Biological Flashcards
(206 cards)
1
Q
What is the biological key question?
A
How effective is drug therapy for treating addictions?
2
Q
In 2013/2014 how many opioid users were there in the UK?
A
293,879 opiate users
3
Q
What ‘replacement’ drugs are provided to opioid users to help reduce their symptoms of withdrawal?
A
Methadone or Buprenorphine
4
Q
Give some symptoms of drug addiction
A
Cravings, seeking drugs, withdrawal symptoms, irritability
5
Q
How does Buprenorphine
A
Buprenorphine is a similar shape to heroin and so binds to the opioid receptors blocking them partially which stops the withdrawal symptoms but doesn’t give feelings of euphoria
6
Q
What is an alternative therapy for drug addiction other than drug treatment?
A
Counselling, support groups e.g. alcoholics anonymous
7
Q
Why is the biological key question a key issue in terms of crime in society?
A
Drug addiction leads to theft owing to the need to find money to buy drugs
8
Q
Why do drug users need to take more and more drugs each time in order to achieve the same high?
A
Repeated exposure to recreational drugs can lead to tolerance and withdrawal symptoms which
continues drug use and can lead to social and economic costs so needs to be treated.
9
Q
Why do drug users need to be weaned off drugs instead of them taken away all at once?
A
When a user stops taking they experience withdrawal symptoms such as shakes, sweating, sickness and by gradually reducing drug in take a person reduces the effects of these symptoms
10
Q
How does heroin affect the brain/body?
A
Heroin reduces GABA (an inhibitory neurotransmitter) which causes an increase in
Dopamine. Heroin effects the opioid receptors in the brain. This action suppresses physical pain. This
chemical effect of heroin slows the motor functions which is why you feel so relaxed and out of it when
you’re taking heroin.
11
Q
How does methadone work?
A
Methadone mimics the action of heroin at the synaptic level through dopamine and endorphins
12
Q
How is buprenorphine used to help to wean a person off drugs?
A
Over time, the dose of buprenorphine
is gradually reduced until it can be stopped completely
13
Q
When should a person begin to take their buprenorphine and why?
A
in binding with the receptor it ‘pushes’ heroin out and so
a person can have severe withdrawl…so it’s best to wait until you’re already suffering withdrawal to take
it
14
Q
Give 2 pieces of evidence that support the argument that drug therapy is effective at treating drug addiction
A
Jones (2004) - Buprenorphine prevents withdrawal, allows for a more individual treatment process (it is
long lasting and thus more flexible when it can be given) and has less chance of overdose
&
Marteau et al found it 6 times safer than methadone
15
Q
What did rat park (Alexander) suggest about the effectiveness of drug therapy in treating addiction?
A
Alexander et al (1978) showed that substitute prescribing may not be needed (or the ideal method) Rat
park took drug addicted animals and put them into a lush and exciting social cage, over time they weaned
themselves of their addiction because their environment replaced the euphoria they got from the drugs
16
Q
What is the aim of the biological practical?
A
Aim: To conduct a correlation to the relationship between testosterone (shown by 2D:4D ratio) and aggression
(shown via aggression questionnaire)
17
Q
Which research method did we use to collect our results?
A
Correlation
18
Q
What is the alternative hypothesis for your biological practical?
A
There will be a positive relationship between 2D:4D ratio, and score on an aggression
questionnaire.
19
Q
What is the null hypothesis for your biological practical?
A
There will be no relationship between 2D:4D ratio and score on an aggression questionnaire.
20
Q
What are your two co-variables in the biological practical?
A
2D:4D ratio and scores on an aggression questionnaire / 15
21
Q
What type of sampling did you use in your biological practical?
A
Opportunity sampling
22
Q
What was the sample of your biological practical?
A
______ people from college in the North of England, aged between 16 and 20
23
Q
What questionnaire did your sample complete in the biological practical?
A
30 questions about their aggressiveness and measured
on a 5 point scale giving them a total for aggression
24
Q
How did you measure the participants level of testosterone exposure in the biological practical?
A
measuring the length of their ring finger and index finger and measuring the
ratio between the two
(2D:4D ratio)
25
What graph could you use to plot the results of the biological practical?
Scatter graph
26
Why was the sample of your biological practical neither androcentric or gynocentric?
both males and females in the finger ratio measures/aggression questionnaire making it more
generalisable. This means the results would be more representative about the correlation between finger ratio and
aggression in a wider population
27
How was your biological practical reliable?
The questionnaires about aggression and the finger measures are standardised which means it can be easily
repeated. This is good because the procedure can be repeated to see if the results about the correlation with finger
ratio and aggression would be the same.
28
What is the strength of you collecting quantitative data in your biological practical in terms of mean aggression scores /15 and 2D:4D ratio?
A strength is it used quantitative data from the aggression quesitonnaires which allows for statistical
testing/analysis. This is good because we can to see if the results about aggression and finger ratio are due to chance
29
How is your biological practical ethical?
The study is ethical as participants knew we were measuring their aggression levels and their finger ratio as a
proxy for testosterone when they consented. This means we have consent for the research as participants were fully
aware of the purpose and that we would discuss their aggression
30
How is your sample NOT representative in your biological practical?
Why is this a problem?
This has small opportunity sample from the same sixth form college in the north east completing the aggression
questionnaire so not generalisable because they might share characteristics. This is a problem because the results
about the relationship between aggression and finger ratio might not be applicable to non-teenagers.
31
Why might there be issues with social desirability in your biological practical and how do these affect the validity of your results?
when people are answering the questionnaire on their aggression levels they may change their answers to appear either more or less aggressive which makes the findings less valid
32
What is an issue with using a 5 point scale on your aggression questionnaire and how does this affect validity?
5 point scales used on the aggression questionnaire can be subjective in interpretation e.g. ‘4’ might mean
different things to different people. This is an issue because the results about the correlation between finger ratio
and aggression might be less valid if people interpret the aggression scores differently
33
Can we establish cause and effect between the 2D:4D and aggression scores/15? How does this affect validity?
No. We can only see a relationship between 2D:4D and aggression scores/15 and this reduces validity
34
What may be an ethical issue with your biological practical?
Taking part in the study might have been upsetting for some participants to answer questions about their own
temper/aggression. This means the study has breached the ethical guideline of protection from harm because of the
psychological harm linked to understanding their aggression
35
What were the results of your biological practical? (remember that you can make up the number for your correlation coefficient but it needs to be between -1 and +1)
There is a ______________ correlation between the 2D:4D ratio and aggression score on a questionnaire out of 15 (rs = -0.79, CV = 0.464).
36
What is evolution?
The change in a species over time through natural selection
37
What is natural selection?
Where genes which are beneficial for survival in a certain environment are selected for through better survival or reproduction
38
What is the Environment of Evolutionary Adaptation?
The environment you currently live in that your genes are operating in
39
What is "the warrior gene"?
MAOA which effects serotonin meaning higher aggression
40
What is a genotype?
The complete gene profile of an individual
41
What is a phenotype?
The visible traits of an organism which is how their genes interact/are expressed in a certain environment
42
What is the belief about aggression coming from evolutionary theory?
Aggression was beneficial to the survival/reproduction of our ancestor
43
What are reasons aggression is thought to be beneficial?
Ancestors were able to use aggression to gain and protect their resources beneficial for survival, Ancestors were able to scare off rivals meaning they were able to mate and reproduce, Ancestors were able to deter partners from infidelity
44
How does sexual selection work for aggression?
Aggression would help males gain dominance and resources and so women were attracted for more aggressive males
45
Why are females seen as less aggressive than males?
Physical aggression is too risky i.e. harm to unborn children- a selection for social aggression instead
46
What did Mazur find?
Males show an increase in fighting behaviours around puberty due to this being when partner selection becomes a factor
47
What did Daly & Wilson find?
58 / 214 cases of murder motivated by sexual jealousy, confidence in paternity and warning to potential rivals
48
What did Miller find?
55% of women in abusive relationships cite their partner's jealousy as a factor in their partner's behaviour
49
What did Buss & Shackleford find?
Some cultures have more aggression than others- this shows aggression is environmental not purely due to genes
50
Which of these is an alternative theory saying we might learn aggression from role models around us meaning this theory might be incorrect?
Social Learning Theory
51
Which of these is a true evaluation point for this theory?
It is reductionist as it doesn't look at the influence of upbringing/modern societies impact just genes passed down from ancestors
52
Is this theory empirical?
No- you cannot measure the behaviour of our ancestors directly so we cannot see if this theory is correct
53
What is the Thanatos?
The death instinct, the source of negative emotions like aggression
54
What is the conscious?
The part of your mind you are aware of i.e. your current thoughts
55
What is the unconscious?
The part of your mind you cannot be aware of i.e. unacceptable desires and violent urges
56
What is the Preconscious?
The part of your mind you can become aware of if you wish i.e. memories
57
What is the Id?
The part of your psyche which works on the pleasure principle meaning it wants instant gratification
58
What is the SuperEgo?
The part of your psyche which works on the morality principle meaning it wants to follow the rules and gives you guilt to control your behaviour
59
What is the Ego?
Operates on the reality principle meaning it weighs up the other two components and will decide which to give into and when
60
How does Thanatos link to aggression?
It is the source of aggression so if you have a strong Thanatos it might lead to more aggressive impulses and if the Thanatos is turned outward it is aggression
61
How does the Id link to aggression?
If you have an aggressive impulse it will encourage you to act and if it is frustrated and stopped from getting some other desire it might create aggressive impulses
62
How does the SuperEgo link to aggression?
It is the thing which makes you feel guilt for breaking rules and norms so if you have a strong one it might decrease the chances of aggression
63
How does the Ego link to aggression?
It weighs the desires of the other two components so will be the final decider on if you act aggressively or not
64
How do defence mechanisms tie to aggression?
They are a method to protect your ego by redirecting energy, this might cause you not to be aggressive or to direct the aggression onto a safe target
65
What is Catharsis? and how it ties to aggression
The positive result of chanelling energy into a different format meaning you release built up aggressive impusles by being aggressive in sport or watching a violent movie
66
What did Geen and Quanty find?
Expression of aggression can have a positive effect in terms of decreasing physiological arousal
67
What did Verona and Sullivan find?
They found that when participants administered either aggressive via shock or non aggressive responses after being made angry, heart rate was found to have reduced in those administering the aggressive responses showing evidence that catharsis is a credible explanation
68
What did Bushman find?
Those who took part in a cathartic activity via venting were actually more aggressive than those who didn’t have a chance to release their aggression.
69
Why is this theory more holistic than others?
It is holistic as it takes into account both nature and nurture due to everyone having these components but their upbringing influencing them
70
Which of these is a true?
The theory is not empirical as you cannot measure the components directly
71
Which of these is an alternative theory saying we might learn aggression from role models around us meaning this theory might be incorrect?
Social Learning Theory or another biological theory
72
Why is this theory useful?
Psychodynamic theories have been used to create talking therapies which many have found useful to deal with personal issues
73
Which brain system/area is linked to aggression?
The Limbic system
74
What is the Limbic system responsible for?
Fight or flight
75
What does the Amygdala do?
It is the source of emotions like aggression so higher activity would lead to more aggression
76
What does the Hypothalamus do?
controls hormone levels like Testosterone so more activity meaning more aggression
77
What does the PFC do?
responsible for self-control and emotional regulation so more activity meaning less aggression
78
Which part of the brain carries signals between the other named parts?
Periaqueductal area
79
What did Raine demonstrate?
NGRI participants had higher activity in the right amygdala and less activity in the PFC
80
What does KluverBucy Syndrome demonstrate?
Animals with removal or damage to their Amygdala show less aggression
81
What is a criticism of KluverBucy?
Animals brains and systems are different to humans and so the results might not apply to explain human aggression
82
What is a mains trength of looking at brain areas for a source of aggression?
This is an empirical explanation as you can measure brain activity levels directly using brain scans making it a more objective and credible explanation of aggression
83
What is a problem with using brain scans to research aggression in the way this does?
They are low in ecological validty which means the results we get from them might not apply to aggression in real life situations
84
Why is this theory reductionist?
It ignores other factors which could cause aggression and focuses only on brain activityi.e. ignoring evolution or upbringing
85
Which of these is an alternative theory saying we might learn aggression from role models around us meaning this theory might be incorrect?
Social Learning Theory
86
A neurone is
A nerve fibre which carries electrical signals in the brain
87
A neurotransmitter is
A chemical which carries messages between nerve cells
88
A hormone is
A chemical carried in the blood which spreads messages around the body
89
What is the central nervous system?
The brain and the spinal cord
90
What is this blue area of the brain?
Frontal lobe- responsible for emotional control and higher order thinking
91
What is this red area of the brain?
Occipital lobe- for vision
92
What is this green area of the brain?
Temporal lobe- for memory and hearing
93
What is this yellow area of the brain?
Parietal lobe- controling bodily sensation and movement
94
What is the role of a dendrite?
It collects signals and delivers them to the main body of the nerve cell
95
What is the role of a axon?
It carries the electrical signal down the length of the neurone
96
What is the role of an axon terminal?
It passes the electrical signal to the next neurone
97
What is the role of a myelin sheath?
It insulates the axon of the cell to stop the electrical signal disapating and speeding it up
98
What is a synapse?
The end of one neurone and the beginning of another which has a gap and information must pass across
99
What is a vesicle?
A 'bubble' which is full of neurostransmitters that it can release into the synaptic gap
100
What is a synaptic gap?
The space between two neurones which neurotransmitters must drift through
101
What is a receptor?
An area on the second neurone which neurotransmitters bind to and create a new impulse
102
What is the process of synaptic transmission?
A nerve impulse causes a release of neurotransmitter from the vesicles. These neurotransmitters drift across the synaptic gap. On the next neurone the neurotransmitters bind to receptor sites.
103
What is the role of Dopamine?
It creates a sense of reward or enjoyment
104
What is the role of Serotonin?
It creates a feeling of relaxation and happiness
105
What is the role of Cortisol?
It creates a feeling of stress
106
What is an action potential?
the change in electrical potential associated with the passage of an impulse along the membrane of a muscle cell or nerve cell.
107
Where does a brain cell's activity begin?
-70mv resting potential
108
Where does the all-or-nothing principle come in?
-55mvs the threshold
109
What happens after a threshold has been met?
Depolarisation
110
What is depolarisation?
Where the cell is becoming less negative inside as ions move in and out
111
What is at the peak of the action potential graph?
+40mv the action potential firing
112
What happens after the action potential firees?
Repolarisation
113
What is repolarisation?
Where the cell is becoming more negative inside as ions move in and out
114
What happens at the end of the action potential process?
Hyperpolarisation where the inside of the cell gets extra negative
115
What is the aim of Raine's study?
To see activity differences in brain structure of cortical and subcortical areas of the brain between NGRI murderers and a control group of non-criminals
116
How many NGRI prisoners were in the sample?
41
117
How many males were in the group
39
118
What design was this study?
Matched Pairs
119
What were the participants and the control group matched on?
Age, gender and Schizophrenia
120
What control was put in place for the NGRI participants?
They were taken off their medication before the study
121
What task did the participants do?
Visual targetting task aka continuous performance test
122
What timings were used in the study?
Practice test then 10m later injected then CPT and finally 32m until PET scan
123
What were they injected with?
FDG
124
What scan was used?
A PET scan
125
What was found about the prefrontal lobe?
NGRI criminals had lower activity/glucose metabolism than the control
126
What was found about the right Amygdala?
NGRI criminals had higher activity/glucose metabolism than the control
127
What was found about the left Amygdala?
NGRI criminals had lower activity/glucose metabolism than the control
128
What did they find about the Corpus Callosum?
NGRI criminals had lower activity/glucose metabolism than the control
129
What is an issue with the sample?
The study was only on 41 NGRI criminals and so can' be applied to others
130
What is a strength of the design in this study?
The matched pairs means there are less participant variables making the results about brain activity more valid e.g. we know their age and schizophrenia isn't effecting their brain activity
131
What is a problem with the matching in this study?
They couldn't be matched on all traits e.g. handedness which might impact on their brain activity in the study
132
Is reliablity a strength or a weakness for Raine?
A strength as it is Standardised i.e. the tasks, timings and PET scan so you can easily repeat it to see if it is reliable
133
What is an issue with validity for Raine?
Low in ecological validity as the tasks/PET scan might not represent brain activity in real life situations
134
What is a strength of a control in Raine?
They were taken off their medication before the study which means we know that their medication wouldn't be impacting on their brain activity
135
What is a strength of using PET scans?
It is Empirical as we can directly measure the glucose metabolism in the brain areas
136
Why has Raine got issues with protection from harm?
Yes- it involves an invasive injection
137
What was the aim?
To see is Schizophenia is genetic and more prevalent in the biological families of Schizophrenics or the adopted families
138
What was the sample?
234 twin pairs (originally 322) from Quebec
139
123 of the twin pairs were genetically tested to check zygosity- what % agreement was there with the researchers assignment?
94%
140
What were the teachers asked to do?
Rate the children on social and physical aggression questions on a 3 point scale of often, sometimes, never
141
What questions were they asked?
e.g. how often do they hit, bit or kick another and for social aggression how often they become friends out of revenge
142
What were the children asked to do?
Circle pictures of the three children in class most likely to meet certain behaviour characteristics
143
Which of these are descriptors used?
e.g. tells mean secrets about another child and gets into fights
144
What were the results about physical aggression?
There is a much higher correlation (nearly double) between MZ than between DZ twins on Physical aggression
145
What were the results about social aggression?
The correlation between the MZ twins was similar to that of the DZ twins
146
What is the relationship between physical and social aggression?
There was a strong positive correlation on teacher ratings between social and physical aggression (0.79)
147
What causes physical aggression?
Genetics
148
What causes social aggression?
Environment
149
What is a strength of the sample?
It is a large sample of twins which makes the study more generalisable
150
What is a weakness of the sample?
It is ethnocentric as all the children were from quebec in canada which means the results about genetics might not apply to other cultures
151
Is the reliability of Brendgen good or bad?
The tests the teachers and students did were standardised AND comparing teacher and child scores means we have inter-rater reliability
152
What are two problems with using rating scales?
They only collected qualitative data so the responses couldn't be analysed to get statistical information to see if results were due to chance AND The scales can be interpreted differently by the teachers meaning the results might be less valid
153
What is good about using likert scale questions?
Quantitative data was gathered which allows statistical analysis to check if the results were due to chance
154
Why might protection from harm be an issue?
Highlighting the students might impact their relationships with each other
155
What is a hormone?
A chemical messenger which is carried in the blood
156
What controls and releases hormones?
The endocrine system
157
What are four hormones which link to aggression?
Testosterone, Cortisol, Adrenaline and Serotonin
158
Which hormone balance is largely correlated to aggression?
High levels of testosterone correlates positively with aggression
159
Which brain area does the level of testosterone effect?
Amygdala
160
What effect does testosterone have on the Amygdala in people?
It lowers the activation threshold and refractionary period making it easier to fire and fire more
161
What does testosterone do to the hypothalamus and amygdala in the womb?
It decreases the cell growth in those areas
162
What is Cortisol for?
Stress
163
What is the effect of the Cortisol?
It mitigates the testosterone levels (so high cortisol stops high testosterone have a strong effect)
164
What is Serotonin for?
Relaxation/calmness
165
What is the effect of Serotonin on aggression?
High Serotonin correlates with lower aggression
166
What is Adrenaline for?
It plays a role in fight and flight responses so might link to aggression
167
Which of these did Dabbs et al (1996) show?
They found that the fraternities that had the highest average testosterone levels were also more wild and unruly
168
What did Dabbs et al 1995 show?
measured testosterone in the saliva of 692 adult male prisoners. They found higher levels in rapists and violent offenders than in burglars and thieves.
169
What did Beeman demonstrate?
He castrated male mice and found that aggressiveness reduced. He later injected the mice with testosterone which re-established their aggressiveness
170
What is a criticism of Beeman?
Animals brains and systems are different to humans and so the results might not apply to explain human aggression
171
What is a strength of using hormones to explain aggression?
This is an empirical explanation as you can measure the hormone levels directly making it a more objective and credible explanation of aggression
172
This is a correlational explanation what is a problem with this?
The evidence can't clearly tell us if high testosterone causes aggression or if being aggressive increases testosterone levels
173
Why is this theory reductionist?
It ignores other factors which could cause aggression and focuses only on hormones i.e. ignoring physical brain differences or upbringing
174
Which of these is an alternative theory saying we might learn aggression from role models around us meaning this theory might be incorrect?
Social Learning Theory
175
Aim
To see if there is a genetic basis for schizophrenia using an adoption study method
176
What was the sample of the study?
34 Adoptees with Schizophrenia and 33 controls (and all their families)
177
What were the adoptees and the control group matched on?
Age, gender, age of adoption and Social class of adoptive family
178
Where is the sample from?
Denmark
179
How did we check the 'Schizophrenia' for them and their family members
Review medical records
180
How many family members were looked at?
465
181
How were they all assessed as having 'schizophrenia spectrum disorder' or not?
4 Psychiatrists completing a blind diagnosis on the medical records
182
What was a finding about the Schizophrenic patients families?
The research found more signs of schizophrenic spectrum disorders in the index participants' biological family than their adoptive family
183
What was a finding between the Schizophrenia and control groups families?
They also found more spectrum disorders in the index participants' biological families than in the Controls' biological families. 8.7% Vs 19%
184
What is a weakness of the sample of Kety?
It is ethnocentric as all the participants are from Denmark so it isn't representative of a wider population
185
Are the results from this study reliable?
Kety tried to replicate this study at various points and the procedure could be repeated and found similar results
186
Is the procedure standardised/reliable?
Yes- the procedure of accessing medical records and having psychiatrists review them can be easily replicated
187
What can we say about inter-rater reliablity in Kety?
The study is high in inter-rater reliability because there were 4 psychistrists agreeing on the diagnosis
188
What is a problem with schizophrenia spectrum disorders?
It is not a clinical diagnosis as it involves various 'levels' of uncertainty so it might be subjective/invalid as a measure of Schizophrenia
189
What is a problem with adoption studies which is true of Kety?
There are shared environmental factors between the adoptee and their shared environment so we cannot separate nature from nurture fully
190
A neurone is
A nerve fibre which carries electrical signals (usually in the brain)
191
A neurotransmitter is
A chemical carried in the blood which spreads messages around the body
192
What is a synapse?
The end of one neurone and the beginning of another which has a gap and information must pass across
193
What is a vesicle?
A 'bubble' which is full of neurostransmitters that it can release into the synaptic gap
194
What is a synaptic gap?
The space between two neurones which neurotransmitters must drift through
195
What is a receptor?
An area on the second neurone which neurotransmitters bind to and create a new impulse
196
What is the role of Dopamine?
It creates a sense of reward or enjoyment
197
What is the effect of illicit drugs on neurotransmitters
They can either increase or decrease the neurotransmitters in the synapse
198
What is the effect on dopamine and the impact that has?
It increases the amount causing a feeling of euphoria
199
What is the effect on GABA and the impact that has?
GABA is increased by alcohol and decreases activity in areas of the brain
200
What did Olds and Milner find?
Rats with electrodes in certain areas of the brains are causes euphoria- stimulating these areas become addictive
201
What happens over time?
People build up a tolerance as receptors desensitise so more neurotransmitter is needed to activate them
202
What is withdrawal?
You go Your dopamine decreases rapidly and it makes you unhappy, you have physiological symptoms like the shakes
203
How does Cocaine work?
It blocks the reuptake of dopamine leading to more in the synapse
204
How does Heroin work?
It binds to Opioid receptors in the brain which leads to an increase in Dopamine
205
How does Alcohol work?
It increases the GABA amount in the synapse (as well as dopamine) shutting down certain brain areas
206
How does nicotine work?
It binds to Acetylcholine receptors which then trigger increased dopamine among other effects
