Issues and Debates

Nature vs Nurture Debate

The debate centres on the extent to which aspects of behaviour are influenced by either inherited or acquired characteristics.

Nature: Nativists

• Nativists, such as Descartes, believe human characteristics are innate, primarily resulting from heredity.
• The heritability coefficient is used to assess the extent of hereditary influence, with a value of 1 indicating complete genetic determination. For example, many studies suggest the heritability coefficient for IQ is around 0.5, indicating that IQ is influenced equally by genetics and the environment.
• The nature perspective is deterministic, suggesting that our genetic makeup completely pre-determines who we are.

Nurture: Nurturists

• Nurturists argue that behaviour is influenced by the environment, encompassing all influences that are not genetic.
• Early nurturist John Locke proposed that we are born as a blank slate, or ‘tabula rasa’, and all behaviour stems from environmental influences.
• According to Lerner (1986), environmental influences span various ‘levels of the environment’, from prenatal experiences to cultural and societal impacts.
• These influences, some exerted even before birth, make it impractical and theoretically unsound to separate genetic and environmental contributions completely. For example, in twin studies, it’s often challenging to discern whether similarities in behaviour are due to shared genetics or shared environments.

Interactionist Approach

• This approach posits that nature and nurture are so intertwined that it is ineffective to consider them separately. Instead, research focuses on how genetic and environmental factors interact and influence each other.
• The diathesis-stress model of mental illness is a prime example of this interaction, suggesting that a genetic predisposition (diathesis) only leads to mental illness when combined with environmental stressors.
• Research by Pikka Tienari et al. (2004) supports this, finding that adoptees who were more likely to develop schizophrenia had biological relatives with the disorder and experienced dysfunctional relationships with their adoptive families.
• Another example is the study by Maguire et al., which found that taxi drivers had larger hippocampi, indicating that while the brain’s basic structure is genetically determined, its development is significantly influenced by environmental factors (nurture).

Epigenetics

• Epigenetics refers to changes in gene activity that do not involve alterations to the genetic code itself but are triggered by environmental interactions.
• Environmental factors like smoking, poor diet, and exposure to war can leave epigenetic marks that direct our bodies to use or ignore certain genes.
• These changes can affect not only the individual but also subsequent generations, as these epigenetic marks can be inherited.
• An example of epigenetic influence is the study by Dias & Ressler (2014), where male mice learned to fear a specific smell associated with receiving shocks. Remarkably, this fear was also observed in their offspring and grandchildren, who had not been conditioned to fear the smell.

Gender Bias in Psychological Research

Universality

• Universality refers to characteristics or behaviours that are supposed to apply to all people, regardless of differences such as culture, gender, or upbringing. Gender bias threatens this concept by favouring one gender over another or by ignoring differences between genders.

Alpha Bias

• Alpha bias occurs when differences between genders are exaggerated. Such bias often results in devaluing one gender compared to the other, leading to stereotypes and discrimination.
• For instance, Freud’s assertion that women are inherently morally inferior due to unresolved penis envy suggests that they have a weaker superego compared to men, which has historically justified unequal treatment in society.

Beta Bias

• Beta bias occurs when differences between genders are minimised or ignored. This often happens when research excludes women or fails to consider gender differences adequately.
• An example of beta bias is the fight or flight response research, which largely overlooked female responses to stress, now thought to include a ‘tend and befriend’ strategy identified by Taylor et al.

Androcentrism

• Androcentrism is a perspective where male standards are used to judge normal behaviour, making female behaviour appear abnormal or deficient by comparison.
• This leads to misunderstandings or pathologising of female behaviour, such as interpreting premenstrual syndrome (PMS) as a medical issue, whereas male expressions of anger are often viewed as a rational response to external pressures.

Cultural Bias in Psychological Research

Cultural bias occurs when researchers fail to consider cultural differences, often interpreting all phenomena through the lens of their own culture. This can manifest in two forms:

Alpha Cultural Bias

• Alpha cultural bias assumes inherent differences between cultures and often exaggerates these differences. This type of bias can lead to stereotypes that may not accurately reflect the diverse realities within cultures.

Beta Cultural Bias

• Beta cultural bias occurs when researchers ignore the potential for cultural differences. This can lead to ethnocentrism, where behaviours and norms from one culture are used to make universal judgments that are not applicable to all cultures.

Examples of Cultural Bias

• The diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses demonstrate significant cultural bias. For instance, concepts like depression are not universally recognized across all cultures. Research by Manson et al. found that a tribe of Native Americans describes several conditions involving elements of depression but does not isolate depression as a distinct illness.

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

Ethnocentrism

• Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one’s own cultural group, leading to judgments about other cultures based on one’s own cultural norms. This can make behaviours from other cultures seem underdeveloped or abnormal.
• An example is Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation” assessment of attachment, which used American standards to judge the mother-child attachment behaviour internationally, labelling German parenting as cold rather than acknowledging their encouragement of independence.

Cultural Relativism

• Cultural relativism is the principle that norms and values should be understood within their specific cultural context. This perspective helps reduce cultural bias by recognising the validity of different cultural practices and beliefs.
• Emic approaches focus on understanding behaviour from within a cultural context, often providing more accurate insights than etic approaches, which apply outside cultural norms to the analysis of behaviour.
• For example, Bartlett’s research on Swazi herdsmen’s recall abilities was informed by the cultural importance of cattle, leading to a nuanced understanding of their memory strengths.

Ethical Implications of Psychological Research

Ethical Guidelines

Ethical guidelines, such as those provided by the British Psychological Society (BPS), are designed to protect research participants. However, these guidelines also consider the broader implications of research on society.

Social Sensitivity

• Socially sensitive research refers to studies where the potential implications could affect the participants or the class of individuals they represent significantly. This includes research into areas like genetics, race, and criminal behaviour, which could influence public policy or societal views on these groups.
• Researchers must be mindful of the broader impacts of their findings, especially in areas prone to media attention and public interest.

Issues in Socially Sensitive Research

• The implications of research might include reinforcing stereotypes or supporting discriminatory practices. For instance, early studies by Goddard on intelligence and race led to further research that was used to justify eugenics practices.
• The validity of research is crucial, particularly in socially sensitive areas. Studies must be objective and free from biases, as the consequences of flawed research can be far-reaching.
• The use of research findings needs careful consideration, as demonstrated by criticisms of Bowlby’s attachment research, which some argued promoted gender stereotypes about women’s roles in the home.
• The impact on public policy, such as Burt’s influence on the UK education system with the 11+ exam, highlights the need for responsible research practices and the ethical dissemination of findings.

Holism vs. Reductionism

Holism

• Holism argues that human behaviours and experiences should be viewed as wholes rather than composed of separate parts. This approach is central to humanistic psychology, which looks at the entire person.
• This perspective suggests that breaking down behaviour into smaller components can lead to a loss of understanding as it ignores the complex interactions that contribute to the overall behaviour.

Reductionism

• Reductionism posits that human behaviour can be best understood by analysing its simplest, most fundamental components. This approach includes:
  • Biological reductionism: Explaining behaviour with biological factors like genetics and brain structures.
  • Environmental reductionism: Viewing behaviour strictly in terms of learned responses to environmental stimuli.
• Each level of explanation, from socio-cultural to neurochemical, offers a progressively more focused view of behaviour, though potentially at the expense of overlooking broader contextual factors.

Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches

Idiographic Approach

• The idiographic approach focuses on individuals, considering unique personal experiences and motivations. This approach often utilises qualitative methods such as case studies and unstructured interviews to gain deep insights into individual behaviours.
• It values the subjective experiences of individuals, often contrasting with more generalisable research methods.

Nomothetic Approach

• In contrast, the nomothetic approach seeks to establish general principles that apply across populations. This approach uses controlled, often quantitative methods to identify commonalities among individuals, aiming to predict and control behaviour based on established norms.
• This approach is prevalent in behaviourist, cognitive, and biological research, where broad conclusions are drawn from the study of large groups or through the examination of fundamental physiological processes.