Controversies (Section B): cultural bias, research ethics, the use of non-human animals, psychology as a science, and sexism in psychology.

What this dot point is asking

Unit 3 Section B examines the major controversies in psychology. WJEC names: cultural bias, research ethics, the use of non-human animals, whether psychology is a science, and sexism (gender bias). As with the contemporary debates, a controversy question is an argument: you set out the issue, argue both sides with evidence, and reach a justified conclusion.

How a controversy question works

A controversy is an AO3 task. You evaluate psychology as a discipline, using approaches and studies as evidence. The mark scheme rewards a clear statement of the controversy, arguments for and against, and a justified conclusion.

Cultural bias

Cultural bias is the tendency to judge all cultures by the standards of one's own. Much psychology is ethnocentric, conducted on Western (often American) samples but presented as universal, and uses imposed etic measures (tools designed in one culture applied to another). For example, Kohlberg's stages and many "norms" reflect Western, individualist values. The counterargument is that some processes (such as basic memory or perception) may be genuinely universal, and that cross-cultural research is increasingly correcting the bias. Conclude that findings should be checked across cultures before being treated as universal.

Research ethics

Research ethics concerns how participants are treated: informed consent, deception, protection from harm, confidentiality and the right to withdraw. Classic studies such as Milgram (1963) and Watson and Rayner's Little Albert breached several of these. The counterargument is that some valuable knowledge cannot be gained without limited deception, that ethical guidelines and committees now protect participants, and that a cost-benefit judgement is made. Conclude that ethics must be safeguarded, but that regulated research can sometimes justify limited risk.

The use of non-human animals

Conclude that animal research can be justified where the benefit is high, suffering is minimised under the 3Rs, and the findings genuinely transfer, but not otherwise.

Psychology as a science

The controversy over whether psychology is a science turns on the criteria for science: objective, controlled, replicable methods and falsifiable theories. For: the biological, behaviourist and cognitive approaches use the scientific method and build testable theories. Against: much subject matter is unobservable and inferred, some approaches (the psychodynamic) are unfalsifiable, humans show demand characteristics and arguably free will, and reliability and objectivity can fall short of the natural sciences. Conclude that psychology is partly a science, scientific in some approaches and not in others.

Sexism (gender bias)

Sexism / gender bias is the misrepresentation of one gender. Alpha bias exaggerates differences between men and women; beta bias minimises or ignores real differences (often by studying only men and generalising); androcentrism takes the male as the norm. Kohlberg's all-male sample and Freud's penis-envy concept are stock examples, and male-only samples (such as Milgram's) raise beta bias and limited population validity. The counterargument is that modern psychology increasingly studies both genders and corrects historic bias. Conclude that gender bias has distorted some psychology and must be guarded against.

Examples in context

Example 1. Milgram and two controversies. Milgram (1963) is evidence in both the ethics controversy (deception, harm) and the gender-bias controversy (an all-male sample), showing how one study fuels several controversies.

Example 2. Skinner and animal research. Skinner's work on rats and pigeons gave powerful, generalisable laws of learning (the "for" case), but raises questions of animal suffering and how far rat behaviour explains human behaviour (the "against" case).

Try this

Q1. What does "ethnocentric" mean in the context of cultural bias? [1 mark]

• Cue. Judging other cultures by the standards of one's own, treating Western findings as universal.

Q2. State the 3Rs that regulate the use of animals in research. [3 marks]

• Cue. Replacement, reduction and refinement.

Q3. Outline one argument for and one against the claim that psychology is a science. [4 marks]

• Cue. For: approaches such as the biological and cognitive use controlled, replicable, objective methods. Against: some content is unobservable and unfalsifiable (the psychodynamic approach), and humans show demand characteristics.