amygdala cause crime

Question 1

A01.1

Answer 1

amygdala located temporal lobe near hippocampus part of limbic system

role of regulating fight/ flight mechanism
making info from thalamus and interpreting it as a threat or not

if damaged fight/ flight mechanism falsley activated unharmful stimuli interpreted as a threat and causing the individual to act agressively

Question 2

A03.1

Answer 2

strength- charles whitman- killed 15 people including wife and mother, found out that he had a tumour pressing against his amygdala which could explain his impusive behaviour and why he didnt fee fear when killing and saw his family as threats

weakness- case studies not generalisable doesnt account for individual differences, based on one individual such as charles whitman had an abusive father, could be that he learnt behaviour through SLT, or brcame desensitized to agressive behaviour causing him to lack fear and feel guilt

Question 3

A01.2

Answer 3

amygdala works alongside hippocampus in processing emotional significance of external stimuli turning stm- LTM and cognititons respons to stimuli

if damaged individuals may not view punishment as emotinally significant therefore not remebering and unable to learn from concequences of antisocial behaviour whats right from wrong

leading to recivism - reoffending

Question 4

A03.2

Answer 4

strength- blair showed that psychopathic people showed a decreased response to
-threatening stimuli
- assertive conditioning
responses in anticipation of punishment
-repinse to threatening events
- reflex aversive
agreeng with theory increasing cred - concurrent rel

weakness- correlational only relationship no C+E

Question 5

A01.3

Answer 5

Left amygdala- more engaged in females, involved in emotional unferstanding, reward and mitivation

damage -cant distingusih between emotions act for immediate reward

right amygdala- involved in interpreting facial expressions, fear and action

if damaged-mis interpretate facial expressions potentially acting on this agressiveley

Question 6

A03.3

Answer 6

Strength- yang looked at psychopaths compared to controls MRI measure amygdala differences
left-17.1% reduced volume
right-18.9% reduced volume
correlating reduced volume to pshycopathy scores
- manipulative perosnality
- low emotional capacity
- poor behaviour
agrees with therory

weakness-deterministic james fallon reudced amygdala brain activity
upbrining

Question 7

A01.4

Answer 7

• role in facial expression recognition, incorrect perception of emotions causing agression

fear conditioning- learning what stimili is threateneing - loacks- fear conditioning inappropriate time

Question 8

A03.4

Answer 8

strength- raine studied 1795 3 year olds until 23 and fouund that thoes who became criminals had reduced fear conditioning 134 criminal offenders

weakness- SFP

Question 9

conclusion

Answer 9

pre scanning or removal temporal lobes