Issues and Debates definitions

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Universality
Any underlying characteristic of human beings that is capable of being applied to all, despite differences of experiencing and upbringing.
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Gender bias
When human behaviour, bias is a tendency to treat one individual or group in a different way from others.
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Androcentrism
Male-centered; when normal behaviour is judged but by comparison to a male standard.
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Alpha bias
Psychological theories that suggest there are real and enduring differences between men and women. These may enhance or undervalue members of either sex, but typically undervalue females.
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Beta bias
Theories that ignore or minimise differences between sexes.
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Cultural bias
Refers to a tendency to ignore cultural differences and interpret all phenomena through the 'lens' of one's own culture.
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Ethnocentrism
Judging others cultures by the standards and values of one's culture. In its extreme form it is the belief of superiority of one's own culture which may lead to prejudice and discrimination towards other cultures.
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Cultural relativism
The idea that norms and values, as well as ethics and moral standards, can only be meaningful and understood within social and cultural contexts.
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Free will
The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces.
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Determinism
The view that an individual's behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than an individual's will to so something.
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Hard determinism
Implies that free will is not possible as our behaviour is always caused by internal and external events beyond our control.
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Soft determinism
All events, including human behaviour, has causes, but behaviour can also be determined by our conscious choices in an absence of coercion.
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Biological determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences that we cannot control.
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Environmental determinism
The belief that behaviour that behaviour is caused by features of the environment that we cannot control.
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Psychic determinism
The belief that behaviour is caused by unconscious conflicts that we cannot control.
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The nature-nurture debate
Concerned with the extent to which aspects of behaviour are product of inherited or acquired characteristics.
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Heredity
The genetic transmission of mental and physical characteristics from one generation to another.
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Environment
Any influence on human behaviour that is non-genetic. This may range from pre-natal influences in the womb through to cultural and historical influences at a societal level.
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The interactionist approach
The idea that nature and nurture are linked to such an extent that it does not make sense to separate the two, so researchers instead study how they interact and influence each other.
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Holism
An argument or theory which proposes that it only makes sense to study an indivisible system rather than its constituent parts (reductionist approach).
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Reductionism
The belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into smaller constituent parts.
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Biological reductionism
A form of reductionism which attempts to explain social and psychological phenomena at a lower biological level.
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Environmental reductionism
The attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience.
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Idiographic approach
Derived from the Greek 'idios' meaning 'private or personal'. An approach to research that focuses more on the individual case as a means of understanding behaviour, rather than aiming to formulate general laws of behaviour.
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Nomothetic approach
Derived from the Greek 'nomos' meaning 'law'. The nomothetic approach attempts to study human behaviour through the development of general principles and universal laws.
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Ethical implications
The impact that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of other people especially participants. This includes, at a societal level' influencing public policy and/or the way in which certain groups of people are regarded.
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Social sensitivity
Sieiber and Stanley (1988) define socially sensitive research as, 'studies in which there are potential consequences or implications, either directly for the participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

When human behaviour, bias is a tendency to treat one individual or group in a different way from others.

Back

Gender bias

Card 3

Front

Male-centered; when normal behaviour is judged but by comparison to a male standard.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Psychological theories that suggest there are real and enduring differences between men and women. These may enhance or undervalue members of either sex, but typically undervalue females.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Theories that ignore or minimise differences between sexes.

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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