OCR Psychology - Development of the pre-adult brain

What brain regions are linked to the delay of gratification according to Casey et al.?

Inferior frontal gyrus + ventral striatum

What behaviour is linked to the prefrontal cortex?

Impulse control + decision making

What behaviour is linked to the amygdala?

Regulating emotions + aggression

What behaviour is linked to the ventral striatum?

Want for instant gratification

What is synaptic pruning?

Synapses that are no longer useful are lost throughout childhood + adolescence

What is the dual systems theory?

Adolescents take more risks because their ventral striatum matures earlier than the prefrontal cortex

At what age does the ventral striatum respond to rewards the most?

During adolescence

What did Johnson et al. find?

There is a positive correlation with changes in the ventral striatum + an increase in arrests for criminal behaviour (e.g. drug taking), peak for females at 16 + peak for males at 19

What was the sample in Su et al.’s study?

40 younger adults (mean age 23) 14 males and 26 females + 40 older adults (mean age 68) 12 males and 28 females from Taiwan

What were the results of Su et al.’s study?

Younger adults had greater activity in their ventral striatum during the EV gambling task compared to the older adults who had more activity in their prefrontal cortex

Why does Su et al.’s study have an age bias?

68 is older than the mean age for all adults

Why is Su et al.’s study reliable?

fMRI scanners used - easy to replicate

What was the sample in De Bellis’ study?

14 participants (8 males + 6 females) with alcohol use disorder and 28 controls (16 males + 12 females) all American and with a mean age of 17

What was the result of De Bellis’ study?

Participants with alcohol disorders had smaller prefrontal cortexes + it was correlated with the volume oh alcohol consumed

What lowers the validity of De Bellis’ findings?

Other factors (e.g. difficult family background) which affected their brains + led to their alcohol disorders

What is the interactionist view of the development of the pre-adult brain

It is suggested that neurotransmitters and hormones released during stressful experiences may damage the prefrontal cortex but early childhood neglect can cause lasting damage to the amygdala + ventral striatum

What was the aim of Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

To see if adolescents show greater ventral striatum activation as EV increased compared to adults

What was the IV in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

Whether the participants were an adolescent / adult

What was the DV Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

The number of gambles ina spinner game, accepted by the participant + activity in the ventral striatum

What research method was used in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

Quasi experiment - laboratory setting

What was the sample in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

19 adults (8 males + 11 females) aged 25 - 30 and 22 adolescents (11 males + 11 females) aged 13 - 17 from the USA

What sampling method was used Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

Self selected sampling - advertised on posters / online + used a database of people who had already taken part in research at university of California

How was the procedure in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study standardised?

Informed consent was gained (from parents too), given $20 for “playing money” (experimental validity) + EV task was completed during the fMRI scan

What was the EV gambling task in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

A circle divided into two halves was shown on a screen, each half showed $5 - $20, one half showed what could be gained + the other what could be lost

How many gambles were there per participant in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

192

What were the results in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

Adolescents were significantly more affected by the increasing EV than adults (more likely to accept)

What were the fMRI results in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

As the EV increased there was an increase in activation in the prefrontal cortex + decreased activation in the amygdala and hippocampus for both groups

Where did the adolescents show greater activation in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

Ventral striatum

What is a conclusion of Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

Ventral striatum shows more activity in adolescents when making risky choices which reflects in more positive emotions + motivation for risk taking

What was the age bias in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

As participants were 13 - 17 it is not representative of older adolescentse

What is an application of Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

Interventions can be used to reduce risk taking behaviours (e,g, dangerous driving + drug abuse)

What ethical issue arose in Berkley-Levenson and Galvan’s study?

Protection from psychological harm - EV gambling task could increase the likelihood of the adolescents gambling in the future

How could the graduated drive programme reduce risk taking behaviour?

1. Stage one - adolescent is always supervised

2. Stage two - adolescent can drive unsupervised during daylight

3. Stage three - adolescent gets full privileges at 18

Why would the graduated drive programme reduce risk taking behaviour?

Mcartt found using a probationary period in the US led to a significant reduction in young drivers crashes + the UK department of transport found it was effective in reducing collisions

What does the effectiveness of the graduated driver programme depend on?

The number of restrictions + how strictly they are inforced

How could using omega-3 supplements reduce risk taking behaviour?

It can reduce impulsivity + can be taken everyday as a tablet

Why would using omega-3 supplements reduce risk taking behaviour?

Mauro-Martin et al. found that it potentially reduced impulsivity in 60 children with ADHD