Biological Approach

Flashcards about brain and behaviour.

Discuss one or more techniques used to study the brain in relation to behavior.

Maguire used an MRI scan to scan the brains of taxi drivers in London to test their knowledge.

Discuss localization of behavior

Localization refers to specific brain areas controlling specific functions. HM’s temporal lobe, including the hippocampus was damaged affecting his working memory, which is short term to long-term memory.

Discuss research On neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. Maguire concluded that the brain physically changes in response to environmental demands.

Discuss neurotransmitters and their effect on behavior.

Antonova found that acetylcholine could play a key role in the encoding of spatial memories, Acetylcholine is found of the hippocampus and plays a key role in memory consolidation.

Discuss ethical considerations in the study of the brain and behavior.

Informed consent was not respected towards HM. HM did not fully consent to amnesia and the longitudinal study of his life was intrusive

Discuss the use of one research method in the study of the brain and behavior

HM used a case study which provides in- depth data for special cases like HM, allowing insight into memory function and localization.

Explain the role of antagonist with reference to one study.

Antonova studied how blocking acetylcholine reception affected spatial memory on humans, An antagonist is a chemical/drug that blocks or reduces the effect of a neurotransmitter, hence the neurotransmitter is acetylcholine.

Explain the formation of neuron networks with the use of one study.

Maguire found that the hippocampi in his taxi drivers were much larger, which had to do with the neural plasticity and it’s neural networks of the brain that change through dendritic branching (growth) and cortical remapping (reorganization).

Explain neural pruning with reference to one study.

Neural pruning is the brain eliminating weaker synaptic connections. Draganski wanted to study neuroplasticity and neural growth, he found that there was a decrease in gray matter of his participants.

Explain the role of one agonist with reference to one study

An agonist is the opposite of an antagonist and binds to a receptor and activates it. Antonova used acetylcholine, Which can be enclogenous agonist, a neurotransmitter.

Discuss one or more hormones and their effect on human behavior

Newcomers participants were given high cortisol, a hormone, that had impaired the participants memory in indicating that cortisol negatively affects cognitive function during stress.

Discuss the potential role of pheromones and behavior

Zhou et al. participants were exposed to the pheromone, androstadienone, That showed gender biased perceptions, suggesting this pheromone influences sexual behavior cues.

Discuss the use of one or more research methods in the study of hormones and/or pheromones

Newcomer’s research method was a lab experiment with controlled cortisol levels to examine effects in memory.

Discuss ethical considerations in the study of hormones and/ or pheromones

Newcomers experiment showed potential harm through the high cortisol used that may have introduced stress in the participants

Discuss the role of gene in one behavior

Caspi found that individuals with a short allele of 5-HTT, a serotonin transporter, were more likely to develop depression after stressful life events

Discuss how genetic similarities help psychologist in the study of genes and behavior

Weissman, a family study, compared to related individuals across generations, this study show shows how genetic vulnerability to depression may be passed down.

Discuss one evolutionary explanation of one behavior

Wedekind found that choosing a mate with dissimilar MHC genes increases the genetic diversity.

Discuss ethical considerations in the study of genes and behavior

Caspi’s ethical consideration was genetic privacy. Revealing predisposition to depression, may cause anxiety or stigma.

Discuss the use of one or more research methods in the study of genes and behavior.

Caspi can be described as a case study or a natural experiment because of the method used to collect information, a questionnaire that was asked to be filled out by participants asking about stressful life events

Explain the use of kinship studies in the study of inheritance of behavior, making use of one study.

Kinship studies are a type of research used to examine how genetic related this influences the development of behaviors or psychological traits. Kendler et al. used genetic relatedness between twins to assess how strongly genes influence depression.