BLOA - outline & explain how BLOA principles can be demonstrated in research

Question 1

principles of BLOA

Answer 1

Principle 1: patterns of behaviour are heritable
Principle 2: animal research may inform our understanding of human behaviour
Principle 3: cognition, emotion, and behaviour are products of the physiology of our nervous and endocrine systems

Question 2

Principle 1

Answer 2

patterns of behaviour are heritable
- well supported by genetics and evolutionary psychology studies
- but behaviour is reliant on environment too, not just genetic inheritance
Supporting study: Caspi and Moffitt (2012)

• identical twins (monozygotic twins - MZ) are 100% genetically identical because developed from same egg which means one acts as a control for the other
• however, twin research never shows 100% concordance rate
• one can infer that genes are a predisposing factor rather than the direct cause of behaviour

Question 3

Caspi and Moffitt (2012)

Answer 3

• conducted 26 year longitudinal study
• involved 1036 children born in 1972 NZ
• children inheriting a short version of the gene MAOA were more likely to exhibit aggression
• but this was only in cases where the children experienced an abusive upbringing
• carriers of MAOA who experienced good parenting were usually normal

Question 4

Principle 2

Answer 4

animal research may inform our understanding of human behaviour

• a biological approach is based on the idea that all animal species evolved from a common ancestor
• thus animals are fundamentally similar in many ways
• mechanisms that underlie behaviour one of those similarities

Supporting study: Suomi and Lesch (2002)

Question 5

Suomi and Lesch (2002)

Answer 5

• identified a gene that affects effectiveness of processing serotonin
• cerebral spinal fluid of 132 juvenile rhesus monkeys was collected
• analysed for serotonin metabolite traces (high metabolite level = high efficiency of serotonin processing)
• monkeys that had low metabolite levels were more aggressive

Question 6

Principle 3

Answer 6

cognition, emotion, and behaviour are products of the physiology of our nervous and endocrine systems

• adrenaline is associated with creation of emotion
  Supporting study: Schachter and Singer (1962)
• aggression has been linked to various brain structures
  Supporting study: Raine et al. (1997)