AQA A level Psychology - Paper 3 topics
Gender bias
Psychologists seek universality but bias may be inevitable (social historical contexts)
Gender bias: psychological theory/research not accurately represent experience/behaviour of men +
women
Alpha bias: differences exaggerated, devalue women
E.g. Freud = genuine psychological differences due to physiological differences
Girls suffer from 'penis envy', femininity is failed masculinity
Beta bias: differences minimised, needs of women ignored
E.g. fight or flight research = male only sample, assumed would be applicable, Taylor et al: tend and
befriend (governed by oxytocin)
Androcentrism: male behaviour seen as normal, deviations seen as abnormal/inferior
Female behaviour misunderstood/pathologised
E.g. feminists object to PMS, medicalises female emotions by explaining in hormonal terms (Male anger
often seen as rational response to external pressures)
Gender bias (- in psych research)
May create misleading assumptions about female behaviour/validate discriminatory practices
Scientific justification to deny opportunities (e.g. due to PMS)
Damaging consequences on lives/prospects
Gender bias (- promotes sexism in research process)
Lack of women at senior research level = female concerns not reflected in research questions asked
Men more likely to be published
Female ppts in inequitable relationship with researcher (power to label irrational/unable to complete
tasks)
Constitutional sexism - creates bias in theory/research
Gender bias (+ feminist psychologists suggest how to avoid)
Worrell & Remer:
Studied within meaningful real life contexts
Participate instead of objects of study
Study diversity within groups of women rather than comparisons to men
Collaborative research methods (qualitative data)
Preferable/less biased
Cultural bias
,Psych claims to unearth universal truths but may only apply to particular groups studied
Wrongly assumed western findings would apply all over the world
E.g. conformity (Asch) and obedience (Milgram) produced different results outside of US
Standard/norm for behaviour judged from one culture = cultural differences seen as abnormal
Ethnocentrism: belief in superiority of own culture
Behaviour that doesn't conform to Western model = deficient
E.g. Ainsworth's strange situation (American norms/values, separation anxiety defining, secure = ideal,
German mothers labelled cold/rejecting, inappropriate measure for non-US children)
Cultural relativism may help reduce bias
Facts/things only make sense from perspective of culture within which discovered
Berry:
Etic approach: looking at behaviors outside of culture and identifying universal
Emic approach: looking at behaviour within culture and identifying culturally specific
Imposed etic: e.g. Ainsworth studies within single culture and assumed could be applied universally
Cultural bias (- distinction between individualism/collectivism)
Value of individual/independence vs value of group/interdependence
Lazy/simplistic distinction, no longer applies
Takano & Osaka: 14/15 studies comparing US and Japan found no evidence of distinction between
culture types
Form of cultural bias less of issue than once was
Cultural bias (recognition of both relativism/universals)
Imposed etic shows culturally specific nature of psychology
Should not assume all psychology is culturally relative/no such thing as universal behaviour
Ekman: basic facial expressions for emotions same all over human/animal world
Attachment behaviours universal (imitation/interactional synchrony)
Full understanding requires study of both universals/variations among individuals/groups
Cultural bias (cross-cultural research prone to demand characteristics)
Western cultures: familiarity with aims/objectives of scientific enquiry assumed
Cultures without historical experience of research, local populations more affected by demand
characteristics
Unfamiliarity with research tradition threatens validity of outcomes
Free will/determinism
Free will: we are self-determining
Free to choose thoughts/actions
Biological/environmental influences on behaviour but can reject
No cause/unpredictable
, Humanistic approach
Determinism: behaviour shaped/controlled by internal/external forces
Hard = completely out of control, all has cause possible to identify, predictable, compatible with aims of
science
Soft = all has cause, conscious mental control over behaviour, behaviour predictable to extent, some
free will to make choices
Biological determinism
Biological approach, control from internal biological factors (physiological/genetic/hormonal)
Physiological processes not under conscious control (e.g. influence of ANS on stress/anxiety)
Genetic factors may determine behaviours/characteristics (e.g. mental disorders)
Hormones may determine behaviour (e.g. testosterone linked to aggression)
Environmental determinism
Popularised by behaviourist approach
Skinner: all result of conditioning
Choice = total sum of reinforcement contingencies acted upon during lives
Illusion of free will, shaped by environmental events/agents of socialisation (e.g. parents, teachers,
institutions)
Psychic determinism
Flreud: free will = illusion, emphasis on biological drives/instincts underpinning responses
Determined/directed by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood
E.g. 'slip of the tongue' determined by unconscious
Science seeks causal explanations
Basic principle: every event has cause, can be explained with general laws
Allows predict/control
One thing determined by another
Lab experiment: remove extraneous variables to demonstrate causal effect
Free will/determinism (+ determinism consistent with aims of science)
Human behaviour = orderly/obeys laws
Greater scientific credibility
Predict/control behaviour led to development of treatments/therapies (e.g. psychoactive drugs for
schizophrenia)
Schizophrenia = some behaviour determined (loss of control over thoughts/behaviour, no one chooses)
Free will/determinism (- hard determinism not consistent with legal system)
Offenders held morally accountable
Act with leniency only in extreme circumstances (e.g. mental illnesses)
Determinism not falsifiable (causes will always exist even if not yet found, impossible to disprove, not as
scientific as it appears)
Gender bias
Psychologists seek universality but bias may be inevitable (social historical contexts)
Gender bias: psychological theory/research not accurately represent experience/behaviour of men +
women
Alpha bias: differences exaggerated, devalue women
E.g. Freud = genuine psychological differences due to physiological differences
Girls suffer from 'penis envy', femininity is failed masculinity
Beta bias: differences minimised, needs of women ignored
E.g. fight or flight research = male only sample, assumed would be applicable, Taylor et al: tend and
befriend (governed by oxytocin)
Androcentrism: male behaviour seen as normal, deviations seen as abnormal/inferior
Female behaviour misunderstood/pathologised
E.g. feminists object to PMS, medicalises female emotions by explaining in hormonal terms (Male anger
often seen as rational response to external pressures)
Gender bias (- in psych research)
May create misleading assumptions about female behaviour/validate discriminatory practices
Scientific justification to deny opportunities (e.g. due to PMS)
Damaging consequences on lives/prospects
Gender bias (- promotes sexism in research process)
Lack of women at senior research level = female concerns not reflected in research questions asked
Men more likely to be published
Female ppts in inequitable relationship with researcher (power to label irrational/unable to complete
tasks)
Constitutional sexism - creates bias in theory/research
Gender bias (+ feminist psychologists suggest how to avoid)
Worrell & Remer:
Studied within meaningful real life contexts
Participate instead of objects of study
Study diversity within groups of women rather than comparisons to men
Collaborative research methods (qualitative data)
Preferable/less biased
Cultural bias
,Psych claims to unearth universal truths but may only apply to particular groups studied
Wrongly assumed western findings would apply all over the world
E.g. conformity (Asch) and obedience (Milgram) produced different results outside of US
Standard/norm for behaviour judged from one culture = cultural differences seen as abnormal
Ethnocentrism: belief in superiority of own culture
Behaviour that doesn't conform to Western model = deficient
E.g. Ainsworth's strange situation (American norms/values, separation anxiety defining, secure = ideal,
German mothers labelled cold/rejecting, inappropriate measure for non-US children)
Cultural relativism may help reduce bias
Facts/things only make sense from perspective of culture within which discovered
Berry:
Etic approach: looking at behaviors outside of culture and identifying universal
Emic approach: looking at behaviour within culture and identifying culturally specific
Imposed etic: e.g. Ainsworth studies within single culture and assumed could be applied universally
Cultural bias (- distinction between individualism/collectivism)
Value of individual/independence vs value of group/interdependence
Lazy/simplistic distinction, no longer applies
Takano & Osaka: 14/15 studies comparing US and Japan found no evidence of distinction between
culture types
Form of cultural bias less of issue than once was
Cultural bias (recognition of both relativism/universals)
Imposed etic shows culturally specific nature of psychology
Should not assume all psychology is culturally relative/no such thing as universal behaviour
Ekman: basic facial expressions for emotions same all over human/animal world
Attachment behaviours universal (imitation/interactional synchrony)
Full understanding requires study of both universals/variations among individuals/groups
Cultural bias (cross-cultural research prone to demand characteristics)
Western cultures: familiarity with aims/objectives of scientific enquiry assumed
Cultures without historical experience of research, local populations more affected by demand
characteristics
Unfamiliarity with research tradition threatens validity of outcomes
Free will/determinism
Free will: we are self-determining
Free to choose thoughts/actions
Biological/environmental influences on behaviour but can reject
No cause/unpredictable
, Humanistic approach
Determinism: behaviour shaped/controlled by internal/external forces
Hard = completely out of control, all has cause possible to identify, predictable, compatible with aims of
science
Soft = all has cause, conscious mental control over behaviour, behaviour predictable to extent, some
free will to make choices
Biological determinism
Biological approach, control from internal biological factors (physiological/genetic/hormonal)
Physiological processes not under conscious control (e.g. influence of ANS on stress/anxiety)
Genetic factors may determine behaviours/characteristics (e.g. mental disorders)
Hormones may determine behaviour (e.g. testosterone linked to aggression)
Environmental determinism
Popularised by behaviourist approach
Skinner: all result of conditioning
Choice = total sum of reinforcement contingencies acted upon during lives
Illusion of free will, shaped by environmental events/agents of socialisation (e.g. parents, teachers,
institutions)
Psychic determinism
Flreud: free will = illusion, emphasis on biological drives/instincts underpinning responses
Determined/directed by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood
E.g. 'slip of the tongue' determined by unconscious
Science seeks causal explanations
Basic principle: every event has cause, can be explained with general laws
Allows predict/control
One thing determined by another
Lab experiment: remove extraneous variables to demonstrate causal effect
Free will/determinism (+ determinism consistent with aims of science)
Human behaviour = orderly/obeys laws
Greater scientific credibility
Predict/control behaviour led to development of treatments/therapies (e.g. psychoactive drugs for
schizophrenia)
Schizophrenia = some behaviour determined (loss of control over thoughts/behaviour, no one chooses)
Free will/determinism (- hard determinism not consistent with legal system)
Offenders held morally accountable
Act with leniency only in extreme circumstances (e.g. mental illnesses)
Determinism not falsifiable (causes will always exist even if not yet found, impossible to disprove, not as
scientific as it appears)
