Biological Explanations: Genetic and Neural Explanations

Question 1

Lange date

Answer 1

1930

Question 2

Lange studied

Answer 2

13 MZ and 17 DZ twins where one of the twins had been sent to prison

Question 3

Lange - ten of the MZ twins had a co-twin who was also in prison but

Answer 3

this was only true for two of the DZ twins

Question 4

Crowe date

Answer 4

1972

Question 5

Crowe found that adopted children who had a biological parent with a criminal record had a

Answer 5

50% greater risk of a criminal record by the age of 18

Question 6

Crowe also found that adopted children whose mother didn’t have a criminal record only had a

Answer 6

5% risk

Question 7

Tiihonen et al

Answer 7

2014

Question 8

Tiihonen et al conducted a genetic analysis of

Answer 8

900 offenders

Question 9

Tiihonen et al found

Answer 9

two genes that may be associated with violent crime

Question 10

what are the two genes that Tiihonen et al identified?

Answer 10

The MAOA gene.

The CDH13 gene.

Question 11

having a weakness in both the MAOA gene and the CDH13 gene led to individuals being

Answer 11

13 times more likely to have a history of violence

Question 12

if genes have an influence on offending,

Answer 12

this influence is likely to be at least partly moderated by environmental factors

Question 13

a tendency to criminal behavior may come about through a combination of

Answer 13

Genetic predisposition.

A biological or psychological stressor or trigger

Question 14

antisocial personality disorder

Answer 14

there may be neural differences in the brains of criminals and non-criminals

Question 15

antisocial personality disorder is associated with

Answer 15

Lack of empathy

Question 16

many criminals suffer with

Answer 16

antisocial personality disorder

Question 17

Raine et al date

Answer 17

2000

Question 18

Raine et al found an

Answer 18

11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the in the prefrontal cortex of people with antisocial personality disorder compared to a control

Question 19

the prefrontal cortex controls

Answer 19

emotional behavior

Question 20

Keysers date

Answer 20

2011

Question 21

Keysers found that only when criminals were asked to emphesise

Answer 21

they showed an empathy reaction

Question 22

because antisocial personality disorder do show emotions

Answer 22

this shows that sufferers are capable of emotion but they have a switch which turns them on and off

Question 23

in a normal functioning brain, the switch is always

Answer 23

on

Question 24

Lange research was

Answer 24

poorly controlled

Question 25

most twins are raised

Answer 25

in the same environment so concordance rates may be due to shared learning experiences rather then genetics

Question 26

methodological issues such as confounding variables mean

Answer 26

twin studies of criminality may lack validity

Question 27

Mednick et al date

Answer 27

1984

Question 28

Mednick et al studied

Answer 28

13,000 Danish adoptees and criminality

Question 29

Mednick et al found that when neither the biological nor adoptive parents had convictions

Answer 29

only 13.5% received a conviction during their lifetime

Question 30

the percentage rose when either of the parents had a conviction

Answer 30

20%

Question 31

the percentage rose further when both of the parents had a conviction

Answer 31

24.5%

Question 32

Mednick et al percentages

Answer 32

Neither parents - 13.5%
Either parents - 20%
Both parents - 24.5%

Question 33

Madnick et al conclusion

Answer 33

the data suggests that both genetic inheritance and environment can influence criminality

Question 34

Madnick et al conclusion means that the results support

Answer 34

the diathesis-stress model of crime

Question 35

adoption studies are complicated by the fact that

Answer 35

many children experience late adoption

Question 36

some children taken away from their parents still remain

Answer 36

in contact with them

Question 37

because children can be taken away later and can still stay in contact with their biological children

Answer 37

it makes it difficult to assess the environmental impact that the biological parents might of had

Question 38

criminality is complex

Answer 38

explanations that reduce offending behavior to a genetic or neural level ignore higher levels of explanations

Question 39

crime runs in families but so does

Answer 39

Poverty.
Deprivation.
Mental illness.

Question 40

because things like crime and poverty run through families, it makes it difficult to

Answer 40

disentangle the effects of genes and neural influences from other factors

Question 41

because its difficult to disentangle genes and neural influences from other factors, it indicates that

Answer 41

genetic and neural explanations in isolation are too simplistic