2 Rosenzweig Flashcards
More Experience, Bigger Brain Year
1972
More Experience, Bigger Brain Authors
Rosenzweig
More Experience, Bigger Brain Background (2 things)
(1) 18th century scientists discovered the brains of trained animals looked more complex than untrained animals.
(2) In the 1960s, magnification and enzyme analysis techniques advanced to allow for brain changes to be measured with great precision.
More Experience, Bigger Brain Theory
Animals raised in enriched environments will have different brain growth and chemistry than in impoverished environments
More Experience, Bigger Brain Method and Results (3 IVs, 3 DVs and results)
Rats were randomly assigned to 3 IVs: an enriched environment care, an impoverished cage, and a normal laboratory cage.
No differences in number of neurons, enriched environment produced larger neurons, enriched synapses (spaces between neurons) were 50% larger.
More Experience, Bigger Brain Significance (2 things)
(1) Enriched environments result in anatomical and chemical changes in the brain.
(2) Exposing children to stimulating enriched environments will result in better brain growth.
More Experience, Bigger Brain Legacy (3 things)
(1) Criticism: generalization to humans?
(2) Misapplication: The Mozart Effect in children.
(3) Recent research: Theories of how environmental toxins affect brain development must include not only chemical toxicity but also enriched/impoverished environments