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AQA A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY - PAPER #3 TOPICS EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
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AQA A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY - PAPER #3 TOPICS EXAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
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AQA A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY - PAPER#3 TOPICS EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
Gender bias - Answer-Psychologists seek universality but bias may be inevitable (social
historical contexts)
Gender bias: psychological theory/research not accurately represent
experience/behaviour of men + women
Alpha bias: differences exaggerated, devalue women
E.g. Freud = genuine psychological differences due to physiological differences
Girls suffer from 'penis envy', femininity is failed masculinity
Beta bias: differences minimised, needs of women ignored
E.g. fight or flight research = male only sample, assumed would be applicable, Taylor et
al: tend and befriend (governed by oxytocin)
Androcentrism: male behaviour seen as normal, deviations seen as abnormal/inferior
Female behaviour misunderstood/pathologised
E.g. feminists object to PMS, medicalises female emotions by explaining in hormonal
terms (Male anger often seen as rational response to external pressures)
Gender bias (- in psych research) - Answer-May create misleading assumptions about
female behaviour/validate discriminatory practices
Scientific justification to deny opportunities (e.g. due to PMS)
Damaging consequences on lives/prospects
Gender bias (- promotes sexism in research process) - Answer-Lack of women at senior
research level = female concerns not reflected in research questions asked
Men more likely to be published
Female ppts in inequitable relationship with researcher (power to label irrational/unable
to complete tasks)
Constitutional sexism - creates bias in theory/research
Gender bias (+ feminist psychologists suggest how to avoid) - Answer-Worrell & Remer:
Studied within meaningful real life contexts
Participate instead of objects of study
Study diversity within groups of women rather than comparisons to men
Collaborative research methods (qualitative data)
Preferable/less biased
,Cultural bias - Answer-Psych claims to unearth universal truths but may only apply to
particular groups studied
Wrongly assumed western findings would apply all over the world
E.g. conformity (Asch) and obedience (Milgram) produced different results outside of
US
Standard/norm for behaviour judged from one culture = cultural differences seen as
abnormal
Ethnocentrism: belief in superiority of own culture
Behaviour that doesn't conform to Western model = deficient
E.g. Ainsworth's strange situation (American norms/values, separation anxiety defining,
secure = ideal, German mothers labelled cold/rejecting, inappropriate measure for non-
US children)
Cultural relativism may help reduce bias
Facts/things only make sense from perspective of culture within which discovered
Berry:
Etic approach: looking at behaviours outside of culture and identifying universal
Emic approach: looking at behaviour within culture and identifying culturally specific
Imposed etic: e.g. Ainsworth studies within single culture and assumed could be applied
universally
Cultural bias (- distinction between individuaism/collectivism) - Answer-Value of
individual/independence vs value ofgroup/interdependence
Lazy/simplistic distinction, no longer applies
Takano & Osaka: 14/15 studies comparing US and Japan found no evidence of
distinction between culture types
Form of cultural bias less of issue than once was
Cultural bias (recognition of both relativism/universals) - Answer-Imposed etic shows
culturally specific nature of psychology
Should not assume all psychology is culturally relative/no such thing as universal
behaviour
Ekman: basic facial expressions for emotions same all over human/animal world
Attachment behaviours universal (imitation/interactional synchrony)
Full understanding requires study of both universals/variations among
individuals/groups
Cultural bias (cross-cultural research prone to demand characteristics) - Answer-
Western cultures: familiarity with aims/objectives of scientific enquiry assumed
Cultures without historical experience of research, local populations more affected by
demand characteristics
Unfamiliarity with research tradition threatens validity of outcomes
,Free will/determinism - Answer-Free will: we are self-determining
Free to choose thoughts/actions
Biological/environmental influences on behaviour but can reject
No cause/unpredictable
Humanistic approach
Determinism: behaviour shaped/controlled by internal/external forces
Hard = completely out of control, all has cause possible to identify, predictable,
compatible with aims of science
Soft = all has cause, conscious mental control over behaviour, behaviour predictable to
extent, some free will to make choices
Biological determinism
Biological approach, control from internal biological factors
(physiological/genetic/hormonal)
Physiological processes not under conscious control (e.g. influence of ANS on
stress/anxiety)
Genetic factors may determine behaviours/characteristics (e.g. mental disorders)
Hormones may determine behaviour (e.g. testosterone linked to aggression)
Environmental determinism
Popularised by behaviourist approach
Skinner: all result of conditioning
Choice = total sum of reinforcement contingencies acted upon during lives
Illusion of free will, shaped by environmental events/agents of socialisation (e.g.
parents, teachers, institutions)
Psychic determinism
Flreud: free will = illusion, emphasis on biological drives/instincts underpinning
responses
Determined/directed by unconscious conflicts repressed in childhood
E.g. 'slip of the tongue' determined by unconscious
Science seeks causal explanations
Basic principle: every event has cause, can be explained with general laws
Allows predict/control
One thing determined by another
Lab experiment: remove extraneous variables to demonstrate causal effect
Free will/determinism (+ determinism consistent with aims of science) - Answer-Human
behaviour = orderly/obeys laws
Greater scientific credibility
Predict/control behaviour led to development of treatments/therapies (e.g. psychoactive
drugs for schizophrenia)
Schizophrenia = some behaviour determined (loss of control over thoughts/behaviour,
no one chooses)
, Free will/determinism (- hard determinism not consistent with legal system) - Answer-
Offenders held morally accountable
Act with leniency only in extreme circumstances (e.g. mental illnesses)
Determinism not falsifiable (causes will always exist even if not yet found, impossible to
disprove, not as scientific as it appears)
Free will/determinism (+ free will - choices in everyday life) - Answer-Face validity:
everyday experience gives impression that we constantly make choices
Makes logical sense
Even if do not, thinking we do may have positive impact on mind/behaviour
E.g. Roberts et al: adolescents with strong beliefs in fatalism more at risk from
depression
Free will/determinism (- free will - not supported by neurological evidence) - Answer-
Decision making brain studies: evidence against free will
Libet/Soon: brain activity relating to decision to press button with left/right hand occurs
up to 10s before being consciously aware of making decision
Even most basic experiences of free will are determined
Nature/nurture debate - Answer-Nature: behaviour is product of innate biological/genetic
factors
Result of heredity (transmission of mental/physical characteristics from one generation
to another)
Heritability coefficient (0-1) shows to what extent has genetic basis
E.g. Plomin: IQ around 0.5
Genetic explanations: family/twin/adoption studies show link between genetic similarity
and shared characteristics
Evolutionary explanations: aid survival = naturally selected, passed on
Nurture: behaviour product of environmental forces
Behaviourism: mind = blank slate at birth on which experience writes
Lerner: different levels of environment
Prenatal: mother's physical/physiological state during pregnancy
Postnatal: social conditions grown up in
Exapmles:
Behaviourism: attachment explained in terms of classical/operant conditioning
Relative importance of nature & nurture
Impossible to answer - environmental influences begin at conception
Little sense to separate two (eg. concordance rates: result of shared genetics or shared
upbringing?
Interactionist approach
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