biopsych; evals- 2 Flashcards
strength of localization of function- Tulving PET
p- evidence from cog neuroscience has been used to support the theory
e-Tulving used a PET found there was activity in the left prefrontal cortex whilst completing semantic tasks, and activity in the right prefrontal cortex whilst completing episodic memory tasks
e- shows specific areas of the brain are associated with specific cognitive functions
-strengthened by use of PET high spatial resolution
limitation of localization of function- Sur
p- research by Sur has challenged the theory of localization of function
e-‘rewired’ the brains of ferrets so visual signals fed into auditory complex instead - ferrets were still able to process visual info
e-challenges the idea the specific functions are localized
- the info wasnt processed nearly as effectively- can therefore still provide research support since it shows specialization is localized
strength functional recovery- economic implications
p- there are economic implication into research into functional recovery
e- traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can leave people unable to work or look after themselves, as a result they can impose a cost on family members and society
e- as well as helping those with TBIs recover, research into functional recovery means that the affected individuals could return to work, or not need care anymore, meaning they are less of an economic burden
strength of plasticity- research support
p- there is research support for plasticity
e- draganski imaged the brains of medical students three months before and three months after their medical exams, changes were found in two areas of the brain associated with learning following the exams.
e- according to the theory, brains are capable of physically changing as the result of experiences, here, the experience of revising for their medical exams appears to have physically changed the brains of these medical students.
strength of hemispheric lateralisation- split brain
p-split brain research demonstrates how hemispheric lateralisation occurs
e- when split brain patients are presented with visual images to the left eye, they could describe what they saw, however when they were presented with visual info to the right eye, they couldnt, but they could pick a matching object
e- since the patients could only verbally report on what they saw with their left hemisphere provides evidence that language abilities are only lateralised to the left hemisphere
limitation of hemispheric lateralisation- generalisation
p- split brain studies into lateralisation have issues with generalisation
e-Split-brain research tends to involve small samples of participants who have undergone an extreme surgical procedure for severe epilepsy.
e- Generalising from these small and unique samples is difficult. meaning that split-brain research may not tell us that much how hemispheric lateralisation works in non-split-brain patients. Consequently, its findings on hemispheric lateralisation may lack population validity.
strength of circadian rhythms- research support
p- research by Siffre has demonstrated the main components of a circadian rhythm seen in the sleep/wake cycle
e- siffre spent two months underground, away from light, and found that his sleep/wake cycle only increased to 25 hours
e- this demonstrates the free running cycles of circadian rhythms- maintained the cycle without sun
- small sample size- not generaliable
-the lamp introduced a confounding variable that undermined the internal validity of Siffre’s research
strength of circadian rhythms- health
p- research into circadian rhythms have important implications for health
e-research into night-shift work found that shift workers are three times more likely to develop heart disease
e- shows how the disruption of circadian rhythms can be damaging to health. -economic implications- the health costs of shift-work will result in people becoming unwell, requiring expensive medical attention and/or being unable to work, rendering them economically inactive.
limitation of exogenous zeitgebers and endogenous pacemakers on the sleep/wake cycle- biological reductionism
p- despite the research support for the role of endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers, the argument could still be considered biologically reductionist.
e-biological reductionism refers to explanations in which complex phenomena are explained with reference to only biological components
e- the research into this topic could be criticized for being reductionist as it only considers one singular biological mechanism and fails to consider the other viewpoints.
strength of exogenous zeitgebers and endogenous pacemakers on the sleep/wake cycle -real-life implications.
p- research into the role of exogenous zeitgebers and endogenous pacemakers on the sleep/wake cycle has real-life implications.
e- sleep deprivation is a growing problem in the modern world, issues with sleep have been linked to every mental health condition, as well as a range of physical ones
e- research has helped reveal how features on the modern world are impacting sleep, e.g. blue light
-this research has also led to other interventions such as prescription of melatonin for those suffering from sleep disorders
limitation of post mortem as a way of studying the brain- correlation
p- main limitation of post mortem examination is causation
e-in these examinations researchers study the brain of people who had unusual behavior’s with hope of finding an abnormality in the brain that may explain their behaviour
e- the main issue with this is that correlation does not equal causation, brain abnormalities detected after death may be related to a third variable (e.g., another illness relating to another brain region) that might explain the association
-since post mortem examinations cannot study a live brain there are issues with attributing causation
strength of post mortem examinations- detail
p- one strength of post mortem examinations is they provide a detailed examination of the brain
e-they can access areas such as the hippocampus which other scanning techniques cannot access without loosing spatial resolution
e-they therefore provide researchers with a tool to form a detailed picture of all areas of the brain
limitation of fMRI- temporal resolution
p-fMRI has poor temporal resolution
e-temporal resolution refers to how quickly the scanner can detect changes in brain activity
e-the temporal resolution is worse than others, meaning researchers cannot predict, with a high degree of accuracy, the onset of brain activity
strength of fMRI- spatial resolution
p- strength of fMRI as a way of studying the brain is their high spatial resolution
e-spatial resolution is the smallest feature that the scanner can detect- fMRI scanners have a spatial resolution of about 1-2mm
e-this is significantly greater than other techniques, meaning researchers can determine the activity of different brain regions with greater accuracy- fMRI can specify the exact place in the brain where there is activity during a behavior
strength of EEG and ERPs- temporal resolution
p- EEGs and ERPs have good temporal resolution
e- temporal resolution refers to how quickly the scanner can detect changes in brain activity. EEGs and ERPs take readings every millisecond
e-this means their readings capture the brains activity in real time, this leads to an accurate measurement of electrical activity when undertaking a task
- examples; EEG- sleep , ERP- visual stimuli
