Methodology in Behavioral Research

• Today's focus: methodology in psychological research, theoretical approaches, and data-gathering methods.

Tim Bergen's Four Questions

• Introduction to Tim Bergen

  • He was a nephrologist and significant in the field of animal research.

  • Famous for his four questions regarding animal behavior.

  • Received the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1973 with other ethologists, demonstrating interest in behavior's organization and causation.

• Associated Ethologists:

  • Conrad Lorenz : Known for studying imprinting in birds (especially geese), where young animals follow the first moving object they see.

  • Carl Von Frisch : First described the "waggle dance" of bees, a form of communication regarding food sources.

The Four Questions Breakdown

1. Causation:

   • Micro-level mechanisms that trigger behavior.

   • Example: Why do infants cry?

     • Functional mechanism: signal caregivers for needs (hunger, comfort, attention).

     • Physiological response: due to hunger, tiredness, or discomfort.

2. Ontogeny:

   • Developmental aspect over an individual's lifetime.

   • Do infants learn to cry through environment or is it innate?

   • Example: Pavlov's dogs' conditioned responses show learning from environmental stimuli.

3. Evolution:

   • Historical perspective on why certain behaviors persist.

   • Why do infants cry? Possible evolutionary advantages in signaling for help from caregivers.

   • Behavioral features may lose original functions, e.g., goosebumps, evolved for survival but not useful in modern humans.

4. Function:

   • Examines the adaptive value: What immediate survival needs does this behavior address?

   • Example: Crying aids in securing care from caregivers, ensuring survival and the continuation of genes.

Interaction of Genetic and Environmental Factors

• Nature vs. Nurture Debate:

  • Like face expressions, which may have both genetic and environmental influences.

  • Study by Peleg et al. revealed genetic similarities in congenitally blind individuals and sighted family members.

• Animal Research Example:

  • Bar et al. studied infant rhesus macaques, manipulated their environment (mother-reared vs. peer-reared) to assess stress response according to genotype.

Causation in Behavioral Psychology

• The focus relates back to biological psychology, its aim being to understand what causes behaviors measurable by observable actions.

• Example inquiries include how neurotransmitters such as dopamine or serotonin influence psychological states or symptoms of illness.

Methods of Investigation in Neuroscience

• Methodological Overview:

  • Key areas include neuropsychology, psychopharmacology, and neuroimaging technologies.

Neuroimaging Techniques

1. Single Cell Recordings:

   • Invasive method involving a microelectrode to measure activity of a single neuron.

   • Excellent temporal resolution but limited spatial understanding.

   • Famous studies: Hubel and Wiesel found orientation-specific neurons in the occipital lobe.

2. Electroencephalography (EEG):

   • Noninvasive; measures electrical activity at the scalp.

   • High temporal resolution, handy for real-time language processing studies, but poor spatial resolution due to skull interference.

3. Magnetoencephalography (MEG):

   • Noninvasive, measures magnetic fields from brain activity.

   • Better spatial resolution than EEG, operates on a similar temporal scale.

   • Expensive and requires special conditions to avoid environmental interference.

4. Positron Emission Tomography (PET):

   • Involves radioactive tracers to measure blood flow in brain areas during task performance.

   • Invasive and slow temporal resolution.

5. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI):

   • Noninvasive, measures activity through changes in blood oxygenation levels.

   • Good spatial resolution, though it has been controversial for interpreted data as directly causal.

   • Important fMRI caution exemplified in the "dead salmon study."

6. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS):

   • Temporary lesions in healthy brains to observe task performance disruptions.

   • Provides insights into cause-and-effect relationships but has limitations in spatial/temporal resolution.

7. Lesion Studies:

   • Analyze effects of brain damage on behavior in individuals.

   • Includes famous cases (e.g., Phineas Gage) but lacks strong spatial resolutions due to the complexity of brain systems.

Ethical Implications of Animal Research

• Reasons for Using Animals:

  • Understand animal behavior and by extension, human behavior.

  • Develop and test treatments that benefit human health (e.g., vaccines).

• Pros and Cons:

  • Pros: Drug development, safety testing, and necessity for some human-like animal study correlations.

  • Cons: Ethical issues regarding animal welfare, captivity, wastefulness of some studies, and the validity of assumptions made on animal-human comparisons.

The Three Rs Principle

• NC3Rs Organization:

  • Focus on reducing animal use in research without compromising scientific integrity.

  • Replacement: Finding alternatives to animal use.

  • Refinement: Enhancing care and living conditions for animals used.

  • Reduction: Minimizing the number of animals used while maintaining statistical power in research.

Future Directions

• Next week: Action potentials and synaptic communication. Suggested readings for review include Dr. Swanson's lecture on synaptic communication from Bio Psych, Semester One.