Gender & Culture Bias
What is alpha bias?
Exaggerating differences between men and women (or cultures), often devaluing one group.
What is hard determinism?
The view that all behaviour is caused by forces outside of our control, leaving no room for free will.
What does the nurture side emphasise?
Behaviour is shaped by environment, experience, and learning.
What is holism?
Explaining behaviour by considering the whole person/system rather than individual parts.
What does idiographic mean?
ocus on the individual and unique cases, not general laws.
Give one example of beta bias.
Using male-only research (e.g., Asch, Milgram) and generalising findings to women.
Name and describe one type of determinism.
Biological determinism → behaviour controlled by genes, hormones, and brain structure.
What is the interactionist approach?
Behaviour results from the interplay of nature (genes) and nurture (environment).
What is biological reductionism?
Explaining behaviour in terms of biological processes (genes, hormones, brain structure).
Which research method is most linked to the idiographic approach?
Case studies (e.g., Freud’s Little Hans).
What is androcentrism, and why is it a problem?
Viewing male behaviour as the norm, meaning female behaviour may be pathologised or misunderstood.
Which neuroscientist’s research challenged free will, and what did it find?
Benjamin Libet – found brain activity (readiness potential) before conscious awareness of a decision.
How does the diathesis-stress model demonstrate interactionism?
A genetic predisposition (diathesis) is triggered by environmental stress → e.g., schizophrenia.
Give an example of environmental reductionism.
Explaining behaviour as stimulus-response learning, e.g., phobias from classical conditioning.
Give an example of a nomothetic approach in psychology.
Behaviourist principles of conditioning (applied universally).
What is cultural relativism, and how does it apply to psychology?
The idea that behaviour can only be understood in the context of the culture it occurs in (e.g., different definitions of abnormality).
How does soft determinism differ from hard determinism?
Soft determinism allows behaviour to be determined by internal/external forces but recognises free will in how we respond.
Give one example of nature and nurture interaction in psychology.
Attachment: temperament (nature) influences relationships, but caregiver sensitivity (nurture) shapes attachment style.
One strength and one limitation of holism?
Strength → considers complexity of behaviour (e.g., social context). Limitation → too vague, hard to test scientifically.
Strength and limitation of the idiographic approach?
Strength → rich detail, insight into unique cases. Limitation → lacks generalisability.
Evaluate the effect of ethnocentrism with an example
Ethnocentrism = judging other cultures by the standards of one’s own. Example: Ainsworth’s Strange Situation reflects Western norms, labelling German infants as “insecure-avoidant.”
Give one strength and one limitation of determinism.
Strength → scientific, allows prediction and control. Limitation → undermines moral responsibility and legal accountability.
What is epigenetics, and how does it relate to the debate?
Environmental factors can affect gene expression, blurring the line between nature and nurture.
Evaluate reductionism with one example.
Strength → allows scientific study, e.g., SSRIs for OCD. Limitation → oversimplifies complex phenomena (ignores social/cultural influences).
How can idiographic and nomothetic approaches complement each other?
Case studies (idiographic) can generate hypotheses later tested with nomothetic methods (e.g., brain damage studies informing memory models).