, have local research use local techniques to study local settings to build up cultural ability

explain nature

• behaviour is the product of biological/genetic factors

• certain characteristics like eye colour, skin colour, height, etc are biologically determined and heredity (genetic inheritence)

• this led psychologists to question if psychological characteristics are also genetic

• known as the nativist position

  → basic assumption that humans are a product of evolution and individual differences are the result of evolution and individual differences are due to diff genetic codes

define heredity

• process that traits are passed down from one generation to another

• like height, weight, hair loss, life expectancy, vulnerability to specific illnesses

give an example of nature in psychology

• family, twin and adoption studies show the more closely related people are, the more likely they will show same behaviours

• 1% with sz in general pop → 46% for people with 2 parents with sz

• 40% concordence rate for MZ and 7% for DZ

why is nature important?

• evolutionary psychology

• behaviours or characteristics which increase survival will be naturally selected
  → e.g. children come into world biologically programmed to help them survive, suggesting attachment behaviorus are heredity

explain nuture

• behaviour is the product of environmental influences

• includes: people, events, physical world

• humans are born with blank slate as their mind

• behaviour and characteristics are a result of learning

give 2 examples of nurture

1. behaviourist and SLT approach
   attachment can be explained through classical onditioning
   food (UCS) becomes associated with mother (NS) and mother then becomes CS therefore child learns through that
   → SLT says aggression is learnt through observation, vicarious reinforcement and imitation, shown by bobo doll study
   
   

2. double bind theory
   sz is the result of disordered communication between family and child
   this creates disordered thinking and social withdrawal to avoid double bind situations

explain the interactionist approach

• heredity and environmental factors work together to impact someone

• they interact and most psychologists study how they do now

• both shape human behaviour

name 3 strengths of the interactionist approach

1. psychopathology
   genetic predisposition and environmental trigger are required for psychological disorder
   → called diathesis-stress model
   vulnerability predisposes you to develop disorder, but it will only develop if there is a stressor to trigger it
   
   → adoption study on sz did questionairres and interviews about parenting
   found that there was 10% rate of sz if they had bio mothers with sz and in disturbed families
   healthy environment had rate below general population rate
   however, some genetic aspect as children from disturbed families with low-risk did not develop it
   strong research evidence and can help people improve
   methodology!!
   

2. neural plasticity
   brain can reorganise itself by forming new neural connections throughout life
   neuroplasticity shown through taxi driver study
   volume of hippocampi in london taxi drivers’ brains were larger than non-taxi drivers
   this is linked to spatial awareness
   concluded that driving a taxi (nurture) had an effect on size of hippocampi (nature)
   

3. different ways nature and nurture can interact
   more on other fc

explain diff ways nature and nurture can interact

1. passive interaction
   parents pass on genes and also provide environment
   intelligent parents likely to have intelligent child but also provide with lots of cognitively stimulating environments and good education
   

2. evocative interaction
   heritable traits influence reactions of others, so therefore environment
   shy child (partially genetic) may be less fun to other children which makes other children less likely to spend time with them
   environment leads to them being more socially withdrawn
   

3. active interaction
   heritable traits influence child’s choice of environment
   aggressive child might choose more violent films to watch
   known as niche-picking

explain a limitation of the interactionist approach

economic implications
eclectic therapy can be expensive
combo of bio therapies (antipsychotics) + psychological therapies (CBT, token economies, family therapy) → huge cost to NHS
UK has had vast cuts to NHS budget after recession
not cost effective when gov could just use drugs
→ however, it is cheaper as it results in lower relapse rates, so less demand for inpatient treatment in future

name the 2 types of ethical implications

1. for the ppts (consent, deception, confidentiality, debrief, withdrawal, protection from harm)
   → implications of research studies

2. for wider context/people outside study
   → implications of theories

give an example of ethical implications of research studies

• milgram

• ppts were deceived and unable to give fully informed consent

• also under significant distress and coerced to continue against their will

• ppts were then debriefed about experiment afterwards in follow-up interview a year later, no long term effects

• end justifies the means?

explain ethical implications of theories

• bowlby

• theory of attachment suggests children form one special bond with mother which needs to take place during critical period

• attachment bond affects their future relationships through IWM

• encouraged view that women’s place was at home with children which could make some mothers feel guilty for wanting to return to work

name the 4 aspects of the scientific research process that raise ethical implications
sieber and stanley

1. research question
   must consider research question carefully
   → ‘are their racial differences in IQ?’ may be harmful to particular groups
   

2. methodology
   needs to consider anonimity for ppts and their right to confidentiality
   

3. institutional context
   researcher should be mindful of how data is gonna be used and who is funding it?
   if it is a private institution, how do they intend to use findings?
   

4. interpretation and application of findings
   consider how findings might be interpreted and applied in real world
   → e.g. informing policies

explain burt and socially sensitive research

• used studies of identical twins to show that intelligence is genetic

• influence hadow report (1926)

• led to creation of 11+ exam for entry into grammar schools

• meant generations of children were affected by these 11+ exams even though there was large controversy about burt not falisifying data

name 4 of the 10 ethical issues that are important in socially sensitive research
sieber and stanley

1. deception
   may self-deceive and research might lead to form false stereotypes which become a self fulfiling prophecy
   → e.g. girls are worse at maths than boys
   

2. privacy
   may lead to social policies which are an invasion of privacy
   → e.g. AIDs research might lead to laws which mean certain people require compulsory testing
   

3. valid methodology
   research with poor methodology may find their way into public domain and therefore shape social policy
   → e.g. hadow report
   

4. just treatment
   research findings should not result in people being treated unfairly
   → e.g. creating prejudices or withholding something good like educational chances (hadow report)

name 2 strengths of socially sensitive research being carried out in different ways

1. safeguards people
   helps prevent people who there is an indirect impact on as researcher’s consider wider implications
   current ethical guidelines don’t address the way research might inflict harm on society, only on ppts
   does not impact how info is used to shape public
   sieber and stanley recommend researchers consider this when applying findings to do no indirect harm
   many marginialised groups (disabilities, elderly, poor) are excluded from research often so they might be harmed as a result
   

2. discrimintation but social responsibility
   socially sensitive research can lead to discrimination
   → for example, the forced sterilisation in the USA under the belief that racial groups have lower IQ
   some psychologists believe that we should avoid studying topics like gender, ethnicity, sexuality
   however, other thinks it would lead important social questions unanswered and would prevent improvements
   → should work with policy makers to ensure research findings are used responsibly, e.g. improving education

name 2 limitations of socially sensitive research being carried out in different ways

1. not all is controversial
   some is desireable and beneficial to society
   → e.g. examining EWT found young children can be reliable witnesses if they are questioned in a timely and appropriate manner
   socially sensitive research has resulted in good working relationship between psychologists and legal profession to improve accuracy of children EWT
   

2. freedom to carry out
   psychologists should be free to carry out research that seems important to them
   if govs start passing laws o stop certain types of research, then it will be stopped for political rather than ethical reasons
   some evidence that socially sensitive research is more likely to be rejected by ethical comittees by 50%
   so clearly there is some measure to protect wider community from this socially sensitive research
   → science should be neutral though