Physiological Approach Flashcards
Describe one assumption of the physiological approach. [2]
Behaviour is caused by physiological processes in the brain and the nervous system. Physiological psychology suggests damage to certain parts of the brain will affect your behaviour, for example damage to the left hemisphere of the brain could lead to a deficiency in language because of ‘lateralisation of function’, demonstrated in Sperry’s research.
Identify a similarity between any two physiological psychology studies. [3]
Both Dement and Kleitman’s study and Maguire’s study used sophisticated language and specialised technology to gather data, allowing less room for human error. In Maguire’s study, an MRI scan was used to measure the shape and size of grey matter in the hippocampus, comparing between taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers. In Dement and Kleitman’s study, an EEG machine was used to measure brain activity and evaluate what stage of sleep the participants were at.
Identify a difference between any two physiological psychology studies. [3]
Dement and Kleitman’s study and Maguire’s study collected different types of data in their physiological psychology research. Dement and Kleitman’s research collected both qualitative and quantitative data, as they not only counted the amount of dreams and used EEG recordings to measure specific numerical data on brain activity (providing quantitative data), but also they asked for descriptions of dreams (providing qualitative data). However, Maguire only collected quantitative data, as she looked only numerically at hippocampus volume.
Identify a similarity and a difference between any two physiological psychology studies. [6]
Both Dement and Kleitman’s study and Maguire’s study used sophisticated language and specialised technology to gather data, allowing less room for human error. In Maguire’s study, an MRI scan was used to measure the shape and size of grey matter in the hippocampus, comparing between taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers. In Dement and Kleitman’s study, an EEG machine was used to measure brain activity and evaluate what stage of sleep the participants were at.
Dement and Kleitman’s study and Maguire’s study collected different types of data in their physiological psychology research. Dement and Kleitman’s research collected both qualitative and quantitative data, as they not only counted the amount of dreams and used EEG recordings to measure specific numerical data on brain activity (providing quantitative data), but also they asked for descriptions of dreams (providing qualitative data). However, Maguire only collected quantitative data, as she looked only numerically at hippocampus volume.
Describe two strengths of the physiological approach. [6]
One strength of the physiological approach is that often, sophisticated equipment and specialised, advanced technology is used, leaving less room for human error, thus making results of physiological studies more reliable. In Dement and Kleitman, an EEG machine was used to measure brain activity and evaluate what stage of sleep the participant is in. Similarly in Maguire’s study, an MRI scan was used to measure the shape and size of hippocampus, which is reliable as it will measure the grey matter in exactly the same way each time.
Another strength of the physiological approach is that there are many useful applications for people who may have experienced brain damage or trauma, through mediums such as drug therapy or surgery. Maguire shows how the hippocampus of the brain can be flexible, potentially helping research into therapy for people with damage to their hippocampus. In Sperry’s studies, there developed a further understanding of each brain hemisphere’s lateralisation of function, and shows how best to help recovering epilepsy/stroke victims through split-brain surgery and after.
Describe one strength of the physiological approach. [3]
One strength of the physiological approach is that often, sophisticated equipment and specialised, advanced technology is used, leaving less room for human error, thus making results of physiological studies more reliable. In Dement and Kleitman, an EEG machine was used to measure brain activity and evaluate what stage of sleep the participant is in. Similarly in Maguire’s study, an MRI scan was used to measure the shape and size of hippocampus, which is reliable as it will measure the grey matter in exactly the same way each time.
Describe another strength of the physiological approach. [3]
Another strength of the physiological approach is that there are many useful applications for people who may have experienced brain damage or trauma, through mediums such as drug therapy or surgery. Maguire shows how the hippocampus of the brain can be flexible, potentially helping research into therapy for people with damage to their hippocampus. In Sperry’s studies, there developed a further understanding of each brain hemisphere’s lateralisation of function, and shows how best to help recovering epilepsy/stroke victims through split-brain surgery and after.
Describe two weaknesses of the physiological approach. [6]
One weakness of the physiological approach is that it is reductionist, in that it ignores the possible influence of other psychological approaches, such as social or nurture aspects, and assumes behaviour is only a result of physiological attributes. For example, Dement and Kleitman argue that stages of sleep and dreaming can be defined by electrical activity and eye movement in REM, however this ignores other approaches such as psychodynamic, whereby Freudian theory would argue dreaming is based entirely around wish fulfilment and sexual desires. This is a weakness because it does not allow other possible approaches to affect behaviour in real life, thus perhaps we need to be more holistic in our approach to psychology, incorporating other ideas to gain the most valid and rounded conclusions about behaviours and how these are affected.
Another weakness of the physiological approach is its multiple use of laboratory experiments, which often lead to the studies lacking in ecological validity. In Dement and Kleitman, variables such as electrodes attached to the heads of sleep participants, and having to force themselves to sleep in a lab with the knowledge they were being observed for brain activity are all aspects which would not occur in a normal person’s day-to-day sleeping routine, thus showing how the study is not really showing how in real life people’s brain activity may be. This is a weakness as it means we cannot generalise the results from the sleep research to suggest physiological processes affect our behaviour in rel life situations, as it has only been tested in artificial situations.
Describe one weakness of the physiological approach. [3]
One weakness of the physiological approach is that it is reductionist, in that it ignores the possible influence of other psychological approaches, such as social or nurture aspects, and assumes behaviour is only a result of physiological attributes. For example, Dement and Kleitman argue that stages of sleep and dreaming can be defined by electrical activity and eye movement in REM, however this ignores other approaches such as psychodynamic, whereby Freudian theory would argue dreaming is based entirely around wish fulfilment and sexual desires. This is a weakness because it does not allow other possible approaches to affect behaviour in real life, thus perhaps we need to be more holistic in our approach to psychology, incorporating other ideas to gain the most valid and rounded conclusions about behaviours and how these are affected.
Describe another weakness of the physiological approach. [3]
Another weakness of the physiological approach is its multiple use of laboratory experiments, which often lead to the studies lacking in ecological validity. In Dement and Kleitman, variables such as electrodes attached to the heads of sleep participants, and having to force themselves to sleep in a lab with the knowledge they were being observed for brain activity are all aspects which would not occur in a normal person’s day-to-day sleeping routine, thus showing how the study is not really showing how in real life people’s brain activity may be. This is a weakness as it means we cannot generalise the results from the sleep research to suggest physiological processes affect our behaviour in rel life situations, as it has only been tested in artificial situations.
Discuss strengths and weaknesses of the physiological approach, using examples from studies in the physiological approach. [12]
One strength of the physiological approach is that often, sophisticated equipment and specialised, advanced technology is used, leaving less room for human error, thus making results of physiological studies more reliable. In Dement and Kleitman, an EEG machine was used to measure brain activity and evaluate what stage of sleep the participant is in. Similarly in Maguire’s study, an MRI scan was used to measure the shape and size of hippocampus, which is reliable as it will measure the grey matter in exactly the same way each time.
Another strength of the physiological approach is that there are many useful applications for people who may have experienced brain damage or trauma, through mediums such as drug therapy or surgery. Maguire shows how the hippocampus of the brain can be flexible, potentially helping research into therapy for people with damage to their hippocampus. In Sperry’s studies, there developed a further understanding of each brain hemisphere’s lateralisation of function, and shows how best to help recovering epilepsy/stroke victims through split-brain surgery and after.
One weakness of the physiological approach is that it is reductionist, in that it ignores the possible influence of other psychological approaches, such as social or nurture aspects, and assumes behaviour is only a result of physiological attributes. For example, Dement and Kleitman argue that stages of sleep and dreaming can be defined by electrical activity and eye movement in REM, however this ignores other approaches such as psychodynamic, whereby Freudian theory would argue dreaming is based entirely around wish fulfilment and sexual desires. This is a weakness because it does not allow other possible approaches to affect behaviour in real life, thus perhaps we need to be more holistic in our approach to psychology, incorporating other ideas to gain the most valid and rounded conclusions about behaviours and how these are affected.
Another weakness of the physiological approach is its multiple use of laboratory experiments, which often lead to the studies lacking in ecological validity. In Dement and Kleitman, variables such as electrodes attached to the heads of sleep participants, and having to force themselves to sleep in a lab with the knowledge they were being observed for brain activity are all aspects which would not occur in a normal person’s day-to-day sleeping routine, thus showing how the study is not really showing how in real life people’s brain activity may be. This is a weakness as it means we cannot generalise the results from the sleep research to suggest physiological processes affect our behaviour in rel life situations, as it has only been tested in artificial situations.
Describe how the physiological approach could explain structural changes in the brain. [4]
The physiological approach could explain structural changes of the brain through the idea of brain plasticity. This means that the structure of parts of the brain can change in order to process information in response to experience and skills needed in life. Maguire showed how taxi drivers had a larger posterior hippocampus compared to non-taxi drivers. This shows how the structure of the brain changes to accommodate experience, as those who need excellent spatial navigational skills (also referred to as cognitive map ability) develop a larger posterior hippocampus. The right posterior hippocampus also gets larger the longer this skill is used, as Maguire found a positive correlation between time spent as a taxi driver and size of the right posterior hippocampus.
