Biological

Question 1

Brain structure

Answer 1

Frontal lobe - high level cognitive functions, such as thinking and planning
Parietal lobes - processes sensory information from the skin
Temporal lobes - deals with auditory information and has a role in understanding language
Occipital lobes - deals with visual information

Question 2

Hypothalamus

Answer 2

Controls motivational behaviours such as hunger and thirst and has a key role in the fight or flight response. Maintains homeostasis and the activity of the endocrine system

Question 3

Limbic system

Answer 3

Consists of several structures such as the amygdala, which plays a large role in regulating emotional response. It also has a role in memory and learning

Question 4

Cerebellum

Answer 4

Coordinates posture, balance and movement.

Question 5

Structure of a neurone

Answer 5

Dendrite - carry impulses from neighbouring neurones to the cell body
Axon - carries impulses away from the cell body and down the neurone
Myelin sheath - fatty insulating cells that speed up the action potential
Nodes of Ranvier - gaps in the myelin sheath where an action potential can be formed

Question 6

Sensory neurones

Answer 6

Carry messages from the sensory receptors (touch etc) to the CNS
Long dendrites, short axon

Question 7

Motor neurones

Answer 7

Carry messages from the CNS to the effector (muscle or gland)
Short dendrites, long axon

Question 8

Relay neurones

Answer 8

Connect sensory and motor neurones in the CNS
Short dendrites, short axon

Question 9

Functions of a neurone

Answer 9

When a stimulus of sufficient size acts on a receptor the rapid depolarisation of the neurone occurs creating an action potential that travels down the neurone conveying information

Question 10

Synaptic transmission

Answer 10

Action potential reaches the axon terminal of the pre-synaptic neurone, triggering the release of neurotransmitters from vesicles. These diffuse across the synapse binding with complementary receptors on the dendrites of the post-synaptic neurone and triggering an action potential along the axon. Any excess neurotransmitters in the synapse are reabsorbed into the pre-synaptic neurone through re-uptake channels

Question 11

Neurotransmitters

Answer 11

Dopamine - excitatory, increases the positive charge of the neurone making it more likely to fire
Serotonin - inhibitory, decreases the charge in the neurone making it less likely to fire

Question 12

Effect of cocaine on synaptic transmission

Answer 12

Cocaine blocks dopamine re-uptake channels, leading to an excess of dopamine in the synapse that will all eventually bind to receptors on the post-synaptic neurone. The dopamine reward pathway then becomes down regulated as it becomes used to that amount of dopamine and normal levels seem small, providing no pleasure.

Question 13

Effect of heroin on synaptic transmission

Answer 13

Binds with specific opioid receptors at the synapse, massively enhancing our natural response. It is an agonist as it mimics the action of another biochemical found in the body. Long term effects lead to down regulation.

Question 14

Effects of drugs on synaptic transmission - strengths

Answer 14

Weinshenker and Schroeder (2007)
Volkow et al (1997)
Application to better treatments for addiction - once heroin was identified as an agonist that bind to opioid receptors, specific drugs were created to reverse the mode of action

Question 15

Weinshenker and Schroeder (2007)

Answer 15

Damaged the dopamine reward pathway in mice brains, leaving the neurones unable to produce the levels of dopamine usually associated with reward, when this occurred mice did not self-administer cocaine. Did not occur when the lesions were in other parts of the brain

Question 16

Volkow et al (1997)

Answer 16

Used PET scans to track the activity of dopamine transporters during a cocaine induced high. Found that as subject experience intensified so did the number of cocaine occupied neurotransmitters

Question 17

Effects of recreational drugs on synaptic transmission - weaknesses

Answer 17

Low validity of non-human studies, mice do not have a pre-frontal cortex, low generalisability to humans

Question 18

Evolution through natural selection

Answer 18

Random mutation occurs which provides an advantage to an organism against a selection pressure. This enables them to live longer and therefore reproduce passing the advantageous characteristic down the generations. Over time this will reach the majority of the population

Question 19

Sexual selection

Answer 19

An evolutionary explanation of partner preference. Attributes or behaviours that increase reproductive success are passed on. This may explain disadvantageous characteristics such as the peacocks large tail

Question 20

Evolution and aggression

Answer 20

Males may be aggressive for two main evolutionary reasons: guarding your mate and guarding your offspring. This aggression enabled their offspring to survive and the characteristic was passed on.

Question 21

Evolution and aggression - strengths

Answer 21

Explains gender differences - males are more likely to be selected when aggressive and females when cooperative to help protect their offspring. Therefore males are more aggressive than females
Application to reproductive behaviour - partners are chosen in order to enhance reproductive success (fertile women and men that could support a child)

Question 22

Evolution and aggression - weaknesses

Answer 22

Impossible to test evolution directly - most research is correlational, meaning that we cannot draw cause and effect conclusions and external variables cannot be ruled out
Cannot explain cultural differences - Wolfgang and Ferracuti (1967)

Question 23

Wolfgang and Ferracuti (1967)

Answer 23

The Kung San people of the Kalahari discourage aggression from childhood and it is therefore rare, whereas the Yanomami view aggression as an accepted behaviour to gain status and therefore is common

Question 24

Freud - the unconscious

Answer 24

The part of the mind that we are unaware of but which continues to direct most of our behaviour. One of its key influences is in the origin of aggression

Question 25

Freud - the id

Answer 25

The id exists from birth and is contained entirely in our unconscious mind. It contains instincts and impulses that are socially unacceptable including aggression. It obeys the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification of its desires with no consideration for other factors.

Question 26

Freud - the ego

Answer 26

The ego is the logical, rational and mostly conscious part of our personality that begins developing shortly after birth. It is the interface between the unrealistic desires of the id and social realities, not fulfilling the ids urges directly but indirectly or symbolically.

Question 27

Freud - the superego

Answer 27

Fulfils the moral role and develops at around 5-6 years old. It represents our conscience and moral sense of right and wrong. It opposes the ids aggressive drive through guilt and shame when we fail to meet our moral standards

Question 28

Freud - catharsis

Answer 28

The process of releasing pent up psychic energy, it reduces the aggressive drive and makes further aggression less likely. Preventing catharsis leads to built up energy that will eventually produce a destructive aggressive outburst.

Question 29

Freud - catharsis - displacement

Answer 29

An indirect method of catharsis where aggression towards one person is directed towards somebody less powerful and more available

Question 30

Freud - catharsis - observation

Answer 30

An indirect method of catharsis where aggression is observed, for example in a violent film

Question 31

Freud - strengths

Answer 31

Explains different types of aggression - can explain both ‘hot and cold blooded’ aggression, through the id and the ego
Application to reducing aggression - catharsis can be used to prevent the build up of destructive energy, people can build into their lives harmless ways of releasing aggression

Question 32

Freud - weaknesses

Answer 32

Aggression is not cathartic - Bushman (2002)

Question 33

Bushman (2002)

Answer 33

Made 600 college students angry by getting a confederate to criticise an essay each had written. One group were allowed to vent their anger by hitting a punchbag whilst thinking of the confederate, they subsequently blasted the confederate with the loudest and longest noises compared to controls that did not vent anger

Question 34

Role of hormones in the body

Answer 34

They are biochemical messengers that are transported around the body in the bloodstream, affecting cells with specific receptors

Question 35

Testosterone and aggression

Answer 35

Animal studies have demonstrated that experimental increases in testosterone are related to more aggressive behaviour, with the converse also true (Motelica Heino et al 1993). Also human evidence (Dolan et al 2001)

Question 36

Dolan et al (2001)

Answer 36

Found a positive correlation between testosterone levels and aggressive behaviours in a sample of 60 male offenders in UK maximum security hospitals.

Question 37

Motelica Heino et al (1993)

Answer 37

Castrated male rodents, finding that the castrated ones displayed less aggressive behaviours

Question 38

Dual hormone hypothesis

Answer 38

Hormonal causes of aggression are more complex than the action of a single hormone, cortisol may also have an affect (Carre and Mehta 2011)

Question 39

Carre and Mehta (2011)

Answer 39

Claim that high levels of testosterone lead to aggressive behaviour only when cortisol levels are low. When cortisol is high testosterones influence on aggression is blocked.

Question 40

Dual hormone hypothesis - strengths

Answer 40

Popma et al (2007)

Question 41

Popma et al (2007)

Answer 41

Showed that direct physical aggression was only shown in adolescent males when cortisol levels were low

Question 42

Hormones and aggression - strengths

Answer 42

Dabbs and Hargrove (1997)
Application to controlling aggression - if aggression is chemically controlled then it should be possible to manufacture a drug that reduces aggressive behaviour

Question 43

Dabbs and Hargrove (1997)

Answer 43

Measured testosterone in the saliva of 87 female inmates of a maximum security prison. Finding that the degree of criminal violence used correlated with testosterone

Question 44

Hormones and aggression - weaknesses

Answer 44

Studies are correlational - therefore we cannot establish a causal relationship between testosterone and aggression (aggression may lead to increased testosterone)
Measuring testosterone - (Carre et al 2011) psychologists distinguished between baseline and fluctuating levels of testosterone
Ungeneralizable - animals have a different brain structure to humans

Question 45

Carre et al (2011)

Answer 45

Argues that baseline testosterone levels play a less important role in human aggression than in animals. Therefore studies may not be valid as it is very hard to measure fluctuating levels unless it is constantly measured, as it changes from one social encounter to another

Question 46

Raine et al (1997) - aims

Answer 46

To use brain scanning technology to identify brain impairments in people charged with murder that pleaded not guilty by reasons of insanity (NGRI)

Question 47

Raine et al (1997) - method

Answer 47

41 ( 39 men and 2 women) murderers and 41 non-murderers
IV - murderer or non-murderer
Matched pairs design used
DV - glucose metabolism in specific brain areas

Question 48

Raine et al (1997) - procedure

Answer 48

Participants were free from medication int he two weeks leading up to their brain scan and were matched for on sex, age and ethnicity with a control group, controls had a physical and a psychiatric interview, none had a history of psychiatric illness apart from six with schizophrenia that were matched for it.
All injected with radioactive glucose tracker, then completed a 32 minute continuous performance task. The scan took ten images through the brain 10mm apart

Question 49

Raine et al (1997) - findings - cortical regions

Answer 49

Murderers had significantly lower glucose metabolism than controls in the lateral and medial prefrontal areas, left angular gyrus, and left and right superior parietal areas.
They showed higher metabolism in the occipital lobe

Question 50

Raine et al (1997) - findings - subcortical regions

Answer 50

Murderers had lower glucose metabolism than controls in the corpus callosum, left amygdala and left medial temporal lobe.
They had greater activity in the right amygdala, right medial temporal lobe and the right thalamus

Question 51

Raine et al (1997) - conclusions

Answer 51

Murderers pleading NGRI had a different brain structure compared to a control group, including impaired functioning in areas previously identified as being involved with violent behaviour. However, dysfunction in a single brain area cannot explain aggression .
We should be careful in interpreting the findings as there are areas of the brain known to be involved in violence that were not scanned

Question 52

Raine et al (1997) - strengths

Answer 52

High experimental control - participants were matched, standardised procedures were used, leading to high internal validity
Application to understanding biological evidence - need to be cautious about biological evidence, treatments may not be justified as it is only a partial explanation

Question 53

Raine et al (1997) - weaknesses

Answer 53

Lack of controls - participants were not randomly allocated to each group, therefore there may be some confounding variables (history of head injuries in 23 of the murderers)
Inappropriate scanning technique - the canthomeatal line, along which they scanned the participants, varies greatly in individuals. This would make it hard to locate different brain areas in the study

Question 54

Brendgen et al (2005) - aim

Answer 54

The extent to which social and physical aggression are explained by genetic and environmental influences
Whether the overlap between social and physical aggression is explained by the direct effect of one type of aggression on the other

Question 55

Brendgen et al (2005) - procedure

Answer 55

Used a twin study design, 234 pairs of twins (44 male Mz, 50 female Mz, 41 male Dz and 52 female Dz, as well as 67 mixed Dz that were not used in the final analysis) from the longitudinal Quebec new born twin study, this collected data from the twins regularly from 5-72 months.
Teacher ratings - rated the social and physical aggression of the children on a three point scale (sometimes, never, often) to items such as ‘says bad things’
Peer ratings - each child was given photos and asked to nominate three that best fit a description of a behaviour.

Question 56

Brendgen et al (2005) - findings

Answer 56

Only 20% (teacher ratings) and 23% (peer ratings) of social aggression was explained genetically
Physical aggression was mostly explained by genetic factors and social aggression by environmental factors
There was a significant but moderate correlation between physical and social aggression
Higher physical aggression led to higher social aggression but not the other way around

Question 57

Brendgen et al (2005) - conclusions

Answer 57

Genetic characteristics predispose some children to aggressive behaviour, however the specific form of that aggression is influenced by the environment

Question 58

Brendgen et al (2005) - strengths

Answer 58

Researchers used ratings of aggression from multiple sources, both very similar increasing validity and reliability
Application to reducing aggression - can lead to effective intervention to aggression by reducing physical aggression in early years so that it does not develop into social aggression

Question 58

Brendgen et al (2005) - strengths

Answer 58

Researchers used ratings of aggression from multiple sources, both very similar increasing validity and reliability
Application to reducing aggression - can lead to effective intervention to aggression by reducing physical aggression in early years so that it does not develop into social aggression

Question 59

Brendgen et al (2005) - weaknesses

Answer 59

Equal environment assumption - genetic influence is overestimated as Mz twins are more likely to be treated similarly than Dz twins, this reduces the validity of the study
Secondary data used - may have been collected unreliably