BLOA Learning outcomes Flashcards
Outline principles that define the biological level of analysis.
1) Emotions and behaviour are products of the anatomy and physiology of nervous and endocrine systems.
2) Patterns of behaviour may be inherited.
3) Animal behaviour research may provide insight into human behaviour.
Explain how principles that define BLOA may be demonstrated in research. (Theories and/or studies)
1) Emotions and behaviour are products of the anatomy and physiology of nervous and endocrine systems.
- Schachter and Singer 1962
2) Patterns of behaviour may be inherited.
- Bouchard et al. 1990
- Heston 1966
3) Animal behaviour research may provide insight into human behaviour.
- Martinez and Kesner 1991: Acetylcholide and rats
Discuss how and why particular research methods are used at the biological level of analysis.
Experiments:
- Experiments are used to determine the cause and effect relationship between independent and dependent variables
- One of the principles of BLOA: endocrine systems and nervous systems affect behaviour
- -directly studied with experiments
- Laboratory experiments:
- Good things:
- Controlled easily
- High reliability and validity
- Easy to replicate
- Elimination of irrelevant factors
- Bad things:
- Hawthorne effect
- Screw you effect
- Demand characteristics
Martinez and Kesner 1991
Schachter and Singer 1962
Case studies:
How?
- Studies of an individual or a group in detail
- Qualitative study but quantitative data can also be collected
- Interviews, observations, questionnaires, tests…etc. used
Why?
- Strengths
- Rich data
- Usually very unusual phenomena
- Evokes new research on unusual phenomena
- Sometimes only way to research certain areas due to ethical or financial reasons
- Limitations:
- Too close relationships with researcher and case may cause bias and unreliable results
- Expensive, time consuming sometimes
- Often not very generalizable
H.M
Correlational studies:
“Behaviour can be inherited”
How?
- MZ and DZ twins and the concordance rate
- shows the impact of genetic
- Correlation between a certain phenomena and genetics
- Questionnaires, observations, case studies, tests
Why?
- Strengths:
- Genetics cannot be researched in other ways
- would be unethical or impossible
- cheaper than looking for genes
- Limitations:
- Can only represent correlations
- not cause and effect relationships
- leaves many issues out
Santtila et al. 2008
Bailey and Pilliard 1991
Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the biological level of analysis.
Define BLOA
Define ethical considerations
Define
Principle: animal behaviour may inform our understanding of human behaviour
-Ethical issues with animal testing:
Martinez and Kesner 1991: Acetylcholide and Rats
- Might be problematic to say is it right or wrong to use animals
- are they hurt? has to be taken care of
Case studies with memory problems:
H.M.
Explain one study related to the localization of function in the brain.
H.M.
Milner 1957, first to report the case of HM.
Corkin et al. (1997) First MRI scan of HM’s brain.
->discovered that parts of the temporal lobe, including hippocampus and amygdala were missing. Also, the damage wasn’t as extensive as believed.
Injured head as a 7 year old. Began epileptic seizures at 10. At 27 epliepsy preveneted normal life.
Scoville performed a surgery, where medial temporal lobes were removed.
At the time 1957 it was not known how their removal will affect memory.
More was removed that was intended: his hippocampus was removed.
MRI scan in 1996 showed that extensive damage was done to his brain caused by epilepsy medication.
His problems:
Inability to create long term memories.
Could hold information in working memory, but when distracted he forgot.
He could remember some things from his childhood, but very little from 11 year prior to surgery.
This is known as retrograde amnesia: no memory of things before an event. He couldn’t detect the passing of time.
H.M also had anterograde amnesia: the inability to form new memories. He did however have some idea who Elvis Presley and J.F. Kennedy were.
He was good natured, which might be caused by medication or damage.
He couldn’t move things to LTS. He could move some procedural memories to LTS. He was able to talk, but forgot what the discussion was about immediately.
The Localazation of function in the Brain and H.M.
- Hippocampus and surrounding areas play an important role in moving short term memories to the long term storage.
- Could retain memories from before the surgery. Indicates that hippocampus is a temporary memory store.
- Evidence of multiple memory stores: Problems with some parts of memory, but not all.
- Memory is more complex than believed: hippocampus isn’t the only structure involved in moving memories form STS to LTS.
- Temporal areas are important in forming, organizing, retrieval of memories.
- Procedural memories are not processed in the hippocampus.
Evaluation
-H.M was studied for over 50 years
-Contributed enormously to the knowledge on how specific brain areas relate to function.
**Ethical problems. **
Using one or more examples, explain effects of neurotransmission on human behaviour.
Neurotransmission
- Brain is made up of neurons (nerve cells)
- They communicate chemically by neurontransmission
- In the process a neuron releases neurotransmitters that then bind to receptor sites.
- Neurotransmitters are stored in the terminal button of a neuron
- The neurons pick up chemicals and send the message on.
- The neurotransmitters go to the synaptic gap from the terminal button of the neuron.
- There they can bind with the receptor sites on the dendrite of the next neuron. If enough of the neurotransmitters bind, the neuron will fire and transmit the information through it to the axon and repeat the process with another neuron.
- The neurotransmitters that are left in the synaptic gap are reuptaken by the neuron.
Drugs can alter these processes.
The effect of dopamine on behaviour
- Dopamine is linked to addictive behaviour and pleasure seeking
- Addictive drugs increase the amount of dopamine in the reward system
- The sight of cigarettes, food etc. can release dopamine -> associated with pleasure.
- Dopamine used to treat Parkinson’s disease by increasing its amount.
- Too much dopamine leads to schizophrenia.
Dopamine is also linked to Love (Fisher 2004)
- Being in love is similar to being addicted (Evolutionary explanation)
- Dopamine levels increase when in love -> Same desire as with drugs
- Lows of rejection are linked to low levels of dopamine.
Acetylcholide (ACh) and memory
Cholinergic system uses ACh to transmit nerve signals. Memory systems and higher cognitive functions depend on the cholinergic system.
-ACh linked to memory and learning.
Martinez and Kesner 1991
Using one or more examples, explain functions of two hormones in human behaviour.
Hormones are chemical messengers that affect both physiology and psychology of humans. They are secreted by a system of glands called **the endocrine system. **
Adrenaline and emotion (as a behaviour)
Adrenaline is a hormone and has numerous effects on the human body. General description of the effects is the **fight or flight response. **It prepares the body for either fighting or running away.
- Heartbeat increases and blood and oxygen flood to the brain instead of for ex. digestive system, where it isn’t necessary in a threatening situation.
- Blood vessels dilate and the blood pressure and pulse rise.
- Adrenaline is not only a negative feeling: extreme sports evoke it and people enjoy it.
- However, theories and studies suggest that adrenaline might be responsible for the creation of emotion.
Schacter and Singer, 1962
Melatonin and behaviour
Melatonin is secreted from the pineal gland. It uses other sense organs to sense what time of the day it is.
- In dark it secretes melatonin, which then shuts the body down for sleep.
- Melatonin is linked to the Seasonal Affective Disorder. (SAD)
-Avery et al. 2001
-Melatonin and jetlag
When flying from one time zone to another, afterwards people have similar symptoms to SAD.
This is because the body is still in another time, and melatonin is released according to the previous time.
Discuss two effects of the environment on physiological processes.
SAD and Jetlag
Seasonal affective disorder, caused by winter. An envionment. The environment causes depressive symptoms, which are caused by physiological processes.
–> Avery et al. 2001
Those who received dawn simulation showed less depressed symptoms than those who didn’t.
Therefore, being in an environment where not enough light is received causes the regulation of melatonin to be abnormal, which causes symptoms such as tirednesse etc.
Lewy et al. 2006 gave melatonin to participants in the evening. Sleep patterns and mood improved considerably in those who received treatment.
-However, dawn simulation gave even better results.
Meditation and the brain
Brefczynski-Lewis et al. 2007
The environment were Buddhist monks meditate, for over 10 000 hours affects their brain functions. They show more activity in brain areas linked to concentration than novices, and have the ability to actively resist distruptions.
Examine one interaction between cognition and physiology in terms of behaviour. Evaluate two relevant studies.
Emotion=behaviour
Shcachter and Singer 1964
Emotions are the results of cognitive labelling of a physiological response, caused by for ex. adrenaline.
Lazarus 1975 -Appraisal theory
–According to Lazarus, the cognitive factors can modulate stress repsonses.
-An appraisal is an evaluation of a situation, including personal and material resources to cope with a stressful event.
Speisman et al. 1964 support the appraisal theory.
Discuss the use of brain imaging technologies in investigating the relationship between biological factors and behaviour.
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With reference to relevant research studies, to what extent does genetic inheritance influence behaviour?
Genetics affect behaviour to some extent.
People have 46 chromosomes, half from mother, half from father.
There is a lot of evidence for the effect of genes on physiology (phenotype)
Twin studies and adoption studies are used in research.
**Bouchard et al. 1990 **Genetic inheritance and intelligence.
**Heston 1966 **Schizophrenia and genetics
**Bailey and Pilliard 1991 **MZ and DZ twins and homosexuality
**Santtila et al. 2008 **overt and potential homosexual behaviour in MZ and DZ twins.
Examine one evolutionary explanation of behaviour.
Evolution is the changing of inherited traits in species over time.
The theory of natural selection by Darwin: only the beneficial genes for survival are survived.
Species develop characteristics that ensure their survival. This is called adaption.
Evolutionary explanations research the behaviours that are caused by inheritance. The fact that they still exist means they are somehow beneficial to us.
The behaviour that is especially discussed now is disgust.
Study by **Fessler et al. 2005 ** on pregnant women and disgust
Study by **Curtis et al. 2004 **on disgust
-77 000 participants from 165 countries.
Homosexuality as adaptive behaviour
Zietsch et al. investigate the idea that genes that incline towards homosexuality are advantegous in heterosexual man.
This is linked to other research, where it was found that women are more attracted to men with feminine faces at certain times of their menstrual cycle.
Discuss ethical considerations in research into genetic influences on behaviour.
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