Biological Approach

Question 1

Name 2 techniques to study the brain:

Answer 1

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Question 2

What happens to the protons in during an MRI?

Answer 2

Aligns the protons, misaligns them, then realigns them

Question 3

What are hormones?

Answer 3

Chemical messengers passed around the body in the bloodstream, controlled by the Pituitary Gland in the Endocrine system

Question 4

What are pheromones?

Answer 4

Chemical messengers secreted outside of the body, in sweat

Question 5

What was the aim of Wedekind’s T-shirt study?

Answer 5

To investigate the role of MHC in the formation of relationships

Question 6

What was the procedure of Wedekind’s T-shirt study?

Answer 6

A group of female participants were asked to smell the t-shirts of 7 male participants. All participants were checked for the type of MHC gene they had. The males were asked to avoid anything with scents, such as spicy food, and were given odourless shampoo, body wash and doedorant. The females were asked to rate the scent of the t-shirts on a scale of attractive or not attractive.

Question 7

What did Wedekind find in his T-shirt study?

Answer 7

The women were more attracted to the t-shirts belonging to the males with the opposite MHC levels to their own. Possibly because MHC genes impact the immune system of their offspring.

Question 8

What are neurotransmitters?

Answer 8

Chemicals that transfer from the synaptic button of one neurone, across the synaptic gap and to the receptor sites of the next neurone.

Question 9

What are genes?

Answer 9

The basic physical unit of heredity.

Question 10

What did Caspi look for in his study?

Answer 10

Is the 5HTT gene linked to a the likelihood of developing depression after a stressful event?

Question 11

What was the procedure of Caspi’s study?

Answer 11

He looked at 3 groups of participants depending on the length of the alleles on their 5HTT gene:
- 2 short alleles
- 1 short, 1 long
- 2 long alleles
He then asked them about the frequency of several life events within a 5 year period to determine the role of the 5HTT gene and the stressful events.

Question 12

What did Caspi find in his study?

Answer 12

• 2 short: more depressive symptoms after stressful life events than other 2 groups
• 2 long: reported less than everyone else

Question 13

What is genetic similarity?

Answer 13

The percentage of DNA shared by two people:
- Monozygotic Twins: 100%
- Dizygotic Twins: 50%
- Adopted: 0%

Question 14

What did Hamer look for in his study of genetic similarity?

Answer 14

Why specific cancers occur most commonly in homosexual men

Question 15

What did Hamer find in his study of genetic similarity?

Answer 15

Homosexual men share a specific gene inherited from their mothers that influences their homosexuality

Question 16

What is sexual selection?

Answer 16

Specific traits that individuals have, which give them an advantage to finding a mate

Question 17

How is Wedekind’s study related to sexual selection?

Answer 17

Wedekind’s study investigates how the secretion of a scent gives them an advantage in finding a mate.

Question 18

What are the 3 processes of Neuroplasticity?

Answer 18

Long Term Potentiation, Dendritic Branching, Neural Networks

Question 19

What is Neural Pruning?

Answer 19

The reverse of dendritic branching, information is not used and neural connections are lost.

Question 20

What was the aim of Maguire’s study?

Answer 20

Maguire was looking to see how the brain changes its physical appearance when learning new information.

Question 21

What was the procedure of Maguire’s Taxi study?

Answer 21

Maguire took MRIs of a group of taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers. He then asked them to navigate their way through London using only a map. He then took MRIs of the participants after the experiment.

Question 22

What did Maguire find in his taxi study?

Answer 22

Maguire found that the posterior hippocampus of the taxi drivers significantly larger than the non-taxi drivers’.