Blakemore & Cooper (1970)

Question 1

Background of the study

Answer 1

-B&C inspired by Hirsch and Spinelli, they were interested in the neurons in the visual cortex of the brain
-Found they could change the way the visual neurons in the visual cortex aligned themselves by controlling what the kittens could do as they grew up
-Kittens were raised so they could only see vertical stripes in one eyes, and horizontal in the other
-When the cats were release into an everyday environment, researchers found they had visual impairments

Question 2

Brain plasticity

Answer 2

Your brain adapts and changes according to what you do in your life

Question 3

Visual cortex (and visual neurons)

Answer 3

The part of the brain that receives and processes the sensory nerve impulses from the eyes

Question 4

Startle responses

Answer 4

The ‘backing off’ reaction of a cat when an object is moved quickly towards their face

Question 5

Visual placing

Answer 5

When a cat puts its feet out to meet the edge pf a surface

Question 6

Overall aims of the study

Answer 6

-To investigate how being raised in a visually restrictive environment would affect the visual brain development of cats
>Compare the behavioural consequences of raising kittens seeing only horizontal or vertical stripes
>Investigate the neurophysiological effect on neurons in the kittens visual cortex (brain plasticity)

Question 7

Sample

Answer 7

-Two kittens
-Birth until approximately one years old

Question 8

What was the environment for the first two weeks of the kittens life?

Answer 8

-They were kept in a completely dark room

Question 9

What was the environment from two weeks until five months?

Answer 9

-Put in a striped cylinder for five hours a day
-They wore a black collar so were able to see horizontal/vertical stripes
-Were back in complete darkness for the rest of the day

Question 10

What happened to the kittens when they were five months old?

Answer 10

-The kitten was taken into a well lit room with furniture to test their behaviour

Question 11

What was the IV in the study?

Answer 11

-The orientation of stripes within the cylinder
-Either horizontal or vertical

Question 12

What was the experimental design?

Answer 12

-Each kitten was exposed to a different striped cylinder
-Independent measures

Question 13

What were controls used in the study?

Answer 13

-Five hours in the cylinder
-Same amount of time in the dark
-Wore the black collar

Question 14

Behavioural findings

Answer 14

-Navigated around the room by touch
-Were generally clumsy
-Had normal pupillary reflexes
-Had no startle reflexes
-Had no visual placing

Question 15

After 10 hours exposure to typical surroundings, what deficits did the cats quickly recover from?

Answer 15

-Visual placing returned to normal
-Startle response returned to normal

Question 16

After 10 hours exposure to typical surroundings, what deficits remained?

Answer 16

-Still clumsy in following moving objects
-Still bumped into objects/furniture

Question 17

How did the horizontally and vertically raised cats differ?

Answer 17

-B&C described the cats as ‘virtually blind to the opposite orientation of their upbringing
-Found this by experimenters shaking a rod in front of the cat and seeing the response.
>They found the cat only responded if the rod was shaken in the same orientation as they had seen in the cylinder, similar results found when a striped perspex sheet used

Question 18

Neurophysiological test

Answer 18

-Cats anaesthetised and assessed on how neurons responded to seeing light at horizontal/vertical orientations
-Done by inserting electrodes into the primary visual cortex

Question 19

Neurophysiological results

Answer 19

-Scans showed that the visual neurons within the visual cortex had aligned themselves to match the environment the kitten was bought up in.
-There were little to no neurons aligned to the opposite direction
-This is because the cats has no need for neurons in the other direction, and therefore were moved elsewhere

Question 20

Type of data collected for behavioural findings

Answer 20

-Qualitative
-Descriptions of defecits shown by the cats

Question 21

Type of data collected for neurophysiological findings

Answer 21

-Quantitative
-Based on the alignment of the visual neurons from the visual cortex scan

Question 22

Conclusions

Answer 22

The difference between the kittens suggest that the neurons can change the preferred orientation according to the stimulation they receive, matching the ability of the brain to respond to the features in its visual input

Question 23

In what ways can this study be defended in relation to ethics?

Answer 23

-Replacement-no alternative replacement to animals within this research
-Reduction-they reduced the impact to the minimum amount of cats (2)
-Refinement-they refined the procedure by having the cat in the cylinder for 5 hours a day

Question 24

In what ways can this study be criticised in relation to ethics?

Answer 24

-There are not many practical applications of the research, and therefore was perhaps not worth harming the kittens for

Question 25

Why is it not appropriate to discuss ethnocentrism in relation to the study?

Answer 25

-It isn’t relevant
-Looking at biological factors
-The environment the kittens were in was not culturally biased

Question 26

Internal reliability

Answer 26

-Procedure was highly standardised and replicable, due to the high level of controls

Question 27

External reliability

Answer 27

-Only two kittens were used in the study
-Likely doesn’t matter as investigating biological concepts

Question 28

Internal validity

Answer 28

-Seemed to be a good test of brain plasticity
-Only difference in procedure was the orientation of the stripes for each kitten

Question 29

Population validity

Answer 29

Possible problem with generalising beyond the species of kitten

Question 30

Concurrent validity

Answer 30

Cats showed the same deficits in two separate tests to check their perception of the other orientation

Question 31

Ecological validity

Answer 31

-Not a realistic scenario as the environment was so visually restricted
-This doesn’t happen in real life

Question 32

What debates does this study link to?

Answer 32

-Nature/nurture
-Ethical considerations
-Psychology as a science
-Individual/situational
-Usefulness

Question 33

Nature/nurture

Answer 33

-Nurture
-Brains can change in response to the visual environment

Question 34

Psychology as a science

Answer 34

-Replicable, objective and falsifiable
-Very controlled, used quantitative measures and can be replicated to see if it is false

Question 35

Individual/situational

Answer 35

Behaviour dependent on situation of cylinder orientation

Question 36

Usefulness

Answer 36

Not really useful at all