What is meant by ‘universality’?
Any underlying characteristic of human
Issues and Debates Cue-Cards
beings that is capable of being applied to
What is meant by ‘gender bias’?
What are the implications of a ‘gender
bias’?
What is ‘essentialism’?
Explain how there could potentially be
sexism in the research process.
Give two ways to potentially overcome
sexism in research.
What is ‘androcentrism’?
What is ‘alpha bias’?
all, despite differences of experience and
upbringing. Therefore, gender bias and
culture bias threaten the universality of
findings in psychology.
Bias is a tendency to treat one individual or
group in a different way from others. In the
context of gender bias, psychological
research or theory may offer a view that
does not justifiably represent the
experience and behaviour of men or
women (usually women).
It may validate stereotypes and
discrimination, eg. research into PMS
Gender differences are presented as ‘fixed’
in nature, often because of political
motivations.
-Research questions are often orientated
to male concerns.
-There is often a preference for results
showing gender differences.
-Lab experiments disadvantage women
because it is often a male-centred
environment.
-Reflexivity. Being ‘up-front’ about ones
biases and preconceptions can reduce
gender bias.
-Feminist psychologists suggest using a
more collaborative approach to counteract
biases.
Male-centeredness; when normal behaviour
is judged according to a male standard.
Therefore, female behaviour is often judged
to be ‘abnormal’ or ‘deficient’ by
comparison.
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 they undervalue females.
What is ‘beta bias’?
What is ‘cultural bias’?
What is ‘ethnocentrism’?
What is ‘cultural relativism’?
What is a criticism of ‘cultural relativism’?
Give an example of Social Influence studies
that suffer from cultural biases.
What is the individualist-collectivist
distinction?
Give three ways in which conducting a
study in a different culture can be
challenging.
Theories that ignore or minimise
differences between the sexes.
The tendency to ignore cultural differences
and interpret all phenomena through the
‘lens’ of one’s own culture.
Judging other cultures by the standards and
values of one’s own culture. In its extreme
form it is the belief in the superiority of one’s
own culture which may lead to prejudice and
discrimination towards other cultures.
The idea that norms and values, as well as
ethics and moral standards, can only be
meaningful and understood within specific
social and cultural contexts.
It should not be assumed that all human
behaviours are culturally specific, there are
some universals – such as aspects of
attachment, the facial expressions of
emotion, or even certain moral standards.
Milgram’s and Asch’s study both suffer from
straightforwardly applying Western culture
all over the world, with the result often
being that non-western cultures become
labelled as inferior or inadequate. This is an
example of cultural bias.
-Individualist cultures emphasise that each
individual is acting on his or her own,
making their own choices, and reaching
their highest individual
potential. Conversely, collectivism views
the group, and group achievements as the
primary entity.
-However, the distinction may be too
simple with Takano and Osaka finding no
evidence for it.
-Unfamiliarity with research tradition.
Demand characteristics are more likely in
an unfamiliar situation
-Operationalisation of variables. Some
behaviours may not be expressed in the
same way, eg. displays of aggression may

What is meant by ‘free will’?
Which Approach is linked most strongly
with the notion of free will?
What is meant by ‘determinism’?
What is the difference between ‘hard
determinism’ and ‘soft determinism’?
What is ‘biological determinism’?
What is ‘environmental determinism’?
What is ‘psychic determinism’?
How can we evaluate determinism?
be culturally relative.
-Challenging implicit assumptions. A
researcher’s own cultural views may be
challenged. Taken-for-granted assumptions
of the researcher may not be universal.
The notion that humans can make choices
and are not determined by biological or
external forces.
The view that an individual’s behaviour is
shaped or controlled by internal or
external forces rather than an individual’s
will to do something.
-Hard determinism implies that free will is
not possible, as our behaviour is always
caused by internal or external events
beyond our control.
-On the other hand, soft determinism
suggests that all events, including human
behaviour, have causes, but behaviour can
also be determined by our conscious
choices in the absence of coercion. This is
in contrast with hard determinism.
The belief that behaviour is caused by
biological (genetic, hormonal,
evolutionary) influences that we cannot
control.
The belief that behaviour is caused by
features of the environment (such as
systems of reward and punishment) that
we cannot control. E.g. Skinner
The belief that behaviour is caused by
unconscious conflicts that we cannot control.
E.g. Freud
-In some cases we accept determinism. For
example, no one ‘chooses’ a mental illness.
- Libet (1985) and Soon et al (2008) also back
up determinism by saying awareness is
beyond our free will. Using brain scans the

What is the Nature/Nurture debate?
What do nativists argue?
What do empiricists argue?
How did Lerner contribute to the
Nature/Nurture debate?
What do MZ twins suggest about the
Nature/Nurture debate?
What is ‘constructionism’?
researchers found that the activity related to
whether to press a button with the left or
right hand occurs in the brain up to ten
seconds before participants report being
consciously aware of making such a decision.
-On the other hand, the framework of law
we have suggests we do have responsibility,
and therefore some free will, over our
actions. (This can link with Forensic
Psychology. Some explanations of Offender
Behaviour might suggest an element of
determinism, but the law is applied as if the
Offenders are behaving with free will.)
A debate about the extent to which aspects
of behaviour are a product of inherited or
acquired characteristics.
Nativists suggest that ‘anatomy is destiny’
in that our inherited genetic make-up
determines our behaviour and
characteristics. This extreme determinist
position has led to controversy, such as
linking race, genetics and intelligence and
the application of eugenics.
Empiricists argue that we are formed by
our experiences above anything else.
Empiricists could therefore advocate a
model of society that controls and
manipulates its citizens using behaviour
shaping techniques, where desirable
behaviours are reinforced and undesirable
behaviours are punished.
Lerner (1986) identifies different levels of
the environment that can affect us, such as
the mother’s physical and psychological
state during pregnancy, to the social
conditions, or historical context, the child
grows up in.
The fact that MZ twins reared together
(same nature & nurture?) do not show
perfect concordance rates suggests that
heredity and the environment cannot be
meaningfully separated.
Constructionism is where people create
their own ‘nurture’ by actively selecting
environments that are appropriate for

What was Scarr and McCartney’s (1983)
research?
What is the Interactionist approach to the
Nature/Nurture debate?
What’s the Diathesis-Stress model of
mental illness?
How does epigenetics affect the
Nature/Nurture debate?
How does the Nature/Nurture debate link
with other debates?
their ‘nature’. For example, an aggressive
child will feel more comfortable around
children who show similar behaviours and
will ‘choose’ this environment accordingly,
(Plomin, 1994). This adds further
difficulties to meaningfully separating
nature and nurture.
They argued that the combination Passive
interaction (parents’ genes), evocative
interaction (child’s genes) and active
interaction (child chooses its own
environment) shows the complex and
multi-layered relationship between nature
and nurture (Scarr and McCartney, 1983).
A more recent approach where
psychologists are less likely to try to
separate the two sides of the debate, but
instead try to focus on the relative
contributions of each influence. In
attachment, for example, the child’s innate
temperament will influence the way its
parents respond to it, and their response
will in turn affect the child’s behaviour – so
nature creates nurture.
An example of interactionism. Tienari et al
(2004) emphasises the Diathesis-Stress
model of mental illness, where the
adoptees most likely to develop
schizophrenia had a biological relative with
the disorder (diathesis) and a dysfunctional
relationship with their adoptive family
(stress). Both nature and nurture.
The nurture of previous generations can
affect the nature of current ones. Dias et al
(2014) found the children of mice, who had
been conditioned to show a fear reaction
to a particular smell, also feared the smell,
as did their grandchildren, even though
they had not been exposed to the smell
before.
A strong commitment to either a nature or
nurture position corresponds to a belief in
hard determinism, and ‘anatomy is destiny’
equates to biological determinism – so a
clear link with other debates. Also, a strong
commitment to either nature or nurture
would be reductionist.
What is meant by ‘holism’?
What is meant by ‘reductionism’?
What is meant by “Levels of Explanation”
in psychology?
What is meant by a “Hierarchy of Science”? Such a hierarchy places the more precise
What is ‘biological reductionism’?
An argument or theory which proposes
that it only makes sense to study an
indivisible system rather than its
constituent parts (which is the reductionist
approach).
The belief that human behaviour is best
explained by breaking it down into smaller
constituent parts. (NB The scientific
approach to studying psychology is by its
very nature reductionist.)
This refers to a hierarchy which goes from
the least reductionist to the most
reductionist. It suggests that there are
different ways of viewing the same
phenomena in psychology. For instance
OCD may be understood in a
socio-cultural context as producing
behaviour such as repetitive hand washing
that most people would regard as odd; at a
psychological level, as the experience of
having obsessive thoughts; at a physical
level, as a sequence of movements
involved in washing one’s hands; at a
physiological level as hypersensitivity of
the basal ganglia; at a neurochemical level,
as production of serotonin. Which of these
provides the “best” explanation of OCD is a
matter of debate, but each level is more
reductionist than the one before.
and “micro” disciplines at the bottom, and
the more general and “macro” of these at
the top. Eg:
Sociology
Psychology
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Researchers who favour reductionist
accounts of behaviour would see
psychology as ultimately being replaced by
explanations derived from those sciences
lower down in the hierarchy.
A form of reductionism which attempts to

What is ‘environmental reductionism’?
What is a strength and weakness of
holism?
What is a strength and weakness of
reductionism?
What is the interactionist approach to
holism/reductionism?
explain social and psychological
phenomena at a lower biological level (in
terms of the actions of genes, hormones,
etc.). Linked to the biological approach.
The attempt to explain all behaviour in
terms of stimulus-response links that have
been learned through experience. Linked
to the behaviourist approach.
-Holistic explanations provide a more
complete and global understanding of
behaviour, eg. the prisoners and guards in
the Stanford Prison study could not be
understood by studying the participants as
individuals, it was the interaction between
people and the behaviour of the group that
was important.
-However, holistic explanations can be
vague and speculative, making them
difficult to test scientifically. So if we
accept that something like depression has
many factors causing it, it becomes difficult
to work out which is the most influential as
a basis for therapy, so for real-world
problems, lower levels of explanations may
be more appropriate.
-A reductionist approach often forms the
basis of scientific research as it allows us to
operationalise variables in a meaningful
and reliable way. This gives psychology
greater credibility.
-However, it has been accused of
oversimplifying complex phenomena
leading to a loss of validity. Explanations
that operate at the level of the gene,
neurotransmitter or neuron do not include
an analysis of the social context in which
the behaviour occurs
The interactionist approach is also an
alternative to both the reductionist and
holism approaches, as it considers how
different levels of explanation may
combine and interact, leading to a more
‘holistic’ approach to treatment, eg. drugs

What is the idiographic approach?
What is the nomothetic approach?
How does the idiographic approach gather
data?
What are some examples of the
idiographic approach?
What’s a criticism of the idiographic
approach?
Which approaches would use the
nomothetic approach?
What is a criticism of the nomothetic
approach?
and family therapy for a schizophrenic
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 (the nomothetic approach).
The nomothetic approach attempts to
study human behaviour through the
development of general principles and
universal laws.
The approach produces qualitative data,
such as case studies, interviews and other
self-report measures, reflecting the
individual’s own unique way of viewing the
world.
-Humanistic psychology is the best
example of this approach – Rogers and
Maslow took a phenomenological
approach to the study of human beings,
being more interested in unique
experiences rather than general laws of
behaviour.
-The psychodynamic approach is often
seen as ideographic as Freud used the case
study method with his patients.
It is often seen as ‘unscientific’ due to the
concentration on the individual over an
attempt to establish general laws.
-Approaches that take this approach tend
to be determinist and reductionist, such as
the behaviourist, cognitive and biological
approaches. For example, Skinner studied
the responses of hundreds of rats, cats,
pigeons, etc. to develop the laws of
learning.
-Biological psychologists have conducted
brain scans on hundreds of brains in order
to make generalisations about localisation
of function – which would also be
nomothetic.
Coming up with general laws, eg. 1%
lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia

What do we mean by the ‘ethical
implications’ of research?
What do we mean by the ‘social sensitivity’
of research?
What does Aronson (1999) say about
‘socially sensitive’ research?
What do Sieber and Stanley (1988) argue
about ‘socially sensitive’ research?
tells us little about what life is like for
someone who is suffering from the
disorder. So, in its search for generalities,
the nomothetic approach may sometimes
overlook the richness of human
experience.
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.
Sieber 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”.
Psychologists have a ‘social responsibility’
to carry out studies that tackle socially
sensitive ‘taboo’ topics, such as aspects of
race or sexuality, which attract a good deal
of attention from the media and the public.
Sieber and Stanley (1988) identify a
number of concerns that researchers
should be mindful of when conducting
socially sensitive research:
-The implications of the research should be
carefully considered, eg studies examining
the racial basis of intelligence could lead to
prejudice and discrimination (could be
difficult to predict at outset).
-Uses/public policy means that findings
may be adopted by the government for
political ends, or to shape public policy, eg.
Bowlby’s theory of Maternal Deprivation.
-The validity of the research as some
research findings that were presented as
objective and value-free in the past have
actually turned out to be highly suspect,
eg. Burt’s research on the inheritance of
IQ, where he made up his data to prove his

What does Scarr (1988) argue about
‘socially sensitive’ research?
What is an example of ‘socially sensitive’
research playing a valuable role in society?
What do Kitzinger and Coyle (1995)
suggest about ‘socially sensitive’ research?
How do you decide whether to conduct
socially sensitive research?
hypotheses.
Scarr (1988) argues that studies of
underrepresented groups and issues may
promote a greater sensitivity and
understanding, which can help to reduce
prejudice and encourage acceptance.
Research into EWT has reduced the risk of
miscarriages of justice.
Kitzinger and Coyle (1995) note how
research into so-called ‘alternative
relationships’ has been guilty of a form of
‘heterosexual bias’ within which
homosexual relationships were compared
and judged against heterosexual norms.
Socially sensitive research will need to be
presented to an ethics committee. They
will weigh up the costs and the benefits of
conducting the research.