Evaluate Raines study - Classic Flashcards
Aim - P1, A01
The aim of Raine’s study was to investigate differences in brain function in murders in brain regions which are associated with violence and aggression
Sample - P1, A01
Raine used a sample of, 41 (39 males and 2 females) in the control group and the experimental group was the same, 41, but they also had pre-existing conditions such as epilepsy and brain damage and were NGRI’s
Weakness - generalisability, P1, A03
One weakness of Raine’s study is that the sample used means that the results may not be generalisable to the outer population.
NGRIs are a very specific group of people who have killed someone, but either don’t remember doing it or are too confused to stand trial
Therefore, this means that the results may not be generalisable to all violent offenders due to the specific sample which was used
Procedure - P2, A01
The participants were matched with a control group participants on sex and age.
Participants were given a continuous performance test consisting of a series of blurred numbers to focus on
participants started on this 10 mins before being injected with a radioactive tracer
after a further 32 minutes, during which participants had to continue with the continuous performance task, a PET scan was completed to examine various areas of the brain
Strength - Reliability, P2, A03
One strength of Raine’s study is that there were standardised procedures carried out meaning the study can be easily replicated.
The continuous performance task and PET scans are standardised procedures which can be easily replicated in the future if the study was to be carried out again
therefore, this means that the study has standardised procedures such as the continuous performance task so it can be easily replicated and all participants had the same experience during the study so it can be retested if the NGRI’s have the same brain activity again
COUNTER ARGUMENT TO - reliability strength P2, A03
However, using a matched pairs design will not ensure all individual differences are eliminated from the study because they would not have been able to find people with the same psychological issue that would undertake a pet scan to use in the control group
This means that the brain activity measured in the NGRI’s could not be compared to the brain activity of the control group
Results - P3, A01
In comparison to the control group, there was lower activity in the prefrontal cortex and parietal lobe of the NGRI’s- murderers had different areas of brain activity in regions related to impulse control, regulating emotion and aggression
Strength - P3, A03
One strength of Raine’s study is that it has applications which may help identify violent offenders prior to them committing a crime.
There may be potential to screen violent offenders by identifying atypical patterns in murderers brain activity.
Therefore, this means that there could be measures put in place for people who are found to have this atypical brain activity can have measures put in place to prevent them committing a murder and control their aggressive and violent thoughts so they do not follow through with these type of actions such as murder
