Issues and Debates

Gender Bias

the differential treatment or representation of men and omen based on stereotypes rather than real difference

Universality

and underlying characteristics of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite difference of experiences and upbringing

Androcentrism

• this refers to male centred perspectives in research

• when all behaviours is compared to a male standard, so they are considered the norm

• female behaviour is judged to be abnormal

Alpha Bias

• this exaggerates gender difference, presenting them as fixed and inevitable - suggests that men and women are different in value

• such differences are typically presented as fixed and inevitable

• more often devalue women in relation to men

Beta Bias

• this minimises gender differences, sometimes ignoring underestimating the distinctions between men and women

• happens when we assume that research finding apply equally to both genders, even when women have been excluded from the research process

Bias

• used to suggest that a person’s view are distorted in some way

• this leads to differential treatment between genders, cultues etc. based on stereotypes

Gender Bias AO3

• a weakness is that gender differences are presented as fixed and enduring

• a weakness is that it may promotes sexism research process

• a strength is the emergence of feminist psychology

Gender Bias (AO3): a weakness is that gender differences are presented as fixed and enduring

• Evidence = eg. Maccoby and Jacklin concluded that girls have better verbal ability and boys have better spatial ability - dye to hardwired biological brain differences

• Explain = this shows how gender difference explanations can be reductionist and not consider a multitude of factors

• this means we should be wary of accepting research as biological facts when it might be explained better as social stereotypes

• Link = this reduces the generalisability

Gender Bias (AO3): a weakness is that it may promotes sexism research process

• Evidence = women remain underrepresented in university departments with most lecturers being men (Murphy 2014)

• Explain = this is a weakness as the institutional structures and methods of psychology may produce findings that are gender biased

• this calls into question the credibility of certain research due its limited applicability to a wide range of people

• Link = therefore this decreases the generalisability

Gender Bias (AO3): a strength is the emergence of feminist psychology

• Evidence = feminist psychology argues that androcentrism can be countered by a feminist view eg. Eagly (1978) acknowledged that women may be less effective leaders but this knowledge should be used to develop suitable training programmes

• Explain =

• Link =

Culture Bias

a tendency to interpret all phenomena through the lens of one’s own culture, ignoring cultural differences

Universality and Cultural Bias

• Henrich (2010) review studies in leading psychology journals and found that 68% of participants comes from US and 96% from industrialised nations

• suggests that what we know about human behaviours has strong cultural bias

• Henrich coined the term WEIRD to describe the group of people most likely to be studied - Westernised, Educated people from Industrialised, Rich Democracies

• if the norm is set by WEIRD people then non WEIRD people considered abnormal

Ethnocentrism

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

• eg. Ainsworth and Bell’s strange situation

Culture Relativism

• the idea that norms and value can only be meaningful and understood within the context of the norms and values of the culture in which it occurs

• Berry (1969) made distinctions between etic and emic approaches

  • etic approach = look at behaviour from outside given culture and attempts to describe hose behaviours as universal eg. Ainsworth and Bell

  • emic approach= functions from inside the culture and identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture eg. Milgram

Culture Bias AO3

• a strength is the emergence of cultural psychology

• a weakness is that it may lead to prejudice

• a weakness is that it limits the application of studies

Culture Bias (AO3): a strength is the emergence of cultural psychology

• Evidence = according to Cohen (2017), cultural psychology is the study of how people shape and are shaped by cultural experience

• Explain = this is a strength as it has lead to psychologists take an emic approach and conduct research inside a culture

• this suggests that psychologists are aware of the dangers and strive to avoid ethnocentric assumptions

• Link = this increases the generalisability of certain knowledge

Culture Bias (AO3): a weakness is that it may lead to prejudice

• Evidence = Psychologists piloted the first IQ tests to WWI army recruits but many of the items on the test were ethnocentric, such as assuming everyone would know US presidents names, and this resulted in many ethnic minorities getting low scores

• Explain = this is a weakness as it shows how cultural bias can emerge harmful stereotypes to justify prejudice

• this means that important factors or research results may be ignored, leading to gaps in knowledge

• Link = this reduces the generalisability

Culture Bias (AO3): a weakness is that it limits the application of studies

• Evidence = give an example of a study that is Western/individualistic

• Explain = does not apply to eastern/collectivist cultures

• Link = limits generalisability

Free Will vs Determinism

• free will - determinism debate focus on if our behaviour is a matter of free ill or internal and/or external influences that determine who we are and what we do

• most approaches in psychology are deterministic but some disagree

Free Will

• the belief that humans are active in choosing and self determined to choose their own thoughts

• we are masters of our own destiny and therefore choose to reject biological or environmental forces

• example = Rogers (1959) only when an individual takes self responsibility is self-actualisation possible.

Determinism

• the idea that traits and behaviours are determined by internal and external factors out of our control - all behaviour is predictable

  • hard determinism

  • soft determinism

  • biological determinism

  • environmental determinism

  • psychic determinism

Hard Determinism

• suggests all human behaviour is determined by internal/external factors entirely out of our control

• example = behaviourism suggests that all behaviour is the product of classical and operant conditioning

Soft Determinism

• the idea that behaviours are to an extent predetermined by internal/external forces

• we still have some element of free will to control our behaviour

• example = social learning theory acknowledges that while environmental factors (eg. reinforcement) strongly influence behaviour, individuals still exercise mediational processes (eg. attention) to decide whether to imitate an action

Biological Determinism

the belief that behaviour is determined by internal biological factors that we cannot control eg. genes

• example = the MAOA and CDH-13 genes being candidate genes for criminality

Environmental Determinism

the belief that behaviour is determined by features of our external environment that we cannot control such as upbringing

• example = phobias are a result of conditioning as demonstrated in Watson’s study on Little Albert

Psychic Determinism

the belief that behaviours is predetermined by innate unconscious drives that we cannot control

• example = Freud’s psychosexual stages suggest that anal expulsive behaviours are a result of a fixation on the anal stage

Scientific Emphasis on Causal Explanations

• a causal explanation is the belief there is a cause effect relationship where behaviour is determined by internal/external factors

• the most scientific approaches take a determinist approach to studying human behaviour

• Basic principle of science is that everything in the universe has a cause and effect meaning we can generate general laws

• Psychologist use lab experiment to stimulate the controlled conditions of the test and eliminate as many extraneous variables as possible so we can control and predict human behaviour

• In experiments they manipulate the independent variable to see what effect this has on the dependent variable

  • This allows us to establish cause and effect

Free Will vs Determinism AO3

• a weakness of free will is contradicting research

• a strength of free will is it’s practical value

• a weakness of determinism lacks real world applicability

Free Will vs Determinism (AO3): a weakness of free will is contradicting research

• Evidence = Libet (1983) found the unconscious brain activity leading up to the conscious decision to move came around half a second before the participant consciously felt they had decided to move

• Explain = this is a weakness as it may suggests that even our most basic experiences of free will are actually determined by our brain before we are aware of them

• this means that arguments for free will may lack credibility

• Link = therefore this reduces the validity of free will argument

Free Will vs Determinism (AO3): a strength of free will is it’s practical value

• Evidence = Roberts (2000) looked at adolescents who had a strong belief in fatalism and found they were at greater risk of developing depression

• Explain = this is a strength as it suggests that the fact we believe we have free will may have a positive impact on mind and behaviour

• this means the emphasis of free will can be applied to treatments to improve mental health by emphasising that conscious decisions to change behaviour

• Link = therefore, this increases the applicability

Free Will vs Determinism (AO3): a weakness of determinism lacks real world applicability

• Evidence = for example, the idea of a criminal gene implies that criminals have certain characteristics which can be associated with criminal behaviour

• Explain = this is a weakness as determinism suggest that all behaviour is caused by internal biological factors that we don’t have control over

• this means that it can have negative implications for judicial system which expects individuals to take moral responsibility for their actions

• Link = therefore the deterministic approach may complicate this principle, reducing its real world applicability and ecological validity

Reductionism vs Holism Debate

• it is not a continuum

• whether psychology should study the whole person or components

Holism

• Focuses on the whole

• Proposes that it only makes sense to study the whole system

  • Eg. Psychodynamic approach because it looks at multiple different things eg. Conscious/unconscious, id, ego, superego, psychosexual stages

  • Eg. Humanistic approach as they argue we have free will, self actualisation, and subjective experience

  • Eg. Zimbardo and Milgram because they look at social context, situational, dispositional

Reductionism

• explaining complex and meaningful behaviour by breaking it down into smaller component

  • Eg. Breaks down mental processes into components eg. Models of memory

• Biological reductionism

• Environment reductionism

Biological Reductionism

includes the neurochemical, physiological level, evolutionary and genetic influences

• eg. biological approach reduces behaviour down to biological level such as genes, hormones

Environmental Reductionism

proposes that behaviour is acquird through interactions with the environment

• eg. behaviourist approach reduces down behaviour down to stimulus response link - obtained and maintained using classical and operant conditioning

Levels of Explanation

• A part of reductionism that seek to establish a hierarchy as to whether psychology is a science according to specific criteria and methods used to investigate specific behaviours

• Based on science and how strong their argument is

• Kuhn coined the phrase ‘pre-science’ to define psychology

• Using levels of explanation means that the same behaviour/phenomenon can be viewed and explained in a variety of different ways

• Highest level of explanation (weakest) = social and cultural – behaviour most people would regard as odd

  • example = depression being explained by low energy levels

• Middle level of explanation = psychological – the individual’s experience of having obsessive thoughts

  • example = depression being explained by Beck’s Negative Triad and Ellis’ ABC Model

• Lowest level of explanation (strongest) = biological

  • example = depression being explained by candidate genes and neural factors such as abnormal functioning in frontal lobe

• Physical – the sequence of movements involved in washing one’s hands

• Environmental/behavioural -learning experiences (conditioning)

Reductionism vs Holism AO3

• a strength of reductionism is that it forms the basis of scientific approaches

• a weakness of holism is that it may lack practical value

• a weakness of reductionism is that behaviours can only be understood at a higher level

Reductionism vs Holism (AO3): a strength of reductionism is that it forms the basis of scientific approaches

• Evidence = in order to conduct well controlled research we need to operationalise variables - to break target behaviours into smaller parts

• eg. the Strange Situation operationalised behaviours such as separation anxiety

• Explain = this is a strength as it allows us to conduct and replicate experiments in a way that is objective and reliable

• this scientific approach a reductionism gives psychology more credibility

• Link = therefore, this increase the validity of a reductionist approach

Reductionism vs Holism (AO3): a weakness of holism is that it may lack practical value

• Evidence = eg. from a humanistic approach, if there are different factors that contribute to depression then it becomes difficult to know which is most influential

• Explain = this is a weakness as it shows that holistic accounts of human behaviour become harder to use as they become more complex

• this suggests that holistic accounts lack practical applicability, making it harder to eg. treat certain conditions

• Link = therefore this reduces the generalisability

Reductionism vs Holism (AO3): a weakness of reductionism is that behaviours can only be understood at a higher level

• Evidence =

• Explain =

• Link =

Idiographic Approach

• detailed study of one indivdual or one group to provide in-depth understanding

• focus onnrecognition of uniqueness

• uses subjective experiences

• qualitatively data

• don’t believe that objectivity is possible in psychological research - it is people’s individual experience of their unique context that is important

Idiographic Approach Examples

• Freud - little hans = case study used to explain phobia through the Oedipus complex

• clive wearing = unique case showing how brain damage affects memory (supports MSM/LTM distinctions)

• HM = memory loss after hippocampus removal showing role of brain structures

• Rogers’ person-centred therapy = based on individual client experiences and unconditional positive regard

• patient KF = case study supporting the working memory model (STM impairment in verbal but not visual)

Nomothetic Approach

• involves studying a large sample of participants

• using the findings to generate general laws of behaviour or make inferences about the wider population

• uses objective knowledge

• based on numerical data or data that can be categorised

• quantitative data

• seeks standardised procedures which ensures true replication occurs across sample behaviour and remove the contaminating influence of bias

Nomothetic Approach Examples

• skinner - operant conditioning = animal studies to develop general laws of learning

• pavlov - classical conditioning = principles of association applied to explain learning across species

• eysenck’s personality theory = psychometric testing identifies universal personality traits

• bowlby’s attachment theory = general laws of attachment (monotropy, survival value)

Idiographic and Nomothetic Approach AO3

• a strength is that nomothetic approach has scientific credibility

• a strength of the idiographic approach is that it uses qualitative methods

• a weakness of the nomothetic approach is a loss of understanding of the individual

• a weakness is of the idiographic approach is that it is hard to generalise beyond the individual

Idiographic and Nomothetic Approach (AO3): a strength is that nomothetic approach has scientific credibility

• Evidence = uses standardised procedures, group averages and statistical analysis

• this allows them to establish general laws about behaviour

• Explain =

• Link =

Idiographic and Nomothetic Approach (AO3): a strength of the idiographic approach is that it uses qualitative methods

• Evidence = such as case studies, unstructured interviews. thematic analysis

• Explain = this is a strength as the more in depth data provides more detailed accounts of experience

• this may be used to support/challenge existing theories

• Link =

Idiographic and Nomothetic Approach (AO3): a weakness of the nomothetic approach is a loss of understanding of the individual

• Evidence =

• Explain =

• Link =

Nature Vs Nurture Debate

• it is not a continuum

• whether psychology should study the whole person (holism) or study components (reductionism)

• as soon as you break down the whole it isn’t holistic

• reductionism can be broken into levels of explanation

Nature

• assumes heredity/inherited are more influential

• founded in the nativist theory that knowledge/abilities are innate

• psychological characteristics such as intelligence or personality are biologically determined

Nurture

• assumes experiences and environment are more influential

• founded in the empiricist theory that knowledge derives from learning and experience

• Locke’s view of the mind as a blank slate which experiences are to be written

• learner has identified different levels of the environment this includes

  • prenatal factor eg. smoking

  • psychological influences eg. music affecting foetus

Measuring Nature and Nurture

• concordance rate provides an estimate about the extent to which a trait is inherited - heritability

• heritability = the proportion of differences between individuals in a population that is due to genetic variation

• .01 (1%) = means genes contribute to almost nothing of individual differences

• 1.0 (100%) = means genes are the only reason for individual differences

Interactionist Approach

• the nature-nuture debate asks whether behaviour is influence more by either

• it is not really a debate as behaviour arises from both

• environment and heredity interact —> psychologists focus on relative contribution = interactionist approach

Diathesis Stress Model

• an underlying vulnerability and the environment or event that acts as a trigger

• a disorder is activate from sufficient stress

  • behaviour results from diathesis + stressor

  • a genetic vulnerability only leads to disorder is activated by a psychological

Epigenetic

• refers to gene activity changes without altering genes themselves

• this happens throughout whole life and is influenced by our interaction with the environment

  • life experiences leaves marks on DNA, switching them on/off

  • this can influence gene codes on our children and theirs

Nature vs Nurture Debate AO3

• a strength is the support for epigenetics

• a strength is the real world application

Nature vs Nurture Debate (AO3): a strength is the support for epigenetics

• Evidence = Susser and Lin (1992) report that women who become pregnant during the famine went on to have low birth weight babies and these babies were twice likely to develop schizophrenia

• Explain = this is a strength as it supports the view that life experiences of previous generations can leave epigenetic markers that influence health

• this means we can develop better treatments…

• Link =

Nature vs Nurture Debate (AO3): a strength is the real world application

• Evidence = research suggests that OCD is a highly heritable mental disorder eg. Nestadt (2010) put the heritability rate at .76

• Explain = this is a strength as it shows that the debate has practical applicability to understand the interaction between nature and nurture

• this means with greater understanding of which influences more we can generate better treatments

• Link =

Nature vs Nurture Debate (AO3):

• Evidence =

• Explain =

• Link =

Ethical Implications

• ethical implications concern the consequence that psychological research may have

• research question

  • Sieber and Stanley (1988) warn that the way in which research questions are phrased and investigated may influence the way in which findings are interpreted

• dealing with participants

  • issues such as informed consent, confidentiality and psychological harm may be important in socially sensitive research

• the way findings are used eg. changes in legislation or allocation of resources

  • researchers should consider how finds are used as it may impact what data they actually collect

  • sensitive information is what the media tend to be interested in and will publicise

• effects of research on participant

• effects of publication on wider public

Examples of Ethical Implications

• Milgram’s obedience research and attitudes to people of different nationalities

• Bowlby’s research and the effects on child rearing/working mothers

• diagnosis of depression, schizophrenia etc

• biological research into offending

Social Sensitivity

• research which has potential implications or consequences for society of certain groups eg. leading to prejudice

• where a group of people represented in the research might be negatively affected as the result of a study

• where a study leads to changes in public policy affecting individuals/groups eg. research into IQ in the 1950s leading to educational changes

Identifying Supporting Research = Gender Bias

Bias	Theories/Studies	Explanation
Alpha bias (exaggerates differences)	Freud’s psychodynamic theory	Freud viewed femininity as failed masculinity, suggesting women are morally inferior — exaggerates gender differences.
Example 2	Evolutionary approach to relationships	Suggests men are more sexually promiscuous due to biological pressures, while women are choosier — exaggerates innate gender roles
Beta bias (ignores differences)	Fight or flight response research	Early research was based on male animals and assumed results applied to females — ignored hormonal differences.
Example 2	Kohlberg’s moral development theory	Based only on male participants but applied to both genders — ignored female moral reasoning styles.

Identifying Supporting Research = Culture Bias

Bias	Theories/Studies	Explanation
Ethnocentrism	Ainsworth’s Strange Situation	Based on American child-rearing norms — misclassified other attachment styles as “insecure” (e.g., German independence).
Example 2	Milgram’s obedience study	Findings reflect Western obedience values and may not generalize to collectivist cultures
Cultural relativism	Mead’s research on gender roles in tribes	Demonstrated that gender roles vary by culture — challenges universal assumptions.
Example 2	DSM and mental illness classification	Diagnoses are based on Western norms — what’s “abnormal” in one culture may be normal in another

Identifying Supporting Research = Free Will vs Determinism

Position	Theories/Studies	Explanation
Free Will	Humanistic approach (Rogers, Maslow)	Emphasises personal choice and self-actualisation — humans control their behaviour.
Example 2	Moral responsibility in law	Assumes individuals have free will and accountability for actions.
Determinism	Behaviourism (Skinner)	Behaviour is determined by environmental reinforcement and conditioning.
Example 2	Biological approach	Behaviour determined by genetics and neurochemistry (e.g., serotonin and depression).
Example 3	Psychic determinism (Freud)	Behaviour determined by unconscious conflicts and early experiences.

Identifying Supporting Research = Nature vs Nurture

Position	Theories/Studies	Explanation
Nature	Biological approach	Behaviour explained by genes, hormones, and brain structure (e.g., OCD linked to genetic vulnerability).
Example 2	Twin studies (Bouchard et al.)	High concordance rates for intelligence and schizophrenia suggest genetic influence.
Nurture	Behaviourist approach	Behaviour learned through conditioning and environment (e.g., phobias via classical conditioning).
Example 2	Bandura’s social learning theory	Children learn behaviour through observation and imitation.
Interactionist	Diathesis–stress model (e.g., schizophrenia)	Both genetics (predisposition) and environment (stressors) interact to produce behaviour.
Example 2	Epigenetics research	Environment affects gene expression — nature and nurture intertwined.

Identifying Supporting Research = Reductionism vs Holism

Approach	Theories/Studies	Explanation
Reductionism	Biological approach	Explains complex behaviour by reducing it to neural or genetic causes.
Example 2	Behaviourism	Reduces behaviour to stimulus–response associations.
Example 3	Cognitive approach	Reduces thought processes to computational models of information processing.
Holism	Humanistic approach	Considers the whole person and their subjective experience, not just component parts.
Example 2	Social psychology (conformity)	Group behaviour explained through social context (e.g., Zimbardo’s study)
Example 3	Gestalt psychology	“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” — perception as holistic.

Identifying Supporting Research = Idiographic and Nomothetic

Approach	Theories/Studies	Explanation
Idiographic	Humanistic approach (Maslow, Rogers)	Focuses on individual experience and uniqueness (e.g., case studies).
Example 2	Psychodynamic approach (Freud’s case of Little Hans)	In-depth study of a single person to understand behaviour.
Example 3	Case studies in neuropsychology (HM, KF)	Unique cases reveal insights into memory and cognition
Nomothetic	Behaviourist approach	Establishes general laws through experiments (e.g., principles of conditioning).
Example 2	Cognitive approach	Uses controlled lab studies to find universal models of information processing.
Example 3	Biological approach	Uses quantitative data (e.g., brain scans, genetic testing) to form general laws.