Biological Psychology - AQA Year 1 Core Studies

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  • Created by: erose20
  • Created on: 04-12-19 18:02
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  • Biological Psychology
    • Strengths of Biological Approach
      • Very Scientific
      • Provides argument for Nature side of debate
      • Practical Applications are extremely effective
    • Weaknesses of Biological Approach
      • Reductionist - ignores other explanations
      • Consciousness and emotion are difficult to study objectively
      • Over Simplistic
    • Sperry (1968)
      • Aim
        • To study the psychological effects of hemispheric disconnection in split brain patients
      • Methodology
        • 11 participants
        • Opportunity Sample
        • Quasi experiment in lab setting
        • Independent Measures Design
      • Procedure
        • Visual Tests - one eye covered, the other fixed to a screen, two words appeared on each side of the screen. Had to say which word they saw.
        • Tactile Tests - Screen in front of their face so they could not see their hands; two objects placed in either hand.
      • Results
        • Anything shown to the RVF could be described in speech and writing
          • Anything shown to the LVF could be drawn/pointed to a matching object/picture but would insist they can't see it
        • Objects placed in right hand can be named, but when placed in left hand they were unaware they were holding anything
        • If two objects are placed in each hand then hidden in a pile of objects, each hand can pick their object but will ignore the others'
      • Conclusion
        • Patients appear to have 2 independent streams of consciousness: 2 minds, 1 body
      • Evaluation
        • Quasi Experiment
          • Able to investigate variables they otherwise usually wouldn't be able to
          • Researcher doesn't have full control over IVs
        • Sample
          • Extremely small sample - likely to be a range of individual differences
          • Participants would've experienced similar effects to each other
        • Low Ecological Validity
        • Good Ethics
        • Useful as it develops our understanding of the hemispheres of the brain
    • Casey et al (2011)
      • Aim
        • To asses whether delay of gratification in childhood predicts impulse control and social cues as adults
      • Methodology
        • Quasi Experiment
        • Longitudinal Study
        • Repeated Measures Design
        • Experiment 1:59 Participants Experiment 2: 27 Participants
      • Procedure
        • Experiment 1
          • 59 Participants - 32 high delayers, 27 low delayers
          • 'cool' version
            • Male and female faces had neutral expressions. the 'go' target was a different gender for each person, they had to press a button when their target appeared. 160 trials were done per person
          • 'hot' version
            • Identical to cool version except the people had fearful and happy expressions as the targets rather than genders and neutral faces. Both conditions done in their homes on a laptop
        • Experiment 2
          • Similar 'hot' task. Used different timing, number of trials and apapratus.
          • Used an fMRI scanner to examine the brains response to impulse control
          • Repeated measures and independent measures data collection
      • Results
        • Experiment 1
          • Whether they were high delayers or low delayers had no significant effect on reaction times
          • in 'go' trials, high and low delayers performed similarly
          • In 'no-go' trials, low delayers made more errors
          • In 'cool' versions, high and low delayers performed similarly
          • In 'hot' versions, low delayers performed poorly
          • P's with low delay showed more difficulty as adults with impulse control
        • Experiment 2
          • Whether they were high or low delayers had no significant effect on reaction times
          • 'go' trials, performance was 98.2% correct, in 'no-go' trials, performance was 12.4% correct
          • The right inferior front gyrus is involved in accurately withholding a response
          • High delayers used their inferior frontal gyrus more
      • Conclusions
        • Resistance to temptation is a stable individual characteristic
        • Delay of gratification stays with them to adulthood
        • Resisting temptation is a function of the ventral striatum
      • Evaluation
        • Methodology
          • Experiment 2 was performed in a lab so high control
          • Experiment 1 was done at home so little control
        • Sample is from one nursery at one time, not representative
        • Low Ecological Validity
        • Useful because we can establish a cause and effect between specific areas of the brain
    • Practical Application
      • Treating Mental Illness
        • Can be applied to drugs and psycho-surgery
    • Debates
      • Reductionism vs Holism
        • Reductionist - saying behaviour can be explained through biological causes
        • However, this therefore fails to represent the true complexity of behaviour
      • Is Psychology a science
        • Psychology carries out a lot of it's experiments using scientific equipment in a controlled lab and is closely affiliated with cognitive neuroscience
        • Psychology doesn't have continued survival - what we believe to be true today may not be true tomorrow

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