biological area

Question 1

what is behaviour due to according to the biological area?

Answer 1

physical causes, including brain structure, hormones, genes, chemicals etc

‘Everything that is psychological is first physiological’

Question 2

what is the brain?

Answer 2

an organ composed of neurons

can be divided into areas, each responsible for a certain function or behaviour

although the general structure of the brain remains the same, the amount of neurons in an area may change in response to environmental factors

Question 3

what are hormones?

Answer 3

chemicals made by glands in the body. They send messages around the body and so can trigger changes in the body

eg pineal gland produces melatonin to regulate sleep patterns

Question 4

what are genes?

Answer 4

made up of DNA + are inherited from our parents. Each gene has a function

Genes can be ‘switched’ on/off based on environmental triggers

eg there is a gene linked with increased risk of developing schizophrenia. Having it is not a guarantee of developing schizophrenia and some environmental factors such as drug use have been linked to the switching on of the gene

Question 5

methodology of the biological area?

Answer 5

biological psychology is interested in how physical aspects affect our behaviour

previously, case studies were conducted on people with injuries which may affect behaviour eg Phineas Gage

Nowadays, more scientific methods can be used such as varying types of brains cans to show which areas of the brain are most active when completing certain tasks

Question 6

what is the lateralisation of brain function?

Answer 6

the idea that the hemispheres have specialised and different functions

Question 7

what does the right hemisphere of the brain do?

Answer 7

intuition
creativity
emotion

controls the left side of the body

Question 8

what does the left hemisphere of the brain do?

Answer 8

perception
planning
language

controls the right side of the body

Question 9

what is Broca’s area?

Answer 9

Broca (1861) conducted a case study of a man who could only say the word ‘tan’

an autopsy showed damage to a lower section of the left frontal lobe. this led to the suggestion that this area is responsible for language production

known as broca’s area

Question 10

what is wernicke’s area?

Answer 10

Wernicke worked with patients whose speech was fluent but disordered ie they were saying words but not in context

autopsies showed damage to the top of the left hemisphere which is responsible for the fluency of language

known as wernicke’s area

Question 11

what is the corpus callosum?

Answer 11

a bundle of nerves found in the centre of the brain

it connects the hemispheres, allowing info to pass between them

Question 12

what are split brain patients?

Answer 12

the severing of the corpus callosum used to be a treatment for epilepsy in patients who could not be treated with medication

patients who received this procedure referred to as ‘Split-Brain Patients’

Question 13

aims of Sperry?

Answer 13

to investigate the functions of hemispheres in the brain

he also wanted to investigate the effects of hemisphere deconnection in split brain patients

Question 14

sample for sperry?

Answer 14

11 split brain patients

1 male patient had the surgery 5.5 years b4 the study

1 female patient had the surgery 4 years b4 the study

the remaining 9 were reported to have had surgery ‘shortly before’ the study

Question 15

how were the visual tests set up in sperry?

Answer 15

pts sat in front of a projector screen with one eye covered. in the middle of the screen was a point pts were asked to focus on

visual stimuli in the form of an image or word would appear on one side of the fixation point for 1/10th of a second

images were presented using a tachistoscope

Question 16

how did the visual tests where one image was displayed go in sperry?

Answer 16

if the image was displayed to the right visual field, pts could say what they had seem

if the image was displayed to the left, pts could not say what they had seen

however, pts could pick out a matching object from an array with their left hand.

Question 17

what hemisphere is responsible for language?

Answer 17

left

Question 18

what hemisphere are the left hand and left visual field linked to ?

Answer 18

the right

Question 19

how did the visual tests where two images were displayed go in sperry?

Answer 19

when two images were displayed at the same time to both visual fields, pts could only say what they had seen in the right visual field

if pts were asked to draw what they had seen using their left hand, pts drew the image displayed to their left visual field

Question 20

how did the pinup image visual test go in sperry?

Answer 20

when the image of a nude pinup was presented to the left visual field, pts would giggle and blush, but were unable to explain why they were embarrassed (right hemisphere not responsible for language)

same image presented to right, pts would explain why they were embarrassed

Question 21

what was the set up of the tactile tests in sperry?

Answer 21

pts sat in front of screen w/ gap between screen and table. this gap was big enough for pts to place their arms through to reach objects, but pts could not see their arms, only the screen in front

Question 22

how did the tactile test of finding an object go in sperry?

Answer 22

if pts originally picked up the object w their left hand and placed it back into the array, they were unable to retrieve it w their right hand.

however, they could find the object again w their left hand

the same was true vice versa (w right hand as original)

Question 23

how did the tactile test of naming an object go in sperry?

Answer 23

pts holding an object in left hand could not say what they were holding

if in right hand, they could name the object they were holding

Question 24

conclusions of sperry?

Answer 24

provided evidence for the lateralisation of brain function

issues w sharing of info between hemispheres are not a day to day issue for split brain patients as in the real world info is presented for more than 1/10th of a second, and u can hold objects with both hands

Question 25

strengths of sperry?

Answer 25

quasi makes it ethical to investigate split brain patients by using people who have already had the surgery

ethics, ps gave consent

provides evidence for lateralisation of brain function eg language is in left hemisphere

Question 26

weaknesses of sperry?

Answer 26

lacks ecological validity as visual stimuli only flashed for 1/10th second + ps only used one eye, these limits to visual stimuli not true to real world

less validity as assumed that non-split patients could complete the tasks without problems

only 11 people in sample, lacks population validity (+all ps splitbrained)

quasi = not manipulating IV so open to confounding variables

Question 27

what is instant gratification?

Answer 27

unable to resist the temptation of an immediate reward

Question 28

what is delayed gratification?

Answer 28

resisting the temptation of an immediate reward in order to get a later rewards

Question 29

what is the inferior frontal gyrus?

Answer 29

an area in the Front Lobe found in both hemispheres

responsible for interpretation of facial expression and generating an appropriate emotional response

plays a role in response inhibition and avoiding risky behaviour

known as the Cool system as it does not excite us

Question 30

what is the Ventral Striatum?

Answer 30

an area in the Limbic System

it is associated with immediate choices and rewards

also responsible for behaviour in social interactions

known as the Hot system as it involves desires and emotions

Question 31

what was the Marshmallow Test?

Answer 31

children sat in room w one marshmallow in front of them and told they can eat it but that if they wait until the researcher returned, they could have 2 marshmallows.

researcher left room for 15 mins. 2/3 of ps had eaten marshmallow

people who cannot delay gratification were labelled Low-Delayer whilst those who could were labelled High Delayer

Question 32

what system was more active in Low Delayers and High Delayers?

Answer 32

Hot System more in Low Delayers

Cold System in High Delayers

Question 33

what are Go/NoGOo tests?

Answer 33

for adults

involve pushing a button when you see on type of stimuli but not pushing the button when you see a different stimuli

Question 34

aims of Casey?

Answer 34

to investigate whether a delay of gratification in childhood can predict delay gratification in adulthood

they looked into impulse control abilities + reaction to social cues

Question 35

DV of first Casey Experiment?

Answer 35

performance on an impulse control task measured in reaction time + accuracy

Question 36

DV of second Casey experiment?

Answer 36

activity in brain regions measured from fMRI data

Question 37

sample of Casey in late 60s/ early 70s?

Answer 37

marshmallow test with 562 four year olds from Stanford Uni nursery

Question 38

sample of Casey 1993?

Answer 38

155 of original ps who were now in their 20s completed a self control scale

Question 39

sample of Casey 2003

Answer 39

135 of original ps who were now in 30s completed self control scale

Question 40

sample of 2011ish Casey?

Answer 40

117 of these Ps who were either above or below average in their responses were contacted and asked to take part

59 responded and agreed to take part (23 males/36 females)

Question 41

how were ps classified in Casey 1 ?

Answer 41

ps classified as high delayers or low delayers based on performance in Delay of Gratification task and self reports

32 High-Delayers (12 Males/ 20 Females)
27 Low-Delayers (11 Males/ 16 Females)

Question 42

how were trials presented in Casey 1?

Answer 42

using pre programmed laptops sent to ps homes

the Go stimuli changed between trials (Happy/Fearful/Males/Female)

each stimuli shown for 0,5 seconds with a 1 second break between stimuli

was a total of 160 trials per run. these trials were presented in a pseudo randomised order (120 Go/40 NoGo)

Question 43

what was the Hot Go/No Go task in Casey 1?

Answer 43

ps asked to click when they saw a happy face and not click when shown a fearful face and vice versa. This task aimed to target the hot system by showing different emotions for ps to react to

Question 44

Cool Go/NoGo task in Casey1?

Answer 44

ps asked to click when they saw a male face and not click when shown a female face and vice versa

Question 45

Results of Experiment 1 Casey?

Answer 45

no difference in reaction times between High Delayers and Low Delayers

Both groups accurate on the ‘Go’ trials

Low Delayers made more errors on the Hot task than on the Cool task

Question 46

sample of Casey 2?

Answer 46

27 participants from Exp 1 agreed to take part

15 high delayers and 11 low delayers, allocated based on previous performance

before data was analysed, results from 1 participant was removed due to their poor performance, this means the data of only 26 ps was taken to account

Question 47

equipment in Casey2?

Answer 47

the data was collected using an fMRI scanner, showing the flow of blood to active regions of the brain so that we can see which regions are active for certain tasks

within the scanner there was a screen to display the task and a Neuroscan 5 button pad for ps to respond to the stimuli

Question 48

what was the task in Casey2?

Answer 48

ps only completed Hot Go/NoGo task

each picture shown for 0.5 seconds and the gaps between each of the pictures ranged from 2 seconds to 14.5 seconds

they completed this task whilst inside the fMRI scanner so the data about which regions were activated could be collected

Question 49

results of Casey 2?

Answer 49

differences between groups in NoGo accuracy were consistent with Exp , with low delayers being more likely to wrongly click

low delayers showed lower levels of activity in their Inferior Frontal Gyrus when shown NoGo stimuli

Low Delayers also showed increased activity in the Ventral Striatum when shown the NoGo stimuli

Question 50

conclusions of Casey

Answer 50

the ability to delay gratification seems to be a trait that is stable over a lifetime and has a biological cause

the ability to resist temptation varies by context. the more tempting the stimuli, the more predictive the individual differences

Question 51

strengths of Casey?

Answer 51

quantitative data eg how many errors = easy to analyse and compare

ethics, gave consent

quasi allows you to study natural differences

Question 52

weaknesses of Casey?

Answer 52

longitudinal study = lots of people withdrew

quasi = IV not being directly manipulated so harder to establish cause and effect

all kids from Stanford Uni nursery for Marshmallow test = ethnocentric

Question 53

similarities between casey and sperry?

Answer 53

both quasi

ethics

independent measures

both lack ecological validity

Question 54

differences between casey and sperry

Answer 54

casey longitudinal, sperry snapshot

sperry lower population validity as smaller sample size than casey’s marshmallow test sample

sperry’s brains different bc of a surgery (human cause), caseys different naturally

Question 55

strengths of the biological area?

Answer 55

improves understanding: explains the extent to which our behaviour is affected by physical factors such as genes, hormones and the structure of the brain

builds credibility, as it tends to use scientific and objective methodology to investigate biological causes of behaviours, eg uses of fMRI in Casey

tends to use scientific and objective methodology in controlled conditions to investigate behaviour - higher replicability to test reliability

Question 56

weaknesses of the biological area?

Answer 56

ability to study the brain directly is still limited and so other methodology must be used, eg in Sperry data was gathered based on whether ps could complete the tasks– not entirely valid

reductionist to ignore the influence of nurture

results can be somewhat open to interpretation, eg in Casey’s study the activity shown in the Ventral Striatum doesn’t necessarily clearly indicate whether it was encouraging or discouraging behaviour

Question 57

how does casey change our understanding of individual diversity?

Answer 57

advances knowledge

sperry = lateralisation of hemispheres

casey = specific areas eg ventral striatum / inferior frontal gyrus

Question 58

how does casey change our understanding of social diversity?

Answer 58

both have male and female ps

casey - socioeconomic bias, all from stanford uni nursery

sperry - all have epilepsy/surgery - American healthcare is expensive so there might be socioeconomic bias

Question 59

how does casey change our understanding of cultural diversity?

Answer 59

both ethnocentric (both american)