Raine et al 1997 - Classical Study

Question 1

What were the aims of Raine et al?

Answer 1

To see if murders who plead not guilty to murder by reasons of insanity (NGRI) will have brain dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus etc

Question 2

Describe the sample of Raine et al

Answer 2

41 ppts from California (39 male, 2 female)
Mean age - 34.3
All charged with murder or manslaughter
All NGRI
6 had schizophrenia, 23 had brain damage/injury
All had been medication free for 2 weeks, and urine tests were used to confirm this.

There was a control group of 39 males and 2 females
Matched to murders in age and gender
6 schizophrenics were matched to the 6 schizophrenic murderers
None were taking medication

So 82 in total

Question 3

Describe the procedure of Raine et al

Answer 3

10 mins before injection, they were given practice trials of continuous performance task (CPT)

30 seconds before injection CPT started
A glucose tracer was injected and they did CPT for 32 minutes

They then had a PET scan
Took 10 slices at 10mm apart starting at 80% level of head height

Question 4

Describe the results of Raine et al

Answer 4

Low levels of glucose metabolism in the prefrontal cortex
High glucose metabolism in the occipital lobe
Different levels of activity in the amygdala

Question 5

Describe the conclusion of Raine et al

Answer 5

Murders do have differences in brain activity to non-murderers
A single brain mechanism can’t be said to cause violence but is probably caused by multiple
Violence is not just down to biology, other factors play a role

Question 6

Evaluate the generalisability of Raine et al

Answer 6

Large sample size - 82 ppts

Androcentric - mainly males, but most murderers are males, so not as important

Ethnocentric - all from California

Question 7

Evaluate the reliability of Raine et al

Answer 7

Standardised procedure - all did the same CPT, same PET scan etc

Controls - urine tests; matched on age, gender and schizophrenia

Question 8

Evaluate the application of Raine et al

Answer 8

Can now use PET scans to reduce sentences if found to have brain abnormalities
Can sue lawyers if they didn’t get a brain scan (USA) as the defence wasn’t fully developed

Question 9

Evaluate the validity of Raine et al

Answer 9

Ecological validity - PET scans done in labs

Task validity - CPT is not a natural task

Internal validity - They did measure brain activity

Demand characteristics - You can’t change your brain patterns

Question 10

Evaluate the ethics of Raine et al

Answer 10

Protection from harm - no medication for 2 weeks could have caused symptoms to return (eg schizophrenia) causing them harm