Biopsychology AO3

Question 1

Infradian rhythms AO3

Answer 1

+Research on menstrual cycle - evolutionary basis

+Stern + McClintock - 68% cycles came closer to odour donor

Question 2

Split brain

Answer 2

+Research support - Luck et al found split brain twice as fast as odd one out. Kingstone found normal brain LH superior processing limited by RH

-Causal relationship - none of control had epilepsy (confounding variable)

Question 3

Circadian rhythms

Answer 3

+Research support - Aschoff + Wever had ppt spend 4 weeks in dark bunker. Except 1, circadian rhythm between 24-25 hrs

-Hard to generalise - Siffre found internal clock slower at 60 than younger. prevents general conclusions made

+Application to shift work - shift workers lack concentration at 6am (circadian trough)

Question 4

Endogenous pacemakers

Answer 4

+Research support - Decoursey et al destroyed SCN in 30 chipmunks, sleep wake cycle disappeared

-Research obscures other body clocks in organs which can also act independently

Question 5

Functional recovery

Answer 5

+Real world app - constraint induced movement therapy

-Neural plasticity due to cognitive reserve - Schnider et al found 40% patients that had DFR had 16+ years education, 10% had 12 cognitive reserve plays role in adaptivity of brain after trauma

Question 6

Hemisoheric lateralisation

Answer 6

+Evidence of lateralised brain function - Fink found LH dominant with fine details

-Analyser vs synthesiser wrong - found certain hemispheres for certain tasks but no dominance

Question 7

Localisation theory

Answer 7

+Neurosurgery supports it - Dougherty et al found 30% successful responses and 14% partial. Cingulatomy suggest mental disorders focused

-Questionned - fMRI shows regions in right hemisphere and thalamus so langauge organised holistically

+Brain scan evidence - Peterson et al found activity in Wernicke’s area during listening task

Question 8

Exogenous zeitgerbers

Answer 8

+Research support - Siffre, without light his sleep cycle changed

-Different in vary environments - Innuit indians of arctic circles spend half year in darkness but similar all year sleep/wake cycle (endogenous more impactful)

Question 9

Plasticity

Answer 9

+Life long ability - fMRI found novice golfers had less motor cortex group compared to control - greater efficiency after training

-Chance of bad behavioural consequence - 60-80% amputees had phantom limb, brain adapts to damage

Question 10

Ultraradian rhythms

Answer 10

+Practical value - Van carver - reduced sleep explains older impairments

-Individual differences in sleep

Question 11

Ways of scanning the brain

Answer 11

fMRI ;
+Risk free, high spatial resolution
- Expensive, poor temporal resolution

EEG;
+ practical use (sleep stages)
- Can’t distinguish adjacent neurons

ERP;
+ Specific, good temporal resolution
- Lacks standardisation (extraneous material)

Post mortem;
+ Broca + Wernicke relied on pist mortem
- Causation and ethics