UNIT 1 PSYCHOLOGY BIOLOGICAL

A big quiz on everything in the biological approach of edexcel A level psychology

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what was the question of my study?
do people with higher aggression rates have lower attainment?
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what was the hypothesis of my study?
aggression score on a buss-perry questionnaire will decrease as attainment score increases
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what type of correlation was i expecting in my study?
negative
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what was the IV in my study?
aggression score on buss-perry questionnaire and attainment score calculated from recent grades
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what was the sample for my study?
21 sixth form students in South Holland
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what was the sampling technique for my study?
opportunity
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what was the procedure for my study?
send students message explaining study and purpose, with link to buss perry questionnaire, ask for buss perry results and recent report grades
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what was the lowest possible attainment score on my study?
1
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what was the average attainment score on my study?
2.6
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what grade does the average attainment score on my study equate to?
B
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what was the average aggression score on my study? (1=highest, 0=lowest)
0.44
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what correlation did i find in my study?
negative
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what was the observed value in my study?
-0.456
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what was the critical value in my study for a 1 tailed test where n=21 and p=0.05?
0.435
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how generalisable is my study?
6th form students are not representative to all, opportunity sample at high achieving schools might have higher than average attainment
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how reliable is my study?
standardised procedures are replicable, the buss perry questionnaire always gives the same results, however students came from variety of schools so maybe a different marking scheme? harder to measure attainment?
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what are applications of my study?
teachers to keep an eye on students with lower attainment to see if aggressive
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how valid is my study?
few confounding variables, face validity
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how ethical is my study?
informed consent, privacy, debriefed, no deception and no manipulation
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who put forward psychoanalysis?
Freud
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what is the main idea of psychoanalysis?
to treat aggression by exploring the unconscious causes of addition
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what does the client do in psychoanalysis?
client explores dreams and childhood memories to work out what they mean
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what is the intention of psychoanalysis?
client will learn about defense mechanisms and conflicts in the unconscious and comes to self knowledge
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what is the key question for the biological approach?
what are the implications for society if aggression is caused by nature over nurture?
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define aggression
the intentional use or force of power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another, a group or a community
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how many deaths are there due to violence each year?
1.28 million
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how many deaths are due to suicide each year?
842 000
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how many deaths are due to homicide each year?
405 000
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how many deaths are due to war each year?
31 000
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what finding does the global peace index show?
violence is not evenly spread throughout the world
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what does the world homicide map UN study (2013) show?
some places are more violent than others, 1/3 of all murders happen in Latin America
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if violence was due to nature, what would the world homicide UN map (2013) show?
same proportion of homicides everywhere
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what trend does the 2013 UN world homicide map suggest?
violence decreases with wealth and health, so we should tackle poverty and sickness
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which animal engages in organised violence?
chimpanzee
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what does it suggest when chimpanzees engage in organised violence?
violence is innate
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what do some scientists say about chimp violence?
it is due to a loss of habitat and lack of food due to human influence (nurture)
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if chimp violence was due to nature then what would we expect?
other similar animals to have organised violence, and if due to pressure then other animals would be aggressive under pressure
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how do we solve aggression in humans if it is caused by environment (as suggested by chimp fights)
improve the environment people live in
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what gene reduces aggression by producing more serotonin?
MAO-A
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what does the MAOA-L mutation do?
give lower levels of serotonin and leads to more aggression (as shown through injecting it into mice pups)
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in what proportion of men is the MAOA-L gene present?
1/3
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what is the MAOA-L gene also known as?
the warrior gene
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what can we do to reduce aggression in men with the MAOA-L gene?
educate them as to how to cope
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what does the MAOA-L gene do to women?
makes them happier
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what events in our ancestry suggest violence is innate and no aggression happened before it?
Nataruk Massacre and Arnhem cave paintings
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what is it suggested that the Nataruk Massacre was due to?
realistic conflict theory and competition for resources
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what must we do to resolve conflict caused by competition for resources and RCT?
stop people being dissatisfied and change how they think, give people what they need
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what does the killer ape theory suggest?
humans have evolved to be naturally aggressive and had to be to kill the Sabre toothed cats to save ourselves
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what does the co-operative ape theory suggest?
humans joined together to defend themselves against sabre toothed cats
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what do findings about co-operative ape/killer ape suggest about aggression?
it can only be caused by a threat, people live happily together otherwise
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what do findings about the co-operative ape suggest we do to reduce aggression?
work together to reach superordinate goals as co-operation is just as natural as aggression
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in what year did Brendgen do her study?
2005
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what is the classic study for biological psychology?
Raine
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what is the contemporary study for biological psychology?
Brendgen
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define a genotype
complete genetic make up, shared by MZ twins
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define a phenotype
a combination of genes and environment
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what was the aim of the Brendgen study?
to see if there is a difference between physical and social aggression and whether they are caused by nature or nurture
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what type of experiment is Bendgen?
natural experiment
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what is the IV in the Brendgen study?
whether twins are MZ or DZ
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what is the DV in the Brendgen study?
teacher ratings (for social and physical aggression out of 6) and peer ratings (classmates asked to identify people from description)
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what is the sample of the Brendgen study?
234 pairs of twins
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where were the twins in the Brendgen study from?
Quebec Newborn Study
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what are the numbers of each type of twin in the Brendgen study?
44 identical males, 50 identical females, 32 non identical female, 41 non identical male, 67 mixed
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how did Brendgen assign zygocity?
physical resemblance (123 pairs DNA tested - 94% accuracy)
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what were teachers asked to do in the Brendgen study?
rate child on 3 point scale (0=never) against 6 statements
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what were the peers asked to do in the Brendgen study?
circle 3 children that best match description
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what did Brendgen do to test child/teacher ratings of aggression?
chi squared to see if significant difference - not significant
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what did the peer ratings of the Brendgen study show?
boys more aggressive, both socially and physically
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what did the teacher ratings of the Brendgen study show?
boys more physically aggressive, girls more socially aggressive
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what are the results of the Brendgen study?
MZ correlation for physical aggression = 2x DZ correlation. Correlations for social aggression are similar between both
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what are the conclusions of the Brendgen study?
50-60% of physical aggression is due to genetics as it is shared by MZ twins more than DZ. social aggression is due to nurture as both sets of twins were the same concordance
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evaluate ethics of the Brendgen study
done for the common good, had presumptive consent from parents and teachers, looking at classmates and judging may have bad impact on friendships (against social responsibility)
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evaluate reliability of Brendgen study
established questions are replicable, 2 researchers visited each classroom (inter rater reliability), strong correlation between peer and teacher ratings (reliable) and zygocity allocation 94% accurate
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evaluate generalisability of Brendgen study
6yr olds are not representative of all maturity levels, sample attrition of Quebec Newborn Study make it not very representative sample, large sample rules out anomalies but still too small for generalised conclusions
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evaluate applications of Brendgen study
if nurture is a big impact then we should make parents role models. if social aggression is linked to environment then we can teach children how to interact with early intervention
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evaluate validity of Brendgen study
correlation does not prove causation, natural experiment cannot show cause and effect as other factors at play, avoids taking a reductionist view to behavior and looks at it as both genetics and environment
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in what year did Gottesman and Shields do their study?
1966
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what was the aim of the Gottesman and Shields study?
to find out if there is a genetic basis for schizophrenia
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what is the IV in the Gottesman and Shields study?
whether MZ or DZ
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what style of experiment is the Gottesman and Shields study?
natural
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what is the DV in the Gottesman and Shields study?
concordance rate for twin pairs
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what is the sample of the Gottesman and Shields study?
62 schizophrenic patients aged 19-64 (equal male-female split)
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how was zygocity decided in the Gottesman and Shields study?
fingerprint, blood testing and physical resemblance
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how were the twins in the Gottesman and Shields study measured to see if they were schizophrenic?
hospital notes, questionnaires, semi structured interview, personality tests, psychometric tests
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how were the twins of the Gottesman and Shields study put into categories?
based on the status of the other twin (one schizophrenic, look at condition of other)
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what was category one in the Gottesman and Shields study?
both twins schizophrenic
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what is category two in the Gottesman and Shields study?
one twin schizophrenic, other has a psychosis related to schizophrenia
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what is category three in the Gottesman and Shields study?
one twin schizophrenic, other has a psychiatric disorder not related to schizophrenia
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what is category four in the Gottesman and Shields study?
one twin schizophrenic, other is healthy
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what were the results in category 1 and 2 of the Gottesman and Shields study?
54% of MZ and 18% of DZ
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what were the results of categories 1,2, &3 of the Gottesman and Shields study?
79% of MZ and 45% of DZ
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what are the results of category 4 of the Gottesman and Shields study?
21% of MZ and 55% of DZ
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what was the concordance rate for severe schizophrenia for both MZ and DZ twins in the Gottesman and Shields study?
75% MZ and 24% DZ
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did all categories have significant differences between the rates of MZ and DZ concordance in the Gottesman and Shields study?
yes
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what are the conclusions of the Gottesman and Shields study given that MZ concordance was higher than DZ?
MZ twins are more likely to share a similar diagnosis for mental health
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what are the conclusions of the Gottesman and Shields study?
schizophrenia has a genetic component, but as MZ twins have a concordance rate of less than 100% there must be an environmental trigger too
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what did the Gottesman and Shields study lead to the development of?
diathesis stress model
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evaluate ethics of Gottesman and Shields
consent from everyone involved (presumptive or parental if too young/mentally ill), strong social responsibility, no deception
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evaluate validity of Gottesman and Shields
concurrent and construct validity (fits with theories and other studies) but the concepts of "psychotic disorders relating to schizophrenia" are vague
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evaluate applications of Gottesman and Shields
if people know they are at risk, then they can avoid any triggers such as stress
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evaluate reliability of Gottesman and Shields
there were possible issues of diagnosing schizophrenia and the categories were vague, without DNA testing we cannot be certain of zygocity, but other twin studies are similar and have the same results proving it to be replicable
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evaluate generalisability of Gottesman and Shields
large sample covers a range of ages, equal split of men and women so is generalisable to wider public, can average out anomalies, but twins are unusual and some may have traumatic experiences that could lead to strange results -not generalisable
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in what year did Kety complete his study?
1968
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what type of study is Kety?
adoption
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what type of study is Brendgen?
twin
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what type of study is Gottesman and Shields?
twin
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what is the aim of the Kety study?
find out if there is a genetic basis for schizophrenia, comparing schizophrenia in adoptive and biological families
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what is the IV of the Kety study?
whether schizophrenia sufferer or not
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what is the DV of the Kety study?
prevalence of schizophrenia related mental illness among family members
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what is the sample of the Kety study?
34 schizophrenic patents aged 19-43
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where did Kety gather the study sample from?
Danish Adoption Register
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what sampling technique did Kety use?
opportunity
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what did Kety place ppts into groups of?
chronic schizophrenia (16), acute schizophrenia (7), borderline schizophrenia (11)
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how many controls did Kety use? (mentally healthy)
33
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what were the controls matched on in the Kety study?
age, gender, age adopted, social class of adopted family
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how did Kety gather other family members?
used Danish family records to locate biological and adoptive families and the mental health register to gain their mental status
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how many Danish psychiatrists diagnosed family members blindly in the Kety study?
4
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what did the Danish psychologists diagnose ppts into in the Kety study?
groups of schizophrenia
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what happened when the psychologists could not agree on the diagnosis of family members in the Kety study?
the person (family member) was not included in the study
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what were the results of the Kety study?
people with schizophrenia are more likely to have schizophrenia in their family (8.7% of all biological family members also have it, only 1.9% adoptive do)
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what are the conclusions of the Kety study?
there is a genetic component to schizophrenia as there is more schizophrenia in biological families of adoptees than control
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evaluate generalisability of the Kety study
a large sample reduces anomalies, a range of ages and being both men and women means it is generalisable. everyone is Danish because they are "stable and homogenous" in population, although practical benefit, might not be generalisable to other cult.
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evaluate reliability of the Kety study
procedure replicated with test-restest reliability, 4 psychiatrists for diagnosis = inter rater reliability, diagnostic categories were vague and subjective (latent schizophrenia) but in 80's were more defined
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evaluate applications of the Kety study?
if schizophrenia is only a genetic predisposition then we can avoid the trigger
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evaluate validity of the Kety study
ties with Gottesman and Shields (concurrent v.) and diathesis stress model (construct v.) but criticisms form Joseph 2014 say he changed design to get the findings he wanted
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evaluate ethics of the Kety study
did not need consent due to Danish law but there is high social responsibility
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what are hormones?
slow chemical messengers carried around in the blood, most are produced in the endocrine system
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what happens when hormones reach target cells?
they bind to the cell and change its function
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what are examples of hormones
oestrogen, progesterone, insulin, steriods
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what is a synapse?
the gap between neurons
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what happens at the synapse?
neurotransmitters float across synaptic gap until picked up by dendrite receptors on the next cell - converted back into electric signal for next neuron
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what is reuptake?
when neurotransmitters don't attach themselves to a receptor and are recycled, if prevented then neurotransmitter stays longer in synapse trying to pass on message
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how is reuptake used?
depression medicine - SSRI boost serotonin in the brain improving mood
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what does SSRI stand for?
selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors
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what do adoption studies investigate?
the impact of nurture on children raised by people other than biological parents (shared traits=nurture if with other families)
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what makes adoption studies more valid?
if there is data about biological parent so we can see if there is a closer resemblance to them
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what are adoption studies measured on?
correlation between behaviour of child and parents
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evaluate ethics of adoption studies?
danger study will cause a rift between adopted family and child, anonymity preserved (privacy and dignity), presumptive consent from adoptive and biological parents
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evaluate validity of adoption studies?
possibility that child will have grown like that anyway, confounding variables of multiple families, adoption agencies often try to match children to a family similar to the biological family
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evaluate applications of adoption studies?
indicate how to be a good role model for children and how to bring them up
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evaluate generalisability of adoption studies?
adopted children may have psychological issues and an unusual life so they are not representative of other children
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evaluate reliability of adoption studies?
large sample averages out anomalies but there is always a possibility of extraneous variables as natural study
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what can reveal clues about the unconscious mind?
dreams and freudian slips
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what three components make up the mind in Freud's psychodynamic theory?
id, ego, super ego
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what is the id?
the basic part of the psyche that develops first and deals with urges and desires existing in the unconscious mind, operates on the pleasure principle
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what is the ego?
develops in toddlers and deals with thinking and decision making, operates on the reality principle and understands consequences
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what is the superego?
final part of mind to develop, based on the morality principle and acts as conscience
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what is atavistic behaviour?
states aggression is left over from out past and is animal like, but we can stop it using self restraint and control as we don't need aggression anymore
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what is cathartic behaviour?
releasing aggression in a healthy way which is good for us will reduce aggressive urges
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what do neurons pass information as?
neurotransmitters
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what are neurotransmitters?
tiny electical charges
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what is the brain made up of?
neurons
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what are the types of neurons?
motor, sensory, inter
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what does a motor neuron do?
receive messages from CNS and generate movement
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what do sensory neurons do?
transmit information about the 5 senses from sense organs to the brain
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what do inter neurons do?
take messages between neurons
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what is in the middle of a neuron body?
nucleus
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where are the dendrites of a neuron found?
outside of cell
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what do dendrites do?
pick up information from other cells and turn it into electric signals
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how is information passed between neurons?
electrical charge travels down axon and passes on to dendrites in the next cell
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what do recreational drugs do?
alter cognitions and make things enjoyable
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what do psychoactive drugs do?
impact CNS
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what do drugs impact?
reward pathway
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what is the reward pathway?
a route used by dopamine to generate feelings of pleasure and a desire to repeat the activity
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what does it mean if a neuron is dopaminergic?
it generates and responds to dopamine
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what happens when there is a pathway of dopaminergic neurons?
there is a pleasure centre, one is called the mesolimbic pathway which flows through the limbic system to give feelings of satisfaction and contentment
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what hormone are mens brains shaped by in the womb?
testosterone
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what hormone is much higher in men than in women and is linked to aggression?
testosterone
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what is brain lateralisation?
where functions operate in one half of the brain
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which gender has more lateralised brains?
male
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what did Jovanovic find in 2008
womens brains have more serotonin receptors than men
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what are cultural differences?
genes for certain dispositions if parents and grandparents have it can explain why some cultures may be more aggressive than others, if cultural behaviour is evolutionary advantage it may be passed on as survival trait e.g. why some have more wives
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what did Wanger find in 1979
castrated mice and found aggression dropped with low testosterone, when injected with testosterone again aggression increased
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what did James Dobbs find?
prisoners who had committed a more violent crime had more testosterone
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what does cortisol do?
manage stress levels
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what did Virkkunen report?
low levels of cortisol in violent offenders
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what happens in a PET scan?
injected with radioactive tracer, emits positrons that go to brain where blood and oxygen is needed, shows function of brain
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what happens in an fMRI scan?
uses magnets, energy goes to where oxygenated blood is needed, shows function and structure of brain
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what happens in a CAT scan?
x rays taken of brain from different angles creating slices of the brain to show structure, is imprecisise
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what happens in an MRI scan?
aka magnetic resonance imaging, injects a dye into body to show organs, magnetic field is passed over picking up radio waves, hydrogen atoms give off energy to show brain structure, precise
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what is extroversion caused by in the brain?
Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS) is underactive (job to maintain ideal level of alertness) doesnt have enough stimulation and needs to go looking for it in environment
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what is introversion caused by?
Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS) is overactive (job to maintain ideal level of alertness) has too much stimulation and stays away from it in environment
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what does the Autonomic Nervous System do?
aka ANS, enables us to respond to stress, if it is effective at is job we are mentally stable, if not we are neurotic
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what are developmental differences?
as we develop, we change due to nature and nurture, brain=30% adult weight at birth, aged 2=70%, drinking alcohol when pregnant gives foetal alcohol spectrum (FAS) -> small head and abnormal facial features
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what are agonists?
drugs that imitate natural neurotransmitters (nicotine, cannabis, heroin), tricks brain into activating pleasure centres, but are more powerful than most naturally occurring neurotransmitters
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what are antagonists?
amphetamine drugs that boost the amount of normal neurotransmitters triggering the brain's pleasure centre
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evaluate drugs from the psychodynamic approach?
look at the meaning to taking the drug for the user, eros (love) is the main motivation and drugs are a substitute
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why doe Olds and Milner say people use drugs?
it is a form of conditioning (operant conditioning) and due to brain plasticity the drugs are seen as reinforcement as they give pleasurable feelings
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in what year did Davidson do his study?
1998
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what did Davidson et al do?
test effectiveness of nicotine patches compared to placebo group, 20% DRT group quit smoking in 6 weeks, 8% placebo
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is cocaine an amphetamine?
yes
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what does cocaine do in the body?
block reuptake by attaching to reuptake receptor
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what happens when dopamine cannot be taken back up in the body?
levels of dopamine in synaptic gap build - natural dopamine in massive quantities
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what is desensitisation
where over time a larger amount of drugs are needed to generate a pleasurable feeling for a person
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what is addiction
where without the drug, the brain does not generate enough dopamine so the user feels unhappy
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which drug causes addiction and desensitisation?
all of them
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what is nicotine?
a psychoactive chemical found in cigarettes
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what does nicotine mimic?
Acetycholine (natural neurotransmitter)
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what happens when nicotine enters the blood?
it arrives in the brain and attaches to acetycholine receptors, the receptors excite the neuron causing it to release dopamine, excites the next neurons in the reward pathway
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how does nicotine enter the blood?
inhale
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what does "brain plasticity" mean?
the brain changes structure
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what happens if a receptor is overused?
the brain cuts back on nearby dopamine receptors, which means more dopamine is needed to give a normal level of functioning
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evaluate credibility of drugs explaining behaviour?
Olds and Milner studied rats connecting wires to pleasure centre and gave them pleasure through electrical charges, rats could give themselves pleasurable shock by pressing a lever and the rats kept returning to it, ignoring other sources of pleasure
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what did Stralker and Mackie do in 2005?
studied mice and gave cannabinoid receptors to them, they showed similar addictive behaviour to humans when given cannabis
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what are objections do drugs explaining human behaviour?
cannot generalise from ethology, it is reductionist as choices motivations are ignored and it assumes drug users are slaves to neurology, placebo still has the same effect as drugs (Jones and Stone)
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what did Jones and Stone find in 1990?
gave regular cannabis users either cannabis or a placebo and they couldnt tell the difference
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what does evolution say aggression is?
a survival trait that our ancestors needed to defend themselves and catch food
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what is it most important to be able to do with aggression?
switch it on and off
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what does the amygdala do in regards to aggression?
interprets threats and produces aggression
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what does the hypothalamus do in regards to aggression?
triggers the production of testosterone when there is a threat
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what does the thalamus do in regards to aggression?
passes the warning to other parts of the brain causing serotonin levels to drop and dopamine to rise
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what can the prefrontal corex do in regards to aggression?
decide to overrule natural instincts
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why does evolution say we are jealous over our partners?
we want our genes to be passed on - to an extent, jealousy is attractive
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what 2 mate retention strategies did David Buss identify?
direct guarding of the female and negative inducements (financial control / violence)
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how many men and women in committed relationships did Shackleton survey?
461 men, 560 women
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what did Shackleton find?
there is a positive correlation between mate retention techniques and violence
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what does evolution need?
natural selection, genetic mutation and long periods of time
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what is natural selection also known as
descent with modification
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what is the idea of natural selection
that animals better suited to the environment they live in will live longer and pass on their genes to offspring
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what is the idea of survival of the fittest?
the fittest characteristics survive and are passed on to offspring
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what does "fittest" mean in regards to evolution?
most suitable or most adaptive
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how does genetic mutation occur?
when children have a genetic difference to their parent, sometimes it is a survival trait
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what is speciation?
where genetic mutation occurs over a long period of time and a species changes dramatically, into something new
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what is indirect aggression?
covert or hidden aggression such as spreading gossip
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what is relational aggression?
overt but non physical aggression, such as ending a friendship or name calling
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what is the purpose of aggression in the animal kingdom?
to protect yourself and family and to prosper
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what happens if a person or an animal is too aggressive?
they are rejected by a group or attacked
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why is social aggression a survival trait?
it has the same benefits of physical aggression but less of the risks (people are less likely to be seen as too aggressive)
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how does Tajfels social identity theory tie in with social aggression?
we naturally form in groups and out groups, so we have an urge to discriminate against the out group and say bad things about them
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what is the purpose of the thalamus?
aka "brains switchboard" as it handles all messages coming in and out of brain, routing them to where they need to go
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what is the purpose of the amygdala?
deals with emotional responses to things, especially anger and fear
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what is the purpose of the hypothalamus?
regulates hunger, thirst, sexual arousal and sleep as well as hormones
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what is the purpose of the hippocampus
important in forming new LTM
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what happened to Phineas Gage?
tamping iron through skull, personality changed - became aggressive and impatient (due to damage to frontal lobe)
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what happened to Charles Whitman?
murdered family, strangers and himself, had spoken to many psychologists before about aggressive urges, autopsy revealed brain tumour size of pecan pressing on amygdala
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what does the cerebral cortex do?
important in decision making, if damaged we are aggressive
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what does the limbic system do?
is the emotion centre
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what is the relationship between the amygdala and frontal lobe?
crucial, if prefrontal cortex healthy then willpower can resist amygdala urges of fear and aggression
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what study supports the link between aggression and the limbic system?
John Flynn, rats
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evaluare generalisability of twin studies?
twins are rare and have unusual lives they are compared lots so are most likely to be like each other -> not representative
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evaluate reliability of twin studies?
fertility treatments increase chances of twins (more to study and repeat studies) but it is hard to identify zygocity without DNA testing, it may be wrongly assumed
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evaluate ethics of twin studies?
most consent and volunteer to be in twin studies from a young age (join programmes) but there is a risk the twins can be made to feel odd
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evaluate validity of twin studies?
naturally occuring variable is hard to control everything (often confounding variables) but it does mean there is little researcher bias
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evaluate applications of twin studies?
tell if behaviour is due to nature or nurture which can prevent bad things
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what are similarities between twin and adoption studies?
natural experiment, study influence of genetics and environment on behaviour, compare people who share genetic material with people who share less/none genetic material with same environment
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what are differences between twin and adoption studies?
adoption study has no zygosity issues, adoption studies show nurture effects better as biological parents contribute little/none to upbringing, twins show genetics best as they have identical genes
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what percentage of births are twins?
1.5
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what percentage of births are MZ twins?
0.5
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what percentage of births are DZ twins?
1
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what are DZ twins?
dizygotic, fraternal twins, share 50% DNA
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what are MZ twins?
monozygotic twins, identical, share 100% DNA
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what does zygosity mean?
the twin type, determined through DNA but also in obvious differences
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what would it mean if MZ and DZ twins have the same concordance?
nurture not nature causes the characteristic
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what does it mean if the concordance rate for MZ twins is different to DZ twins?
nature not nurture causes the characteristic
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what is the purpose of concordance rate?
shows how similar twins are, higher=more similar, compare MZ and DZ
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what is a low level of serotonin linked to?
mood and sadness -> aggression
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what did Dee Higley do in 1996?
studied rhesus monkeys and measured 5HIAA (serotonin) and found monkeys with low serotonin were more risk taking and aggressive
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what is dopamine related to?
attention and pleasure, increased levels=increased aggression
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what did Ferrari do in 2013?
allowed rats to fight everyday at same time for 10 days (introduce intruder rat), day 11=no intruder, but serotonin dropped and dopamine increased showing the rats were anticipating a fight at that time
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what did Atlas and Pepler reveal?
other children were present in 85% of all bullying cases in the playground but only intervene 15% of the time
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what did Freud say is the difference between physical and social aggression?
it comes from defence mechanisms as the superego wont allow us to be aggressive physically
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what is displacement? (bullying)
where the child takes out aggression on other children when they are angry at their parents of teachers
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what is projection? (bullying)
defence mechanism where child feels an outsider so is hostile to other outsiders
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what are the halves of the brain called?
hemispheres
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what are the 2 halves of the brain linked by?
corpus callosum
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are the halves of the brain symmetrical?
no they specialise in different things
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what is it called when different halves of the brain specialise in different things?
brain lateralisation
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what does the left hemisphere specialise in?
language, numbers, abstract thought, spatial awareness
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what does the right hemisphere specialise in?
musical ability and creativity
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what does CNS stand for?
central nervous system
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what does the central nervous system work with?
brain and spinal cord
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what is the peripheral nervous system?
stretches out from brain and spinal cord to all other parts of the body, includes sensory and motorary nerves
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what does the frontal lobe do?
planning, self control, decision making
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what does the temporal lobe do?
memory functions
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what does the occipital lobe do?
processes sight and sense of environment
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what does the parietal lobe do?
controls language, specialising in touch and directing bodily movement
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how many lobes are there in the brain?
4
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what is noradrenaline
neurotransmitter that produces attention and triggers flight/fight response, people w/adhd benefit from being prescribed it
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what is dopamine
neurotransmitter linked to pleasure and addiction, drugs that block dopamine receptors seem to reduce symptoms of schizophrenia
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what is serotonin
neurotransmitter linked with happiness, drugs which boost serotonin (by stopping reuptake) reduce depression
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in what year did Raine do his study?
1997
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what is the aim of the Raine study?
find out if there is a difference between the brain structure and activity between murderers pleading NGRI and non murderers, also if we can generalise from ethology about brain structure
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what does NGRI mean?
not guilty under reason of insanity
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what is the IV of the Raine study?
whether murderer or not
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what is the experimental design of Raine?
natural experiment, independent groups
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what is the DV of the Raine study?
relative glucose levels in brain, revealed by PET scan
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what was the sample in the Raine study?
41 NGRIs, 41 non murderers
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how many NGRIs had schizophrenia in the Raine study?
6 -but the non murderers matched this
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what sampling technique did Raine use?
opportunity
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what was the procedure in the Raine study?
injected with glucose tracer, perform CPT for 32 minutes, then PET scan, could practice CPT for 10 mins before, kept medication free for 2 weeks prior
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what are the results of the Raine study?
NGRI show less activity in frontal lobe, especially prefrontal cortex, had less activity in parietal lobe in NGRI, more activity in occipital lobe, and less activity in corpus callosum -> imbalance of activity between hemisphere
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what is the difference in mean relative glucose metabolism in the corpus callosum in the NGRI compared to controls in Raine study?
-0.12 for NGRI
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what is the difference in mean relative glucose metabolism in the right side of the amygdala in the NGRI compared to controls in Raine study?
+0.05 for NGRI
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what is the difference in mean relative glucose metabolism in the right side of the thalamus in the NGRI compared to controls in Raine study?
+0.06 for NGRI
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what are the conclusions of the Raine study?
prefrontal deficits make someone more impulsive and emotional, deficits in limbic system make someone more aggressive? deficits in corpus callosum make it harder for hemispheres to communicate->difficult to understand long term consequences of action
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what does the Raine study conclude about deficits in parietal lobe, amygdala and hippocampus?
it is harder to judge social situations
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what does the Raine study conclude about generalising from ethology?
we can
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evaluate generalisability of Raine?
large sample (82) means no anomalies, but NGRI's are unusual offenders and are not representative of all offenders
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evaluate reliability of Raine?
PET scans are reliable and give objective replicable results, CPT ensures all ppts focussing on the same thing (standard procedure), but Raine admits problems with PET scans as hard to interpret
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evaluate validity of Raine?
Bufkin and Luttrel (2005) carried out meta analysis and got similar results (construct validity), CPT=artificial and not connected to violence, lack ecological validity?
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evaluate ethics of Raine?
NGRIs and controls all gave prior consent, PET imaging is invasive, conclusion may be misinterpreted
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how does the amygdala control sexual jealousy?
the amygdala handles trust and intimacy, creates sexual jealousy involving hormone, e.g. testosterone in men is controlled by the pituitary gland beneath limbic system
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what did Mazur and Booth find in 1998?
testosterone rises in men who need to show dominance (single/in failing relationship)
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what does the psychodynamic approach say about sexual jealousy?
we are biologically programmed to want our genes passed on, sexual feelings are from the id, controlled by superego (suppress urges into defence mechanisms)
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define repression
demands repressed into unconscious mind
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define denial
ids feelings and urges are acted on and unconscious mind refuses to admit it
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define projection
ids feelings are denied and superego hostility directed towards other people acting on those same feelings in judgemental way
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define displacement
urges acted on by directed on different targets, blames others for actions
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define sublimation
urges acted on but transformed into something socially acceptable, but the connection may come out in freudian slips
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evaluate credibility of psychodynamic approach
case studies back it up, links with neuroscience of the brain, but no evidence
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evaluate objections of psychodynamic approach
not v scientific, data was interpreted, Freud knows his patients so cannot be truly objective, also cannot be proved wrong
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evaluate applications of psychodynamic approach
psychoanalysis to overcome issues and aggression, but this is very expensive, time consuming and doesnt always work
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evaluate differences to psychodynamic approach
supports both nature and nurture, but rejects animal study findings, says nurture gives the defence mechanisms and nature is the id
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evaluate credibility of biological explanation of aggression
animal studies support brain structures are linked to aggression, many other studies also back it up (Raine)
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evaluate applications of biological explanation of aggression
nativist view, aggression is unavoidable, maybe scan and monitor aggressive people to give them jobs better suited to them, or use drugs to alter behaviour
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evaluate objections to biological explanation of aggression
generalising from animals is hard as humans have more complex thoughts, brain imaging techniques are sometimes unclear and have low validity
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evaluate credibility of evolution
well established and scientific with evidence, matches observations, face validity
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evaluate objections to evolution
some aggression is of survival value but some isnt, if we evolve why didnt we get rid of useless ones, also religous arguements
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evaluate differences to evolution
supports nativist view, contrasting to Skinner who thinks all behaviour is learnt, most psychologists think genetics can only give predisposition to character
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evaluate applications to evolution
Raymond Dart "Killer Ape Theory" states that we evolved from aggressive animals and are most aggressive / Harte and Sussmann, "Co-operative Ape Theory" we hunted and evolved to survive together through co-operation
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