BLOA - outline & explain how BLOA principles can be demonstrated in research Flashcards
principles of BLOA
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
Principle 1
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
Caspi and Moffitt (2012)
- 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
Principle 2
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)
Suomi and Lesch (2002)
- 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
Principle 3
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)