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Possible SAQ:

Explain the use of one research method in one study of hormones OR pheromones.

Possible SAQ:

Explain the effect of one hormone on human behavior with reference to one study.

Possible SAQ:

Explain one ethical consideration in one study of hormones or pheromones.

Memory and hormones

The Biological approach

  • Unlike neurotransmitters, hormones are released into the bloodstream by glands in the endocrine system.
  • As a result they take longer to produce changes in behaviour and last a lot longer than an action potential.
  • hormones only produce reactions in their target cells - that have an appropriate receptor site for the hormone.

IB Psychology approaches to understanding behaviour

Adrenaline - FIGHT/FLIGHT RESPONSE

Neurochemistry

of love

hormones acting as neurotransmitters?

  • DOPAMINE - a feel good neurotransmitter, responsible for motivation
  • TESTOSTERONE increases sexual desire and feelings of aggression - motivates you to more actively pursue your partner
  • NORADRENALINE helps controle emotions and stress - the extra dose increases your alertness and attentiveness to your partner
  • SERATONIN levels drop - can cause obsessive thinking and hightened mood extremes
  • VASOPRESSIN - released during sex
  • OXYTOCINE - linked to attatchment, helps establish a bond

Technology and localization of function

video 1

Evolution

of attraction

video 2

Brain-imaging technology

competition between one sex (usually males) for access to mates; usually the "strongest" gets to pass on his genes

  • Natural selection
  • Sexual selection
  • Intrasexual selection
  • Intersexual selection
  • Parental investment theory

video 3

Research: Fisher et al (2005)

Possible SAQ:

Explain the formation of neural networks with the use of one study

Ronay & von Hippel (2010): Skateboarder study

Possible SAQ:

Explain one evolutionary explanation of behavior with reference to one study.

Memory and neurotransmission

  • EEG
  • CT
  • MRI
  • fMRI
  • dMRI
  • PET
  • SPECT

Possible SAQ:

Explain neural pruning with reference to one study.

Pheromones and human attraction

Counter-argument

Possible SAQ:

Explain one technique used to study the brain in relation to behavior with reference to one study.

Possible SAQ:

Explain one effect of one potential pheromone in human behavior with reference to one study.

Wedekind et al, 1995

Aim: prove correlation between attractiveness of men's scent to women and MHC dissimilarity

Procedure: 44 M and 49 W (typed by their MHC gene), they had to rate attractiveness of a T shirt of 6 individuals - 3 with the same and 3 with different MHC genes

Results: Women rated the odour od MHC dissimilar men as "more pleasant"

Possible SAQ:

Explain the effect of one neurotransmitter on human behavior, with reference to one study.

Possible SAQ:

Explain neuroplasticity, with reference to one study.

Neuroplasticity

Possible SAQ:

Explain localization of function, with reference to one study.

Synaptic plasticity

Neurons

term used to describe the changes in neural pathways and synapses due to changes in behaviour, environment, thinking, and emotions, as well as changes resulting from bodily injury

Genetics and sexuality

The nervous system - neurons (send electrochemical messages to the brain so that we can respond to stimuli)

Research on the role of acetylcholine on memory

Possible SAQ:

Explain one ethical consideration in one study of genes and behavior.

Epigenetics

Plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to alter its own structure following changes within the body or in the external environment

Memory and the brain

Draganski (2004)

dendritic branching & pruning

  • Rogers and Kesner (2003)
  • Antonova (2011)
  • Atri et la (2004)
  • Sperling et al (2002)

Rat study: Rosenzweig, Bennet & Diamond (1972)

Neuroplasticity and memory

Possible SAQ:

ExplExplain the use of one research method in one study of genes and behavior.

Neuroplasticity and other functions

Another way that we can look at potential localization of function is by looking at neuroplasticity in areas of the brain associated with memory

  • localization of function = different parts of the brain have different functions which play a role in human behavior
  • localization vs. equipotential theory
  • Perception: a study of phantom limb syndrome by Ramachandran
  • Language: a teenager Sarah Scott developed aphasia as a result of her stroke

Draganski et al. (2004) & Maguire (2000)

3D brain

Possible SAQ:

Explain the use of one research method in one study of the brain and behavior.

How do we study the brain

Possible SAQ:

Explain the role of one gene in one behavior with reference to one study.

1. Case studies

2. Animal experiments

3. Studies on neuroplasticity

4. The use of brain imaging

Human Genome Project

Possible SAQ:

Explain one ethical consideration in one study of the brain and behavior.

Techniques

EEG - Electroencephalography

Not a brain scanning technique but a way to measure brain activity. The product is a series of brain wave patterns that need to be interpreted.

EEG is used to show brain activity under certain psychological states like alertness or sleeping.

Structural imaging: the CT

A combination of x-rays and computer technology to produce axial (like "slices") images of the brain. It is used to assess head injuries and symptoms of aneurysm, stroke and brain tumours.

Structural imaging: the MRI

MRIs create images of the structure of the brain. The human body is mostly water. Water molecules contain hydrogen protons, which become aligned in a magnetic field. An MRI scanner applies a very strong magnetic field which aligns the proton "spins".

The scanner also produces a radio frequency current that creates a varying magnetic field. The protons absorb the energy from the magnetic field and flip their spins. When the field is turned off, the protons gradually return to their normal spin, a process called precession. The return process produces a radio signal that can be measured by reveivers in the scanner and made into an image.

MRI

The MRI is a composite image of several images of the brain.

Functional imaging: the PET scan

Positron emission tomography scans show brain processes by using the sugar glucose in the brain to illustrate where neurons are firing.

To do this, a radioactive isotope is injected into the bloodstream. This is an invasive technique.

Functional imaging: the fMRI

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans are a series of MRIs measuring brain function via a computer's combination of multiple images taken less than a second apart.

The images show activity in the brain over time.

The latest map

EVALUATING SCANNING TECHNIQUES

Ecological validity

The environment of an fMRI is unnatural and may influence the outcome of the research - leading to low ecological validity.

In order to make sure that the participant lies still in the fMRI, the tasks are very limited and mostly artificial in nature.

EVALUATING SCANNING TECHNIQUES

Sampling bias

Up to 20 % of subjects are affected by claustrophobia and refuse to take part in research in an MRI or fMRI. In addition, obese participants are excluded. This may, in some cases, lead to sampling bias.

In addition, because of the cost of the scanning, sample sizes tend to be limited, maing generalization of findings difficult.

EVALUATING SCANNING TECHNIQUES

Research bias

Colours exaggerate brain activity. The colours are often misleading, making it look like a specific region of the brain is clearly defined when in fact the activity of the brain is much more distributed and not as localized as we would like to believe.

In addition, a lot of activity in the brain is spontaneous and not stimusus driven. We often cannot be sure why there is activity in a part of the brain or what it is doing. Brain areas activate for many different reasons.

Neurotransmission

Neuro-transmission

brilliant step by step explanation

Possible SAQ:

Explain the role of inhibitory or excitatory synapses in one behavior with reference to one study.

When discussing neurotransmitters, we categorize them by how they affect a neuron.

Inhibitory and excitatory

  • Excitatory neurotransmitters INCREASE the likelihood of a neuron firing by depolarizing the neuron. (ex. acetylcholine)

  • Inhibitory neurotransmitters DECREASE the likelihood of a neuron firing by hyperpolarizing the neuron (ex. GABA)

Possible SAQ:

Explain the role of one antagonist with reference to one study.

When discussing neurotransmitters, we categorize them depending on the effect they have on the post-synaptic receptor sites.

Possible SAQ:

Explain the role of one agonist with reference to one study.

Agonists and antagonists

AGONISTS:

  • ALL NEUROTRANSMITTERS - reffered to as endogenous agonists (acetylcholine is an agonist for ACh receptor sites)
  • DRUGS - reffered to as exogenous agonists (nicotine is an agonist for ACh receptor sites and in the short term appears to have some positive effects on memory)

ANTAGONISTS:

DRUGS that block the receptor site and do not allow the neurotransmitter to do its job, so no action potential is sent down the neuron (scopolamine is an antagonist for ACh).

Adrenaline and memory - McGaugh and Cahill (1995)

Adrenaline appears to play a role in the creation of flashbulb memories.

Adrenaline and memory

Cortisol and memory: Newcomb et al (1999)

Cortisol and memory

Moderate levels of cortisol actually help in the cosolidation and retrieval of memories.

High levels of cortisol (or sustained levels of cortisol) impair memory retrieval and even lead to hipocampal impairment.

Intersexual selection

Members of one sex (usually females) choose the members of another sex based on a specific characteristics (ex. dance moves, jawline).

Intersexual selection

Research on facial symmetry: Shackelford & Larsen (1997)

Research on pathogen stress: Low (1990) & Gangestad and Schmitt (1993)

Research on dance moves: Neave et al (2010)

Study argued there were standard dance moves that women find attractive. Researchers argued that these moves convey the health, fitness, genetic quality, and developmental history of the male.

Watch the video for more details.

Parental investment theory

Clark & Hatfield (1989)

More recent research (e.g. Boxer, Noonan and Whelan, 2015; Buss et al, 2001): both genders place higher value on financial prospects, mutual attraction and love

The sex that is physiologically required to invest more in offsprings evolves to be more choosy, because mating with with a low-quality or noninvesting partner is more costly to that sex.

Parental investment theory

Buss, 1989

Aim: test for gender differences in mate selection

Procedure: 37 samples, over 10.000 participants across 6 continents and 33 countries; participants filled out questionnaires that contained three main sections

Results:

MEN: prefer younger women, paying attention to physical details - ablity to produce offsprings

WOMEN: prefer older men, paying attention to ambition, wealth, intelligence, social status, energy levels, and good health - abilty to provide for offsprings

Twin studies

Possible SAQ:

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

Twin study on homosexuality

Bailey & Pillard (1990)

Possible SAQ:

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

Family studies

Pedigree studies

Weissman et al (2005)

Possible SAQ:

Explain how genetic similarities help psychologists in the study of genes and behavior with reference to one study.

Weissman et al(

(2005)

  • three generations over a 20-year period to determine the level of inheritance of depression and anxiety disorders
  • The findings showed that depression in grandparents was a greater predictor of depression in grandchildren than depression in parents

Adoption studies

Three identical strangers

Linkage

analysis

Linkage analysis

Hamer et al (1993)

Hamer examined the possibility of homosexuality being a sex-linked trait, linked to the x chromosome. This means that the trait would be passed off to the offspring by the mother. He examined the family trees of openly gay men and thought he saw a maternal link, leading him to investigate his theory of sexuality be a sex-linked trait. He took 40 DNA samples from homosexual men and genetically examined them. He found that there was a 'remarkable concordance' for 5 genetic markers on a section of the X-Chromosome called Xq28. The statistical probability of the 5 genetic markers on Xq28 to have matched randomly was calculated to be 1/100,000, lending even more support to his findings.

GWAS

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