biological psychology

Question 1

Description of the CNS

Answer 1

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The CNS is made up of the brain and the spinal cord
• Nerves in our body send information via the spinal cord to the brain
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The brain then processes that information and sends a message to the body through the
spinal cord
• Eg our eyes send a message about a car coming towards us, the brain processes how far away it is and sends a message back telling us to cross the road
• Different areas of the brain are responsible for different functions eg the hippocampus is important for memory
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The cells in the CNS are called neurons - these communicate with other cells in huge networks; neurons in the brain pass messages along through electrical impulses/ neurotransmitters
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Neurotransmitters are released and cross the synaptic gap to be picked up by receptor sites

Question 2

neurotransmitters

Answer 2

Neurotransmitters eg dopamine and noradrenalin are chemical messengers that act between the neurones in the brain; they allow the brain to process thoughts and memories as follows

Question 3

description of neurons and synaptic transmission

Answer 3

Question 4

messages - and problems

Answer 4

If the neurotransmitter fits the receptor the message is passed on, if not it is blocked (receptors act as locks) - receptors on the postsynaptic neuron are designed to bind to a specific neurotransmitter and when they detect it the neurotransmitter will be absorbed by the postsynaptic neuron - any neurotransmitters that are not absorbed by the receptors will be destroyed by enzymes in the synaptic gap or will be absorbed again by the process of reuptake

Question 5

examples of neurotransmitters

Answer 5

Noradrenaline - associated with emotion, particularly in mood control. Also involved in functions eg sleeping, dreaming and learning
• Dopamine - related to emotion and cognitive functions as well as posture and control of movement. Also associated with reinforcement in learning and dependency eg addictions
• Serotonin - most commonly assoclated with mood control, particularly in the limbic system in the brain. Also involved in many other functions eg feeling pain, sleep, regulating body temperature and hunger

Question 6

reuptake

Answer 6

A neurotransmitter that is not used up by the receptors is taken up again to be reused - it is absorbed back into the presynaptic neurone or broken down by enzymes. Re-uptake regulates the amount of neurotransmitter in the synapse. Re-uptake inhibitors stop neurotransmitters being absorbed into the next neuron and means the neurotransmitter will be left in the gap for the message to continue for longer.

Question 7

evaluation of CNS - strengths

Answer 7

PET scanning was used by Jovanovic (2008) to study the serotonin system of women and one part of her study looked at women with PMDD - she found women without PMDD did show differences in the synaptic receptors and provided evidence that synaptic transmission, involving neurotransmitters (serotonin) relates to mood, including depression. Therefore, Jovanovic’s findings suggest a potential link between alterations in the serotonin system and mood disorders,

some studies are done using animals, but human brain scanning has been increasingly used in research. e.g. Montag et al (fMRI scanning on gamers showing lower levels of activity in relation to pictures of negative emotion than the control group). therefore, this gives more scientific credibility and also shows how much video games can change brain activity leading to increased aggression

Question 8

evaluation of CNS - weaknesses

Answer 8

Allen and Stevens (1994) found that synaptic transmission regarding hippocampal neurons was very unreliable, with less than half the neurotransmitters arriving from the presynaptic neuron being picked up by the postsynaptic neuron - therefore, this shows that there are many factors at work in synaptic transmission e.g. availability of vesicles containing neurotransmitters

evidence about synaptic transmission isn’t generalisable. Many studies used animals where lesions can be made. Therefore, not representative to humans as human brains involve more emotional functioning and are therefore different.

Question 9

The effect of recreational drugs on the transmission process in the CNS

Answer 9

are chemicals and recreational drugs eg cocaine, heroin, cannabis, alcohol and nicotine that have an effect on the CNS - called ‘psychoactive’ drugs because they alter brain function which changes our mood, perception or conscious experience.

The brain contains a reward pathway which when activated causes us to experience a pleasant/ rewarding feeling. This encourages us to repeat the behaviour - which can lead to addiction.

Question 10

Mode of action at the synapse

Answer 10

Drugs act by changing the way neurotransmitters operate in the brain - most psychoactive drugs of addiction work on the dopamine system eg heroin increases the amount of dopamine in the reward pathways of the brain causing a feeling of euphoria whilst it lasts.

Repeated use of the drug causes further reduction of dopamine production which makes the person physically dependent on the drug to avoid the negative experience of withdrawal

Question 11

Cannabis

Answer 11

*There are many cannabinoid receptors in the hippocampus and taking cannabis can therefore affect memory function.- one type is found in many regions of the brain and the other type in the immune system

*Cannabis binds to the cannabinoid receptors, effectively blocking them; which means less activity in the neurons.

*However, in the reward system more dopamine is released, as happens with other drugs and it is this excess dopamine in the reward system that gives the ‘high’.

Question 12

Evaluation of the effects of drugs on the transmission process in the CNS - strengths

Answer 12

the credibility of pleasure centres in the brain is supported by Olds and Milner who stimulated a pleasure centre called the septum in the brains of rats using electricity. The rats behaved like drug addicts because they preferred the euphoria of the electric stimulators to other pleasurable behaviours. Therefore, gives more validity of the findings about why people get addicted to drugs

brain functioning can be changed by recreational drug leading to changes in mood and perception by changing the way the brain processes chemicals. The brain controls emotions, such as pleasure which lends credibility to the nature-nurture debate. Therefore, heroin clearly effects the levels of dopamine and increased the activity of reward pathways in the brain

Question 13

Evaluation of the effects of drugs on the transmission process in the CNS - weaknesses

Answer 13

drugs such as heroin cause can increase in dopamine in the synapse which boosts the reward pathways activity, causing the person to fell euphoric. It’s uncertain whether low dopamine levels lead to heroin use or if prolonged drug use damages the dopamine system. Therefore we are unable to draw cause and effect conclusions and that there might be other factors at work such as gentic factors.

studies used to test the effects of recreational drugs on the transmission process are usually tested on animals. Lesioning and ablations can be carried out but there may be differences in the functioning of animal brains. Therefore, the findings are not representative of humans as animal and human brains function differently

Question 14

structure of the brain - 4 components

Answer 14

Question 15

structure of the brain - description

Answer 15

The brain has two halves, joined by the corpus callosum - messages are able to pass through to either sides of the brain. If this area is split a person cannot link messages between the two hemispheres.

males are more brain lateralised, whereas females are more bilateral (females use both halves of the brain more than males and males are more right-brained dominant)

Question 16

structure of the brain - case

Answer 16

BRAIN LOCALISATION
Phineas Gage, a railway worked in the US - in 1848 an iron rod set off an explosive which blew the iron rod up through Gage’s face and out through the top of his head. He survived but for his remaining 11 years his personality changed. From being a reliable person he became irresponsible and aggressive which his doctor concluded was the result of damage done to his brain which had included severing his prefrontal cortex.

Question 17

3 places in the brain that cause aggression

Answer 17

Limbic system controls emotions and memories. this includes:

hippocampus- Short term memories are passed into long term memory via the hippocampus

Amygdala - controls emotion and aggression. The left amygdala links to a reward system and both positive and negative emotions, whereas the right is more linked to negatives such as fear and sadness. Linked to aggression as gives instinctive feeling or reaction to environment that includes aggression. Prefrontal cortex also connects to amygdala and it is this connection that may lead to the expression of aggression

• Hypothalamus - regulates eating and drinking and motivated behaviours - role is to maintain homeostasis through the regulation of hormones. Linked to aggression in males via the production of testosterone

Question 18

Prefrontal cortex

Answer 18

The prefrontal cortex is involved in aggression (and emotions) eg as found by Raine et al (1997) and brain scanning.canbe said that - Aggression comes from lack of regulation or control rather than aggression itself coming from the prefrontal cortex.

Has connections to dopamine and serotonin which related to emotions

The prefrontal cortex has links to the amygdala (from where messages are inhibited) and damage to the prefrontal cortex can mean not inhibiting such messages. The amygdala is linked to violent behaviour.

Question 19

Reine et al

Answer 19

Raine et al (1997) used PET scanning to show that people who had shown emotional impulsive violence differed in their prefrontal cortex compared to non-violent offenders eg lower prefrontal functioning compared with controls - couldn’t regulate behaviour

Further research by Raine on prisoners in New Mexico supports the structural explanation using brain scanning showed smaller amygdala were found in the reoffenders

Question 20

Limbic system

Answer 20

Includes the hippocampus, amygdala and hypothalamus and has a role in self-preservation eg by controlling temperature and fight or flight response.

Question 21

hypothalamus - research support

Answer 21

Delville et al (1997) showed that the hypothalamus has receptors that interact with serotonin that determine aggression levels. le low levels of serotonin (a neurotransmitter) is also linked to aggression- these and brain structures and functioning are therefore interrelated.

Question 22

Amygdala

Answer 22

In animal studies, if the amygdala is stimulated using electric current, the animal shows aggression - seen as evidence that an aggressive response is one role of the amygdala. If the amygdala is. removed, the animal becomes passive and unresponsive and doesn’t respond to fear (ie the opposite of aggressive).

Question 23

Evaluation of link between brain structures and aggression - strengths

Answer 23

Raine et al used PET scanning to show that people who had shown emotional impulsive violence differed in their prefrontal cortex compared to non-violent offenders e.g. lower prefrontal functioning compared with controls.
Therefore, brain structure gives evidence to show that some people may not be able to control aggressive reactions

The idea that there is a biological basis for aggression is consistent with the genetic explanation because our genetic blueprint builds our brain structures. This would explain why males across all cultures tend to be more physically aggressive than females. Therefore, people with a genetic blueprint for aggression would have brain structures that predispose them towards aggressive responses

Question 24

Evaluation of link between brain structures and aggression - weaknesses

Answer 24

brain structure as an explanation for aggression is reductionist. It reduces the production of aggressive behaviour down the other working of specific neural circuits and ignores other possible causes such as social learning. For example, some cultures show much higher than average aggression and other cultures much lower. Therefore, its unlikely that these differences are due to brain structure but caused by social learning.

brain scanning is reliable but lacks task validity as the scan takes place while someone is processing information doing an artificial task. Therefore, the results my not reflect everyday functioning

Question 25

the role of genes in human behaviour

Answer 25

Genes contain a set of instructions and are a carrier of information - genes are inherited with 50% coming for each of our parents

Question 26

genotype

Answer 26

The genotype acts as a genetic blueprint, determining an organism’s traits and regulating hormone production

Question 27

phenotype

Answer 27

what the person develops into through their genetic makeup interacting with the environment they encounter

sometimes genes do not influence physical characteristics unless the ‘right’ environmental conditions occur

Question 28

gender

Answer 28

Gender refers to how people develop and behave based on their biological sex and the influences of their surroundings and society

Question 29

sex

Answer 29

refers to biological aspects of males and females

Question 30

nature

Answer 30

the idea that our behaviour is determined by our biological makeup and therefore beyond our control

Question 31

nurture

Answer 31

the influence of the environment and experiences after birth on our behaviour

Question 32

Evolution

Answer 32

Evolution is how inherited characteristics in organisms change from generation to generation.
Explanations have included eg survival of the fittest and natural selection, gene mutation and genetic drift.

Question 33

Natural selection and survival of the fittest

Answer 33

Charles Darwin suggested that not all of a population of an organism would survive to the stage of reproduction - ie ‘survival of the fittest’ (he looked at finches and their beaks).

Natural selection refers to how some characteristics are inherited because they aid the survival of the organism so that there can be reproduction and passing on of genes, whereas some characteristics don’t aid survival in the environment so there is no reproduction of those genes and those genes die out.

However, natural selection only works if there is sufficient variation in the species for certain genes to lead to characteristics that help survival and other genes that do not. Although humans and chimps differ in only @ 5% of their genes but are considerably different.

Question 34

Genetic mutation

Answer 34

A permanent change in the gene sequence eg from a virus or damage due to radiation can affect an organism visibly, can occur with no obvious effect, or can prevent a gene from functioning properly. (can lead to a new species/change genes in a species)

Survival of the fittest is affected by genetic mutation as not only will those with the original genes survive if their characteristics suit the environment but also those with advantageous mutations will survive too.

Question 35

Genetic drift

Answer 35

When an organism inherits 50% of its genes from the mother and 50% from the father, there are chance factors involved in which genes are inherited - genes can ‘drift out of the gene pool that way

(ie 100% of genes are not passed on through reproduction, only 50% from each parent).

Question 36

Evolution, natural selection and aggression

Answer 36

Aggression may be something that led to survival in certain environments, eg aggression against threat in order to protect offspring. Aggression might aid survival of the genes if a male is aggressive to protect a female or their child.

Successful males would have been physically bigger and stronger. More capable of providing food and protecting their mates and offspring.

Successful females chose mates who provided good genes so big strong men were favoured - displaying aggressive traits. This theory would also suggest that females would be less physically aggressive as it would be evolutionary advantage for them not to put themselves and children at risk by engaging in conflict and hunting - this led to female aggression being less physically violent and more verbal and emotional in nature.

Males brains do have minor differences in structure compared to females, partially due to much higher exposure to testosterone before and after birth - these differences could link to typical male attributes such as aggression

Question 37

3 key factors - natural selection and aggression

Answer 37

JEALOUSY

Aggression towards another person threatening a male-female pair may also make sense in terms of evolution

LIMITED RESOURCES

Historically humans have used aggression to fight over limited resources such as food and shelter. Those who were successful- survived and reproduced. Behaviour could be inherited leading to such aggression would survive

BEING SEEN AS STRONGER

Humans who were aggressive and so seen as stronger in a social group would be the ones most likely to survive eg those seen as ‘higher

Question 38

Evaluation of the evolution explanation of aggression - strengths

Answer 38

research by Sadalla et al (1987) suggests that women are attracted to dominant behaviour from men. Interestingly, though, dominant behaviour may have enhanced their attractiveness, but it did not increase how much they were actually liked. Showing that its possible that mate preference is based on survival rather than happiness. Therefore, this supports the idea that aggression in men can increase their chance of reproductive success.

Can explain gender differences - Campbell
1999 argues a female with offspring is motivated to be less aggressive, due to the risks, however, are more likely to use verbal aggression as a means of retaining a partner and avoid becoming involved in life threatening situations.

Question 39

Evaluation of the evolution explanation of aggression - weaknesses

Answer 39

an aggressive individual might protect their offspring and so their genes but by being aggressive they may put themselves at risk by attracting aggression in others. Therefore, aggression can be seen as counter-productive in evolutionary terms

frustration-aggression theory (Dollard 1939)
offers an alternative theory. He suggested that if there us frustration eg due to limited resources and aggression can’t be displayed in a situation, he suggested that the aggression can be displayed onto someone or something else.
Therefore, aggression in humans may come from frustration from environmental influences

Question 40

7 key pts to do with the evolutionary theory of aggression

Answer 40

co-opting the resources of others

defending against attack

inflicting costs of same-sex rivals

negotiating status and power hierarchy’s

deterring rivals from future aggression

deterring mates from sexual infidelity

reducing resources expended on genetically unrelated children

Question 41

The role of hormones to explain behaviour such as aggression

Answer 41

Hormones are chemical messengers in the body - they are produced in the endocrine system (glands eg pituitary, thyroid, testes and ovaries) and travel in the bloodstream and therefore take more time than neurotransmitters to relay messages and work over a longer time period.
Hormones have different roles eg. affecting metabolism, mood, stress, sleep, breathing and temperature, reproduction and growth and development - ie they regulate physiology and behaviour.

Behaviour is affected by hormones based on when they are released, how they are received at the cell level and the receptors reached, and also how concentrated they are.
The environment can also affect the release of hormones, such as in a stress situation or depending on the light in the environment.

Question 42

hormones and aggression - et al

Answer 42

Dabbs et al (1987) measured the level of testosterone in the saliva of 89 male prisoners involved in violent and non-violent crime and found testosterone to be higher in those who had been involved in violent crime - those with high levels of testosterone were rated by their peers as being tough suggesting testosterone links to aggressive behaviour. (In other research he also found that males and females with higher levels of aggression were more more likely to have high-status jobs and that males with more testosterone had less friendly smiles.)

Question 43

Serotonin-aggression hypothesis - et al

Answer 43

Duke et al (2013) carried out a meta-analysis into the role of serotonin (a neurotransmitter) and aggression - they found that there was an inverse relationship between serotonin and aggression (le the lower the level of serotonin, the more the aggression). As serotonin is a ‘feel good’ neurotransmitter it makes sense that lower levels lead to aggressive response

HOWEVER - they found environmental and personality factors and complexity in how serotonin affects brain functioning

Question 44

Evaluation of the role of hormones in aggression - strengths

Answer 44

Dabbs et al measured the level of testosterone in the saliva of 89 male prisoners involved in violent and non-violent crime and found testosterone to be higher in those who had been involved in violent crime. Those with high levels of testosterone were rated by their peers as being tough. Therefore, this explains that testosterone has a link to aggression

Wagner et al. (1979) castrated mice and observed that aggression levels dropped. When the castrated mice are iniected with testosterone, their aggression levels (measured by biting attacks on other mice) rose back to pre-castration levels. This clearly suggests that testosterone is a cause of aggression in mice and may cause aggression in humans too.

Question 45

Evaluation of the role of hormones in aggression - weaknesses

Answer 45

some supporting studies eg Wagner et al aren’t generalisable to humans as they use animals. For example, Animals may respond to hormones differently than humans due to species variations in physiology, metabolism. Studies suggest hormones and aggression are linked, however, the environment can lead to the release of hormones (such as a stressor in the environment) and to aggression and studies of animals are likely to be in an unnatural environment. Therefore, not representative of humans.

in humans, data tends to be correlation data which means cause and effect conclusions can’t be drawn because a relationship is found e.g. it is not known whether a variable other than stress, cortisol and aggression causes both stress and aggression. It is also not known whether stress causes aggression or aggression causes stress. Therefore, the lack of cause and effect conclusions reduces credibility in findings for the role of hormones in aggression

Question 46

Freud’s key assumptions

Answer 46

The first 5 years of life are the most important time for forming a personality - unresolved issues in those years affect development
• Development occurs through stages that all children pass through. In the first 5 years there are 3 psychosexual stages - if the child resolves any issues that arise during those stages then the child will develop a stable personality and be able to form good adult relationships.
• The importance of the unconscious - Freud believed this was the largest and most powerful part of the mind but also almost inaccessible
• Everyone has an amount of energy that does not decrease or increase and some of the energy is libido (sexual energy). It is a theory of the mind and a theory of instinctive energy and innate (inborn) drives. His theory also includes the death instinct.

Question 47

ice berg

Answer 47

The conscious holds the thoughts, ideas and emotions and other aspects of thinking of which the person is aware

• The preconscious holds thoughts and ideas which can be accessed and are ready to be known about eg memories which are accessible not repressed though not in the conscious mind at the moment

• The unconscious mind is the main part and from where all thoughts originate, with some becoming conscious and some being allowed into the preconscious. Freud suggested we don’t repress thoughts in a considered way but on an unconscious level - he believed what is in the unconscious mind uses up our energy and affects us. He believed it is only accessible through eg free association, slips of the tongue, dream analysis and symbol analysis.

Question 48

Life and death instincts

Answer 48

Eros (life instinct) - an instinct for both self-preservation and sexual energy - urges and wishes from this in the unconscious lead to arousal and one of our drives is to reduce arousal

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Thanatos (death instinct) - our drive to reduce arousal, reduce life, so is a death instinct. It provides energy for the ego to inhibit the sexual instinct. With aggression, the death instinct is channelled into something more productive eg sport

catharsis - working with eros to be aggressive in a controlled way and so preventing aggression as inappropriate behaviour

Question 49

The three parts of the personality

Answer 49

Id- the part of the personality we are born with - it is the demanding part (I want) and demands to be satisfied. It is unconscious in that the demands are not conscious and works on the pleasure principle

Ego - the rational part of the personality working on reality principles and tries to obtain for the id what the id wants to satisfy the person. It develops from around 18 months

Superego - develops during the phallic stage at around age 4 and works on the morality principle. It is made up of the conscience, given to individuals by their parents and by society indicating what is right and wrong and the ego ideal the idea people have of what they should be like, also given by parents and society). It is the ‘you can’t have’ part of the personality

Any issues in the development of either the ego or the superego could result in problems in managing the impulsive urges of the id and therefore aggressive behaviour could be frequent

Question 50

Freud and aggression

Answer 50

Freud’s theory often focuses on aggression eg the jealousy of a boy towards his father for getting in the way of the boy’s feelings for his mother. Little Hans (one of his case studies) focused on a young boy who showed aggression, including towards his father, when issues around his mother and his feelings for his mother were discussed.

For Freud, the main drives are the libido, the sex drive and self-preservation. - life and death instinct. These drives are unconscious and Freud thought they related to the drive to back to before being born

Freud thought that frustration - not getting something that leads to pleasure - is what leads to aggression.

In Freud’s theory, aggression is linked to the superego (the conscience of the child) - the child unconsciously feels aggression towards the parents as they prevent things that will give the child pleasure (demands from the id) and the aggression is caught up with the superego as the child loves his parents and so can’t direct the aggression at them so it is taken into the child’s superego

Question 51

catharsis

Answer 51

Catharsis has been said to be a way of venting aggression eg by watching aggression on TV or by watching other people be aggressive. People can also play sport which is aggressive in ‘permitted’ ways.

Catharsis might be releasing actual stress in a physical sense, eg dealing with the fight response, or releasing emotions, eg anger.

Freud’s theory focuses on emotions, thoughts and anger - he believed aggression can be internal.

Question 52

Evaluation of Freud’s theory and the psychodynamic approach to aggression - strengths

Answer 52

Freud’s ideas about treating mental health problems and addressing neuroses provided solutions that at the time were unavailable.By exploring the unconscious mind and using techniques like talk therapy, it helped people express and understand their emotions. Therefore, his approach not only filled a gap in mental health treatment but also set the stage for a more comprehensive therapeutic approach.

his case study on little hans has ecological validity. His case study (little hans) focused on a young boy who showed aggression, including towards his farther, when issues around his mother were discussed. Little hands was observed in his everyday life in his home by his father. therefore, the results would represent real life behaviour and situations making it more vaid.

Question 53

Evaluation of Freud’s theory and the psychodynamic approach to aggression - weaknesses

Answer 53

However studies ee.g. Bandura have shown that watching aggression tnds to make someone feel more aggressive (same-sex models). therefore we are unsure whether expressing aggression in sport or watching aggression in sport is cathartic or whether it builds more aggression

The case studies eg Little Hans involved, his father interpreting his behaviour to send to Freud. therefore, the results were subjective, and could be manipulated to show what Freud wanted to prove

Question 54

Comparison of Psychodynamic and Biological ideas about aggression - strengths

internal/ external structures and features

Answer 54

Psychodynamic focuses on internal aggression in the form of unconscious thoughts and desires generating frustration and therefore aggression and on internal factors released by aggression - the cathartic process

• Biological also focuses on internal mechanisms eg brain structure and functioning

Question 55

Comparison of Psychodynamic and Biological ideas about aggression - weaknesses

Answer 55

However biological looks at measurable physical structures in the brain and actual brain functioning whereas psychodynamic considers a model rather than ‘reality’ in claiming our mind is not accessible and our conscious mind is comparatively small and not physical

‘reality’ in claiming our mind is not accessible and our conscious mind is comparatively smal and not physical

Question 56

Biological evidence - strength

Answer 56

• Brain scanning has shown that the biological approach does seem to tie in with the psychodynamic eg the limbic system is used for emotions such as aggression and not for planning and conscious thought so perhaps that is the unconscious suggested by Freud

• Up to age 3 a child is thought not to have developed thinking capacity but focuses on the right-brain features of thinking which involve emotions such as aggression more than rational thought - this could be evidence that a young child is all ‘id’ and the ego starts to develop at toddler stage with the superego not far behind

Question 57

Scientific credibility - weakness

Answer 57

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The psychodynamic approach found its evidence for aggression in Freud’s case studies of people who had mental health issues - case studies use unique individuals and it’s hard to generalise from such data. Freud’s theories are therefore difficult to replicate and validity is questioned as the theory requires subjective interpretation from the researcher

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However biological psychology draws on scientific methods looking at the physical and measurable causes of aggression using eg brain scanning and animal studies - these have careful controls, are replicable, and have more scientific credibility

Question 58

Nature nurture - strength

Answer 58

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Both suggest that a person becomes aggressive due to internal factors beyond external control eg the role of genes and brain function (biological) and the role of personality factors such as id, ego and superego which are naturally occurring elements of personality dependent on maturation (Freud).

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Both explanations would also suggest that the development of aggression is not completely determined by nature eg brain damage can be caused by external factors such as abuse in childhood or accident and the way that genes are expressed can be affected by the environment a child is raised in - ie nurture also plays a role. Freud also believed that development of the id, ego and superego could be affected by events that occurred in the first six years of life whilst the personality was maturing

Question 59

General - strengths

Answer 59

• The psychodynamic approach suggests displays of aggression release tension and desires and thoughts from the unconscious and releasing them frees the person from such ideas holding them back. The idea is that aggression eg in sport is cathartic

• This is similar to the biological explanation where the ‘release of tension’ can be seen as a release at a biological level, perhaps releasing stress so that the alarm reaction can settle back into a resting state using the parasympathetic part of the nervous system

Question 60

General - weaknesses

Answer 60

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However, the psychodynamic approach discusses the role of the unconscious and drives in aggression, whereas the biological looks for the actual structure that is involved - ie psychodynamic is about the emotional part of us and the biological about the physical

Question 61

correlation studies - strengths

Answer 61

simple and objective way to describe the strength of a relationship between two variables. e.g expressing relationship between testosterone and aggression. Therefore is useful in trying to understand the reasons why some people have a high levels of aggression, and whether some variables have a stronger relationship with aggression than others

can provide information about the strength and direction of relationships between variables. For example, the spearman’s statistical test shows whether there is a significant relationship between two things like increased testosterone and increased aggression. Therefore, this is useful as it can inform further research and theory developments.

Question 62

correlation studies - weaknesses

Answer 62

do not establish a cause-and-effect relationship, only measures the degree of relationship between variables and not where the one has caused the other. e.g. A correlation coefficient of 0.8 when studying aggression, and MZ twins suggests that aggression is genetic - however, family can share a similar environments and experiences. therefore any correlation may be due to another variable such as a shared environment which makes this type of study less useful.

only indicate a potential relationship but doesn’t show that one of the variables depends on the other or the cause. For example, whether being stressed causes aggression or vice versa.
Therefore, cause and effect conclusions cannot be drawn, meaning research does not have as much validity as its only a potential relationship