BIOPSYCHOLOGY EVALUATION

Question 1

strength of fight or flight

Answer 1

SRY gene, found in males promotes male aggression, this may prime males to release more adrenaline.
ADDS FURTHER EXPLANATION TO THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESPONSES

Question 2

weakness of fight or flight

Answer 2

suggested that first response is freeze to assess situation
this suggests the f&f response is limited and doesnt fully explain cognitive and biological factors of the human response to danger

Question 3

weakness of fight or flight

Answer 3

also been suggested women tend and befriend in response to threat.
tend- more likely to protect offsprin
befriend- form alliances w other women

Question 4

strength of lof

Answer 4

brain surgery targets specific parts of brain involved in mental illness.
44 people had area of brain removed, associated w OCD. 30% met criteria for successful surgery

Question 5

strength 2 of LOF

Answer 5

researchers use brain scans to show how wernickes area was active during listening task and brocas a reading.
research proves semantic and episodic memories are located in prefrontal cortex.
evidence

Question 6

weakness of LOF

Answer 6

a researcher removed areas of prefrontal cortex in rats that were learning a maze. no area improved
higher cognitive processes arent localised

Question 7

strength of brocas

Answer 7

case study of tan, brocas patient who could only say ‘tan’
provides evidence for LOF

Question 8

strength of hemispheric lateralisation

Answer 8

when pps with connected brains were asked about wider details of an image, the rh was active. when pp were asked to look at finer, lh was active
SUGGESTS BOTH HEMISPHERES PROCESS INFO DIFFERENTLY, even in connected brains

Question 9

weakness of lateralisation

Answer 9

a researcher identified from 1000 brain scans that people use certain hemispheres for different tasks, however there was not a dominant one.
SUGGESTS BOTH HEMISPHERES WORK EQUALLY

Question 10

weakness of lateralisation

Answer 10

sperrys split brain research was compared to control group that didnt have epilepsy. differences between them could be confoundings.
SUGGESTS FINDINGS MAY BE RESULT OF EPILEPSY

Question 11

strength of plasticity

Answer 11

research playing super mario tor 30 mins a day, for 2 months led to increase in grey matter linked to skills used in games eg hippocampus
supports how plasticity can cause structural changes

Question 12

weakness of plasticity

Answer 12

plasticity can sometimes have negative effects, eg: drug use causes poor cognitive function later in life.
60-80% of amputees have been known to develop pain in missing limb caused my plasticity
negative effects

Question 13

weakness of plasticity

Answer 13

plasticity can sometimes have negative effects, eg: drug use causes poor cognitive function later in life.
60-80% of amputees have been known to develop pain in missing limb caused my plasticity
negative effects

Question 14

strength of functional recovery

Answer 14

understanring recovery has allowed us to develop neurohabilitation and encourages new therapies.
real life application

Question 15

weakness of functional recovery

Answer 15

research used to compare stroke recovery only used 5 pps and no control group.
research may lack validity due to small sample size

Question 16

strength of post mortem

Answer 16

contributes to understanding of brain
brocas and wernickes area was found by a post mortem exam
crucial to identify localisation

Question 17

strength 2 of post mortem

Answer 17

patient unalive, therefore is not uncomfortable for them

Question 18

weakness of post mortem

Answer 18

damage may be decay from death
cannot establish cause and effect between damage in brain and problems when alive

Question 19

weakness 2 of post mortem exam

Answer 19

patient may not be able to give informed consent before they die

Question 20

strength of FMRI

Answer 20

non invasive
doesnt use radiation or involve inserting instruments
risk free

Question 21

strength 2 FMRI

Answer 21

high spatial resolution
detailed images, by the mm
clear image

Question 22

weakness of FMRI

Answer 22

expensive
cause and effect issues as it only detects changes in blood levels, cannot establish cause and effect

Question 23

weakness 2 of FMRI

Answer 23

low temporal resolution
lag around 5 seconds between images and actual activity

Question 24

strength ( 3 )of ERP

Answer 24

cheaper than FMRI
non invasive- only skull cap
more specific measurements

Question 25

strength ( long ) of ERP

Answer 25

high temporal resolution- accurately defects brain activity at resolution of millisecond

Question 26

weakness of ERP (2)

Answer 26

little research that uses ERP, difficult to confirm findings based on EEG, raw data and background noise is hard to remove

Question 27

weakness of ERP

Answer 27

low spatial resolution, only shows brainwaves, not images cannot pinpoint exact locations

Question 28

strength of circadian rhythms

Answer 28

research has shown a relationship between shift work and poor health suggests research provides an understanding of consequences

Question 29

strength of circadian rhythms

Answer 29

they co ordinate the bodies processes: heart rate, digestion this has allowed ‘chronotheraputics’ to be developed, medical treatment corresponding to bio rhythms INC EFFECTIVENESS IN DRUGS

Question 30

weakness of circadian rhythms

Answer 30

research is based on small samples some people have sleep/ wake varying between 13-65h INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Question 31

strength of infradian rhythms

Answer 31

- synchronised menstruals adaptive advantage - one died then can breastfeed - increases survival - biological and reproductive signifiance

Question 32

strength 2 of infradian rhythm

Answer 32

light therapy developed from SAD resets bodies internal clock 80% have had reduced SAD IMPROVE LIVES

Question 33

weakness of infradian rhythms

Answer 33

many factors affecting m cycle eg: stress, change in diet, exercise CONFOUNDINGS

Question 34

strength of ultradian

Answer 34

sleep scientists show heavy sleep reduces with age. resulting in lack of sleep and therefore results in reduced alertness in old age IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF AGE RELATED SLEEP

Question 35

strength of ultradian

Answer 35

sleep research conducted in lab high controlled extraneous controlled INTERNAL VALIDITY

Question 36

weakness of ultradian

Answer 36

large difference between pps in terms of duration of sleep stage specifically 3 and 4 differences biologically determined INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Question 37

weakness of endogenous pacemakers

Answer 37

other circadian rhythms that are influenced by SCN found that changing feeding patterns in mice altered the circadian rhythms in the liver, but not in the sleep-wake cycle. suggests that there are multiple circadian rhythms in the body that can be influenced by factors other than the SCN (like feeding), meaning the SCN is not the only controller.

Question 38

weakness 2 of endogenous pacemakers

Answer 38

rarely studied in isolation from exogenous zeitgebers as they interact everyday in real life studiying them seperately in lab studies lacks realism and therefore studies that too lack ecological valdity and is difficult to come to a conclusion

Question 39

weakness 2 of endogenous pacemakers

Answer 39

studies that isolate endogenous pacemakers is rare. pacemakers and zeitgebers interact and it makes little sense to seperate for research cannot be studied endogenous pacemakers in isolation, lower validity for research who attempt to isolate the influnce

Question 40

weakness of exogenous zeitberges

Answer 40

a case study of a born blind man, had circadian rhythm of 24.9 social cues and regular meal times didnt affect sleep wake SOCIAL CUES ALONE NOT RESPONSIBLE

Question 41

strength of endogenous pacemakers/ weakness of exogenous zeitgebers

Answer 41

people who live in places with little darkness in the summer and little light in winter have similiar sleeping patterns all year suggests sleep wake is primarily controlled by endogenous pacemakers