Key Studies biopsychology

Question 1

Stern and McClintock aim

Answer 1

To investigate whether menstrual cycles synchronise as a result of the influence of female pheromones

Question 2

Stern and McClintock procedures

Answer 2

29 women with irregular periods used
Pheromones taken from 9 women at different stages of period using cotton pad under armpit
Treated with alcohol and frozen
Pads from day 1 placed on upper lip of 20 other women and carried on through cycle

Question 3

Stern and McClintock findings

Answer 3

68% of women experienced changes to their cycle bringing them closer to odour donor

Question 4

Stern and McClintock conclusion

Answer 4

Menstrual cycles synchronise as a result of the influence of female pheromones

Question 5

Decoursey et al procedure

Answer 5

Destroyed SCN connection in 30 chipmunks and then returned them to their habitat for 80 days

Question 6

Decoursey et al findings

Answer 6

The sleep wake cycle had disappeared and a significant proportion were killed by predators as they were awake when they should have been asleep

Question 7

Decoursey et al conclusion

Answer 7

Emphasise the role of the SCN in establishing and maintaining the circadian sleep wake cycle

Question 8

Ralph et al procedure

Answer 8

Bred mutant hamsters with 20 hour sleep wake cycle

Question 9

Ralph et al findings

Answer 9

When SCN cells of mutant hamsters put in normal hamsters, the second group went to 20 hours

Question 10

Ralph et al conclusion

Answer 10

Emphasises the role of the SCN in establishing and maintaining the circadian sleep wake cycle

Question 11

Siffre aim

Answer 11

Originally geological but wanted to see if he could change the body clock

Question 12

Siffre procedure

Answer 12

Lived in a cave for 63 days
Called team when he woke up and when he slept
Tool his pulse and counted to 120 seconds- took 5 min

Question 13

Siffre findings and conclusion

Answer 13

His biological clock was allowed to run free so followed his body’s instictions
Prolonged exposure to exogenous zeitgebers did not conform to 24 hour body clock

Question 14

Maguire et al aim

Answer 14

To examine whether structural changes could be detected in the brain of people with extensive experience of spacial navigation

Question 15

Maguire et al participants

Answer 15

16 male London taxi drivers and 50 age matched male control subjects who do not drive taxis
Mri scans- matched pairs designs quasi experiment

Question 16

Maguire et al findings

Answer 16

Taxi drivers had larger hippocampus than control, associated with spacial awareness development

Question 17

Maguire et al conclusion

Answer 17

Evidence for structural changes in the brain of the hippocampus of taxi drivers showing that experience practise with spacial navigation effects awareness

Question 18

Sperry aim

Answer 18

examine the extent within which two hemispheres are specialised for certain functions

Question 19

Sperry participants

Answer 19

studied split brain patients and those with normal hemispheres
11 participants

Question 20

Sperry method

Answer 20

word projected onto left visual field or right visual field
when one hemisphere is given information, it is not transferred to the other hemisphere

Question 21

Sperry and Gazzaniga

Answer 21

right hemisphere could draw the word saw but not say it
this suggests the right hemisphere is dominant in drawing skills
right hemisphere better at recognising faces

Question 22

Sperry and Gazzaniga conclusion

Answer 22

left hemisphere dominant in terms of speech and language
right hemisphere dominant in terms of visual motor tasks

Question 23

Phineas Gage (1848)

Answer 23

meter long pole through left cheek, behind left eye, out of skull taking most of left frontal lobe
goes against hollistic theory
turned from calm and relaxed to angry and rude
landmark case study at harvard in medicine as it suggested his frontal lobe is responsible for regulating mood