16 markers AO3

Question 1

Localisation (case study)

Answer 1

P: supporting evidence
E: phineas gage -> damaged left frontal lobe in railroad accident and had a personality change from calm to quick tempered
E: case study of neurological damage shows frontal lobe is responsible for regulation mood, showing mood is localised to that area’
L: supports localisation
CA: problems w/ case studies -> difficult to make meaningful generalisations from the findings of a single individual. Conclusions drawn may depend on subjective interpretation of researcher.

Question 2

Localisation (brain scans)

Answer 2

P: supportive evidence
E: peterson used brain scans to demonstrate how wernicke’s area was active during a listening task and brocas was active during a reading task
E: shows many everyday brain functions are localised -> lang centres found in wernickes and brocas and localised to LH (distinguishable and separate)
Extra: supported by methodology -> nomothetic method provides empirical evidence that gives a scientific cred to research, increases validity and reliability

Question 3

Localisation (counter argument)

Answer 3

P: Language production may not be confined to Broca’s area alone
E: Dick and Tremblay -> only 2% of modern researchers think that language in the brain is completely controlled by Broca’s area and Wernicke’s areas. This is supported through modern FMRI scans that show language function is distributed more holistically and lang streams have been identified across the cortex
E: this is a limitation bc it suggests that the localisation may be an outdated theory and provide a limited explanation for brain function. With modern research providing a more scientific basis with empirical evidence, it provides a strong foundation to counter localisation
L: localisation theory may provide only a partial explanation, and so more modern theories such as brain plasticity and functional recovery could prove to be more well rounded explanations

Question 4

Hemispheric Lateralisation (forest)

Answer 4

P: split brain has provided considerable research into lateralisation of brain function
E: fink et al -> pet scans used to identify which brain areas were active during a visual process task -> asked to attend to global elements of an image (e.g. a forest) RH was active,, focusing on finer details (e.g. one tree) activated the LH
E: shows left is centred on verbal and analytical tasks and right more on spatial and creative tasks
L: provides theory w/ validity

Question 5

Hemispheric Lateralisation (sample)

Answer 5

P: problems w/ sample
E: the sample was small and had limited amount of split brain patients available but it unethical to manipulate IV so there was little that could be done to change this
E: regardless, it reduces population validity bc it’s a unique group so there’s considerable difficulty generalising to the wider population
L: weakness in methodology reduces external validity of the study and questions the necessity of the material if it can’t be applied well on a wider scale

Question 6

Hemispheric Lateralisation (age)

Answer 6

P: Lateralisation may only be applicable for certain age groups
E: Szaflarski et al found that language became more lateralised to the left hemisphere in children and adolescents but lateralisation decreased after 25 as lateralised functions switched to bilateral functions in adulthood
E: suggests lateralisation changes with normal ageing. This may likely be because using the extra processing resources of the other hemisphere may compensate for age-related declines in function
L: research into lateralisation is not as effective for the wider population as it cannot be generalised to all age groups

Question 7

Plasticity (age)

Answer 7

P: while there is evidence for plasticity, it is possible that this can deteriorate with age
E: research has shown that the capacity for neural reorganisation is much greater in children than in adults
E: this may explain why adults find change more demanding than young people do
L: Therefore, we must consider individual differences amongst people when assessing the likelihood of plasticity in the brain
CA: Bezzola et al observed increased motor cortex activity in the novice golfers compared to a control group, suggesting more efficient neural representations after training.
This suggests that neural representations does continue throughout the lifespan and may not deteriorate with age as much as expected

Question 8

Plasticity (phantom) !!!!!

Answer 8

P: plasticity may have negative behaviour consequences
E: 60-80% of amputees have phantom limb syndrome which causes unpleasant even painful sensations which are thought to be caused by the cortical reorganisation in the somatosensory cortex
E: this suggests that the brain’s ability to adapt to damage is not always beneficial and can reduce people’s qualities of life

Question 9

Functional recovery (practical app)

Answer 9

P: one strength of research into functional recovery is its practical application
E: understanding the processes involved has contributed to the field of neurorehabilitation, where techniques such as movement therapy and electrical stimulation of the brain are used following a stroke, to encourage axonal growth
E: without this research, we wouldn’t know the importance of having these supervisions in place to encourage recovery, and account for the natural slowing-down of spontaneous bodily recovery post-trauma
L: consequently, an understanding of functional recovery has proved vital in helping ppl get better after trauma

Question 10

Functional recovery (EB)

Answer 10

P: supporting evidence for research into functional recovery
E: patient EB had most of his left-brain hemisphere removed at the age of two and a half. Through the help of intensive rehab, he had little to no language problems and performed normally on many tasks including visuospatial skills and facial recognition
E: this shows that the functional organisation of lang areas in EB’s RH largely mirrored what’s seen in the healthy left hemisphere of controls. This supports the idea of the recruitment of homologous area on opposite sides of the brain, so that specific tasks can still be performed
L: As a result, research has demonstrated that the brain is able to rewire itself and recover from significant trauma
CA: pp variables can affect how well someone recovers following a brain trauma such as education (and iq?)

Question 11

Strengths of EEGs

Answer 11

• not an invasive process (no surgery required)
• high temporal resolution (can detect brain activity at a resolution of one millisecond)
• contributed to our understanding of the stages of sleep and enabled the diagnosis of disorders such as epilepsy

Question 12

Weaknesses of EEGs

Answer 12

• can only detect activity in regions of the brain closer to surface so cannot reveal what is going on in deeper regions such as hypothalamus. Electrodes can be planted in non-humans but this is unethical in humans
• generalised info abt brain activity - not useful for pinpointing exact source of neural activity (electrical activity can be picked up by several neighbouring electrodes so does not allow researchers to distinguish between activities originating in different but closely adjacent areas)

Question 13

Strengths of ERPs

Answer 13

• not an invasive process (no surgery required)
• specific measurement of neural processing and electrical activity in the brain
• Excellent temporal resolution have led to use in measurement of specific cognitive functions and deficits, such as reading ability

Question 14

Weaknesses of ERPs

Answer 14

• requires a large no. Of trials to get meaningful data. Places limitations on the questions this technique can realistically answer when trying to investigate the brain
• can only detect activity in regions of the brain closer to surface so cannot reveal what is going on in deeper regions such as hypothalamus. Electrodes can be planted in non-humans but this is unethical in humans
• difficult to eliminate background noise and extraneous material to get pure data

Question 15

Strengths of FMRIs

Answer 15

• not an invasive process (no surgery required)
• produces 3d images with high spatial resolution - giving detail by the millimetre

Question 16

Weaknesses of FMRIs

Answer 16

• expensive compared to other neuroimaging techniques and can only capture a clear image if the person stays perfectly still
• can only measure blood flow, cannot hone in on activity of individual neurons
• poor temporal resolution (around 5 sec time delay between image on screen and firing of neurons)

Question 17

Strengths of post mortem

Answer 17

• vital in providing early understanding of key processes in the brain e.g. lang centres

Question 18

Weaknesses of post mortem

Answer 18

• causation is an issue, observed damage may not be linked in deficits under review but some other unrelated decay/trauma. Furthermore, length of time since death, drug treatments and age at death are possible confounding influences
• retrospective approach (cannot follow up anything that arises from. The investigation concerning a possible relationship between abnormalities and cognitive functioning)
• can raise ethical issues of consent from patient before death eg HM

Question 19

Circadian rhythms (control)

Answer 19

P: poor control in studies
E: in studies of the sleep/wake cycle carried out in caves and bunkers, the exposure to artificial lights such as torches/phones was not controlled
E: For example, Siffre turned on a lamp every time he woke up which remained on until he went to bed
E: This means that artificial light could be a confounding variable in studies such as siffre’s. Research has shown that dim artificial light can adjust the circadian rhythm to between 22-28 hrs
L: If this is the case then the results in some original studies may lack validity as p’s biological clocks were not actually free-running

Question 20

Circadian rhythms (shift work)

Answer 20

P: knowledge of circadian rhythms including the sleep/wake cycle has allowed researchers to better understand what happens when they are distrupted
E: research has shown that night shift workers suffer a concentration lapse at 6am, increasing the likelihood of accidents. Shift workers are also 3x more likely to suffer from heart disease as a result of the stress of adjusting to sleep/wake cycles
E: These findings show the importance of understanding circadian rhythms in order to help ensure the safety of workers and have allowed guidelines to be put in place on how to best deal with shift work
L: consequently, research into circadian rhythms can have economic implications in terms of maintaining work productivity

Question 21

Circadian rhythms (case study)

Answer 21

P: one problem with studies on the sleep/wake cycle is that they tend to involve small groups of p’s
E: For example, Folkard et al’s study and Wever and Aschoff’s study were conducted on only a handful of ppl. Czeisler et al found evidence that individual cycles can vary by as much as 13-65 hrs. Siffre noted that when he went into the cave at 60 his body clock followed more of a 48 hr cycle
E: This suggests that factors such as age and individual differences may have significant impacts on our circadian rhythms
L: the implication of this is that conclusions cannot be generalised from these small samples onto the wider population, and therefore the research lacks external validity

Question 22

Exogenous zeitgebers (blind man)

Answer 22

P: social clues may not be very influential
E: case study by Miles investigated a young man blind from birth with a 24 hr circadian rhythm but whose sleep/wake cycle could not be adjusted regardless of changes to social cues (e.g. regular mealtimes). He required medication to allow him to sleep and wake up everyday at the appropriate times to keep up with/ 24 hr world
E: social cues aren’t working for him therefore they may not be a very influential exogenous zeitgeber. This also suggests that social cues are not as effective as entrainment
L: ??????????????????

Question 23

Exogenous zeitgebers (arctic)

Answer 23

P: exogenous zeitgebers may not play a significant role in some environments
E: studies of individuals who live in arctic regions (where sun doesn’t set in summer) show normal sleep patterns. They spend six months in almost total darkness
E: therefore, light might not play as crucial a role within the sleep/wake cycle as studies and research suggest as it could be dependent on location as well.
L: studies into EZ may be limited or provide only a partial explanation

Question 24

Endogenous pacemakers (ethics)

Answer 24

P: problems w/ evidence for endogenous pacemakers
E: SCN’s role in sleep/wake cycle has been demonstrated w/ animals through lesion studies and cellular implantation. Animals have been exposed to considerable harm, and consequently serious risk when returned back to the wild
E: raises ethical issues due to physical harm created for animals and couldn’t be replicated on humans. It is also harder to extrapolate the results due to differences in social cues for animals and humans.
L: questions the necessity of animals studies in learning abt the sleep/wake cycle.

Question 25

Endogenous pacemakers (siffre)

Answer 25

P: faults in research for endogenous pacemakers
E: siffre’s study on free-running cycles attempts to look at endogenous pacemakers in isolation but this gives us an unrealistic view of human behaviour. In real-life, both endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers interact, suggesting that it makes little sense to look at them both separately in research

Question 26

Endogenous pacemakers (siffre’s light)

Answer 26

P: Siffre’s study lacked accuracy and precision
E: Siffre didn’t look at endogenous pacemakers in coplete isolation as he had artificial light in the cave that may have acted as an exogenous xeitgeber, interfering with/ his study
E: therefore, his research is limited and provides only a partial explanation
ALSO: p variables affect sleep/wake cycle too: e.g. age

Question 27

Role of adrenaline (females)

Answer 27

P: the fight or flight explanation doesn’t fully explain the stress response in females
E: taylor et al -> females adopt a ‘tend and befriend’ response in stressful/dangerous situations. According to the study, women are more likely to protect their offspring (tend) and form alliances with/ other women (befriend), rather than fight or flee
E: this shows that the original fight or flight explanation may have been limited in its application to females
E: this highlights a beta bias within this area of psych as psychologists assumed that females responded in the same way as males until Taylor provided evidence of a tendency and befriend response
L: As a result, recent research has provided an alternate explanation, which is applicable to females

Question 28

Role of adrenaline (maladaptive)

Answer 28

P: fight or flight can have a negative/ detrimental effect on health in modern-day life, if repeatedly activated
E: For example, increased blood pressure (a characteristic of SNS activation) can lead to physical damage to blood vessels and eventually heart disease
E: This is a problem bc while the response may have been a useful survival mechanism for our ancestors who faced life-threatening situations (e.g. from predators), the stressors of modern day life rarely require such levels of physical activity, yet the body still responds in the same way
L: Therefore, the fight or flight response may not be maladaptive