raine

Question 1

what were the aims of Raine’s study

Answer 1

investigate the brain differences of non-murderers and murderers who were pleading NGRI.

Question 2

what is the difference between cortical and subcortical

Answer 2

cortical = on the cortex e.g. lobes, motor cortex
subcortical = below the cortex e.g. limbic system, thalamus

Question 3

what experimental design is used and why

Answer 3

matched pairs, control group matched on characteristics like age, sex, mental health disorders.

Question 4

what is the purpose of using a matched control group

Answer 4

compare brain functioning of NGRI murderers to ‘normal’baseline functioning.

Question 5

what type of experiment is the study and why

Answer 5

quasi because there are no manipulation of the independent variable by the experimenter.

Question 6

what was the experimental group

Answer 6

39 males and 2 females, with a mean age of 34.3. referred to uni of california.

Question 7

what is the iv and the dv

Answer 7

iv- NGRI or not
dv-differences in brain activity measured on PET scan

Question 8

part one of the procedure

Answer 8

ten minutes before the fdg injection, p’s were given practice trials on a continuous performance task

Question 9

part 2 of the procedure

Answer 9

thirty seconds before the injection, the task was started

Question 10

part 3 of procedure

Answer 10

fdg tracer was injected into each participant

Question 11

part 4 of procedure

Answer 11

fdg was taken up by the brain for a 32 minute period during which the p completed a continuous performance task.

Question 12

part 5 of procedure

Answer 12

the p was transferred to a pet scanner where the brain scanned in 10mm horizontal slices.

Question 13

findings

Answer 13

-41 murderers had significantly lower glucose metabolism
- lower parietal glucose metabolism
- identical to controls on temporal lobe glucose metabolism
- higher occipital lobe glucose metabolism
- didn’t differ on any aspect of behavioural performance on cpt.

Question 14

conclusions

Answer 14

-findings can’t be used to demonstrate that violence is determined by biology.
-social, psychological, cultural and situational factors play important roles.
- data doesn’t suggest the murderers aren’t responsible for their actions.
- do not establish a causal link between brain dysfunction and violence.