Biopsychology

Question 1

Describe the human nervous system

Answer 1

It is split into the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (sends info to the CNS from the external world and transmits messages from the cns to muscles and glands)

Question 2

Describe the peripheral nervous system

Answer 2

It’s split into the autonomic nervous system (involuenttary transimittion of infomation to internal body organs) and the somatic nervous system (transmits infomation from receptor cells to the cns and controls muscle movement)

Question 3

Describe the autonomic nervous system

Answer 3

split into the sympatheic nevrous system ( activates internal organs for vigourous activity and emergancies) and the prasympathetic nervous system ( controls the relaxed state)

Question 4

describe the steps of the fight or flight response

Answer 4

1) hypothalamus notices threat
2) ans activates sympathetic nervous system
3) sns tells piturity gland to release adrenaline
4) travels via blood and targets organs with receptors
5) causes physical aurousal
6) threat passes parasympathetic brings back to relaxed state

Question 5

Evaluate fight or flight
(freeze)

Answer 5

P- suggested freeze response
E- Gray (1988) suggests freeze is our initial response to danger
E- during this response we are hyper vigilant whilst deciding the best course of action
I- doesn’t explain all outcomes

Question 6

Evaluate fight or flight
( befriend)

Answer 6

P- new evidence women tend and befriend
E-taylor et al found women protect offspring and form alliances rather than fight
E- typically a male response

Question 7

Evaluate fight or flight
(Beta bias)

Answer 7

P- early reasearch done on males. Androcentrism
E- assumed could be generalised for women
E- example of beta bias reducing explanatory power
I- shows it can’t be applied to all

Question 8

Evaluate fight or flight
(maladaptive)

Answer 8

P- everyday stressor can activate it
E- ppl facing a lot of stress continually increase blood pressure can cause damage to vessels
E- suggests it’s a maladaptive response in everyday life

Question 9

Evaluate fight or flight
(biologically reductionist)

Answer 9

P- biologically reductionist
E- attempts to explain behavior on the role of adrenaline and the effector the sns
E- doesn’t account for other elements eg cognitive processes
I - too limited an explanation

Question 10

Explain the structure and function of a sensory neuron

Answer 10

To carry nerve impulses from sensory receptors to the cns. Short axons and long dendrites

Question 11

Explain the structure and function of a relay neuron

Answer 11

Allow sensory and motor to communicate. Short axons short dendrites

Question 12

Explain the structure and function of a motor neuron

Answer 12

Carry impulses from the cns to the effectors long axons short dedrites

Question 13

Explain the process of synaptic transmission

Answer 13

1) electrical impulse down pre synaptic neuron
2) reaches terminal buttons and stimulates vessicles
3) releases neurotransmitters which diffuse across the gap
4) receptors on dendrites detect them
5) summtion occours to see if the impulse can continue

Question 14

what is an fMRI

Answer 14

a brain scan that works by detecting changes in blood oxygenation and flow indicating increased activity. Produces 3D images. Non-invasive and doesn’t rely on radiation. High spatial resolution showing detail by milimeter. Expensive. Only works iif person is still. Poor temporal resolution as theres a 5 second lag

Question 15

what is an eeg

Answer 15

records change in activity using lectrical rods attached to scalp. recording represets brainwave patterns. High temporal resolution detecting activity in less than a millisecond. produces generalised signal and cannot differentiate between areas of the bran.

Question 16

what is an erp

Answer 16

Similar to a eeg it records changes in activity using electrodes but uses a specific stimulus to see where activity is. Extreanuous brain activity is filtered out. Has good temporal resolution - to the single milliesecond. Lack standard methodisation between studies making it difficult to confirm findings. difficylt to illiminate background activity reducing it’s appropriatness.

Question 17

what is a Post mortem

Answer 17

they examine a dead persons brain for abnormlities in struture to explain things found before death.

Question 18

what happened to phinnias gage

Answer 18

had a meter pole go through his left cheek passing behind his left eye and going through his left frontal lobe. His personality completely changed.

Question 19

List the coretexes and their functions

Answer 19

motor - controls movement
somatosensory - repersents sensory info from skin
visual - info from right visual feild is sent to left corex vice versa
Auditory - anyalyses speach
Wernickes area - language comprehension
brocas area - speach production

Question 20

evalute localisation of function
(brain scans)

Answer 20

P- brain scanning evidence
E- petersen et al used brin scans to show wernicks area active during listening and brocas when talking
E- suggests differen functions
I- increasing validity of the concept

Question 21

Evaluate locatisation of function
(ocd)

Answer 21

P- neurosergicl evidence to support
E- reported 44 ocd paitents who had their cingulate gyrus cut a third showed positive response after 32 weeks
E- suggests symptoms of ocd are localised

Question 22

Evalute localisation of function
(case study)

Answer 22

P- case study support
E- phinnias gage
E- suggests personality is localised

Question 23

Evalute localisation of function
(holistic)

Answer 23

P- evidence higher cognitive functions are distributed more hollistically
E- Lashley removed areas from rats brains. No area showed to be more important when learning to solve a maze
E- suggests too complex to be localiased and invloves whole brain

Question 24

Evalute localisation of function
(functional recovery)

Answer 24

P- functional recovery shows it can change
E- girl who lives with half a brain after an accident. the rest of the brain seems to reorganise in attempt to recover lost funtion\
E- supports holistic view of functioning rather than localisation

Question 25

What did lazar et al do

Answer 25

used mri to show how experienced meditators had thicker cortexes than non-meditiators in areas of concentration nd sensory processing.

Question 26

What did hozel at al do

Answer 26

individuals who ppts in 8 week mindfulness course showed an increase in grey matter in the left hippocampus (greater processing in part of the brain associated with learning and memory)

Question 27

what did tang et al do

Answer 27

4 weeks meditiation resulted in an increase in white matter in part of the brain associted with self regulation.

Question 28

what did maguire et al do

Answer 28

studied brains of london taxi drivers. Significantly more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus associated wih spatial and navigatonal skills.

Question 29

Evaluate plasticity and functional recovery
(practical app)

Answer 29

P- following illness of injury spontanius recovery slows so physical therapy may be needed
E- techniques include movement therapy and electrical stimultion to counter deficits in motor of cognitive function
E- understanding plasticity has contributed to neurorehabilitation

Question 30

Evaluate plasticity and functional recovery
(supporting reaseach)

Answer 30

P- support from animals
E- sewed kittens eyes shut. found the area of the visual cortex associated ith shut eye was processing infomation from the open eye
E- shows remapping had taken place
C- argue this is unethical and question ability to generalise findings to humans

Question 31

Evaluate plasticity and functional recovery
(maladaptive concequences)

Answer 31

P- plasticity has maladaptive concequences
E- 60-80% of amputees develop phantom limb sensations of the missing limb
E- these are unpleasent and pinful due to cortical reorganisation

Question 32

Evaluate plasticity and functional recovery
(age)

Answer 32

P- reduces with age
E- brain has greater propensity for reorganisation in childhood as it’s adapting to new experiences
E- suggests older may need additional support for recovery to take place

Question 33

Evaluate plasticity and functional recovery
(individual differences)

Answer 33

P- theres individual differences
E- the more the brain injury paitents had spent in education as a good indication of their cognitive reserve and the greater chance of recovery
E- shows eductional attainment may influence how the brain functionally adapts

Question 34

Evaluate split brain reaserch
(involvment in tasks)

Answer 34

P- large amount of evidence to demonstrate lteralisation
E- sperry and gazzanigas work into split brain reaserch has produced a sizeable amount of evidence concluding the right brain is more analytic and verbal wheras the right is adept at spatial and music tasks.
E- led to key contributon to our understanding of brain processes

Question 35

Evaluate split brain reaserch
(strong methodology)

Answer 35

P- strengths to the methodology
E- highly standardised procedures - asked to focus on a fixation point and image is flashed at one half the screen for less than half second
E- allowed sperry to vary aspects of basic proceedure and ensure only one hemisphere was revieving the infomation.
I- meant the proceedure was useful and well controlled

Question 36

Evaluate split brain reaserch
(debate)

Answer 36

P- sperrys work prompted phiosphical debate
E- some theorists have suggested two hmispheres are so functionally different they represent a form of dualtity in the brain - we are all two minds.
E- however others have rgued tht the to are a highly intergrated

Question 37

Evaluate split brain reaserch
(population validity)

Answer 37

P- issues with generalising the findings
E- only 11 paitents all of whom had epliepsy. Some had also had more dissconnection than others
E- this may have caused unique changes in the brain influcencing the findings.
I- this limits the extent findings can be generalised reducing the validity

Question 38

Evaluate split brain reaserch
(overstated)

Answer 38

P- differencs in function may be overstated
E- although verbal and non verbal lables can be applied modern neuroscientisits say it my be less clear cut a distinction
E- in a normal brin they are in constant communication and behvaior usually associated with one side can be performed by the other when needed
I- demontsrated lateralisation is not always clear or permanent

Question 39

what did siffre do?

Answer 39

spent an extended period of time underground had no natural light or sound. Found he had a rhythm of just over 25 hours

Question 40

what did aschoff and wever do?

Answer 40

convinced a group to spend 4 weeks in a ww2 bunker all but one who had a rhythm of 29 hours diplayed rhythms between 24 and 25 hours

Question 41

Evaluate cicadian rhythms
(shift work)

Answer 41

P- practical app to shift work
E- Boivin et al (1996) found shift workers experience a lapse of concentration around 6 am (a circadian trough) so mistakes and Accidents are more likely.
e- This may have economic implications in terms of how best to
manage worker productivity and safety.
iShift changeovers could occur before a circadian trough to Reduce mistakes, meaning work would not have to be redone and reduce accidents so people can continue to work and contribute to the economy.

Question 42

Evaluate circadian rhythms
(drug tratments)

Answer 42

P- practical app to drug treatments
E- coordianate bodys basics implicvations for pharmokinetics - how well drugs re absorbed
E- reaserch shows times when drugs are more effective
I- guidlines developed for timing of dosing for a range of drugs eg cancer treatments

Question 43

Evaluate circadian rhythms
(problematic samples)

Answer 43

P- small samples
E- shiffre invloved only himself
E- not representitive of wider popultion limits genraliasabilty
I- even when same ppts used can’t draw general conclusions eg shiffre found his internal clock was slower when he was younger

Question 44

Evaluate circadian rhythms
(poor control)

Answer 44

P- poor control
E- shiffre had lamp turned on. assumed artificial light wouldn’t effect
E- Czeisler adjusted ppts rhythms from 22 to 28 hours using dim lighting. may reset biological clocks
I- suggests ignores important confounding variables reducing validity

Question 45

Evaluate circadian rhythms
(individual diiferences)

Answer 45

P- individual differences effect resukts
E- compliactes generalisation as cycles can vary from 13 to 65 hours.
E- means that findings from sleep wake cycles may not be generalisable

Question 46

what did decoursey et al do

Answer 46

Destroyed the SCN connections in the brain of 30
chipmunks who were then returned to their natural habitat
and observed for 80 days.
• The sleep-wake cycle of the chipmunks disappeared and by
the end of the study a significant proportion of them had
been killed by predators because they were awake and
vulnerable to attack when they should have been asleep.
• This shows how important the SCN is in regulating the sleep
wake cycle.

Question 47

what did ralph et al do

Answer 47

Created ‘mutant’ hamsters who had a 20 hour sleep-wake
cycle.
• Transplanted the SCN cells from the mutant hamsters into
the brains of normal hamsters (24 hour sleep-wake cycle).
• The normal hamsters following transplantation ended up on a
20 hour sleep-wake cycle.
• This shows the role of the SCN in establishing and
maintaining the sleep-wake cycle.

Question 48

Evaluate endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zitebergs
(other endogenous pacemakers)

Answer 48

Research into the SCN may draw attention away from
research into other body clocks.
• Damiola et al (2000) showed how changing feeding patterns
in mice altered circadian rhythms of cells in the liver for up
to 12 hours, leaving the rhythm of the SCN unaffected.
• This suggests there may be other complex influences on the
sleep/wake cycle, aside from the master clock, the SCN.

Question 49

Evaluate endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zitebergs
(ungeneralisable)

Answer 49

There are many differences between humans and animals
that could impact on the sleep wake cycle.
• Cognitive factors may be more significant in humans.
• Generalising findings from research into the sleep-wake
cycle from animal studies is problematic

Question 50

Evaluate endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zitebergs
(ethical issues)

Answer 50

There are ethical issues of researching the sleep/wake
cycle of animals.
• In DeCoursey’s research the animals were exposed to great
harm and potential risk when returned to their natural
habitat with a significant proportion of them killed by
predators.
• What we learn from investigations on biological rhythms may
not justify the adverse procedures involved.

Question 51

Evaluate endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zitebergs
(cause and effect)

Answer 51

The use of animal research does allow us to establish cause and
effect which is an aim of science.
• In DeCoursey’s study the chipmunks had their SCN connections
destroyed and were then released into their habitat.
• It is likely that their inability to function when released was the
result of what had happened to their SCN.
• This would be unethical to conduct with humans and would mean
that we would not know about the effect of the SCN on the
sleep-wake cycle had this research not been completed.

Question 52

Evaluate endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zitebergs
(zeitgebers overstated)

Answer 52

The influence of exogenous zeitgebers may be overstated.
• Individuals who live in Arctic regions (where the sun does
not set during the summer months) show normal sleep
patterns despite prolonged exposure to light.
• This suggests there are occasions when exogenous
zeitgebers may have little bearing on our internal rhythms.

Question 53

Evaluate endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zitebergs
(methodigical issues)

Answer 53

There are methodological issues in exogenous zeitgebers
research.
• Campbell and Murphy’s study (1998) has yet to be replicated and
is criticised because there may have been some light exposure to
participant’s eyes - a major confounding variable.
• Isolating one exogenous zeitgeber (light) in this way does not
give insight into the many other zeitgebers that influence the
sleep/ wake cycle.
• This suggests that some studies may have ignored or underplayed
the way in which different exogenous

Question 54

Evaluate endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zitebergs
(pacemakers and zitegbergs interact)

Answer 54

Endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers interact.
• Total isolation experiences such as Siffre’s study are extremely
rare and present an unrealistic view of how the system works.
• Only in exceptional circumstances do endogenous pacemakers
free-run unaffected by exogenous zeitgebers, therefore it
makes no sense to separate the two for research.
• Moving forward, a holistic view should be taken.

Question 55

Evaluate endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zitebergs
(treatmets)

Answer 55

Research that aims to isolate and study the effects of
exogenous zeitgebers has led to practical treatment applications.
• An effective treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SADs)
is phototherapy; a lightbox that stimulates strong light in the
morning and evening (thought to reset melatonin levels). This
relieves symptoms in up to 60% of sufferers (Eastman et al.
1988).
• By aiming to study the effect of an exogenous zeitgeber such as
light it makes it simpler to develop specific treatments which can
then help individuals

Question 56

what did stern and mcclintoc do?

Answer 56

Procedures – 29 women with irregular periods were used. Samples of
pheromones were taken from 9 women at different stages of their
menstrual cycle, via a cotton pad placed in their armpit. The pads were
worm for at least 8 hours. The pads were treated with alcohol and
frozen. On day one, pads from the start of the menstrual cycle were
applied to the upper lip of all 20 women. On day two they were given a
pad from the second day of the cycle and so on.
• Findings – 68% of women experienced changes to their cycle which
brought them closer to the cycle of their ‘odour donor’

Question 57

Evluate infradian rhythms
(specultion)

Answer 57

It may have been advantageous for our female ancestors to menstruate together
and become pregnant around the same time.
• This would have meant that offspring could be cared for collectively within a social
group, increasing the offspring’s chances of survival. This would have obvious
evolutionary advantages.
• However, Schank (2004) questions the validity of the evolutionary perspective. Too
many females cycling together within a social group would produce competition for
highest quality males because the females would want the best potential genes for
their offspring. Competition would likely lower the genetic fitness of potential
offspring as the highest quality males may already be “taken”.
• From this point of view, avoidance of synchrony would appear to be the most
adaptive evol

Question 58

Evaluate infadian rhythms
(confounding variables)

Answer 58

Commentators argue that there are many factors that may
change a woman’s menstrual cycle and act as confounding
variables in research.
• For example, stress and changes in diet. This means that any
supposed pattern of synchronisation, as seen in McClintock’s
study, is no more than would have been expected to occur by
chance.
• This suggests that important aspects of synchronisation studies
may lack validity

Question 59

Evaluate infradian rythms
(phototherapy)

Answer 59

Research into SADs has practical application.
• An effective treatment for SAD is phototherapy, a lightbox
that stimulates strong light in the morning and evening. It is
thought to work by resetting melatonin levels. This relieves
symptoms in up to 60% of sufferers (Eastman et al 1988).
• This shows that research into infradian rhythms is
beneficial as it helps to improve the quality of people’s lives.

Question 60

Evluate infraidan rhythms
(mathadoligucal issues)

Answer 60

The role of pheromones in human behaviour is speculative
and inconclusive.
• In Stern and McClintock’s study pheromones were taken
from armpits of ‘odour donors’ and given to the participants.
This is not reflective of how pheromones work in the real
world.
• This questions the validity of the study and further
questions the true role of pheromones in human behaviour

Question 61

Evaluate ultraidian rhytms
(evidence for rem)

Answer 61

There is evidence to support qualitatively different stages in
sleep.
• Dement and Kleitman (1957) monitored the sleep patterns of nine
participants in a sleep lab and found evidence for stages of sleep,
specifically REM sleep. REM activity during sleep correlated with
dreaming; brain activity varied according to how vivid dreams
were; participants woken during dreaming reported accurate
recall of their dreams.
• This study suggests that REM (dreaming) sleep is a distinct
ultradian rhythm and an important component of the ultradian
sleep cycle

Question 62

Evaluate ultradian rhythms
(individula differences)

Answer 62

• There are individual differences in sleep stages linked to biology.
• Tucker assessed sleep in participants in strictly controlled
conditions focusing on sleep duration, time to fall asleep and the
amount of time in each sleep stage. They found large individual
differences which showed up consistently across the eight
nights. For deep sleep (stages 3 and 4) the individual differences
were particularly significant.
• This shows that differences between participants were not
driven by circumstance but by biology.
• Individual differences may mean that it is difficult to generalise
the results of such studies to the wider population

Question 63

Evaluate ultradian rhythms
(supporting reaserch)

Answer 63

There is supporting evidence for basic rest activity cycles.
• Ericsson et al (1993) found that the best violinists tended to
practice for three sessions during the course of the day, each
session lasted no more than 90 minutes and there was a break
between each in order to ‘recharge’.
• This suggests that there are cycles that last less than 24 hours,
where people go from being very alert to physiologically fatigued.
• Application of this knowledge can ensure that tasks are set for
an appropriate amount of