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A* A-level AQA Psychology: Issues and Debates essay plans
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- Issues and Debates
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A-level AQA Psychology Issues and Debates essay plans including AO1 and AO3 with studies and statistics.
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Issues and Debates 16 marker essay plans Gender Bias
AO1: Universality and gender bias – psych has stated that research can apply to anyone and
everyone despite their gender yet the opposing argument states that research can only be
applied to the people being studied. Bias = distorted view of the world. Psych has often
ignored non-western culture and has had male researchers studying only male audiences so
gender bias has always threatened the validity of psych research. Androcentrism –
historically psych has been male-centred with male researchers and male audiences.
Androcentrism is when research done on males is applied to females which can lead to
female behaviour being misunderstood or even pathologized. This can lead to alpha and
beta bias. Gynocentrism/estrocentrism – female centred research, rare. Alpha bias – when
gender differences have been overstated which can lead to the undervalue/overvalue of
women in comparison to men. Beta bias – when gender diff is understated and what is true
of one gender is said to be true of everyone else. Usually occurs when there are no female
participants, but it is assumed results will be equal across gender. Example of beta bias –
researchers studied the fight or flight response in male animals and it was not till recently
where Taylor et al showed that women’s reactions is more ‘tend and befriend’. It was not
until recently that women’s stress responses were fully understood. Alpha gender bias in
research design – there may not be a diff between female and male but a diff in the way
they are tested e.g. male researchers tend to be more friendly to female participants which
could cause them to do better in tasks than men. Alpha gender bias in publication –
researchers usually only publish pos results and not 0 results, scientific reports show that
gender bias research with results are published more than those with no results which may
exaggerate gender diff causing alpha bias. Examples in social influence – Asch =
androcentric only male ps, Milgram = androcentric only male ps, Moscivici = gynocentric.
AO3: Kohlberg’s theory of moral development – researched moral development by looking
at only male morality and applied this to females, stated that women only reach low levels
of moral development (avoid punishment, self-interest, good boy attitude, law and order,
social contract, principle). Carol Gilligan – male morality based on abstract principles like
justice, female morality based on care and responsibility of others. Implications of gender
bias – consequences for women such as misconception of female behaviour, reinforcing
negative stereotypes, scientific ‘justification’ for denying opportunities to women = not just
a methodological issue but effects real lives of women. Gender bias can be addressed e.g.
Darwin’s sexual selection states women to be picky and men competing but new research
and DNA evidence shows that women can be competitive when they need to be =
important to challenge gender bias in theories to portray valid picture of women. Feminist
approach – psych feminists aim to rebalance gender issues in psych, accept there are bio
diff between men and women. E.g. Eagly stated that women are less effective as leaders
than men thus using this knowledge programs can be made to help women become better
leaders for the future. Are psych theories universal? – No e.g. Freud’s penis envy challenged
by Horney’s womb envy. Formanowicz et al – analysed 1000 articles on gender bias
published in the last year and found that research into gender bias is often underfunded
, and not published by prestigious journals, this means academics cannot see its effects and
change their own work + gender bias not taken as seriously as other bias.
Cultural Bias
AO1: Cultural bias and universality – psychologists ignored non-western cultures and
believed what was true of one culture was true of all cultures. Culture bias is judging from
one’s own cultural perspective which can lead to cultural diff that deviate from this to be
seen as abnormal. Ethnocentrism – seeing the world from your own cultural perspective
and thinking your ways and beliefs are ‘right’ or the ‘norm’ – can cause other cultures to be
seen in negative light. Example of ethnocentrism – strange situation procedure measured
attachment styles in children, developed in US so ‘norm’ was strong attachment, assumed
to be the same around the world, however child-rearing styles were misrepresented as they
did not fit in with the American ‘norm’ e.g. German mothers were seen to be cold and
rejecting rather than just fostering independence on their children. Emic – construct specific
to a culture e.g. culture-bound syndromes like Jerusalem syndrome. Etic – assumed to be
universal (when they might not be) e.g. Buss's study of mate preference. Imposed etic –
theory developed in one culture and then applied to other cultures, may lead us to
misinterpret behaviour in other cultures e.g. using the strange situation procedure to
outside the UK/US
AO3: Cultural bias in research – e.g. Asch + ethnocentric (only Americans) + etic, Milgram +
imposed etic, gender – Mead, aggression - !Kung San etc. Yerkes’ 1917 US Army IQ test –
very culturally biased as asked questioned based on American culture. Cultural relativism –
looking at behaviour in the context of cultures e.g. hearing voices being normal in Haiti,
allows to challenge cultural bias. Luria – gave IQ test to Russian rural-dwellers, asked the
odd one out of axe, hammer, saw, log – right answer is log but Russians answered hammer.
Strength of developing knowledge of culturally biased research – allows to challenge
Western thinking and become more sensitive to individual differences and cultural
relativism. Individualism – focus on independence and personal freedom e.g. UK/USA.
Collectivism – focus on interdependence and community e.g. India/China. Limitations of
individualistic/collectivist distinction – too simplistic due to increasingly interdependence of
cultures, Osako and Takano researched distinction between individualistic and collectivist
cultures and found little evidence = culture bias is not as much of a problem as it was
before.
Socially sensitive research
AO1: Basis – researchers do not purposefully carry out research to have neg impacts but
sometimes ignore possible negative impacts. Sieber and Stanley – stated that socially
sensitive research is research with implications or consequence, researchers should
consider: question, methodology, who is funding, possible interpretations of research for
society. Ethical implication – indirect consequences from research, surrounding what’s
moral.
AO3: Bowlby’s theory of attachment – used to discriminate against women, Bowlby was
advisor for WHO and said mother’s love for child is just as important for kids as vitamins are
for physical health, this was adopted into child care and made women feel guilty for wanting
to return to work and put their children into day-care, also could have influenced that
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