Issues and debates

Universality

Universality

The aim to develop theories that apply to all people and cultures, which may include real differences.

Androcentrism

Research which is focused on male norms/ interests.

Gender bias

Differential treatment or representation of genders based on stereotypes.

Alpha bias

The tendency to exaggerate differences between genders or cultures - this ends up devaluing one group. It follows an essentialist view (which suggests there are fixed, biological differences) that sustains power imbalances (because they are “natural”).

Verminnen (2015)

Research that suggested that females are evolutionarily advantaged by mating with more than 1 male because the competition between sperms ensures the offspring is the strongest possible.

Beta bias

When researchers completely disregard differences or minimise them so the needs of one group are ignored. This ignores a power imbalance and ignores differences that might be relevant. For culture it leads to imposed etics.

16%

A follow up of Milgram’s study found this level of obedience for females compared to 40% for males.

Cultural relativism

When information about a culture is interpreted within the context of that culture because it cannot be interpreted properly without its own, important, culture.

Culture bias

The tendency to judge people based on assumptions about their culture - viewing them through you’re own lens.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one’s own culture is superior or the norm and evaluating other social groups from the position of our own.

Derived etic studies

This is a way of reducing culture bias by using emic studies (varied nature of behaviour) to gain an understanding from within e.g. Buss et al’s study.

Free will

The ability to make choices about behaviours, without constraint. It means behaviour is scientifically unpredictable.

Determinism

Behaviour is controlled by internal or external factors acting on the individual. This means there is a causal chain of events which is observable and predictable.

Soft determinism

All human action has a cause, but people have some power to influence this

Scientific determinism

All events have a cause so variables can be manipulated to allow scientists to understand and control events.

Psychic determinism

Behaviour is determined by innate drives (e.g. libido), early experiences and unconscious motivators.

Biological determinism

Behaviour is controlled by physiological, genetic and hormonal processes

Environmental determinism

Behaviour is caused by previous learning and reinforcement.

10 seconds

How long was brain activity recorded for before a person reported a conscious decision (Libet, 1983), potentially an exploration of possibilities.

Nature

The genetic make-up which determines physiological structures is responsible for behaviour.

Heredity

A measure of how genetically transmissible a trait is.

Nurture

The role of an individual’s environment in causing their behaviour. This includes anything post-conception

Niche-picking

People actively create their own environment (nurture) by making choices based on what they are comfortable with or good at (natural tendencies - nature) so it is impossible to separate the debates.

Epigenetics

The study of how genes can be switched on or off by environmental factors.

Holism

This explores behaviour as a result of many ongoing factors and the interplay between them - it suggests that these factors cannot be understood without reference to the whole (which is greater than the sum of its parts).

Reductionism

Any attempt to explain something in terms of it’s components or constituent parts, it uses fewer levels of explanation to explore the units of a complex issue.

Biological reductionism

Explains complex societal and psychological phenomena on a biological level by reducing them to physical changes such as neurotransmitter activity e.g. dop hyp in Sz.

Environmental reductionism

Explains behaviour as the result of singular associations or reinforcements e.g. the learning approach to attachment

Levels of explanation

Different approaches to investigating and explaining behaviour on a scale from most reductionist (biological e.g. genes) to most holistic (sociocultural)

Idiographic

Aims to learn about the nature of an individual to understand them in a phenomenological way (from their perspective, not an interpretation). Uses qualitative data, case studies and unstructured interviews.

Nomothetic

Behaviour can be predicted using general laws and classifications of human behaviour. It usually uses more quantitative data, large sample sizes, lab experiments and psychometric testing (testing that gives a score).

Reflexive approach

A reflection and analysis of research as it is being carried out (reflection of biases) to reduce both culture and gender biases.

Ethical implications

The potential consequences (good or bad) of research on a specific group of people. It explores moral obligations and future, even indirect, consequences.

Socially sensitive research

Research that may have a particularly strong social implications on groups of people and could change the way that particular group is treated. These are generally topics which are more likely to draw the attention of the media.

Cost-benefit analysis

A decision-making process that compares what is necessary for research and the moral obligations towards the participants to ensure ethical implications are considered and the research is both valid and not explicitly harmful.

Paradigm

A shared set of assumptions between academics in a certain field about how behaviour should be approached or studied.

Paradigm shift

Contradictory evidence begins to challenge the accepted approaches to behaviour. Scientific revolutions are often driven by developments in technology e.g. cognitive revolution in the 1970s led to a focus on cognitive neuroscience.