Download IB Psychology SL

Critical Thinking: Culture,
Ethics & Gender
Key evaluation point: Culture
• Culture can be defined as the human made part
of the living environment. It refers to shared
values. Human beings create culture and are
also influenced by it.
• (It is both subjective – attitudes, beliefs norms &
objective – literature, poetry, cooking pots,
weapons)
• In the psychology cultural bias can occur in may
ways: Researchers/ theorists may ignore the
influence of culture or see all of human life
through the perspective of one culture.
Cultural considerations in psychology
• Moghaddam (1993) Humans have an ‘interactive’ relationship
with culture – we shape culture and we are also shaped by it
• Jahoda (1978) believes that ‘Cultural Evolution’ rather than
‘Biological Evolution’ the reason for our progress and
civilization today
• The danger is that many Psychologists adopt the ‘universal
man’ assumption – We are all the same – culture does not
influence our behaviour
• Smith & Bond (1998) found that Psychology is Ethnocentric
(western centred)– they reviewed textbooks and found that
only 10% of the world is sampled in psychological research
• Cultural relativists believe culture is important vs. absolutists
believe that our biology most important in determining our
behavior
Most scientific research is carried out in the
west…..
Triandis (1990) ‘dimensions of
cultural diversity’
• Differences between cultures, that can be seen in
terms of:
1) Cultural complexity
• The more complex/ industrialised/technological the
culture, the more people must pay attention to time –
west – time is linear, eastern cultures - circular
2) Individualistic (independent) (behaviour based on
likes & dislikes, identity defined by personal choices)
vs. collectivist (interdependent) (saving face, self
as an extension to the group, identity defined by the
characteristics of the group) dimensions
Triandis(1990) dimensions of cultural
diversity
3) Tight (e.g. Japan, Korea - homogenous) vs.
loose cultures (UK, America – multicultural)
4) In addition to these, Triandis also discusses
the more specific dimensions:
• emotional control vs. emotional
expressiveness
• contact vs. non contact
• Horizontal vs. vertical relationships
• Ethnocentric research does not take
these differences into account
Culture: Quick Quiz – in pairs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
What is culture?
What does Moghaddam (1993) say about an ‘interactive relationship’
with culture?
What is Jahoda (1978) referring to when he mentions ‘Cultural
evolution’?
What did Smith & Bond (1998) discover about psychology textbooks?
How does this relate to ethnocentrism?
Give an example of an independent culture and an interdependent
culture
What is the main difference between independent and interdependent
cultures?
What explanation did people from independent and interdependent
cultures give for the fishes behavior in last lessons study? Explain why
this is so
What differences did Marcus & Kitayama find between American and
Japanese students descriptions of themselves? What did they sight as
some of the reasons for these differences?
In what countries is most of the research carried out in psychology? Why
might this be a problem?
Do you think that psychologists should be aware of culture?
why?
Cultural differences artwork…
How culture influences the way we
see the world…..
Ethical Issues in Psychology
Ethical Issues presentations
Make sure you all participate, use examples, ask questions of
the audience at the end of the presentation
• Why do we need to be concerned with ethical issues in human
research? & an introduction to ethical guidelines (group 1)
• Informed consent, deception, cost benefit analysis & debriefing
(group 2)
• The right to withdraw & Confidentiality (group 3)
• Protection of participants from psychological and physical harm
& observational research (group 4)
• Ethical guidelines for the use of animals in research (group 5)
Ethical considerations in research with humans
Ethical issues in research with humans
Ethical issues in research with animals
Analysing Ethical Issues: The Cost Benefit
Analysis (A Utilitarian Approach)
• Aronson (1992) suggests a cost/benefit
analysis should be carried out by researchers
with regards to ethical issues. They should think
about how much ‘good’ will come from doing
the research and how much ‘bad’ will happen to
the participants.
• However, there are problems with this idea –
costs tend to be real, while benefits tend to be
potential.
• In addition, very often the cost and the benefits
will only become apparent retrospectively, but
you need to know beforehand in order to decide
whether to conduct the research or not.
Reflection
1. How did you engage the audience during
the presentation?
2. How successful were you at
communicating the key points?
3. Briefly discuss how successfully your
group was as a team.
4. List three things you did well:
5. List three things you could improve for
your next presentation
Ethical issues Review: Discuss in pairs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
What is Informed consent?
What is Debriefing? When should it occur?
What is Deception? Is it ever justified?
What is a cost benefit analysis? How does it relate
to ethical issues
What is the right to withdraw?
Why should data from psychological research be
confidential?
Why is it important for participants to be protected
from psychological and physical harm
Outline the ethical guidelines for the use of animals
in research
Jane Elliot (1968)Blue Eye/ Brown Eye
Observation (“Experiment”)
An investigation into discrimination
Essential Question: Was it ethical?
In your group discuss and report on the following
questions. For each answer ensure that you provide
evidence or a logical argument.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Was informed consent obtained?
Was the esteem of the kids harmed in any way?
Was there any stress caused?
Did any good for ‘mankind’ come out of the study which justifies doing it?
Was deception used?
Do you think it is ethical to conduct research with children?
Would your group be prepared to conduct this experiment? Give clear
reasons as to why or why not.
Top ten most unethical
psychology studies….
• http://listverse.com/2008/09/07/top-10unethical-psychological-experiments/
Gender Considerations
• Much psychology research conducted on
all male samples
• Many influential studies based on males
only, but are meant to apply equally to
men and women
• Key Point: Male behavior is taken as
standard or the norm
• This male centered view is known as
ANDROCENTRISM
Alpha & Beta Bias
• Some researchers exaggerate differences
between males and females (this is called
alpha bias) – E.g. Evolutionary
Psychology
• Some researchers ignore differences
between males and females (this is called
beta bias) E.g. some areas of Cognitive
Psychology/ Biological Psychology – such
as research into the stress response
system
Gender Issues…..
• There are more male psychologists than
females, so often research into women
does not get as much attention
• Many of the techniques used, e.g. some
laboratory experiments –the methods used
tend to suit men more than women, and
men then tend to perform better
Questions to check
understanding…
1. What is androcentrism? and why is it a
problem for psychology?
2. Which genders behavior is often taken as
the standard or norm?
3. What the difference between alpha and
beta biased research?
4. Why are some of the techniques used in
psychology also problematic in terms of
gender considerations?
Ethics Clips
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCjDxA
wfXV0 (Jane Elliot)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcvSNg0
HZwk (Milgram)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GpuB_Q
2RUw (Zimbardo)
End of unit test (Major)
PowerPoint's & Notes are on wiki
ibpsychism.wetpaint.com
• Monday 13th September
• Topics:
1. History of Psychology (see first slide of the Psychology
Through diagrams PDF in student resources)
2. Definitions
3. Everything covered on the Understanding the Research
Process Summary Sheets (Textbook Pages 17-37)
4. MECG
5. Culture, Ethics & Gender
6. Identifying the IV (independent variable) & DV (dependent
variable)
7. Identifying the aims, procedures, findings and conclusions of a
study
8. Evaluating (looking at the strengths & weaknesses) of studies