PET scans

Question 1

pet scans procedure 1/4

Answer 1

Participant is made to do a task to stimulate the part of the brain they wish to look at and the radioactive tracer is inserted into the brain

Question 2

pet scans procedure 2/4

Answer 2

The Radioactive tracer decays and positrons are emitted
when these positrons collide with electrons it creates gamma rays this is what produces the images of activity

Question 3

PET SCANS PROCEDURE 3/4

Answer 3

PET scan used to identify damage or tumors

It shows moving brain activity

Blue = low brain activity

Red = high brain activity

Question 4

PET SCANS PROCEDURE 4/4

Answer 4

Petscams detect areas of brain damage by indicating which part of the brain are showing abnormal levels of activity and this can help researchers to not only see where problems exist but can also predict what kind of issues patients may face in relation to the brain activity being shown

Question 5

PET scan generalisability

pregnent ladys

Answer 5

Not suitable for pregnant women due to radiation risks to the baby this makes it lower in generalisability reducing the availability to participants and therefore restricting the sample size so it cannot be generalised to the general population

Question 6

PET scan reliability

standardised procedure

Answer 6

Has high reliability due to a standardized procedure of having a task and a tracer being injected into the brain where it is dissolved positrons released which then react with electrons which create gamma radiation which is picked up by a scanner which creates a picture of activity
where blue is a lack of brain activity and red is high brain activity this means that the brain scan can be repeated and therefore has high test retest reliability

Question 7

PET scan validity

objective + demand characteristics

Answer 7

Objective interpretation with red / blue concentration scale
but demand characteristics on the test can make the results invalid due to perhaps stimulating the wrong areas of the brain and therefore having medium internal validity

Question 8

PET scan ethics

radiation

Answer 8

Issues of radiation from the tracer which may result in cell damage and cancer which is very unethical giving the brain scanning method extremely low ethics as cancer can result in death

Question 9

PET scan practical issues

Answer 9

It cost approximately £1500 very expensive
participants have to remain still
it also lasts 1:30 hours

Question 10

Cancer

Answer 10

Causes Death