Raine Flashcards
Brain scan used in Raine’s study
PET
Gender split of P’s in experimental group
39 male 2 female
Mean age of experimental group
34.3
Type of experiment used by Raine
Quasi
IV of Raine’s study
Whether P is NGRI murderer or control
DV of Raine’s study
Glucose metabolism in brain areas
Mean age of control group
31.7
How many P’s in each group were schizophrenic?
6 NGRI and 6 controls
What university had the experimental group been referred to?
University of California
What is the name of the radiotracer the P’s were injected with?
Fluorodeoxyglucose
What task did the P’s complete before their scan?
Continuous performance task (CPT)
How long before the injection were the P’s allowed to practice the CPT?
10 minutes
How long before the injection did they START the task?
30 seconds
In which brain area was glucose metabolism HIGHER in NGRI compared to controls?
Occipital
In which brain area was glucose metabolism LOWER in NGRI compared to controls?
Prefrontal, parietal, corpus callosum
In which brain areas did they find no difference in glucose metabolism in NGRI and controls?
Temporal, cingulate, caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, midbrain and cerebellum
In which brain areas did they find hemispheric asymmetry in NGRI compared to controls?
Amygdala, Medial temporal lobe (including hippocampus), thalamus
What did Raine find regarding CPT performance of NGRI vs controls?
Both groups performed similarly on CPT
What did Raine find regarding handedness, head injury and ethnicity?
Handedness- left-handed NGRI showed higher medial frontal activity compared to right-handed NGRI and less amygdala asymmetry
Ethnicity - no difference in white vs non-white murderers
Head injury - No differences in NGRI with head injuries compared to those without head injury
Conclusions of Raine
- The findings of the study CANNOT be taken to demonstrate that violence is determined by biology
- Other factors (social, psychological, cultural and situational) play a role in predisposing violence
- The findings do not demonstrate that those pleading NGRI are not responsible for their actions, or that PET scans can be used as a diagnostic technique
- The findings do not establish a causal link between brain dysfunction and violence and the findings cannot be generalised to other types of offender
