Biological - Blakemore and Cooper

Question 1

brain plasticity

Answer 1

your brain changes and adapts according to what you do in life

Question 2

background

Answer 2

.Hirsch+Spinelli found they could change the way neurons in the visual cortex aligned themselves by controlling what kittens saw as they grew up
.Kittens raised to only see vertical stripes in one eye and horizontal stripes in the other
.when released they were found to have visual impairments

Question 3

aim

Answer 3

to investigate how being raised in a visually restrictive environment would effect the visual brain development of cats

Question 4

sample

Answer 4

kittens from birth - 1y/o approx

Question 5

procedure

Answer 5

.new born kittens raised in completely dark room for 2 weeks
.Then spent 5hrs a day in cylinder for 5 months
.it will only be able to see horizontal or vertical lines
.Wore black collar so they could not see own body
.After 5 months they were placed in well lit room with furniture
.They were observed here

Question 6

IV

Answer 6

vertical or horizontal lines

Question 7

DV

Answer 7

kittens behavioural consequences

Question 8

experimental design

Answer 8

independent measures

Question 9

controls

Answer 9

collar
cylinder
time spent in cylinder each day
age of cat
room after cylinder

Question 10

first exposure to well lit room

Answer 10

both sets showed visual defects
no reflex to hand being thrust at them
no visual placing
navigated room through touch - showed fear at ledges

Question 11

after 10 hrs

Answer 11

some defects start to go:
.visual placing
.startled response to hand
.easily jump from chair to floor
but:
.still bumped into things
.visual tracking clumsy
.depth perception not accurate

Question 12

did they see opposite orientation?

Answer 12

.2 cats showed perspex sheet with either H or V lines
.only startled when shown same lines as before
.same results when rod shaken in front of them

Question 13

visual cortex

Answer 13

.contains millions of neurons to create vision
.not everyone reacts to same visual stimuli
.some react to H, some react to V

Question 14

neurophysiological results

Answer 14

.kittens anaesthetised and neurons investigated (7.5 months)
.cats exposed to H lines had no V lines in neuron orientation
.cats exposed to V lines had no H lines in neuron orientation

Question 15

ethics broken

Answer 15

protection from harm (although no animals showed distress)

do the benefits of research outweigh the cost of harming the animal

Question 16

internal reliability

Answer 16

yes - controlled procedure, can be retested

Question 17

external reliability

Answer 17

no - doesn’t state sample size, only talks about 2 kittens

Question 18

internal vaildity

Answer 18

yes - high control level, results caused by conditions and not external factors

Question 19

population validity

Answer 19

no - may only work with one type of cat

yes - cognitive so is likely same for all species

Question 20

concurrent validity (internal) - multiple ways of measuring, does it lead to same results

Answer 20

yes - both measures (behavioural + neurological) showed evidence that H couldn’t see V and V couldn’t see H

Question 21

ecological validity

Answer 21

no - not natural upbringing

Question 22

conclusion

Answer 22

.neurons can change their preferred orientation according to the stimulation they receive

Question 23

animal protection guide for studies

Answer 23

animals only used if no alternative
reduce sample size when possible
avoid procedures with high levels of suffering

Question 24

Blakemore and Cooper defending ethics

Answer 24

couldn’t have used humans

designed to reduce harm

Question 25

links to debates

Answer 25

nurture
reductionist
socially sensitive
nature - neurons
psychology as a science