Biological Flashcards
Outline principles that define the biological level of analysis?
INTRO
- There are a biological and physiological basis to cognition. Hormones, neurotransmitters, genes all play a role in behaviour.
- Bi directional relationship, cognition effects biology, biology effects cognition.
- Not good enough on its own, consider environment, nature vs nurture.
BODY
- The basis of emotions and behaviour are largely products of our anatomy and physiology.
PETROVIK ET AT (2008)
- Animal research can provide an insight into human behaviour.
MARTINEZ AND KESNER (1991)
- Human behaviour is to some extent genetically based
MINNESOTA TWIN STUDY/ BOUCHARD (1979)
Explain how principles that define the biological level of analysis may be demonstrated in research?
INTRO
- There are a biological and physiological basis to cognition. Hormones, neurotransmitters, genes all play a role in behaviour.
- Bi directional relationship, cognition effects biology, biology effects cognition.
BODY
- The basis of emotions and behaviour are largely products of our anatomy and physiology.
PETROVIK ET AT (2008)
Oxytocin changed the behaviour and made participants more trusting. This suggests that physiology can effect behaviour.
- Animal research can provide an insight into human behaviour.
MARTINEZ AND KESNER (1991)
Acetylcholine was injected into rats, and their response was assumed to be similar and representative of humans.
- Human behaviour is to some extent genetically based
MINNESOTA TWIN STUDY/ BOUCHARD (1990)
Intelligence appears to be a percentage genetics, and therefore genetics does influence how we behave.
Discuss how and why particular research methods are used at the biological level of analysis?
INTRO
- Psychology is a difficult science to be able to test, because we cannot see thought processes in the same way we can see physical ones. It is also not ethical to experiment on humans and therefore we have to use naturally occurring cases which many have extraneous variable that effect the results. This means we try and use lots of different ways to prove the same thing.
- Proving something is often very difficult in psychology, but we use laboratory experiments, case studies and observational (quasi) experiments to try and understand humans and their behaviour in the best way possible.
MAIN BODY
- Experiments
They are able to manipulate situations, and create an independent variable and measure a dependent variable. They isolate what you want to measure and are able to manipulate the situation almost exactly as is desired.
MARTINEZ AND KESNER (1991)
- Explain IV + DV
You needed to be able to use controls and manipulate the levels of acetylcholine, this could not happen in real life setting which is why experiments are useful.
When you are studying very complex organisms you need to be able to isolate one particular function so you can establish causation, this is almost impossible naturally which is why experiments are beneficial.
However it is highly artificial because most organisms will act differently when taken out of their natural environment. For example, rats will probs panic. Low ecological validity.
- Correlational Studies
You cannot control the independent or dependent variables, but instead it is the measurement of two or more variables and comparison to identify tends or co-varients or possible relationships. It does not establish causation but it can be the basics for future experimental research. A launching point for new experiments if you are allowed to do them.
MAGUIRE (2000)
Did not control whether they were a taxi driver or not, just measured naturally occurring things. This is why this method is useful because you cannot control the lives of the taxi drivers because it is unethical and not possible, and so this type of investigation allows you to see what is different.
It allows us, at the BLOA, to investigate things that would not be ethical to experiment on. For example genetic research.
However it cannot establish causation because there are too many other things that could have happened. For example, they could have become a taxi driver because they were good at it because of the grey matter and the grey matter could not be a cause of the driving at all. It could imply causation and therefore be misleading.
Case Studies
- This is a study of a small group or individual who possess behavioural characteristics relevant to the chosen area of research not necessarily used to generalise to a wider population. Data is usually qualitative.
EUGENE PAULY (1992)
Case studies allow you to investigate not having a hippocampus, you could not do this ethically as an experiment. It gives you extreme circumstances that you would not otherwise have.
However cannot generalise, so many extraneous variables.
Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the biological level of analysis?
INTRO
Psychological experiments often carried out on humans or animals can often be ethically questionable, depending on the participants. Due to the nature of Psychology it is often essential that the participants do not know or guess the aim of experiments in order to avoid confirmation bias. Therefore a key part of any experiment is deception however this brings many ethical issues as participants cannot truly understand what they are agreeing to participate in. Animal participants are often harmed, distressed or injected with different substances as a necessary process of the experiment. Many are often killed at the end. Therefore, psychology experiments, because of the complicated nature of psychology carry many ethical issues that need to be evaluated. It is often necessary to weigh up the ethical issues with the benefits or knowledge gained from the experiment.
Confidentiality and anonymity
- Especially important in genetic studies because genetic material could be released to everyone, this information could be used against a person, for example trying to get health insurance. Someone might be denied education because of their intelligence, some parents may not want their children to know they are adopted and it may be revealed.
SCARR AND WEINBERG (FIND DATE)
Animal Research
ROSENWEIG AND BENNET (1972)
The animals in this study were heavily deprived of nourishment, they lead horrible lives and were killed afterwards. You cannot ask for an animal’s permission. They cannot understand or communicate. They are sacrificed to understand humans, it is selfish for humans to take another race to understand their own.
Psychological harm and self fulfilling prophecy
- Especially in genetic studies - If you found out you were a less intelligent twin, could lead to rejection or emotionally damaging. If you found out your twin has an illness you may show signs of it too.
MINNESOTA TWIN STUDY (1990)
Gaining informed consent
NEWCOMER ET AL (1999)
They did not know they were being injected with a stress hormone and stress has been proven to be harmful to health.
CONCLUSION
- You need to consider the long term effects and implications for the animals and whether their suffering is worth the cost.
- Whether humans have a right to an animal’s life.
- You need to consider the effect on individuals and their families as well as ancestors and the rest of society.
- You need to protect the data
- Issues of lesioning studies.
Discuss ethical considerations in research into genetic influences on behaviour?
INTRO
Within the BLOA information on genetics can reveal lots about people and they can tell doctors lots about possible illnesses or mental illnesses that a person may possess. The diathesis-stress theory suggests that lots is predisposed in your genetics waiting for a trigger to be revealed. Psychological experiments often carried out on humans or animals can often be ethically questionable, depending on the participants. Genetics is a particularly sensitive topic as the release of this information could be emotionally harmful or hinder the participants in the future if it was used against them. Due to the nature of Psychology it is often essential that the participants do not know or guess the aim of experiments in order to avoid confirmation bias. Therefore a key part of any experiment is deception however this brings many ethical issues as participants cannot truly understand what they are agreeing to participate in. Therefore, psychology experiments, because of the complicated nature of psychology carry many ethical issues that need to be evaluated. It is often necessary to weigh up the ethical issues with the benefits or knowledge gained from the experiment.
Confidentiality and anonymity
- Especially important in genetic studies because genetic material could be released to everyone, this information could be used against a person, for example trying to get health insurance. Someone might be denied education because of their intelligence, some parents may not want their children to know they are adopted and it may be revealed.
For example when Henrietta Lack’s genome was released to the world after her death without the consent of her family.
SCARR AND WEINBERG (FIND DATE)
Psychological harm and self fulfilling prophecy
- Especially in genetic studies - If you found out you were a less intelligent twin, could lead to rejection or emotionally damaging. If you found out your twin has an illness you may show signs of it too.
This could also be a source of undue stress, knowing that there is a chance that you may develop schizophrenia like your twin. Another problem is that of undue stress or harm. When one finds out that his identical brother has bipolar disorder and that there is a high concordance rate for this disorder, this may lead to stress in the healthy twin. It may even lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy in which relatively normal behaviour is interpreted by the participant as “symptoms” of bipolar disorder. It can also lead to complications in diagnosis where, because of the earlier research, confirmation bias takes place and an incorrect diagnosis of bipolar disorder may happen.
MINNESOTA TWIN STUDY (1990)
Misuse of data
This could be dangerous in meta analysis for example when huge amounts of data is processed.
BOUCHARD AND MCGUE (1981)
The information could be used for market research. Data obtained from research should not be misused. (Genetic information was misused in Nazi Germany when physically disabled people were claimed to have undesirable genes and euthanized in an attempt to “clean” the population). This sort of misuse could happen again.
The complexity of interaction of genes and environmental factors is not yet well understood. This is one more reason to say that ethical considerations must be taken seriously so that new knowledge is generated to the benefit of all but it should be done without harming individuals or society.
Bouchard and McGue?
1981
Conducted a meta-analysis of 111 studies of siblings.
Investigated IQ correlations between siblings.
Found that there was a positive correlation between kinship and IQ correlation - the closer the siblings were, the more similar their IQ.
Evaluation of study:
- Large study, so generalisable.
- However, siblings are raised in the same environment, so influence may not be purely genetic, and it is difficult to differentiate between influence of genetics and environment.
- Also, age - the further apart the siblings in age, the less correlated their IQs are expected to be.
In order to investigate the role of genetics by itself, identical twins that are raised separately from birth must be studied. Identical twins have a 100% genetic relationship, but if raised in separate environments, any similarity (beyond that expected by chance) in IQ must be due to similarity in genetics.
CAN BE USED FOR
- The ethics questions, misuse of data.
Explain one study related to localisation of function in the brain?
INTRO - Localisation of function is the idea that different parts of the brain carry out different functions. When a behaviour is localised in the brain this means that it is possible to trace the origin of the behaviour to a specific part of the brain. - This is something difficult to investigate as the brain is so complex, and it is usually not done using experiments as these would not be ethically possible on humans. Therefore it is done with case studies, like the case study of UGENE PAULY (1992)
Aim: To learn about the nature of memories, how they are developed and the role of the hippocampus.
Background: At the age of 70 Pauly was diagnoses with viral encephalitis, he recovered physically but his cognitive impairment was very significant. He had lesions on his medial temporal lobe, and the amygdala and the hippocampus were destroyed.
Procedure: It was discovered that he could not form new declarative memories. The researchers interviewed, psychometrically tested him, watched him perform a few experiments where he could not recall a string of numbers but could remember events before 1960 very clearly, MRI’s were taken and it was noticed that the amygdala and the hippocampus were gone.
Findings: It was discovered that Pauly’s basal ganglia was intact, and he has past memories, and procedural memories, he could find the bathroom and where things were in his kitchen but if you asked him he would say that he did not know. He could tie his shoes but not form any new memories.
Conclusions: The creation of new memories must be solely dependent on the hippocampus. Procedural memories however make a transition and become a habit from involving the active frontal lobe to just the basal ganglia. So the basal ganglia is responsible for procedural memories, but the hippocampus and amygdala is responsible for new memories.
Squire/ Ugene Pauly?
1992
Aim: To learn about the nature of memories, how they are developed and the role of the hippocampus.
Background: At the age of 70 Pauly was diagnoses with viral encephalitis, he recovered physically but his cognitive impairment was very significant. He had lesions on his medial temporal lobe, and the amygdala and the hippocampus were destroyed.
Procedure: It was discovered that he could not form new declarative memories. The researchers interviewed, psychometrically tested him, watched him perform a few experiments where he could not recall a string of numbers but could remember events before 1960 very clearly, MRI’s were taken and it was noticed that the amygdala and the hippocampus were gone.
Findings: It was discovered that Pauly’s basal ganglia was intact, and he has past memories, and procedural memories, he could find the bathroom and where things were in his kitchen but if you asked him he would say that he did not know. He could tie his shoes but not form any new memories.
Conclusions: The creation of new memories must be solely dependent on the hippocampus. Procedural memories however make a transition and become a habit from involving the active frontal lobe to just the basal ganglia. So the basal ganglia is responsible for procedural memories, but the hippocampus and amygdala is responsible for new memories.
Using one or more examples, explain the effects of neurotransmission on human behaviour?
INTRO
- Nerve cells called neurones are one of the building blocks of behaviour, they control both voluntary and involuntary movement and thought processes. The neurone cells send chemical messengers called neurotransmitters from one neurone to another neurone across a synapse, to carry messages to the brain and other muscles so that we can respond to stimuli. Acetylcholine and Serotonin are two neurotransmitters thought to have an effect on behaviour, when they are transmitted they have a role in behaviour and emotion as well as just carrying messages and moving particular parts of the body.
BODY
Serotonin
- Serotonin is associated with sleep, arousal levels and emotion.
- As a neurotransmitter, serotonin helps to relay messages from one area of the brain to another. Because of the widespread distribution of its cells, it is believed to influence a variety of psychological and other body functions.
- This includes brain cells related to mood, sexual desire and function, appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, and some social behaviour.
KASAMATSU AND HIRAI (1999)
The sensory deprivation triggered the release of serotonin which activated the hypothalamus and frontal cortex causing hallucinations. The neurotransmitter caused a behavioural change of seeing ancestors and therefore this would suggest that neurotransmission can effect behaviour.
The sensory deprivation triggered the release of serotonin, which altered the way the monks experienced the world. These higher levels of serotonin activated the parts of the brain called the hypothalamus and the frontal cortex (the frontal cortex is responsible for imagination and logic). Thus this study shows that the neurotransmitter serotonin affects the human behaviour of arousal causing hallucinations, therefore effecting human behaviour in terms of arousal and emotion.
Acetylcholine
Acetylcholine is said to play a role in memory formation and is responsible for muscle contraction and the development of memory in the hippocampus.
MARTINEZ AND KESNER (1991)
Their memory got much worse, this shows that the neurotransmitter had a direct effect on a cognitive process and their ability.
Kasamatsu and Hirai
1999
Aim: This was a quasi experiment to see how sensory deprivation effects the brain.
Procedure: The researchers studied a group of Buddhist monks who went on a 72 hour pilgrimage to a holy mountain in Japan. During their stay on the mountain, the monks did not consume food or water, they did not speak and they were exposed to the cold, late autumn weather.
The researchers took blood samples before the monks ascended the mountain and then again immediately after the monks reported having hallucinations.
Findings: When the monks had gone 48 hours without food, drink or conversation their serotonin levels had increased in the brain and continued to increase until they ate and drank again 72 hours later. They had experienced hallucinations often seeing ancestors or feeling a presence by their sides.
Conclusions: The sensory deprivation triggered the release of serotonin, which altered the way the monks experienced the world. These higher levels of serotonin activated the parts of the brain called the hypothalamus and the frontal cortex (the frontal cortex is responsible for imagination and logic). Thus this study shows that the neurotransmitter serotonin affects the human behaviour of arousal causing hallucinations, therefore effecting human behaviour in terms of arousal and emotion.
What does Serotonin do?
- Serotonin is associated with sleep, arousal levels and emotion.
- As a neurotransmitter, serotonin helps to relay messages from one area of the brain to another. Because of the widespread distribution of its cells, it is believed to influence a variety of psychological and other body functions.
- This includes brain cells related to mood, sexual desire and function, appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, and some social behaviour.
What does Acetylcholine do?
Acetylcholine is said to play a role in memory formation and is responsible for muscle contraction and the development of memory in the hippocampus.
Martinez and Kesner?
1991
Aims: To determine the role of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine on memory, specifically memory formation.
Procedures: Rats were trained to go through a maze and get to the end where they received food. Once the rats were able to do this they were separated into three groups.
- Injected with scopolamine (blocks acetylcholine receptor sites)
- Injected with physostigmine (blocks the production of cholinesterase, which cleans up acetylcholine)
- No injection
Findings: The rats that were injected with scopolamine were slower at finding their way around the maze and made more errors than either the control group or the physostigmine group. The physostigmine group on the other hand ran through the maze and found the food even more quickly than the control group and took fewer wrong turns.
Conclusions: Acetylcholine played an important role in creating a memory of the maze and therefore it is important in spacial memory.
Criticisms
- Animals not humans
+ Control group and experiment so you can establish causation in the rats
- Did the acetylcholine effect speed or memory?
Using one or more examples, explain functions of two hormones in human behaviour?
INTRO The biological level of analysis states that physiology can affect behaviour, it is generally recognised that hormones have an effect on mood and behaviour. Hormones are a class of chemicals that effect behaviour. They are produced by glands that make up the endocrine system. They are able to regulate metabolism, growth, development, reproduction, sleep, mood, and sexual function. Hormones are chemical messengers and are able to control lots of your body processes, their concentration either increases or decreases the bodies functions. They are secreted by various glands and travel to their target organ in the blood stream. Oxytocin and Cortisol are particular hormones that are thought to have an effect on human behaviour.
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a hormone that is produced by the hypothalamus and released into the blood system by the pituitary gland. It plays a role in inducing labour contractions and lactations and is given its own name of the ‘love hormone’. It is associated with bonding between a mother and her children but also applies to other relationships. It appears to change the brain signals related to social recognition via facial expression. It is released in touches and hugs and is an effective meditator of human social behaviour.
It is thought to make people more trusting, and relaxed around new people, and therefore can be used to reduce anxiety this was tested in:
PETROVIC ET AL (2008)
This study shows that the hormone oxytocin can make people more trusting, this hormone and nothing else directly changes their emotional response to people showing that hormones can have an effect on behaviour.
Cortisol
Cortisol is produced by the adrenal cortex in response to stress and to restore homeostasis (the body’s normal balance). Chronic stress may result in prolonged cortisol secretion and this can lead to physiological changes such as a damaged immune system and impairment of learning and memory. This is because high amounts of cortisol results in atrophy (degeneration) or the hippocampus.
NEWCOMER ET AL (1999)
The neurotransmitter had a direct effect upon their verbal declarative memory showing that hormones can effect behaviour.
What is Oxytocin?
Oxytocin is a hormone that is produced by the hypothalamus and released into the blood system by the pituitary gland. It plays a role in inducing labour contractions and lactations and is given its own name of the ‘love hormone’. It is associated with bonding between a mother and her children but also applies to other relationships. It appears to change the brain signals related to social recognition via facial expression. It is released in touches and hugs and is an effective meditator of human social behaviour.
It is thought to make people more trusting, and relaxed around new people, and therefore can be used to reduce anxiety this was tested in:
Petrovic et al?
2008
Aim: To investigate the role of oxytocin in trust.
Procedure: The subjects were shown pictures of four different faces two of which were combined with an electric shock. Then as expected the faces associated with the shock were considered more unpleasant than the others. Then they gave half of the participants an oxytocin spray and half a placebo spray.
Findings: When the oxytocin group were shown the two faces again that had previously been associated with the shock they no longer found them disagreeable whereas those who had received the placebo still found them so. Using an fMRI scanner the team also found that subjects that became anxious when the two shock faces were shown had higher levels of activity in the amygdala and the ‘fusiform face area’ that process unpleasant and threatening faces. These activity levels then dropped when they were given oxytocin but not with the placebo.
Conclusions: Oxytocin can reduce anxiety and increase the chances of social contact for people with certain types of psychiatric disorder. Oxytocin also inhibits amygdala activity.
What is cortisol?
Hormone - Cortisol is produced by the adrenal cortex in response to stress and to restore homeostasis (the body’s normal balance). Chronic stress may result in prolonged cortisol secretion and this can lead to physiological changes such as a damaged immune system and impairment of learning and memory. This is because high amounts of cortisol results in atrophy (degeneration) or the hippocampus.
Newcomer et al?
1999
Aim: To investigate how levels of cortisol interfere with verbal declarative memory.
Procedure: A self selected sample (recruited through advertisement) of 51 normal and healthy people aged 18-30 was used. It was a randomised and double blind experiment. The test ran over 4 days and each day a participant would take a tablet. These were the groups:
- A high dose of cortisol (tablet of 160mg) equivalent to the cortisol levels in the blood as a result of a very stressful event.
- A low level of cortisol (tablet 40mg) equivalent to cortisol levels in the blood after a minor stressful event.
- A placebo
Findings: The high level group performed worse on the verbal declarative memory test than the low level group. However, the low level cortisol participants performed no differently to the placebo.
Conclusions: Excessive amounts of cortisol have a temporary detrimental effect on memory but small amounts do not. Memory does return to normal however as the volunteers memory returned to normal after the experiments had been done.
Criticisms:
+ informed consent
+ negative effects were reversible
