bio explanations

Question 1

what is a brain injury?

Answer 1

any impact on the brain structure that can affect its functionality

Question 2

how are brain injuries categorised?

Answer 2

acquired traumatic brain injury is when brain injury is a result of external force eg blow to head and non-traumatic is when it’s from an illness

Question 3

describe the role of the frontal lobe

Answer 3

planning,decision making,problem solving

Question 4

describe the role of the temporal lobe

Answer 4

memory,speech,hearing,understanding language

Question 5

describe the role of the parietal lobe

Answer 5

perception, visuospatial processes, object classification, spelling and number

Question 6

describe the role of the occipital lobe

Answer 6

vision
visual processing
colour identification

Question 7

describe the role of the cerelellum

Answer 7

gross and fine motor skills
balance
hand eye coordination

Question 8

describe the role of the brain stem

Answer 8

regulates body temp
breathing/heart rate

Question 9

describe the role of the pre-frontal cortex

Answer 9

personality expression
inhibits amygdala

Question 10

who was phineas gage?

Answer 10

1st documented case of acquired brain injury that affected behaviour in a negative way. used to be likeable with even temperament until rod passed thru his skull and destroyed frontal lobe- became more irritable and rude

Question 11

Describe Williams t al (20210) findings whether there is a link to brain injuries and criminal and anti-social behaviour

Answer 11

Williams et al (2010) argued brain injuries might account for why some crimes are committed. For example, he found 60% of 192 prisoners had some sort of brain injury. This means that, adults with brain injury were relatively younger at entry into prison systems and reported higher rates of recidivism. They suggested these injuries affect the development of temperament ,social judgement and ability to control impulses contributing to greater risk taking behaviour. However, Williams et al research cannot explain exactly what areas of the brain and which effects they could have.

Question 12

what did Brower and Price (2001) find?

Answer 12

review of case studies investigating the link between frontal lobe damage and criminal behaviour and concluded that frontal lobe injury will cause increased impulsive aggression but NO CLEAR EVIDENCE IT CAN PREDICT CRIME

Question 13

what did Grafman et al find (1996)

Answer 13

studied brain injuries from men in the vietnam war and found veterans with the most damage to the frontal lobe were more likely to be aggressive

Question 14

what did kreutzer et al find? 1991

Answer 14

unable to prove/disprove cause and effect between TBI and violence with 74 ppt and found 20% had been arrestd pre-injury and 10% post and most arrest occurred after use of alcohol and drugs

Question 15

Describe brain injury as an explanation of crime and anti-social behaviour

Answer 15

TBI has been shown to change certain behaviours esp in parts of the brain that control impulse and decision making. This can be seen in the study of Phineas Gage who damaged his frontal lobe after an accident. His behaviour changed to hostile and aggressive and quick to temper .therefore, people with TBI may be more vulnerable to making poor decisions and being impulsive which can increase liklihood of criminal behaviour. eg Williams et al 60&

Question 16

strength for brain injury as an explanation for crime (frontal lobe supporting evidence) PEE

Answer 16

a strength for brain injury as an explanation of crime is the supporting evidence from Brower and Price. they studied articles relating to evidence of frontal lobe dysfunction in violent males and females, finding that anti social / criminal behaviour relates to frontal lobe damage. therefore, this is a strength because the biological explanation suggests that deficits to the frontal lobe prevent inhibition of amygdala and the individual is unable to anticipate consequences or correctly perceive emotions so they act impulsively

Question 17

what is an application for brain injury being an explanation for crime?

Answer 17

pre screening of young people when they first offend can allow punishment to be reduced as the individual has less responsibility of their crime and allows more awareness of brain injuries in the criminal justice system.

Question 18

weakness of brain injury as an explanation for crime (opposing study) PEE

Answer 18

a weakness of brain injury as an explanation of crime is the study by Krutezer et al who were unable to establish a cause and effect between TBI and violence. for example, only 20% out of 74 patients had been arrested pre injury and only 10% post injury. most arrests were after the use of alcohol or drugs. therefore, this is a weakness because it suggests that crime could be due to a confounding variable, and the lack of cause and effect reduces the internal validity of the findings. furthermore, the brain scanning evidence being shown often do not show brain scans of the ppts before the comparisons are made reducing the validity of brain scan evidence.