Issues & debates

1. Issues & debates Paper 3 - Section A

2. What the Specification says… Issues and debates in Psychology • Gender and culture in Psychology – universality and bias. Gender bias including androcentrism and alpha and beta bias; cultural bias, including ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. • Free will and determinism: hard determinism and soft determinism; biological, environmental and psychic determinism. The scientific emphasis on causal explanations. • The nature-nurture debate: the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour; the interactionist approach. • Holism and reductionism: levels of explanation in Psychology. Biological reductionism and environmental (stimulus-response) reductionism. • Idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation. • Ethical implications of research studies and theory, including reference to social sensitivity.

3. When you come in… Without using your notes or books try to define the following terms; • Gender bias • Alpha bias • Beta bias • Universality

4. Gender Bias: Androcentrism • A study conducted only on males but generalised also to females. Gynocentric; a study conducted only on females but generalised also to males

5. Gender Bias: Alpha Bias • When the differences between men and women are shown and may be exaggerated. Either to heighten the value of women or devalue them. • One example; Freuds’ theory of psychosexual development – he believed femininity was failed masculinity and that we can never believe that the 2 sexes are equal in position or worth. However, Horney stated it was wrong to think females were envious of men’s attributes but they were jealous of their social class. He coined the term; Womb Envy, in which males were envious of females ability to have children and compensated for that by achieving in other domains.

6. Gender Bias: Beta Bias • When differences between the 2 sexes are ignored or minimised and then generalised to the opposite sex. • Examples; Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning – he concluded that women were morally inferior due to their life within the home (also alpha bias)

7. Gender Bias: Universality • Theories applying to all people, regardless of gender or culture. • See the ‘Moral Reasoning’ research on page 42 of your Year 2 books.

8. Task Look at the studies provided; • Which type of gender bias is evident? • What might the implications be in terms of generalising? n.b. use studies students are familiar with.

9. Evaluation Task What do each of these mean? Feminist Psychology Bias Research Methods Reverse Alpha Bias Avoiding Beta Bias Challenge Assumptions

10. Evaluation Feminist Psychology • Re-examining the ‘facts’ about gender • View of women as normal humans, not deficient men • Scepticism towards biological determinism • Research agenda focusing on womens’ concerns • A psychology for women, rather than a psychology of women

11. Bias Research Methods • Institutional sexism • Men predominate at senior researcher level • Research agenda follows male concerns, female concerns may be marginalised or ignored • Use of standardised procedures in research studies • Women and men might respond differently to research situation • Women and men might be treated differently by researchers • Could create artificial differences or mask real ones • Dissemination of research results • Publishing bias towards positive results • Research that finds gender differences more likely to get published than that which doesn’t • Exaggerates extent of gender differences Can you think of any studies that might be affected by this, that we have covered?

12. Reverse Alpha Bias Cornwell et al (2013) - Girls in outperform boys on reading tests, while boys score at least as well on math and science tests as girls. - Boys who perform equally as well as girls on reading, math, and science tests are graded less favorably by their teachers, but this less favorable treatment essentially vanishes when non-cognitive skills (motivation, perseverance etc.)are taken into account. What is unusual about these findings?

13. Avoiding Beta Bias Hare-Mustin & Marecek (1988) • The primary meaning of gender in psychology has been difference. • The exaggeration of differences, which we call alpha bias, can be seen in approaches that focus on the contrasting experiences of men and women. • The minimizing of differences, beta bias, can be seen in approaches that stress the similarity or equality of men and women. What might be some problems with doing this?

14. Challenge Assumptions Read the New Scientist article ‘Damsels in Control’ (focus on the 1st page) What can you surmise from this?

15. Challenge: Check your understanding • Which term is used to describe a theory that minimises the differences between men and women? • Give one example of alpha-biased theory. • Give one positive consequence and one negative consequence of beta biased theories. • Describe one criterion that could lead to a reduction in gender-bias. • Describe two ways in which the research process is gender biased.

16. When you come in… What is “culture bias”? - Write your answer on a post-it and place on Start

17. What is “culture bias”? The act of interpreting and judging behaviour and psychological characteristics of one culture by holding them to the standards of your own. In psychology this can take a number of different forms; either by theories developed in one culture which are then applied inappropriately to all others, or through biased research methods which only use participants which are not representative of all cultures. Can you give an example from psychology?

18. Cultural Bias There are different types of culture bias Alpha Bias Beta Bias Ethnocentrism Cultural Relativism

19. Alpha Bias Tends to emphasise, accentuate (over exaggerate) differences between cultures. Of course cultural differences are to be accepted / encouraged / understood/ celebrated. However, some research has highlighted cultural differences in order to argue that some are superior to others - perhaps even for genetic reasons. i.e. some are born ‘better’ than others – obviously a socially sensitive issue.

20. Beta Bias Tends to minimise (ignore) differences between cultures. Any theory that is based on research conducted with one cultural group that is then presented as a theory of all human behaviour is beta biased. e.g. Kohlberg’s theory of universal stages (page 42 of Year 2 book).

21. Ethnocentrism The Chitling Test (1968) Designed to demonstrate differences in understanding and culture between races, specifically between African Americans and Whites. In determining how streetwise someone is, the Chitling Test may have validity, but there have been no studies demonstrating this. Furthermore, the Chitling Test has only proved valid as far as face validity is concerned; no evidence has been brought to light on the Chitling predicting performance. A demonstration of how cultural content on intelligence tests may lead to culturally biased score results. http://www.psychlotron.org.uk/resources/issues/A2_AQA_issues_chitlingtest.pdf

22. Ethnocentrism Quick Task 10 minutes to research the following question… What did Arthur Jensen and/or Hans Eysenck say about cultural variations in measuring intelligence (IQ)? http://www.online-stopwatch.com/countdown-timer/

23. Have a go at the Chitling test yourself. What problems do you encounter? What point do you think Dove is making about embedded cultural bias in IQ testing?

24. The Chitling Test (1968) Answers 1. (c) 8. (a) 2. (c) 9. (c) 3. (c) 10. (d) 4. (c) 11. (d) 5. (c) 12. (a) 6. (c) 13. (b) 7. (c) 14. (a) 15. (b)

25. Task What is “ethnocentrism”? - Write your answer on a post-it and place on Middle

26. Emic/Etic Task Remind yourself of the Ainsworth Strange Situation & Van Ijzendoorn’s Cross-Cultural research on attachment. - In pairs or three’s answer the following questions. • According to SS research, how do Japanese & German children differ from American children? • In what way could the imposed etic that occurs when the SS is used with non-US samples lead to misleading conclusions? • “The meaning of a behaviour can only be understood with reference to its cultural context.” Explain this statement, referring to the cross- cultural SS research.

27. Match the key terms with the definitions The beliefs and customs that a group of people share, such as child-rearing practices. Emic Constructs The term used to describe the belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic and cultural group. Our own cultural perspective is taken as a standard by which we measure other cultures. Etic Constructs Ethnocentrism Analyses of behaviour focuses on the universal of human behaviour, universal factors that hold across all cultures. Culture Are specific to a given culture and vary from one culture to another, look at behaviour from the inside of the cultural system. Cultural Relativism Behaviour cannot be judged properly unless it is viewed in the context of the culture in which it originates.

28. Task What is the difference between “emic” and “etic”? - Write your answer on a post-it and place on End

29. What the Specification says… Issues and debates in Psychology • Gender and culture in Psychology – universality and bias. Gender bias including androcentrism and alpha and beta bias; cultural bias, including ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. • Free will and determinism: hard determinism and soft determinism; biological, environmental and psychic determinism. The scientific emphasis on causal explanations. • The nature-nurture debate: the relative importance of heredity and environment in determining behaviour; the interactionist approach. • Holism and reductionism: levels of explanation in Psychology. Biological reductionism and environmental (stimulus-response) reductionism. • Idiographic and nomothetic approaches to psychological investigation. • Ethical implications of research studies and theory, including reference to social sensitivity.

30. When you come in… Without using your notes explain what is meant by the term; ‘Free Will & Determinism’

31. What is free will? • Free will is the idea that we have choices in how we act. • Free will separates out what is the intention of an individual from what has been created by other causes. • This means that we are ‘self-determining’ and free from the causal influences of the past.

32. Definitions of Free Will • Choice: • people have free will if they have a genuine choice of behaviour • untestable - we may not be able to detect existing causes • Behaviour that is unconstrained: • behaviour is often predictable, so we can’t say behaviour is random - there are usually causes • seeing behaviour as unconstrained means these causes don’t have to be adhered to • Voluntary behaviour: • behaviour over which we have control

33. What is determinism? • Determinism claims that all behaviour is determined and therefore predictable. • The source of this behaviour could be from outside (such as how we are treated) – this is known as ‘environmental determinism’ or the behaviour comes from us internally (such as our genes or our physical capability) – this is known as ‘biological determinism’

34. Defining Determinism • Comes in a range of forms, depending on what’s seen as determining behaviour • e.g. behaviourism, psychodynamics, evolutionary psychology • Determinism means all behaviour has theoretically identifiable causes, and in the extreme that all future behaviour is predictable • Fits classical science, though modern physics disputes hard determinism

35. Soft Determinism • A compromise position • Behaviour is seen as determined to an extent, but in the absence of compulsion people have a degree of choice • There is ultimately a causal explanation, but we may not have access to it, so it’s irrelevant • The question then becomes ‘How much is determined?’ • Different scientific approaches disagree about how much is determined

36. Soft determinism • Soft determinism is an approach that argues that people’s behaviour is constrained by the environment, but only to a certain extent. • Some behaviour is more constrained than other. • There is an element of free will in all behaviour however it can also be controlled by outside forces.

37. Why did Simon commit the crime?

38. Why did Simon commit the crime? Simon was found guilty of assault. He came home to find his girlfriend with his best friend in the lounge. He immediately became suspicious and acted in an aggressive way. A big argument occurred and Simon ended up shoving his girlfriend onto the sofa and punching his best friend in the face.

39. Why did Simon commit the crime? When Simon walked into the lounge, his girlfriend and his best friend were not just sitting on the sofa. From where Simon was sitting it looked very much like they were kissing.

40. Why did Simon commit the crime? During his childhood, Simon was often exposed to aggressive models. He is from a family of four brothers and they could often be found fighting with each other. In fact, his mum and dad used to encourage it as they said ‘sort it out amongst yourselves boys’.

41. Why did Simon commit the crime? When Simon was 12 his dad was arrested and charged with GBH. He was found guilty and was sentenced to 2 years in prison. Simon often visited his dad in prison. Simon thought his dad was a hero.

42. Why did Simon commit the crime? Simon has a twin brother. They are identical twins. Of the four boys, Simon’s twin is the least aggressive and prefers to spend his time reading and studying than fighting.

43. Why did Simon commit the crime? Simon loves to spend his spare time playing on one of his many games consoles. He particularly enjoys games which have some violent content and are rated 18.

44. Why did Simon commit the crime? Simon is currently working as a bouncer at the local nightclub. His ambition is to become a professional boxer.

45. What is your best explanation for Simon’s behaviour and why?Can you link your explanation to Psychology?

46. Did any of you consider whether Simon is responsible for his own actions?

47. Free Will There are reasons for Simon’s behaviour. There are things that DETERMINE Simon’s behaviour Determinism • Simon has the FREE-WILL to act in the way that he wants to • Simon can choose how to act

48. What would the issues be for the free-will –v- determinism debate for Simon and his crime? Free Will There are reasons for Simon’s behaviour. There are things that DETERMINE Simon’s behaviour Determinism • Simon has the FREE-WILL to act in the way that he wants to • Simon can choose how to act

49. Check learning discussion Each person must have an opinion on the following scenario. I will be asking at random to share your view, and justify it. A sleeping man is locked in a darkened room. On awakening he decides he will remain in the room, unaware that the room is locked. He believes he has the freedom to choose to remain in the room. Does he have free will?

50. The free-will vs determinism debate: Do some research to answer as many of these questions as you can.