Research Methods

Question 1

MRi

Answer 1

uses magnets to line up atoms in body

Question 2

functional MRi

Answer 2

overlays functional information on top of structure
can tell what parts of brain are receiving oxygenated blood

Question 3

what does fMRI rely on

Answer 3

difference in reasonance of oxygenated vs deoxygenated blood

Question 4

what is fMRI used for

Answer 4

compares brain areas active during different tasks
used for clinical groups, what happens in brain depending on diagnosis

Question 5

how can you assess neurotransmitters (in vitro and in vivo)

Answer 5

post mortem (in vitro) - after death, infuse brain with substance which direct measures the extent that receptors bind
in vivo - PET scan, measures metabolite in blood/urine/cerebrospinal fluid, change levels by giving drugs

Question 6

tryptophan

Answer 6

a neurotransmitter needed to make serotonin
remitted depressed people relapse when it is removed
mimics symptoms of depression in healthy people

Question 7

what are neuropsychological tests used for

Answer 7

to measure problems in behaviour and thought which arises from brain dysfunction

Question 8

how would NeuroTest determine spatial neglect

Answer 8

inability to draw clock and lining up the numbers

Question 9

examples of behaviours shown by neurotest

Answer 9

spatial neglect
working memory
language (aphasia, comprehensions vs production of speech)
executive function - exert PF control over basic learned response

Question 10

EEG measures and features

Answer 10

electrical signals in brain
has good temporal resolution
used to assess sleep, seizures, attention, cogntive function

Question 11

why have neuro and psych tests not made it to clinical practice

Answer 11

expensive
inability to serve everyone who requires mental health care
crude measures
many are subjective to interpretation, confirmation bias
validity issues

Question 12

cultural and ethnic issues with psych testing

Answer 12

many are developed and ‘normed’ based from americans, and europeans

Question 13

how to reduce cultural and ethic bias

Answer 13

be aware of bias
do not generalise
multiple forms of measurement (convergence)
establish norms which are appropriate to specific groups and cultures

Question 14

basic principles of research

Answer 14

theory
hypothesis

Question 15

what is a theory

Answer 15

set of propositions to explain set of observations

Question 16

what is a hypothesis

Answer 16

set of precise expectation about what should happen if theory is correct
- should be a falsifiable test, to refine theory

Question 17

what are the constraints on theories

Answer 17

clearly defined principles
based on reproducible data
not fixed and final, refined and abandoned with new evidence
should not be based on opinion, intuition, anecdotal evidence
should not be impossible to disprove
not based on exclusivley explanations of pre-existing data

Question 18

examples of important research methods

Answer 18

case studies
generating hypotheses
rare phenomena

Question 19

issues of case studies

Answer 19

smallest sample size
cannot generalise
describes something already happened - conductive approach

Question 20

what do correlations tell us

Answer 20

there may be relationship between 2 variables, but does not = causation
but do not know which explanation is true

Question 21

what are epidemiological studies

Answer 21

surveys conducted on large groups to get estimate of entire population
characterises how many and where certain diseases exist

Question 22

what do Epidemiological studies tell us

Answer 22

incidence and prevlance

Question 23

incidence?

Answer 23

proportion of people who develop a new case of a disorder in some period

Question 24

prevalence?

Answer 24

proportion of people with the disorder currently or during their lifetime, accumulative

Question 25

risk factors?

Answer 25

variables that are related to the likelihood of developing disorders (lifestyle, education)

Question 26

what are GWAS

Answer 26

genome wide association studies

Question 27

what does GWAS study

Answer 27

genes are tested without specific hypothesis, and tested for correlations with disorders

Question 28

what two factors are needed to draw valid conclusions

Answer 28

internal and external validity

Question 29

internal validity

Answer 29

is the study confounded - is a different variable driving results than what was thought

Question 30

external validity

Answer 30

do the results of the study sample generalise to others
can they be applied to other disorders etc

Question 31

what are randomised controlled trials ?

Answer 31

when subjects are randomly assigned to either recieve experimental or control treatment

Question 32

how does confirmation bias ruin experiments

Answer 32

if they know which group the ppt is in, may affect how the symptoms are scored etc

Question 33

publication bias

Answer 33

phenomenon where studies that fail to show an effect are less likely to be published