Biological approaches to behaviour Flashcards
Localization
A concept of the association of psychological functions with particular structures in the brain
What year is Broca’s study?
1961
Broca’s aim?
To investigate the concept of localization of function in a patient “Tan”
Broca’s sample?
Tan: a person who had aphasia + a distinct lesion in posterior inferior frontal gyrus on left frontal lobe (responsible for speech production)
Broca’s method + procedure
Case study + fMRI and autopsy on Tan’s brain
Broca’s findings
Tan was unable to communicate, instead, he was only able to pronounce “Tan” however he was able to understand everything said to him
Broca’s evaluation
+ non-invasive procedures (fMRI scan)
+ given consent form “Tan’s” family
- Lack of applicability as it’s a case study
- No causation relationship, only correlational
- Lack generalization
- Low ecological validity
Broca’s use
o Ethics (got consent from their family) o Research method (case studies) o Localization
H.M Milner’s year
1966
Milner’s aim
to better understand the effects that the surgery had had on patient HM
Milner’s sample
H.M (suffered from severe seizures => medial temporal lobe + hippocampus region got removed
Milner’s findings
o H.M was unable to acquire new episodic memory of events and semantic knowledge about the world.
o Unable to transfer knowledge from STM to LTM
o Hippocampus area is responsible of the formation of memories
o H.M still retained procedural memories (i.e how to ride a bike)
Milner’s evaluation
+ provided detailed qualitative information and insight
+ permitting research on unethical situation
+ high ecological validity (no variables were manipulated and HM was observed in his natural environment)
- unable to generalize the results
- difficult to replicate the procedures
- researcher bias
- time-consuming
Milner’s use
o Ethics (consent, confidentiality, and protection from harm) o Research method (longitudinal case studies) o Localization o Multi-store memory model
Neuroplasticity
the brain’s ability to adapt by forming new connections as a result of experience, learning, or following an injury
Maguire et al year
2000
Maguire et al’s aim
to investigate the difference in brain structure between black cab London taxi drivers and normal people who had no prior experience of driving taxi
Maguire et al’s sample
16 right-handed male drivers (avg. exp of 14.3 years) + 50 right-handed male drivers
Maguire et al’s method + procedure
Correlational study with quais-experiment; double-blind.
Used MRI scans and had one person/ researcher analyze them using two methods; pixel counting and voxel-based morphometry (VBM)
Maguire et al’s findings
o there’s a positive correlation between driving experience and the volume of the grey matter of the hippocampus
o grey matter distributed from anterior (learning new spacial information) to posterior (using information) as driving experience increased