Background

Question 1

Explain and give examples on the two methods of studying brain development. Outline the problems that arise when using these methods and what does this say about what factors affect brain and behavioural development.

Answer 1

The development of the structure of the brain can be studied and this can then be correlated with the emergence of specific behaviours.

Disadvantage of this method:

Individual differences in brain development and behaviour

Brain development can be biologically determined but behaviour has a less fixed pattern of development. Showing environmental influences has an affect and not just brain development.

Inability to manipulate brain development restricts research to merely observing and formulating theories that are difficult to test.

The other method would be to look at change in behaviour which can be hypothesised to link to changes in the brain.

For example Kohlberg’s moral development can be as a result of the brain developing to allow abstract thought.

A third method

Question 2

What are some of the problems with studying brain development by method of studying brain structure and how it correlates with behaviour?

Answer 2

Disadvantage of this method:

Individual differences in brain development and behaviour can make using this method difficult.

Brain development can be biologically determined but behaviour has a less fixed pattern of development. Showing environmental influences has an affect and not just brain development.

Inability to manipulate brain development restricts research to merely observing and formulating theories that are difficult to test.

Question 3

State the three ways of studying brain development and behaviour.

Answer 3

The development of the structure of the brain can be studied and this can then be correlated with the emergence of specific behaviours.

The other method would be to look at change in behaviour which can be hypothesised to link to changes in the brain.

A third method would be to look at brain structure of a person who is exhibiting behavioural disorders and try to identify brain abnormalities that might contribute to these disorders.

Question 4

What role does brain plasticity have in studying brain development?

Answer 4

The brain can alter in structure depending on stimulation from the environment.
Brain plasticity may, therefore, result in other brain structures and neurons developing differently?

Question 5

What are some of the problems with studying brain development by method of studying abnormalities in brain structure that explain behavioural disorders?

Answer 5

One of the problems with this method is that the plasticity of an immature brain poses difficulty in inferring structure-function relations from malfunction in the developing brain

Also brain damage occurring in infants may produce different behavioural affects than adults and may result in the brain going on to develop differently than normal

Question 6

Describe the pattern of brain development after birth and what does research show about its specifically?

Answer 6

The brain continues to grow but with irregular periods of growth when the brain develops much quicker than other times.

Research shows spurts in brain growth occurred at 3-10 months, 2-4 years, 6-8 years, 10-12 years and 14-16 years.

Question 7

What happens to grey and white matter volume in the brain as it develops?

Answer 7

The various cells of the brain also develop at differing rates. The volumes of grey matter tend to begin to decline around 6-7 years of age and this continues through adolescence, where as white matter volumes increase over the same time frame

Question 8

What is the role of grey matter and white matter in the brains?

Answer 8

Grey matter is made up of nerve cell bodies and they process information

White matter is made up of neurons with long axons that carry messages to and from grey matter areas and from grey matter areas to other parts of the body.

Question 9

What is the effect of myelination on behaviour and give and example of this is children as the grow?

Answer 9

When become myelinated it insulates and it allows them to send messages along the appropriate pathways.

Babies whose nerves do not have a mature myelin sheath have awkward and unco-ordinated movements.
As the child grows the child’s myelin sheaths develop and movements become smoother and more co-ordinated.

Question 10

What is the result of Multiple Sclerosis?

Answer 10

Adults who have multiple sclerosis is an example of a disease where the myelin sheaths have been destroyed.

Question 11

State research on how a child’s use of the brain changes as they grow

Answer 11

A study using positron emission tomography found that:

In infants of 5 weeks or younger utilised the sensorimotor cortex the most.

By the age of 3 activity increased in most other cortical regions.

These regions are involved in basic sensory and motor functions.

Question 12

What happens after the primary cortical regions have developed?

Answer 12

There is further development in the parietal regions involved in space and language which mature around puberty.

There is also further development in the prefrontal cortex maturing from late adolescence into adulthood.

Question 13

What study shows the connection with myelin formation and physical ability?

Answer 13

Studies have shown a correlation between myelin formation and the ability to grasp.

The fine motor neurons become myelinated at about the same time that reaching and grasping with the whole hand develops.

The cells of the motor cortex become myelinated at about the same time the pincer grasp develops.

Question 14

Highlight development of visual and motor functions at ages: birth, 6 weeks, 9 months, 24 months and 5 years.

Answer 14

Birth - Reflex sucking, rooting, swallowing and infantile grasping, blinks to light

9 months - Sits well and pulls self to sitting position, pincer grasp, crawls

24 months - Walks up and down stairs (two feet a step), bends over and picks up object without falling, turns knob

5 years - Skips, ties shoelaces

Question 15

How does the development of the temporal and frontal lobe change with linguistic skills and how do we see this in children?

Answer 15

The temporal and frontal lobes of the child’s brain develop in line with linguistic skills.

They develop more variable than other areas in when and how quickly they develop, which leads to individual differences in the development of language skills in normal children.

Question 15

What reason do teenagers take part in a risk taking behaviour such as alcohol?

Answer 15

Alcohol reduces social discomfort and adolescents may be more sensitive to this effect due to the feelings of insecurity that are often apparent in puberty and are therefore likely to drink more to gain the confidence they don’t have.

Question 16

What part of the brain is said to be linked with risk taking and its role?

Answer 16

The prefrontal cortex and has a role to reasonably assess the consequences

Question 17

Other than the prefrontal cortex, what is the part of the brain that encourages risky behaviour?

Answer 17

Areas of the ventral striatum, which mature earlier and can encourage adolescents towards novel, adult-like activities that tend to be risky.

Question 18

How does lack of experience and explain risk taking behaviour?

Answer 18

Lack of experience in dealing with risky situations may inhibit an adolescents reasoning and subsequent avoiding of activities when they become dangerous.

Question 19

What risk taking characteristic is consistent through life?

Answer 19

Impulsivity
Impulsivity in young children aged three has been shown to persist in adolescents and may be due to inherited traits so individual differences may result in some adolescents taking risks.

Question 20

How do neurochemicals cause risk taking behaviour and give a study supporting this?

Answer 20

A reduction in serotonin, in the cerebral spinal fluid (brain) can lead to impulsivity in monkeys and this reduction is seen in offspring that are subject to stress as a baby.

Question 21

What is a cause of impulsivity in children and how?

Answer 21

Children with lower levels of serotonin show more impulsivity

This may be a result of suffering a stressful infant-hood after being who are abused or neglected.

Question 22

What factor affects the type of environment a child grows up in and what does this suggest about children who are likely to be impulsive?

Answer 22

Neglectful environments are more likely to be seen in low socioeconomic groups so this suggests that risk taking behaviour may be seen more in those groups.

Question 23

What research shows how dopamine in the ventral striatum encourages risk taking behaviour?

Answer 23

Research suggests that in the animal kingdom, dopamine in ventral striatum has the effect of encouraging the adolescents yo leave the home and, in doing so, taking more risks.

Question 24

How has IQ been linked with risk taking behaviour in adolescents?

Answer 24

It has been identified that individual with a higher IQ and better memory performance actually have higher levels of sensation seeking, showing that risk taking behaviours are not always linked to deficits in brain structure.

Question 25

What pieces of evidence shows the connection between sensation-seeking and IQ?

Answer 25

Evidence has shown a small but significant positive correlation between sensation seeking and IQ.

More research has found that differences in sensation seeking are positively correlated with working memory performance.

Adolescents with good memory were more sensation seeking.

Question 26

What study shows that adults use their brain differently when having chosen a riskier choice rather than the safer one?

Answer 26

A study on brain activation in adolescents and adults found that adults showed more activity in the occipital prefrontal cortex when choosing the choice of high probability and low financial reward where as adolescents showed less.

This means they would have not been able to rely on this area to control their choices.

Question 28

What research shows the connection between white matter fibre in the prefrontal cortex and risk taking adolescents?

Answer 28

Research theorises that risk taking adolescents actually have more mature prefrontal cortex white matter giving rise to more adult or mature decisions.

Therefor if they do take part in risky behaviour, they are doing so after more mature consideration than non risk taking adolescents with immature brains.