BIOPSYCHOLOGY Flashcards
OLD VIEW > Phrenology
a pseudoscience created by
Franz Gall in the 1800s
Phrenologists attempted to identify
personality traits by measuring the size
and location of bumps on the head
TODAY > CT SCANS
where xrays are passed through the head after the experimenter injects a dye into the bloodstream
* may help detect structural damage
TODAY > MRI SCANS
measurement of brain structure by
allowing for atomic nuclei to release
electromagnetic energy after first applying
a brief radio frequency to the head
TODAY >
Allows for a ‘mapping’ of the brain during
various cognitive activities
All Ct scans etc are still failing to offer useful answers to complex questions > lecturer suggested we’re still basically doing phrenology
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGY AND BIOLOGY
- Traditionally taught compartmentalised
- Knowledge of the natural
consequences of behaviour provide essential
information in the analysis of the relationship
between behaviour and physiology
REDUCTIONISM
Where 1 single issue is blamed for issues in society
example > parents fault kids are fat
RESEARCH IN TWINS
Even with twins we don’t get a complete understanding. They are similar but only to a certain extent.
How the influence of genes are perceived is largely a matter of the prevailing Zeitgeist
50% Nature 50% Nurture
ENVIRONMENT CHANGING BIOLOGY - CIRCADIAN RHYTHM
We also know that environmental cues, especially light, are responsible for
“setting” the internal clock
* Jet lag flying across time zones
The psychological effects of this change in time zones can be dramatic. People generally report that their thinking and concentration
suffers.
*Night shift
• Chronic medical problems associated with shiftwork
• If we are able to adjust our cycles, then why does disruption of rhythms have such a devastating effect? > because their biological rhythms are not synchronised with the lightness/darkness time cues.
Daylight can be a powerful cue to “reprogram” the person’s biological clock
to assume a day schedule.
many studies have found than workers often have difficulty adjusting to a
nighttime work schedule, even after years of working at night (e.g., Harma, 1993).
ENVIRONMENT CHANGING BIOLOGY - MONDAY-IT-IS
productivity on a Monday is down. Is there any truth to this anecdote? * On weekends, many people have the tendency to go to sleep at a later time, and sleep in. This may inadvertently result in us “resetting” our biological clock, and in particular, result in a shift in the melatonin cycle.
SCHIZOPHRENIA - MULTIPLE FACTORS UNDERLYING DEVELOPMENT
- BIOLOGICAL 2. GENETIC 3. BEHAVIOUR
* clear differences between the
brains of people >
>Enlargement of hippocampus and
amygdala
>Greater activity in the left hemisphere,
thicker corpus callosum (AMONGST OTHERS)
> abnormally high levels of
dopamine receptor stimulation
>Psychotic effects of amphetamines
>Effects of antipsychotic drugs
>Parkinson’s disease
> A clear genetic component
schizophrenia is due to
multiple factors
Mirsky & Duncan (1986): interaction of
genetic, developmental and stress factors;
i.e., dependent on developmental stage
STRESS AFFECTING BIOLOGY
>Many examples of how stress affects one’s biology >Stress delays wound healing >Standardised wounds: skin blisters on forearms of 36 women (by suction) >Took 24% longer (about 9 days) compared to age-matched controls
STRESS AND NEURAL PLASTICITY
OLD VIEW > Psychoneuroimmunology
NEW VIEW> Embrace stress, so long as
we know what is happening
Reappraising Arousal
Improves Cardiovascular and Cognitive
Responses to Stress (Jamieson, Nock, &
Mendes, 2012)
> Subjects allocated to one of three groups:
> Group 3: taught to recognise that a
higher heart rate, faster breathing, and
internal jitters were all positive tools for
making one strong during a stressful
event
>Group 3 > Scored better on the stress test
>were managing stress responses better than
other subjects
OUTCOME You can actively rethink stress, and the right approach can make you smarter and stronger in your response to stress
MEMORY AND NEURAL PLASTICITY
>Mechanisms of memory storage indicates plasticity of the system >The older brain retains plasticity, and so we are all capable of making adaptive changes
ENVIRONMENT AFFECTING BIOLOGY CTE > Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
• A degenerative brain disease linked to blows to the head over time • Definitively diagnosed on death via autopsy of the brain • Cognitive problems • Memory changes: Memory loss, confusion states, impaired judgement • Mood changes: Anxiety, aggression, depression, suicidality) • Long-term changes: Parkinsonism, progressive (early onset) dementia
• Upon impact, the brain ‘wobbles’ just like
wobbling jelly
• This results in the brain-stretching
backwards and forwards in a wave-like
motion
• The tissue continues to stretch in the
brain, even after impact
• There is a hardened area of tissue known
as the falx celebri it - intensifies and concentrates the stretching deep inside the brain
• the corpus callosum is stretched and
shows considerable damage in people who
have had repeated blows to the head
> RESULTS IN ALL KINDS OF ISSUES INCLUDING DEPRESSION
PHEREMONES AFFECTING BIOLOGY
- Pheromones represent a means of
communication and of transferring
information by smell or taste
> Pheromones evoke specific behavioural,
developmental, or reproductive responses
in the recipient
> The behaviour of animals may be
influenced by hormones
> Pheromones act in a specific manner upon
the recipient’s CNS, and produce either a
temporary or a long-term effect on its
development or behaviour.
TWO CLASSES > RELEASER PHEROMONES are the sex attractants PRIMER PHEROMONES act more slowly and play a role in the organism’s growth and differentiation.
Pheromones and menstrual synchrony > Martha McClintock >Women living in a dorm in all-female college showed synchrony in menstrual cycles (famous groundbreaking piece of research) > Closest synchrony was found between friends who saw each other most often and spent the most time together >What was the agent behind the synchrony? Pheromones
