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

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1
Q

principles of BLOA

A

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

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2
Q

Principle 1

A

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
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3
Q

Caspi and Moffitt (2012)

A
  • 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
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4
Q

Principle 2

A

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)

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5
Q

Suomi and Lesch (2002)

A
  • 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
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6
Q

Principle 3

A

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)
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