Blakemore and Cooper Flashcards
What was the aim in B&C study?
to investigate the effect on Kitten’s visual development of a restricted visual environment, consisting of either vertical stripes only or horizontal stripes only in which the animal could move freely.
What was the method in B&C’s study?
Lab experiment with an IM design
What was the sample in B&C’S study?
Labatory raised kittens taht were housed in complete darkness until 2 weeks of age. 2 were used for the full examination.
What was the procedure in B&C’s study
The kittens were raised from birth in a dark room and at 2 weeks they were put into special apparatus for 5 hours a day. The kittens sat on a glass table inside a cylinder which wads covered in either vertical or horizontal black and white stripes. the kittens could not see their own body as they were a cone. When they were 5 months old they were removed from the apparatus and spent several hours each week in a small well-lit room containing chairs and tables.
What were the results in B&C’s study?
Within 10hrs the kittens could jump with ease. they were clumsy when chasing objects that were moving and often bumped into things. They were tested for line recognition and this showed behavioural blindness as those who were raised in a horizontal environment could not detect vertically aligned objects etc. When the kittens were 7.5 months old, 2 were anaesthetised while neurones in the visual cortex were studies. Comparing 125 neurons from each kitten. Horizontal plane neurons did not “fire off” in those kittens who were raised in a vertical environment and vice versa.
What were the conlusions for B&C’s study?
- As there was no evidence that areas of the cortex were ‘silent’ or that areas of cortical cells were missing, this suggest that the changes are not the concequence of degeneration
- The differnce between the differently reared kittens suggests that neurons change their preferred orientation according to the stimulation they recieve matching the ability of the brain to respond to the features in the visual input.
Whhat is meant by brain plasticity?
The idea that our brains, or parts of them, can actually change size in order to accomodate new info.
Explain why B&C’s study is a lab experiemnt?
As it is conducted in highly controlled conditions (e.g all kittens wore a collar limiting their vision to 104 degreed) and involved manipulation of the IV (horizontal or vertical stripes) and measuremnt of a DV (e.g the visuomotor behaviour once they were places in a normal environment) in order to establish cause and effect.
Outline 2 qualitative finding from B&C
kittens guided themselves mainly by touch and they were frightened when they reached the edge of the syrface they were standing on. They also showed behavioural blindness’ in that the kittens raised in thehorizontal environment could not detect vertically aligned objects and vice versa.
Outline a quantitative findings from B&C study
Horizontal plane recognition cells did not ‘fire-off’ in the kitten from the vertical enviornment and the vertical plane cells did not ‘fire-off’ in the kitten from the horizontal environment so there was disticnt orientation selectivity, showing the kittens suffered from physical blindness.
What are the assumptions of the biological perspective?
The area of biological psychology attempts to understand people by assuming they are biological ‘machines’ and that genes, structure of the brain, neurochemistry and endocrine system have a direct influence on behaviour.
It is therefore biologically deterministic. I.E it proposes that behaviour is determines by biological factors and not due to our free choice or free will.
What is the key theme for blakemore and Coopers study?
Brain plasticity
