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Biological Approach Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the nervous system?

A

A specialised and complex network of cells in the human body.

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2
Q

What is the central nervous system made up of?

A

Brain and spinal cord.

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3
Q

Our primary internal communication system has two main functions, which are they?

A
  • Collects, processes and responds to information in the environment.
  • Co-ordinates the working of different organs and cells in the body.
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4
Q

What two main subsystems is the nervous system divided into?

A
  • The central nervous system.
  • The peripheral nervous system.
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5
Q

What is the structure of the spinal cord?

A

A tube-like extension of the brain, connected to the brain via the brain stem.

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6
Q

What is the spinal cord responsible for?

A

Reflex actions

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7
Q

What two near-symmetrical hemispheres is the brain divided into?

A

Corpus collosum

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8
Q

What is the cerebal cortex?

A

The outer layer of the brain.

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9
Q

What does contra-lateral do?

A
  • It’s the brain’s control of the body.
  • The left hemisphere controls activity of the right side of the body the right hemisphere controls activity on the left side.
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10
Q

What is the structure of the cerebal cortex?

A

It is about 3mm thick and covers the ‘inner’ parts of the brain.

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11
Q

The various areas and parts of the brain are often divided into what?

A
  • Cortical( belonging to the cortex)
  • Subcortical (below the cortex)
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12
Q

What are the subcortical structures?

A
  • Thamalus
  • Hypothalamus
  • Hippocampus
  • Cerebellum
  • Corpus callosum
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13
Q

What is the thamalus?

A
  • receives information from various senses and passes it on to the appropriate areas of the cortex for higher- level processing.
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14
Q

What is the hypothalamus?

A
  • Sits below the thamalus. Controls motivational behaviours such as hunger, thirst and sex.
  • Has a role in stress response though it’s control of ‘flight or flight’
  • Maintains balance of bodily functions such as temperatures (homeostasis) and regulates activity of hormones.
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15
Q

What is the hippocampus?

A

Part of the limbic system- important in the organisation and storage of new memories.

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16
Q

What is the cerebellum?

A
  • Means ‘little brain’. It coordinates posture, balance and movement.
  • It does this by receiving and integrating information from the spinal cord.
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17
Q

What is the corpus callosum?

A
  • Dense collection of nerve cells physically connects the two hemispheres below the cerebal cortex.
  • It allows communication between hemipshere.
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18
Q

What does localisation mean?

A

Certain areas of the brain are responsible for specific functions and behaviours.

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19
Q

How many lobes is the cerebral cortex of both hemispheres subdivided into?

A

four

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20
Q

What are the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?

A
  • Frontal cortex
  • Parietal lobes
  • Occipital lobes
  • Temporal lobes
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21
Q

What are the frontal lobes?

A
  • Located right at the front of the brain, makes up about 40% of the cerebral cortex in humans.
  • Control high- level cognitive functions such as thinking, planning, problem solving and decision- making.
  • Also, contain the motor cortex, which controls voluntary movements on the opposite side of the body.
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22
Q

What are the parietal lobes?

A
  • Contains the somatosensory cortex.
  • Processes sensory information from the skin (touch, temperature, pressure)
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23
Q

What are the occipital lobes?

A
  • Located at the back of the brain.
  • Contains visual cortex.
  • Deals with visual information.
  • Everything we see to the right of out field of vision (from both left and right eye) is initially processed by the left visual cortex before being shared (via corpus collosum) with the right visual cortex and vice versa.
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24
Q

What are the temporal lobes?

A
  • Contains auditory cortex.
  • Deals with sound information mainly from the opposite ear.
  • Process location, volume, pitch of sounds. Has a role in understanding language.
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25
Q

Is it true or false that Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area both language areas of the brain?

A

True

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26
Q

What is the Broca’s area?

A

Responsible for speech production- damage to this area causes ‘Broca’s aphasia’ which is slow, laborious speech lacking in fluency.

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27
Q

What is the Wernicke’s area?

A

Responsible for understanding language- damage to this area means difficulty understanding language and producing fluent but meaningless speech (‘Wernicke’s aphasia’).

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28
Q

A neuron is a nerve cell, true or false?

A

True

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29
Q

What do neurons do?

A

Carry “messages” or signals electrically or chemically.

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30
Q

What are the different parts of a neuron called?

A
  • Dendrites
  • Cell body
  • Cell nucleus
  • Axon
  • Myelin sheath
  • Nodes of Ranvier
  • Terminal buttons
  • Vesicles
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31
Q

What are dendrites?

A

Branch- like structures which carry impulses from neighbouring neurons towards the cell body.

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32
Q

What is a cell body?

A

Includes a nucleus.

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33
Q

What is a cell nucleus?

A

Contains the genetic material of the cell.

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34
Q

What is the axon?

A

Tube- like structure that carries the impulses away from the cell body down the length of the neuron.

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35
Q

What is the myelin sheath?

A

A fatty layer which covers the axon- it protects the axon and speeds up electrical impulses.

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36
Q

What is the Nodes of Ranvier?

A

Gaps in one myelin sheath- allow increase in speed of impulse by forcing the impulse to ‘jump’ across the gaps.

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37
Q

What are the terminal buttons?

A

At the end of the axon- involved in communication across the synapse.

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38
Q

What are the vesicles?

A

These are found at the terminal buttons and contain neurotransmitters ( brain chemicals).

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39
Q

What is the synaptic transmission?

A

A chemical process using biochemical substances called neurotransmitters. The synaptic transmission process starts with an action potential- the electrical impulse by which the message is passed down the axon of the neuron- which triggers the release of neurotransmitters from tiny sacs called vesicles.

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40
Q

How are signals within a neuron transmitted?

A

Electrically

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41
Q

How are signals between neurons transmitted?

A

Chemically.

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42
Q

What is the process of synaptic transmission in 4 steps?

A
  1. When the action potential reaches the presynamic terminal button, it triggers the release of neurotransmitters from tiny sacs called vesicles. (electrical impulses).
  2. Those neurotransmitters (chemicals) then diffuse across the synapse (chemical message)
  3. Neurotransmitters then fit into matching receptor sites on the post synaptic neurone (where the signal is converted back into an electrical signal)
  4. Neurotransmitters that remain in the synapse are reabsorbed into the presynaptic neuron (reuptake) which means they can be used again.
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43
Q

What are neurotransmitters?

A

The chemical messengers that act between the neurons in the brain.

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44
Q

What does noradrenaline affect?

A
  • Flight or flight response
  • Sleeping, dreaming
  • Learning
  • Attention
  • Emotion, especially mood control
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45
Q

What does dopamine affect?

A
  • Posture and control of movement
  • Dependency behaviour- addiction
  • Cognitive functions
  • Emotion
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46
Q

What does serotonin affect?

A
  • Mood control, happiness and good mood
  • Sleep, wakefulness
  • Regulates body temperature
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47
Q

What does acetylcholine affect?

A
  • Stimulates muscle contraction and key function in motor control and movement
  • Expressions of some emotions (e.g.) anger and sexuality.
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48
Q

What does GABA affect?

A
  • Gamma-AminoButyric Acid
  • An inhibitor that blocks messages rather than taking message on.
  • It calms nerves that are firing so producing feelings of relaxation. Low levels are associated with anxiety.
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49
Q

What are recreational drugs?

A

Drugs that are used in the absence of medical grounds but are taken by users for personal enjoyment.

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50
Q

What are examples of recreational drugs?

A

Caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, cannabis, LSD, cocaine, heroin.

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51
Q

Which pathway in the brain is associated with addiction?

A

The reward pathway ( the mesolimbic pathway)

52
Q

What is the mesolimbic pathway?

A
  • The release of dopamine in the pathway, causing us to experience pleasant and rewarding feelings.
53
Q

Where does the mesolimbic pathway originated from?

A

The ventral tagmental area (VTA).

54
Q

Where does the mesolimbic pathway end from?

A

The prefrontal cortex.

55
Q

Why has the reward pathway have an adaptive evolutionary function, that has helped humans to survive?

A

Because this has evolved- it is adaptive for us to feel good after eating high- calories food, (e.g.) as it ensures we store enough fat on our bodies in preparation for periods of famine.

56
Q

What does alcohol do?

A

Alcohol makes GABA more inhibitory and blocks glutamate. This particularly affects memory, decision making and impulse control.

57
Q

What do opioids like heroin and morphine do?

A
  • Heroin mimics the body’s natural opiates (endorphins), thereby increasing the release of dopamine.
  • Heroin creates feelings of sedation and well-being.
58
Q

What do amphetamines do like methamphetamines?

A
  • Amphetamines force the release of these neurotransmitters, can block reuptake and high doses inhibit their breakdown by enzymes.
59
Q

What does cocaine do?

A

Increases activity in the dopamine pathway by blocking the reuptake of dopamine.

60
Q

What does downregulation mean?

A

The brain reacts to increases in dopamine caused by recreational drugs by reducing the body’s natural production of dopamine.

61
Q

What does dependency mean?

A

Repeated use of the drug causes further down-regulation of dopamine production. The brain no longer operates normally without the drug. This motivates the person to take more of the drug.

62
Q

What does tolerance mean?

A

A higher dose of the drug is requires to produce the initial ‘high’. This is because repeated drug use causes greater down- regulation of dopamine.

63
Q

What does withdrawal mean?

A

When a use stop taking a recreational drug, there is a lack of dopamine in the reward pathways in the brain. More drug is needed to prevent unpleasant feelings associated with this, such as nausea and agitation.

64
Q

What are the four different areas of the brain that have been found to be involved with aggression?

A
  1. Prefrontal cortex
  2. Hypothalamaus
    3.Amygdala
  3. Serotonin and dopamine
65
Q

Where is the prefrontal cortex, what does it do and how does it link with aggression?

A
  • This is part of the cerebral cortex right at the front of the frontal lobe.
  • This regulates behaviour and governs social interaction. It gives us the ability to delay gratification of an impulse by inhibiting (supressing) messages from the amygdala.
  • Damage to this area often leads to problems with anger management, irritability and impulse control.
66
Q

What is the evidence used for the prefrontal cortex?

A

The case study of Phineas Gage.

67
Q

Where is the hypothalamus, what does it do and how does it link with aggression?

A
  • Part of the limbic system.
  • It maintains homeostasis (stability of the body) through the regulation of hormones, including those that regulate sexual function.
  • The hypothalamus is responsible for the production of testosterone (in males).
68
Q

What is the evidence used for the hypothalamus?

A

Animal experiment using cats. ( Flynn et al.1970)

69
Q

What is the study of Raine et al (1997)?

A

Looking for brain abnormalities in murderers indicated by positron emission tomography.

70
Q

What is the Aim of the Classic study: Raine et al (1997)?

A
  • To use brain scanning technology to identify brain impairments in people changed with murder who had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI).
71
Q

Where is the amygdala, what does it do and how does it link to aggression?

A
  • Part of the limbic system.
  • The centre for emotions, emotional behaviour and motivation. It integrates and external stimuli and every sensory modality has an input, which when combines gives us an instinctive feeling or reaction to the environment.
  • Has a central role in how an organism assesses and responds to environmental threats and challenges. The reactivity of the amygdala in humans is proven to be an important predictor of aggressive behaviour.
72
Q

What is the evidence’s for the amygdala?

A
  • The case study of Charles Whitman.
  • Animal experiments using cats (Bard, 1940).
73
Q

Where is the role of serotonin and dopamine (neurotransmitters), what does it do and how does it link to aggression?

A
  • Neurotransmitters
  • Normal levels of serotonin in the OFC (orbitofrontal cortex) are associated with a reasonable degree of behavioural self-control.
  • Decreased serotonin may disturb this and reduce self- control, leading to more impulsive behaviours.
74
Q

What is the evidence for the role of serotonin and dopamine?

A
  • Research has shown levels of serotonin breakdown product were lower in violent impulsive offenders compared to non- violent offenders.
  • Serotonin underactivity stimulates dopamine over activity, and both are linked with impulsivity and aggression.
75
Q

Procedure: who were the participants in the study of Raine et al (1997)?

A
  • The experimental group and the control group.
76
Q

Who was in the experimental group in the study of Raine et al, (1997)?

A
  • 41 members
  • 39 men and 2 women charged with murder or manslaughter in the USA.
  • Some had been referred to the university to be assessed for a deference of NGRI.
77
Q

Who was in the control group in the study of Raine et al, (1997)?

A
  • 41 non- murderers
  • control group all had physical examination and psychiatric interview.
78
Q

What were the results in the study of Raine et al (1997)?

A
  • There was no difference in the performance on the tasks between the two groups.
  • They found statistically significant differences in glucose metabolism in certain areas of the brain of the experimental group compared to the control group.
79
Q

What is evolutionary psychology based on?

A

The ideas of evolution by natural selection.

80
Q

What does evolution mean?

A

The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological over successive generations.

81
Q

What does natural selection mean?

A

Inherited traits that enhance an animal’s reproductive success are passed on to the next generation and thus ‘selected’, whereas animals without such traits are less successful at reproduction and their traits are not selected.

82
Q

What are the 5 reasons for aggression?

A
  • Gaining territory and resources.
  • Defence against attackers.
  • Sexual jealousy/ inflicting cost on same-sex rivals.
  • Negotiating status and power hierarchies.
  • Mate selection.
83
Q

What is testosterone and what effect does it have on behaviour?

A
  • primary male sex
  • high levels of testosterone increase aggression.
84
Q

What is adrenaline and what effect does it have on behaviour?

A
  • A hormone that your body naturally releases from your adrenal gland.
  • May start to feel irritable or unable to stay still.
85
Q

What is serotonin and what effect does it have on behaviour?

A
  • A chemical messenger involves involved in controlling your mood.
  • Low serotonin levels can contribute to depression.
86
Q

What is oestrogen and what effect does it have on behaviour?

A
  • one of the main female sex hormones.
  • need for puberty, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy.
87
Q

What is cortisol and what effect does it have on behaviour?

A
  • The primary stress hormone increases sugar in the bloodstream.
  • Low levels may increase aggressive behaviour.
88
Q

Why is testosterone a chemical that develops or maintain male characteristics?

A

because it’s an androgen.

89
Q

Do both males and females have testosterone?

A

yes but males have more of it.

90
Q

What does the antenatal (in the womb) do?

A

Exposure to testosterone has an organising effect on developing brain, leading to an increased spatial ability and competitive aggression.

91
Q

What are the issues with using evidence from animal experiments?

A

Not able to generalise study.

92
Q

What does Freud’s theory suggest?

A

that we have a conscious mind, a pre-conscious mind and an unconscious mind.

93
Q

What is our conscious mind?

A

We know about and are aware of.

94
Q

What is our pre-conscious mind?

A

Thoughts and ideas we may become aware of in dreams or ‘slips of the tongue’.

95
Q

What is our unconscious mind?

A

Biological drives and instincts which influence behaviour and personality.

96
Q

What is the aggression results from our innate drive (our biological drive)?

A

That we are all born with two innate drives which are the Eros (life instinct) and the Thanatos (Death instinct).

97
Q

What is our Eros (life instinct)?

A

The energy of Eros ( known as libido) is focused on the preservation and enjoyment of life. It is also sexual energy.

98
Q

What is our Thanatos (Death instinct)?

A

The drive towards death and destruction which is initially directed towards the self.

99
Q

What is our Id?

A
  • Operates on ‘pleasure principle’.
    Driven by our impulses or Eros and Thanatos- no though for consequence.
  • Origin of the energy that motivates all of our behaviour- including aggression.
  • Contained entirely in the unconscious mind- drives and instincts are socially unacceptable.
  • Demands immediate gratification of urges and desires.
100
Q

What is our Ego?

A
  • Works on ‘reality principle’.
  • Logical rational and mostly conscious part of personality- controls and delays urges of the Id.
  • Interface between the unrealistic desires of id and social reality. (e.g) expectation people have of you.
  • Mediator between Id and superego, reduces conflict.
101
Q

What is our superego?

A
  • Operates as the ‘morality principle’.
  • Represents our conscience and moral sense of right and wrong.
  • Superego opposes to id’s aggressive drive.
  • Punishes the ego for wrongdoing (through guilt and shame)
102
Q

What is one way we control the urges of our aggressions?

A

By using ego defence mechanisms.

103
Q

What are the 4 ego defence mechanisms?

A
  • Displacement.
  • Reaction Formation.
  • Denial.
  • Repression.
104
Q

What is Displacement?

A

Emotions are redirected from the individual who caused them to third party or an inanimate object.

105
Q

What is an example of a Displacement?

A

Someone who is frustrated by his or her superiors may go home and shout at their partner.

106
Q

What is Reaction Formation?

A

Denial of our feelings is replaced by the adoption of an attitude that is the direct opposite of our genuine feelings.

107
Q

What is an example of Reaction Formation?

A

Freud claimed that men who are prejudice against homosexuals are making a defence against their own homosexual feelings adopting a harsh anti-homosexual attitude which helps convince them of their heterosexuality.

108
Q

What is Denial?

A

Involves a refusal to accept reality, thus blocking external events from awareness. If a situation is just too much to handle, the person may respond by refusing to perceive it or by denying that it exists.

109
Q

What is an example of Denial?

A

A student may refuse to recognise their obvious lack of preparedness for an exam.

110
Q

What is Repression?

A

Unconscious defence mechanism employed by the ego to keep disturbing or threatening from becoming conscious.

111
Q

What is an example of Repression?

A

A young child is bitten by a dog while playing at the park. He later develops a severe phobia of dogs but has not memory of when this fear originated. He has repressed the painful memory of the fearful experience with the dog, so he is unaware of exactly where this fear came from.

112
Q

What is the Catharsis?

A

The process of releasing negative energy from the mind.

113
Q

What does Catharsis allow us to do?

A
  • Venting aggression
  • Letting of steam
  • Releasing emotions
  • Satisfying our violent impulses.
114
Q

Is it true or false that we deal with our aggressive instincts by redirecting them into other activities? If so list a few examples..

A
  • True
  • examples: playing video games, displacement of anger onto other people or objects, watching sports, watching violent films, taking part in sports.
115
Q

What is the experiment used to support the concept of catharsis?

A

Laboratory experiment by Verona and Sullivan (2008).

116
Q

What is meant by social aggression?

A

Aggression, characterised by socially manipulative behaviours such as ignoring others spreading rumours or making threats to withdraw friendship.

117
Q

What are the 3 aims of the contemporary study: Brendgen et al (2005)?

A
  1. To investigate whether there is a genetic cause to social aggression.
  2. To determine whether social aggression shares the same underlying cause (comes from the same source) as physical aggression.
  3. To find out whether one type of aggression leads to another type of aggression- specifically does physical aggression lead to social aggression?
118
Q

What were the participants like in the study of Brendgen et al (2005)?

A
  • longitudinal study, followed by the twins at 5, 18, 30 months and then at 4,5 and 6 years.
  • 322 pairs of twins (at the start of the study).
  • Of the 322, 237 were same sex-pairs.
  • Assigned to identical or non-identical categories based on physical resemblance.
  • 123 were DNA-tested and this backed up the assignments 94% of the time.
119
Q

Why is the Brendgen et al (2005) a cross-sectional piece of research?

A

Because it only studied twins at one point in time- during the final follow-up when the twins were six years old.
- At this point there were 234 pairs of twins left in the study.

120
Q

What was the procedure for the contemporary study of Brendgen et al (2005)?

A
  • Data was gathered in the spring term in order to ensure that the children all knew each other well. -
  • 409 classrooms were involved as not all of the twins were in the same class.
  • Written consent was obtained from parents of all the children in each classroom.
121
Q

From the teacher ratings what were the statements measuring physical aggression?

A
  • ‘hits, bites, or kicks others’
121
Q

From the teacher ratings what were the statements , measuring social aggression?

A
  • ‘says bad things or spreads nasty rumours about others’.
122
Q

From the peer ratings (sociometric data), what did the descriptors use to measure social aggression?

A
  • ‘tell others not to play with a child’.
  • ‘tells means secrets about another child.’
123
Q

From the peer ratings (sociometric data), what did the descriptors use to measure social aggression?

A
  • ‘get’s into fights’
  • ‘hits, bites or kicks others’
124
Q

What can we say about the role of nature when explaining aggression?

A

There is a strong genetic component to physical aggression because the MZ twins were more similar to one another, as they share 100% of their DNA.

125
Q

What can we say about the role of nurture when explaining aggression?

A

Social aggression may be better explained by the environment rather than genes.

Psychology A-Level (13 decks)

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