Issues and debates revision

Universatility- ideas that apply to all people. Gender biased- treat a group of people differnetly Alpha biased – a greater exhaduration of male and female differences freud femininity is failed masculinity Beta biased- under exhaduration of male and female differences e.g. fight or flight Evaluation Leads to better theories that apply to all Equal opportunity in psychology Reduces gender biased work

Cultural biased- results that cant be used for all cultures Ethnocentrism- a specific cultural biased, one country seen as superior E.g. ainsworths Etric- behaviour outside a culture Emic- behaviour inside a culture Evaluation Changes research not to be culturally biased Allows for updates to manuals such as the DSM to remove culturally specific work

Free will vs Determinism Free will- free reign over their thoughts and actions Determinism- behaviour is controlled by internal or external factors Hard determinism- no free will Soft determinism- some control over behaviour Biological determinism- controlled by biological factors such as genes Environmental- controlled by environmental features e.g. punishment Psychic- caused by unconscious drives Evaluation Determinism suggests that people shouldn't’t be held accountable for behaviours such as killing someone Skinner suggests that free will is an illusion of determinism Interactionist approach of soft determinism is best Brain scans support the idea of free will

Nature vs nurture Nature- behaviour is inherited Nurture- behaviour is affected by the environment Interactionist- a selection of both approaches is best Hereditary- genetic transmission of physical or mental characteristics from one generation to another Diathesis stress- behaviour is biological but can be effected by the environment Epigenetics- change in genetic activity without a change to the code PHU- a genetic disorder controlled by diet Evaluation Hard to distinguish what is nature and what is nurture Supported by selective breeding

Reductionist vs holism Reductionist- complex behaviour can be broken down into simple components Law of parsimony- the simplest ideas best explain behaviour Holism- behaviour is best explained by looked at multiple factors High to low explanation scale- cultural and social, psychological, biological Evaluation A diathesis stress model is the best Holism allows for a more complete explanation Reductionist allows for greater scientific support e.g. brain scans

Idiographic vs nomothetic Idiographic- studying people uniquely Nomothetic- general rules for studying people and benchmarking. Uses scientific methods e.g norms of iq Evaluation Qualitative approach more complete taking into account individual parts Idiographic takes a holistic approach of everyone is different more complete Interactionist approach more complete

Ethical implications Socially sensitive- research that may be published that is considered sensitive Overcome with things such as consent and debriefs Positives of conducting the research Implications for society, practical applications, research validity Evaluation Socially sensitive research can be positive Should conduct a cost benefit analysis on whether to do the research Researchers are more responsible for the research they conduct