IB Psychology Review Terms, Concepts and Studies Paper 1- Bio

endocrine system

System responsible for sending hormones throughout the body

Cortisol

Hormone that is released with adrenaline during the stress response

Antonova

Scopolomine can reduce memory

MRI

Brain scanning machine that measures the structures of the brain

fMRI

A brain scanning machine that measures blood flow in and out of the brain and looks for function of brain areas

Aggression

Any behavior with the intention to threaten or cause harm to someone else

Hypothalamus

An area of the brain that responds from signals from the amygdala to trigger the stress response

Pre-Frontal Cortex

An area of the brain that inhibits our impulsive decisions and behaviors

Testosterone

A hormone associated with aggression and social dominance

Hormone

A chemical messenger that travels slowly through the blood stream

evolution

The process of individuals changing over time to become adapted for survival

fMRI (studies)

Passamonti and Radke used this technique

MRI (studies)

Bechara, Graffman and Luby used this technique

Feinstein

Case study of SM was conducted by

mutation

A small change that happens to genes. It is how evolution can happen

Neurotransmitter

A type of chemical messenger that moves quickly though our central nervous system

Genes

Strands of DNA that facilitate our biology and development

SM

She has no amygdala due to a genetic condition

The amygdala

This brain area is responsible for identifying a threat and starting the stress response known as the emotional center of the brain

The HPA axis

The stress response is abbreviated as traveling through this

vmPFC

Area of the brain focused on in Bechara's study

abuse

MAOA-L gene is associated with anti-social behavior when what is also present in the participant's history

the MAOA gene

Caspi and Myer-Lindberg studied...

monozygotic twins

Twins with identical DNA that come from when an egg splits after fertilization

Dizygotic Twins

Twins that are born from two different eggs

neuroplasticity

The ability of the brain to change and adapt to the environment

Neural pruning

When the brain removes neural connections it no longer needs due to misuse or consolidation

Neural Network

A series of inter-connected neurons that are responsible for specific tasks and will grow and strengthen when new information is learned

Passamonti

Serotonin was studied by

The PFC and the Amygdala

Passamonti found that a lack of serotonin led to less communication between

tryptophan

An amino acid responsible for building Serotonin

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter that is built by tryptophan and may not be transferred properly if an individual has the MAOA-L variant

Myer-Lindberg

Found through an fMRI that those with a MAOA-L gene showed more activity in their amygdala and less activity in their PFC

Radke

fMRI study, IV injection of testosterone or placebo, DV activity of amygdala when seeing/approaching angry faces

Neuron

A single unit of the nervous system

Localization of function

Theory that particular areas of the brain perform particular functions

Neuroplasticity

The brain's ability to change as a result of experience

pheremones

chemical messengers that are secreted by one individual and are detected by another of the same species

vomeronasal organ

part of the olfactory system that is used to detect pheromones, not found in humans

Raine and Baker

Completed a twin study on antisocial behavior using 1000 MZ and DZ twins - antisocial behavior is 50% genes 50% environment

Grove

Study of MZ twins who were raised apart and compared with anti-social behaviors - 41% in kids and 28% in adults

hexadecenal

possible pheromone related to aggression. Emitted from baby's heads.

inhibatory neurotransmitters

chemicals released from the terminal buttons of a neuron that stop the next neuron from firing

excitatory neurotransmitters

chemicals released from the terminal buttons of a neuron that cause the next neuron into firing

serotonin

inhibitory neurotransmitter that is negatively correlated with antisocial behaviors. High concentration of serotonin receptors in the Prefrontal Cortex.

Agonist

A chemical that mimics the action of a neurotransmitter.

Antagonist

a chemical that blocks the neurotransmitter

endogenous

produced from within; due to internal causes

exogenous

Produced outside the body

neurogenesis

the formation of new neurons

Draganski et al (2004)

participants learned to juggle. Had MRI's done. Compared students 3 months before exams and then after (repeated measures) and then after stopped juggling.

showed increased connections in hippocampus and parietal lobes after the first 3 months. After they stopped juggling, showed a decrease in the size of the hippocampus.

Mishor et al., 2010

Exposing women to hexadecenal lead to more aggressive behaviors, while exposing men lead to less aggressive behaviors. Hexadecenal might contribute to women's aggressive protection of their infants.

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory

Scopolamine

exogeneous antagonist for acetylcholine

true experiment

random allocation, IV is manipulated, DV is measured, can determine cause and effect, controls for extraneous variable.

true experiment studies

Radke, Passamonti, Mishor, Antonova, Draganski

episodic memory

A category of long-term memory that involves the recollection of specific events, situations and experiences. Also called declarative memory. Stored in the hippocampus.

long-term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.

Consolidation

the changes that take place in the structure and functioning of neurons when a memory is moved from short-term to long-term memory

fear

the central nervous system's physiological and emotional response to a serious threat to one's well-being. The amygdala activates the HPA axis unless the frontal lobe mediates.

informed consent

An ethical principle requiring that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.

anonymity/confidentiality

both protect privacy

anonymity- no data that allows researchers to match the data with the person

confidentiality- the source of any data will not be revealed

correlational study

A research strategy that allows the precise calculation of how strongly related two factors are to each other. Stat is between -1 and 1. The closer to 0, the weaker the relationship. The direction of the relationship is indicated by the sign.

correlational study studies

Twin studies- Raine and Baker, Grove, Caspi

case study

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles, frequently uses triangulation to increase credibility

Case study studies

HM, SM

Hippocampus

A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for long-term storage.

Right to withdraw

Participants should be aware that they can leave the study at any time, even if they have been paid to take part.

5-HT (5-hydroxytryptamine)

serotonin

Antonova et al (2011)

AcH is important to spatial memory and scopolamine acts as an exogeneous antagonist.

Example of endogenous agonist

serotonin

Example of exogenous antagonist

scopolamine

Caspi et al (2003)

longitudinal study on MAOA-L gene. Found the MAOA-L gene moderated the effects of experiencing child abuse on adult aggression. Those participants with the MAOA-L gene and who were abused were more likely to be antisocial and aggressive adults. 3 times more likely than those with MAOA-H and child abuse experiences.

Meyer-Lindenberg et al (2008)

Concluded that the MAOA-L gene increases the likelihood of being violent and aggressive