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biological Flashcards

1
Q

what are the 3 assumptions?

A

evolutionary influences have a part to play in determining our behaviour

localisation of brain function

the action of neurotransmitters are all important

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2
Q

what did Darwin propose?

A

all species evolve gradually through the process of natural selection

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3
Q

how does reproduction help survival?

A

advantageous traits give a higher success at survival and these get passed down to offspring and they become more common in the gene pool

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4
Q

what are the 4 lobes of the brain?

A

frontal
parietal
occipital
temporal

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5
Q

give 3 words to describe the function of the frontal lobe?

A

reasoning
motor
cognition

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6
Q

give 3 words to describe the function of the parietal lobe?

A

pressure
touch
pain
(senses)

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7
Q

what is the function of the occipital lobe?

A

processing visual information

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8
Q

give 3 words to describe the function of the temporal lobe?

A

memory
language
communication

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9
Q

what is the name of the case study for localisation of brain function?

A

Phineas Gage

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10
Q

what happened to Phineas Gage?
how did his personality change

A

a metal rod was shot through his cheek and through his frontal lobe and out the top of his head. his personality changed from kind and warm to hostile and aggressive

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11
Q

what does the Phineas Gage case study represent?

A

that the frontal lobe is responsible for a change in personality

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12
Q

what are neurotransmitters?

A

chemical messengers in the brain

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13
Q

What signal sends an electrical impulse down the neuron?

A

action potential

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14
Q

Where are neurotransmitters released from and where are they sent?

A

from vesicles to the synapse

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15
Q

where do neurotransmitter go from the synapse?

A

pre synaptic membrane

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16
Q

what is the process of recycling spare neurotransmitters left in the synapse?

A

reuptake

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17
Q

what are the 2 neurotransmitters that can affect our behaviour?

A

serotonin
dopamine

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18
Q

what does serotonin play a role in?

A

sleep, mood and appeitite

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19
Q

what are the conditions relating to serotonin and dopamine? how are they caused

A

schizophrenia - too much dopamine
depression - too little serotonin

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20
Q

apply DRAINS to this approach

A

determinist
reductionist
has practical applications
nomothetic
nature
scientific

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21
Q

how is this approach determinist?
strength/weakness and why?

A

suggest that behaviour is caused by our brain, biochemistry and genes and these can’t be altered. we have no control over them
weakness - humans are sophisticated beings and are capable of exercising some control over behaviour and any theory which fails to recognise this is oversimplified

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22
Q

how is this approach reductionist? strength/weakness and why?

A

only focuses on one possible cause. e.g schizophrenia is extremely complex and can come from many factors working in combination. the BA explains this only based on high levels of dopamine
weakness - theories that fail to recognise that humans are incredibly complex and no one behaviour is down the the influence of one factor alone, are blinkered

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23
Q

how does this approach have practical applications? strength/weakness and why?

A

drug therapy - drugs such as valium have been developed to increase the presence of GABA (has a natural calming effect on the body), known to be effective in treating anxiety
strength - the approach has value in improving the quality of life of real individuals

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24
Q

how is this approach nomothetic?
strength/weakness and why?

A

view conditions as to come from the same cause in each person. failure to recognise any variation
weakness - the same treatment will never work for everyone suffering from the same disorder

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25
Q

how is this approach nature? strength/weakness and why?

A

focuses on the impact of one’s biology and ignores the influences of life experiences as a cause of behaviour. the BA approach to treatment = adjusting abnormal biochemistry instead of talking to patients about how they feel.
weakness - fails to recognise that human behaviour is influenced by both nature and nurture

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26
Q

how is this approach scientific? strength/weakness and why?

A

bio-psychologists can produce evidence to support claims about the origin of behaviour. methods of testing include; blood tests, gene mapping, brain scans
strength - using scientific methods is objective and not open to individual interpretation so the approach is harder to argue against

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27
Q

what are the 3 drugs used in drug therapy?

A

antidepressants
antipsychotics
antianxiety

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28
Q

what are the 2 types of antipsychotics?

A

conventional
atypical

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29
Q

how do conventional drugs work? what do they treat in terms of schizophrenia?

A

block the action of the neurotransmitter dopamine by binding to but not stimulating dopamine receptor sites
treat the positive symptoms (delusions and hallucinations)

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30
Q

how do atypical drugs work?
give an example of what they treat

A

temporarily occupy dopamine receptor sites then rapidly disassociate
reduce side effects e.g tardive dyskinesia (involuntary movements of mouth + tongue)

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31
Q

what are the most common antidepressant drugs?
how do they work?

A

SSRI’s e.g prozac
block the transporter mechanism that reabsorbs serotonin - more serotonin is left in the synapse

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32
Q

what are the 2 examples of antianxiety drugs?

A

BZs
beta-blockers

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33
Q

how do BZs work? what is the most common trade name?

A

slow down the activity of the CNS by enhancing the activity of GABA - reacts with the receptor sites
Valium

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34
Q

how do beta-blockers work?

A

reduce the activity of adrenaline and noradrenaline which are part of the fight or flight response.
they bind to the receptors on the cells of the heart which makes it beat slower and decreases blood pressure - make the person feel calmer and less anxious

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35
Q

what the an effectiveness strength of drug therapy?
what does this suggest?

A

Soomro et al. reviewed 17 studies of the use of SSRIs in the treatment of OCD patients and found them to be more effective than placebos in reducing their symptoms up to 3 months after treatment.
this suggests that drug therapies are a valid physiological method of managing the symptoms of psychological ill health

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36
Q

what is an effectiveness weakness of drug therapy?
what does this suggest?

not side effects and psychological dependance

A

it treats the symptoms not the problem. the symptoms are relieved only for as long as the drugs are taken.
this suggests that it may be preferable to seek treatment that addresses the problem itself rather than the symptoms

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37
Q

what is an effectiveness weakness of drug therapy?
what does this suggest?

not treating symptoms not problem or psychological dependance

A

many drugs used in drug therapy are associated with a range of side effects e.g. BZs can produce feelings of tiredness and sedation.
this suggests that there are negatives associated with being prescribed drug treatments that may outweigh their effectiveness

38
Q

what is an effectiveness weakness of drug therapy?
what does this suggest?

not side effects or treating symptoms not problem

A

drug therapy can lead to a state of physiological dependence. if the patient stops taking the drugs they can go into withdrawal syndrome and the symptoms include sweating, sleeping problems, tremors and raised heart rate
this suggests that the drugs should only be used for short periods to prevent one becoming dependent on the medication

39
Q

what is an ethical weakness of drug therapy?
what does this suggest?

not valid consent

A

the use of placebo medication. no patient should be given a treatment known to be inferior and if effective treatments exist then they should be used as a control condition when being tested.
this suggests that the patient’s wellbeing is not always the researcher’s main priority

40
Q

what is an ethical weakness of drug therapy?
what does this suggest?

not use of placebo medication

A

lack of valid consent. many patients may find it difficult to retain the information relating to side effects as they might not be in the right frame of mind.
this suggests that patients are unaware of the treatment they are entering and may truthfully not want to take part

41
Q

what assumption applies to the formation of relationships?

A

evolutionary influences have a part to play in determining our behaviour

42
Q

what can natural selection NOT explain?

A

why many animals, e.g. the peacock, develop exaggerated characteristics that appear to threaten rather than enhance their survival.

43
Q

what concept did Darwin use to solve the problem of exaggerated characteristics?
define it

A

sexual selection - the selection of characteristics that are concerned solely with reproductive success

44
Q

what are females and males in this concept?

A

females - selectors
males - compete to be selected

45
Q

what do males look for in females?

A

fecundity (ability to produce offspring)
physical attractiveness
youthful looks

46
Q

what do females look for in males?

A

emotional maturity
industriousness
ambition
older age
good financial prospects

47
Q

what did Davis (1990) find through his research into the ‘lonely hearts’ ad? (4)

A
  • women emphasise their physical attractiveness
  • men tended to indicate their resources and their desire for a younger, physically attractive partner
  • women were looking for ‘success objects’
  • men were looking for ‘sex objects’
48
Q

what is the classic evidence?

A

Raine, Buchsbaum and LaCasse (1997)

49
Q

what was the aim of Raine’s experiment?

A

investigate whether violent criminals had brain disfunction in these parts of the brain

50
Q

what method did they use?
what were the variables?

A

quasi-experiment with a matched pairs design
IV - NGRI or not
DV - brain activity in regions of the brain previously linked to violence

51
Q

what is a quasi experiment?

A

where pps are unable to be randomly allocated to the conditions of the study

52
Q

what is a matched pairs design?

A

where pps are matched in terms of key variables such as age or intelligence.

53
Q

describe the experimental group (murderers)? (4)

A

39 men, 2 women
mean age of 34.3 years
all charged with murder or manslaughter
all pleaded NGRI

54
Q

what mental disorders did the murderers have and how many were in each?

A

schizophrenia - 6
history of head injury/brain damage - 23
history of psychoactive drug abuse - 3
affective (mood) disorder - 2
epilepsy - 2
history of hyperactive + learning disability - 3
personality disorder - 2

55
Q

what is a control group?

A

acts as a baseline to compare with the experimental group

56
Q

how was the control group formed?

A

matching each murderer with a normal individual of the same sex and age. 6 schizophrenics were matched with 6 schizophrenics from a mental hospital. the rest had no history of psychiatric illness

57
Q

how was the sample obtained?

A

opportunity sampling

58
Q

what was used to study to activity of the brain?

A

PET scans

59
Q

what parts of the brain did the researchers say would be different in murderers? (6)

A

angular gyrus
amygdala
hippocampus
thalamus
prefrontal cortex
corpus callosum

60
Q

what parts of the brain did the researchers say would not be different in murderers? (5)

A

calldate
putamen
globus pallidus
midbrain
cerebellum

61
Q

describe what happened in the first step of the procedures

A

pps were given a chance to practice the CPT (continuous performance task) before receiving the FDG injection

62
Q

describe what happened in the second step of the procedures

A

30 seconds before the FDG injection pps started the CPT so that the initial task novelty wouldn’t be FDG labelled

63
Q

describe what happened in the third step of the procedures

A

32 minutes after the injection a PET scan was done of each individual, 10 horizontal pictures of their brain were recorded using the cortical peel and box techniques. the article provides precise details of the scanning techniques so that the study could be replicated

64
Q

why is it important that the study can be replicated?

A

so that it can be used with different populations in order to generalise the findings

65
Q

what areas of the brain of the murderers showed reduced activity? (4)

A

prefrontal cortex
left angular gyrus
corpus callosum
left hemisphere - amygdala, thalamus, hippocampus

66
Q

what areas of the brain of the murderers showed increased activity? (2)

A

cerebellum
right hemisphere - amygdala, thalamus, hippocampus

67
Q

what areas of the brain of the murderers showed no difference between the murderers and control group? (4)

A

calldate
putamen
globus pallidus
midbrain

68
Q

what were the areas that showed reduced activity previously linked to?

A

violence

69
Q

what were the brain structures that showed no difference in activity associated with?

A

mental illness but not violence

70
Q

what does less activity in the prefrontal cortex affect and what does that cause?

A

impulsivity, loss of self control, immaturity, inability to modify behaviour - cause aggressive behaviour

71
Q

what parts of the brain make up the limbic system?

A

amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex

72
Q

what does lower activity in the limbic system affect and and what does this cause? (2)

A

expression of emotion - causes abnormal responses
memory - hard to learn from experiences

73
Q

what does less activity in the angular gyrus affect and what does that cause?

A

reduced glucose metabolism - educational and occupational failure - could predispose to crime and violence

74
Q

what are confounding variables?

A

variables that affect the variables being studied so that the results do not reflect the actual relationship between the variables under investigation

75
Q

what variables may have influenced the results of this study?

A

head injury and IQ

76
Q

what do the results of this study not show? (2)

A
  • that violent behaviour is determined by biology alone, clearly social, psychological, cultural and situational factors play important roles in predisposition to violence
  • that murderers pleading NGRI are not responsible for their actions, nor that PET scans can be used as means of diagnosing violent individuals
77
Q

what are the strengths of the methodology and procedures of this experiment? (3)

A
  • don’t have to wait for people to die before examining their brain through a PET scan
  • scientific method that produces reliable results
  • researchers have total control over the procedures and have eradicated the effect of medication
78
Q

what are the weaknesses of the methodology and procedures of this experiment? (3)

A
  • validity could be questioned because of the general activity task
  • the study only shows a correlation not a casual relationship
  • PET scans are still being developed so data should be treated with caution
79
Q

what did Yang and Raine (2009) use and why? (alternative evidence)

A

meta analysis to consider both antisocial and violent behaviour

80
Q

what is meta analysis?

A

where researchers combine the findings from multiple studies to draw an overall conclusion

81
Q

what did Yang and Raine find?

A

there is significantly reduced prefrontal activity in antisocial and/or violent individuals

82
Q

what did Tiihonen et al (2015) do and find?

A

analysed the genes of 895 Finnish prisoners. found an association between this gene (MAOA) and an increased likelihood of committing a violent crime

83
Q

how does the work of James Fallon contradict the idea that criminality is genetic?

A

he analysed his own genes and found that he had the genetics and brain characteristics of a criminal but he wasn’t one

84
Q

what did James Fallon suggest?

A

that positive experiences during childhood meant that his potential criminal tendancies weren’t triggered

85
Q

what are the 3 ethical issues with Raine’s study?

A
  • lack of valid consent
  • possible psychological harm
  • lack of right to withdraw
86
Q

explain the lack of valid consent

A

the main group of pps were murderers who pleaded guilty by reason of insanity so they may not be mentally competent to give valid consent

87
Q

explain possible psychological harm

A

some pps may have found the performance task difficult which would potentially lower their self-esteem

88
Q

explain the right to withdraw

A

pps may not fully understand their right to withdraw at any time especially as they’re prisoners and they may have felt that they can’t simply say that they don’t wish to take part anymore

89
Q

what is socially sensitive research?

A

refers to any research that has consequences for the larger group of which the pps are members

90
Q

explain social implications in terms of an ethical issue

A

this study could be classed as ‘socially sensitive research’. for example, if we use PET scans to identify those who have the brain patterns of a potential murders this may mean people with the brain patterns who have not murdered may start to be treated differently or even be imprisoned without trail or reference to their social circumstances

psychology (8 decks)

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