Raine Flashcards
What does Raine argue is the cause for criminal behaviour?
physiological factors - BUT acknowledges the BIOSOCIAL aspect
What is the background to Raine?
damage to the pre-frontal cortex and amygdala causing increased aggressive behaviour
Why does the pre-frontal cortex relate to crime?
increased impulsivity and loss of self control
Why does the amygdala relate to crime?
fearfulness
What is the group of interest in Raine’s study?
murderers NGRI (Not guilty by reason of insanity)
How is insanity defined for this study?
having a mental disorder outside of their control
What is the hypothesis of Raine’s study?
that seriously violent offenders have localised brain damage in frontal regions
What is the aim of Raine’s study?
- seriously violent offenders pleading NGRI have localised brain dysfunction
- seriously violent offenders pleading NGRI show no dysfunction in areas implicated in other psychiatric conditions
What is the method of Raine’s study?
Quasi experiment
What makes Raine a quasi?
the IV was not manipulated = non-murderer NGRI or murderer NGRI
What is the DV?
brain dysfunction
What was the design?
matched pairs
How were the two groups matched?
age and gender
What was the sample?
- 41 murderers NGRI (39 males and 2 females)
- California
What was the control sample?
- 41 non-murderers (39 male and 2 female)
- not on any medication
What are the materials used?
- PET machine
- FDG injection
- CPT (continuous performance task)
What are some details about the CPT?
- 32 mins
- detection of target signals
What is an overview of the procedure?
- murderers NGRI medication free for two weeks
- 10 mins before FDG practice trials of CPT
- 30 seconds before FDG the CPT starts
- 32 mins after FDG the PET scan
What was the purpose of the CPT task?
to activate the pre-frontal region of the brain
How does a PET scan help to understand the workings of the brain?
- radioactivity of the brain as when there is activity in the brain glucose is used = FDG injection
- glucose = radioactive isotope
What is the purpose of a PET scan?
to detect what areas of the brain are active
What are some details about the PET scan?
10 slices (pictures) at 10mm intervals
What is an FDG injection?
a glucose injection
What is glucose metabolism?
a measure of brain activity and when its active glucose is used
What were the brain imaging results?
no significant differences found in performance of CPT
What were the murderers results?
- reduced activity
- areas previously linked to violence e.g., the pre-frontal cortex - abnormal symmetries
- reduced activity on the left and increased on the right
- areas linked to violence in hypothesis e.g., amygdala
What are the conclusions of this study?
- there are specific psychological processes that may predispose violent behaviour (physiological)
- results do NOT show: murderers NGRI are not responsible for actions, brain dysfunction being the cause for violence, all violent offenders having brain dysfunction
What is a key link from the findings and conclusions of this study?
that reduced activity in prefrontal areas may explain impulsive behaviour, a loss of self control, immaturity, and the inability to modify behaviour *criminal behaviour
What are the strengths of this study (generalisability)?
- large sample = more representative and generalisable
- population validity
What are the weaknesses of this study (generalisability)?
- gender bias sample = androcentric results
- culture bias = ethnocentric
What are the strengths of this study (reliability)?
- scientific equipment (PET scan) = objectivity and replicable results
- test re-test reliability
- standardised procedure
What are the weaknesses of this study (reliability)?
- results of PET scans sometimes unclear - subjective interpretation / human error
What are the strengths of this study (validity)?
- quasi experiment = no researcher bias as IV not manipulated
What are the weaknesses of this study (validity)?
- artificial task (CPT) decreases ecological validity
- lacks cause and effect
What are the ethical issues within this study?
socially sensitive
What are the ethical considerations of this study?
informed consent gained
What is the relation between resting heart rate and criminal behaviour?
lower resting heart rate = increased aggressive behaviour - this reflects lack of fear
