Classic study: Raine et al

Question 1

What was the aim of Raine et als study?

Answer 1

To investigate whether murderers who please NGRI have brain impairments that lead to them being violent.

Question 2

What was Raine et als independent variable?

Answer 2

Murderer or non-murderer.

Question 3

What was Raine et als group design?

Answer 3

Matched pair design

Question 4

What was Raine et al’s sample?

Answer 4

41 murderers and 41 non-murderers
Murderers: 39 men 2 women
23 had brain damage

Question 5

What was Raine et als dependent variable?

Answer 5

Activity in specific brain areas (glucose metabolism)

Question 6

What was Raine et als procedure?

Answer 6

No medication before the study.
Each ppt underwent a PET scan of their brain and completed a continuous performance task for 32 minutes.
The scan took 10 images of the brain.

Question 7

What were the findings of Raine et al’s stud

Answer 7

Lower activity:
- Pre-frontal cortex
- Left amygdala
Greater activity:
- Right amygdala
- Right thalamus

Question 8

What was Raine et al’s conclusion?

Answer 8

Murderers that plead to NGRI had different brain activity to the nonviolent offenders. The researchers concluded that dysfunctions of a single area cannot explain violent behaviour and that it is a network.

Question 9

Evaluate the validity of Raine et al.

Answer 9

PET scan= misleading
The technique scanned the brain into 10 slices across the canthomeatal line from the outer eye to the mid ear however this varies so it can be difficult to locate
= lower internal validity

Question 10

What is the application of Raine et al?

Answer 10

Treatment: Anger management
Violent offenders should be scanned to discover whether they have less activity in parts of their brains linked to aggression so they can be given proper treatment.

Question 11

Evaluate the generalisability of Raine et al.

Answer 11

Large sample of 82
NGRI criminals aren’t representative of typical murderers.
= Not generalisable to usual criminals, only to a minority population.

Question 12

Evaluate the reliability of Raine et al.

Answer 12

PET is a reliable imaging technique that produces objective and replicable results that can be tested many times.
=Good reliability

Question 13

Evaluate the ethics of Raine et al.

Answer 13

PET is an invasive procedure
Ppts must be injected with a radioactive tracer that can cause harm to the participant. The controls would not have undergone this procedure if not involved increasing the risk of the research.

Question 14

What was the aim of Brengden et al?

Answer 14

To investigate wether physical aggression is caused by genes or the environment

Question 15

What was the sample size of brendgen et al?

Answer 15

234 twin pairs from Quebec
94 MZ
140 DZ

Question 16

What was the procedure of brendgen et al?

Answer 16

6yr= behaviour ratings ( physical and social aggression score) taken from 2 sources who knew the twins well (teacher and classmates)

Question 17

What were the questions like given to the teachers in the brendgen study?

Answer 17

To what extent does your child try to make others dislike a child or to what extend does your child get into fights?

Question 18

What were the questions given to the children in brendgens study

Answer 18

They were given pictures of every child in the class and each child had to select three pictures that they thought matched four different behaviour descriptions .

Question 19

What were the findings of brendgens study?

Answer 19

In both teacher and peer rating scores higher concordance rates for physical aggression was found in MZ twins compared to DZ twins suggesting physical aggression is a consequence of genetics. Similar concordance rates were found for social aggression between MZ and DZ twins suggesting social aggression is a consequence of environmental factors.

Question 20

What were the conclusions of Brendgens study?

Answer 20

Physical aggression has a strong biological component, whereas social aggression is a consequence of environmental factors.

Question 21

Evaluate G of brendgen et al?

Answer 21

A large sample of 234 twin pairs meant anomalies would not affect the data making the sample representative. However it’s worth noting that 88 twin pairs disappeared from the Québec newborn twins study before the age of six. (Sample attrition)

Question 22

Evaluate R of brendgen et al

Answer 22

Used established questionnaires to measure aggression these can be easily replicated making the study reliable.

Question 23

Evaluate A of Brendgen et al

Answer 23

If social aggression is strongly linked to the environment it must be possible to reduce the worse effects of verbal bullying by children by using early intervention. Classes and workshops may help children to help learn less aggressive ways of interacting

Question 24

Evaluate V of brendgen eg al

Answer 24

Twin studies are valid way of studying nature versus nurture since MZ twins share 100% DNA but DZ twins share 50%. However these conclusions are never certain and correlations do not prove causation. An MZ twin Maybe stereotype based on the other twins behaviour.

Question 25

Evaluate E of brendgen et al

Answer 25

The parents of the twins agreed for the children to be in the study giving presumptive consent. The study gets children to look at pictures of their classmates and judge them meaning it may have an impact on their friendships and lead to hurt feelings going against social responsibility.