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ISSUES AND DEBATES AQA SUMMARY NOTES
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Covering all A01, A02 and A03 that could possibly come up in your exams! Issues and Debates
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Gender bias Culture bias Free will and determinism Nature-nurture debateUniversality and bias: Psychologists possess beliefs and Psychology is suggested to be a white American male and Free will: the notion of free will suggests humans are free to Nature: behaviour is caused by innate characteristics eg
values influenced by the social and historical context within male dominated discipline. A review found that 68% of make choices. There are biological and environmental physiological and biological characteristics we are born with.
which they live. This may undermine psychologist’s claims to research ptps came from the United States and 96% from influences on our behaviour – but free will implies we can Behaviour is determined by biology and a determinist view
discover facts about human behaviour that are objective, industrialised nations (Henrich et al, 2010). Another review reject them (Humanistic approach). Sense of personal suggest that all behaviour is determined by hereditary
value free and consistent across time and culture found that 80% of research ptps were undergraduates responsibility and fits in with society’s views. factors and genetic makeup. All possible behaviours are said
(universality). studying psychology (Arnett 2008) to be present from conception and genes provide the
blueprint for all behaviours. Apply sexual selection
Determinism: sees human behaviour as a product of forces
Bias is a leaning towards a personal view that doesn’t reflect WEIRD people set standards: Henrich coined the term WEIRD beyond the control of the individual. States that people have
reality. Psychological theory and research may accurately to describe the group of people most likely to be studied by no control over their actions and determinists would argue Nurture: behaviour is determined by the environment.
represent the experience of men and women = gender bias psychologists. that internal and external forces control a person’s Deterministic view proposes that all human behaviour is the
W = western, E = educated, I = industrialised, R = rich, D = behaviour. Predictable and has a cause. result of interaction with the environment. Empiricists
demographic and democratic. argued that the mind is a blank slate at birth and is shaped
Alpha bias: exaggerates differences between the sexes, If the norm is set by WEIRD people than people from non- by interaction with the environment eg behaviourist
normally presented as fixed and inevitable. These differences western, less educated, agricultural and poorer cultures are Hard determinism (fatalism): no action or behaviour is free. approach.
are more likely to devalue females in relation to their male inevitably seen as abnormal, inferior or unusual. Every human action has a cause – one action is performed Lerner identified different levels of environment:
counterparts. rather than another. 1. Prenatal terms eg mother smoking or hearing music
Soft determinism: people’s behaviour is a direct result of the 2. Postnatal experiences eg the social conditions a child grows
Ethnocentrism: refers to a particular form of cultural bias and environment. Still an element of free will but behaviour is up in
Examples of alpha bias (psychodynamic theory): belief in superiority of one own culture group. Research may controlled by outside forces.
Alpha bias favouring males: Freud claimed children in the be communicated through a view that any behaviour does
phallic stage, desire their opposite-sex parent. This is resolved not conform to a European/American standard is somehow Measuring nature and nurture:
by identification with their same-sex parent. But a girl’s deficient or underdeveloped. Biological determinism: describes behaviour that is Concordance – the degree to which two people are similar on
identification is weaker, creating a weaker super ego and genetically determined through genes. Linked to hard a particular trait.
weaker moral development. determinism. Mediating influence of the environment on our Twin studies – MZ (100%) and DZ (50%) can be used to test
Alpha bias favouring females: Chodorow said that daughters Example of ethnocentrism (Strange Situation): Ainsworth biological structures. genetic differences as raised in the same environment
and mothers are more connected then sons and mothers and Bell’s research on attachment type reflects the norms of Heritability – proportion of differences between individuals in
because of biological similarities. Therefore, women develop US culture. They suggested that ideal (secure) attachment) a population, with regards to a particular trait due to genes.
better bonds and empathy for others. was defined as a baby showing moderate distress when left Environmental determinism: determined by outside 0.01 (1%) is a little contribution and 1.0 (100%) means genes
alone by the mother figure. This has led to misinterpretation (environmental) factors that we cannot control. Linked to are the only reason.
of child rearing practices in other countries which deviated soft determinism. Skinner described free will as an illusion
Beta bias: minimises differences between sexes, ignoring or from the US norm eg Japanese babies are rarely left alone so and all behaviour as the result of conditioning.
underestimating differences between men and females. more likely to be classed as insecurely attached. Interactionist: behaviour is often a result of the interaction
Often occurs when female ptps are not included in the between nature + nurture. Individuals’ characteristics may
research process but is assumed that research findings apply Psychic determinism: internal unconscious processes are the elicit responses in people. Attachment (Ainsworth) can be
equally to both sexes. Cultural relativism: Psychologists facts that they discover only causes of certain behaviours. Freud emphasised the influence explained in terms of quality of parental love or child’s
make sense from the perspective of the culture within they of biological drives and unconscious conflicts repressed in temperament. Environment and heredity interact.
were discovered. Being able to recognise this is one way of childhood. Random slip of the tongues can be explained by Apply Maguire and taxi driver study, shows environmental
Examples of beta bias (fight or flight, tend and befriend): avoiding cultural bias in research. the unconscious. change and plasticity change
Early research into flight or fight was based on male animals, However, difficult to tell how much nature and nurture is
because female hormones fluctuate. Flight or fight was interacting. Experiments is to find out are not ethically
assumed to be a universal response to threat. Universality: tends to emphasise, accentuate differences Casual explanations: basic principle of science that every
possible.
Taylor et al suggest that females exhibit a tend and befriend between cultures. Some research has highlighted cultural event has a cause and these can be explained with general
response governed by the hormone oxytocin which is more differences in order to argue that some are superior to others laws. Knowledge of these allows scientists to predict and
plentiful in women and reduces the fight or flight response. eg genetic reasons. control events. The lab experiment allows psychologists to Diathesis-stress model: behaviour is caused by a
Seen as an evolved response for caring for young. Tends to minimise differences between cultures = alpha bias simulate the conditions of a test tube and remove all other biological/environmental vulnerability (diathesis) which is
Any theory that is based on 1 cultural group is then extraneous variables to demonstrate a causal effect. only expressed when coupled with a
generalised = beta bias biological/environmental trigger (stressor). A person who
Androcentrism: alpha and beta bias are consequences of inherits a genetic vulnerability for OCD may not have develop
androcentrism. Psychologically has traditionally been the disorder. But combined with a psychological trigger, this
dominated by males – list of 100 famous psychologist and 6 Universality vs cultural relativism: Berry argues that may result in the disorder reoccurring.
were female. This leads to female behaviour being 1. An etic approach looks at behaviour from outside a given
misunderstood and even pathologized (seen as an illness). culture and identifies behaviour that is universal.
2. A emic approach functions from inside a culture and Epigenetics: epigenetics is a change in genetic activity
identifies behaviours that are specific to that culture. without changing the genetic code. Lifestyle and events we
For example, feminists object to the category of premenstrual encounter eg smoking leave marks on our DNA – switching
, syndrome (PMS) because it medicalises female emotions by genes on or off. This has a lifelong influence and can be
explaining these in hormonal terms. But male anger is often passed on to future generations.
seen as a rational response to external pressures. Ainsworth and Bell’s research illustrates an imposed etic –
they studied behaviours inside a single culture (America) and
then assumed their ideal attachment type could be applied
universally.
Japan had the highest amount of secure babies (57) but also
a significant amount of resistant babies (27). Germany had
lowest amount of resistant babies (8).
Approaches to studying other cultures:
1. Replicative approach = exporting studies to other countries
then comparing results with own culture
2. Anthropological approach = going to different societies and
observing daily activities
Reverse alpha bias: Cornwell et al found that girls outperform Chitling Test (1968): designed to demonstrate differences in Free will: Support for nature:
boys on reading tests, while boys score better on maths and understanding culture between different races, particularly + Emphasis on the individual Genetic basis of Schz (Gottesman and Shields) – carried out a
science tests. Boys who perform equally as well as girls on between African American and whites. May have validity, but + Fits in with societies view of individual responsibility comprehensive review of twin and adoption studies.
reading, maths and science tests are graded less favourably no studies demonstrating this, only face validity is concerned. + Suggests behaviour is free and undetermined by our past Adoption studies found increased incidence of Schz in
by their teachers, but this less favourable treatment Demonstrated how cultural content on IQ tests may lead to - The concept of free will may be culturally relative adopted children with a Schz biological parent. Normal
especially vanishes when non-cognitive skills are taken into culturally biased scores. - Cannot be tested, free will is situational children fostered to a Schz parent showed little evidence of
account. - Unscientific Schz. Twin studies found higher concordance rate for Schz in
- No clear definition MZ twins (58%) than DZ twins (12%). Genetic input into the
Buss et al (1990): examined features that women and men onset of Schz.
Avoiding beta bias: Hare-mustin and Marecek suggested that look for in potential sexual partners. In all 37 cultures
the primary meaning of gender in psychology has been compared, women’s concerns were dominated by the need Determinism:
different. for protection and to be provided for economically. Whereas + Scientific Support for nurture:
The exaggeration of differences: alpha bias, can be seen in men were dominated by physical attractiveness and age. + Isolates variables to make them easier to examine Zimbardo Standford prison experiment – behaviour of the
approaches that focus on contrasting experiences of men and When asked to rank on levels of importance, there was a high + Society is more willing to accept it’s findings normal students was affected by the assigned role. Guards
women. Beta bias approaches that stress similarities of men level of agreement between members of different cultures. - Reductionist and mechanistic became verbally and physically aggressive. Prisoners became
and women. - Implies that behaviour can be predicted depersonalised and experiment was stopped after 6 days
- Does not account for individual differences and takes away when initially planned for 14 days. Study demonstrates the
individual responsibility powerful effect roles can have on social behaviour.
- Gender differences are given as fixed and enduring: - Classical studies are culturally biased: Both Asch’s and + Free will has practical value: Roberts et al (2000) looked at + Adoption studies: If adopted children are more similar to
Maccoby and Jacklin concluded that girls have better verbal Milgram’s original studies were conducted with white middle- adolescents who had a strong belief in fatalism – that their their adoptive parents, suggests environmental influences. If
ability and boys better spatial ability – due to hardwired class US ptps. Replications of these studies in different lives were decided by events outside of their control. They more similar to their biological parents, suggests biological
biological brain differences. Joel et al used brain scanning and countries produced rather different results. Asch-type were at greater risk of developing depression. People who influences. Rhee and Waldman found in a meta-analysis of
found no such gender differences. This suggests that we experiments in collectivist cultures found significantly higher exhibit an internal, rather than external locus of control are adoption studies that genetic influences accounted for 41%
should be wary of accepting research as biological facts rates of conformity than the original studies in the US, an more likely to be optimistic. This suggests that even if we do of variance in aggression. This shows how research can
when it might be better explained as social stereotypes. individualistic culture. This suggests our understanding of not have free will, the fact that we believe we do may have a separate nature and nurture influences.
CA: Ingalhalikar et al suggests the popular social stereotype topics such as social influence should only be applied to positive impact on mind and behaviour. CA: Children create their own nurture by selecting
that females are better at multitasking may have some individualistic cultures. environments appropriate to their nature – a naturally
biological truth to it – their hemispheres are better CA: Individualism-collectivism distinction may no longer apply aggressive child will choose aggressive friends and become
connected. This suggests that there may be biological due to increasing global media eg Takano and Osaka found - Evidence doesn’t support free will, it supports more aggressive. This suggests that it does not make sense to
differences but we still should be wary of exaggerating the that 14/15 studies comparing the US and Japan found no determinism: Libet et al asked ptps to randomly flick their look at evidence of either nature or nurture.
effect they may have on behaviour. evidence of individualistic versus collectivist differences. This wrist and say when they felt the will to move. Brain activity
suggests that cultural bias in research may be less of an issue was also measured. The unconscious brain activity leading up
in more recent psychological research. to the conscious decision to move came half a second before + Supportive of epigenetics: In 1944, the Nazis blocked the
- Gender bias promotes sexism in the research process: the ptp’s conscious decision to move. This may be distribution of food to the Dutch and 22,000 died of
Women are underrepresented in university departments interpreted as meaning that even our most basic starvation (the Dutch hungry winter). Susser and Lin found
(Murphy et al). Research is more likely to be conducted by + Emergence of cultural psychology: Cultural psychology is experiences of free will are actually determined by our brain that women who become pregnant during the famine had
males which may disadvantage females. For example, a male the study of how people shape and are shaped by their before we are aware of them. low birth weight babies were twice as likely to develop Schz.
researcher may expect female ptps to be irrational and cultural experience (Cohen 2017). It is an emerging field that CA: The fact that people consciously become aware of This suggests that the life experiences of previous generations
unable to complete complex tasks which may mean they takes an emic approach. Research is conducted from inside a decisions milliseconds after they had begun to enact the can leave epigenetic markers that influence the health of
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