A2 Level PsychologySection A Core Studies

Student Name:

Teacher:

Core Studies:

Blakemore and Cooper (1970) (Classic Study)

Maguire et al. (2000) (Contemporary Study)

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B i o l o g i c a lB i o l o g i c a l A p p r o a c h A p p r o a c h

Core Studies Over and How they Explain Behaviour

Area Study Tag Line Key Conclusion/New Understanding of Behaviour

Biological Sperry (1968) Split brain study Can we map functions of the brain to different regions?

The corpus callosum helps different regions of the brain to communicate and improve our perception of

the world but each hemisphere can function to produce its own perception and memories.

Casey et al (2011) Neural correlates of delay

gratification

Do brain regions determine our self-control?

The inferior frontal gyrus is involved in the level of self-control shown when resistance to temptation is tested suggesting that there are biological individual differences involved in the ability to display delayed

gratification.

Blakemore and Cooper (1970) Impact of early visual

experience

Is visual perception innate? The notion of brain plasticity was supported when looking at the development of visual perception in

kittens as modifying the animals visual environment had profound implications for their future perceptual

abilities.

Maguire et al (2000) Taxi drivers

Does the brain show plasticity due to your job?

Brain plasticity was found in taxi drivers brain in relation to their navigational demands which suggests

that the brain develops in response to the environmental demands put on it and the skills this

requires.

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Introduction to Biological ApproachPhysiological psychology, sometimes called bio-psychology, considers the extent to which behaviour and experience is determined by our biology. In particular, physiological psychologists have concentrated on studying the structure and functions of the brain and the nervous system and the way these affect out behaviour and experiences.

Key assumptions Brain Plasticity

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How flexible are our brains? Our brains, or parts of them, can actually change size (or rather shape or structure) in order to accommodate new information.

Activity: Define Brain Plasticity (Refer to Jacobs et al. 1993)

Activity: What is functional recovery? (You must outline the three anatomical ways a body can replace axon functioning after brain trauma)

Studies have stablished the neuroplasticity of the brain: brains can change in response to external stimuli. Imagine a piece of plasticine. It changes in response to the pressure or moulding that is applied to it. this is what happens with the brain; it changes and responds to the demands placed on it by increasing the cell dendrites and therefore the number of synapses available, in order to meet increased processing demands. These changes can be both functional (e.g changes in neurotransmitters) and structural (changes in the size and number of synaptic connections between neurons).

Studies of brain plasticity have considered the developing brain’s response to the environment, as Blakemore and Cooper do in our core study by investigating brain plasticity in the visual sense of kittens from birth. Studies of brain plasticity in adult humans have also been conducted and the core study by Maguire et al. on the plasticity of the hippocampi in taxi drivers is an example of this.

Background Cat intelligence is the capacity of the domesticated cat to learn, solve problems and adapt to its

environment. According to researchers at Tufts University School of Vetinary Medicine in Boston, the physical

structure of the brains of humans and cats is very similar: both have cerebral cortices with similar lobes, both are gyrencephalic i.e. they have a surface folding, both have grey and white matter.

The thalamus of a cat, constituting a hypothalamus, epithalamus and dorsal parts and including a lateral geniculate nucleus, and additional secondary nuclear structures are responsible for controlling impulses to the cortex, functions of sleep, memory originally formed of sensory data and other cellular functioning.

Kittens’ brains have a neuroplasticity: control of visual stimuli correlated with changes in RNA structures: cats possess visual-recognition memory and have flexibility of cerebral encoding from visual information, adaptability corresponding to changing environmental stimuli (Grouse et al, 1979; Okujav et al, 2005, Okujav et al, 2009).

In a normal cat, neurones of the visual cortex are selective for the orientation of lines and edges in the visual field, and the preferred orientations of different cells are distributed all around the clock (Hubel & Wiesel, 1962).

Study Details Aim:

Sample:

Procedure:

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Blakemore and Cooper (1970)"Impact of early visual experience"

Key Findings

Regardless of whether the kittens had been exposed to vertical or horizontal stripes, they were initially extremely visually impaired:

The kittens quickly recovered from many of the deficiencies and within a total of about 10 hours of normal vision they showed startled responses and visual placing and would jump with ease from a chair to the floor.

However, some of their defects were permanent:

The neurophysiological examination showed:

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Conclusions

Visual experiences in the early life of kittens can modify their brains and have profound perceptual consequences.

A kitten’s visual cortex may adjust itself during maturation to the nature of its visual experience.

A kitten’s nervous system adapts to match the probability of occurrence of features of its visual input.

Brain development is determined by the functional demands made upon it, rather than pre-programmed genetic factors.

The environment can determine perception at both a behavioural and physiological level – at least in cats. It is questionable as to whether results can be generalised to humans.

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Activity: why do you suppose that it was important to house the kittens in the dark from birth and for most of the time during the study?

Activity: why do you think Blakemoore and Cooper did not want the kittens seeing their own bodies?

Activity: what was the IV?

Activity: why do you this Blakemoore and Cooper want us to know that the “kittens did not see upset by the monotony of the surroundings”?

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Changes to the Study and Possible Effects

Homework: Changes and Effects: What changes could you make about the above study? How would you go about implementing each change? What would be the outcomes of such change on the results and the overall study? Summarise your answers in the below space (Minimum two changes are required).

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Description of ChangeWHAT? (e.g. sample, method, procedure, type of data

collected, etc.)HOW? (Must be detailed and related to the original study)

Implications of ChangeWHAT (e.g. more/less measured behaviours recorded, results

more/less generalisable, valid, reliable, useful, etc.)WHY? (Must be detailed and related to the original study)

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Background context / previous research for the study:

Aims / hypotheses / research question:

Research method (underline): Experiment / Observation / Self-report / Correlation / Longitudinal / Snapshot / Case-study

What makes it that method?

Strengths of the method as used in the study Weaknesses of the method as used in the study

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For experiments: Experimental Design (underline): Independent measures / Repeated measures / Matched Pairs What makes it that design?

Strengths of the method as used in the study Weaknesses of the method as used in the study

IV (Independent Variable): How was it manipulated / what are the different conditions of the experiment?

DV (Dependent Variable): How was the DV measured?

Controls:

Sample details: Sampling method (underline): Self-selected / Opportunity / Random How were they gathered using this method?

Methodical Issues

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Findings/results:

Conclusions/explanations of results:

Reliability: Is the study replicable? How consistent is the measure? Does it have a standardised procedure?

Validity: Is there something getting in the way of measuring what they wanted to measure eg extraneous variables, demand characteristics?

Evaluation Issues

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Ethics: Were any ethical guidelines broken / how were they maintained: Deception, confidentiality, harm, debrief, withdrawal and consent

Other evaluations relevant to the study: Pick the key evaluations for this study and comment on how they are an issue e.g. how the study might be

reductionist. Remember to try and offer balanced evaluations (such as how it is both high and low in Ecological Validity).

Ethnocentrism:

Reductionism/holism:

Nature vs nurture:

Ecological validity:

Socially sensitive research:

Free will/determinism:

Individual/situational:

Usefulness: Psychology as a science

Maguire et al.’s study investigates neuroplasticity in one structure of the brain, the hippocampus. This is a bilateral brain which means that the hippocampus is on the left of the brain and a hippocampus on the right side of the brain. The plural of hippocampus is “hippocampi”.

Activity: what roles does the hippocampus play in the brain?

Activity: what has Maguire discovered about the hippocampus?

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Magure et al. (1999)"Taxi Drivers"

Study Details Aim:

Sample Taxi Drivers:

Sample Control Groups:

Procedure and Measurement:

The taxi drivers brains were scanned using and MRI scanner. These were structural MRI scans designed to investigate the anatomy of the brain (its structure), as opposed to functional MRI scans which investigate the physiognomy of the brain (how it works). Their scans were analysed and compared with the scans of the control participants. The measurement of brain differences used two techniques:

1. VBM (voxel-based morphometry):

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2. Pixel Counting:

Results What did the pixel- counting analysis of the results show? Pixel – counting analysis revealed that there was no different in the overall volume of the hippocampus between taxi drivers and the control group. However it did show a regionally significant difference by side (right and left) of the hippocampus. Anterior hippocampus The non-taxi drivers (control) had higher hippocampal volume in

the right anterior hippocampus than in the left.Hippocampus body The taxi drivers showed no difference in overall volume in the

hippocampus body compared with controls, but analysis by side showed non-taxi drivers had higher volume in the right side.

Posterior hippocampus The taxi drivers had a generally higher volume in their posterior hippocampus than the non-taxi drivers.

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Activity: what do these tables show us?

What did the VMB analysis of the scans show?VBM analysis showed no significant differences between the brains of the two groups except: Taxi drivers had significantly increased grey matter volume in the right and left posterior hippocampi

compared to controls. In the controls there was a relatively greater grey matter volume in the right and left anterior

hippocampi compared to taxi drivers. Pixel counting showed that although there was no significant difference in overall volume of the

hippocampi between the two groups: Taxi drivers had a significantly greater posterior hippocampal volume than controls. Controls had a significantly greater anterior right hippocampal volume than the taxi drivers and a

significantly greater hippocampal body volume on the right than the left.

Regions of the brain with the largest volume Left hippocampus Right hippocampus

Anterior ControlsBody ControlsPosterior Taxi drivers Taxi drivers

Correlations showed a significant positive correlation between the length of time as a taxi driver and the right posterior hippocampal volume, but a negative correlation for the anterior hippocampal volume Activity: why is it good that the researchers used both pixel counting and VBM to measure the differences between taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers?

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Activity: if the researcher had simply compared taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers brains experimentally then it might not be clear whether being a taxi driver had really had an influence on the taxi drivers hippocampi or if the difference had been caused by other factors, or had indeed always been there. Can you explain how the correlational evidence supports the idea that being a taxi driver has led to changes in the taxi drivers hippocampi?

Conclusion There are regionally specific structural differences between the hippocampi of licensed London taxi

drivers compared to those who do not drive London taxis. The professional dependence on navigational skills in licensed London taxi drivers is associated with

a relative redistribution of grey matter in the hippocampus. It can be suggested that the changes in the arrangement of hippocampal grey matter are acquired

i.e. due to nurture. Findings also indicate the possibility of local plasticity in the structure of a normal human brain

which allows it to adapt in response to prolonged environmental stimuli.

Discussion Activity: research this study by Maguire et al on taxi drivers and read the discussion section of the report: summarise the discussion point below, you may want to print off graphs to help you.

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Changes to the Study and Possible Effects

Changes and Effects: What changes could you make about the above study? How would you go about implementing each change? What would be the outcomes of such change on the results and the overall study? Summarise your answers in the below space (Minimum two changes are required).

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Description of ChangeWHAT? (e.g. sample, method, procedure, type of data

collected, etc.)HOW? (Must be detailed and related to the original study)

Implications of ChangeWHAT (e.g. more/less measured behaviours recorded, results

more/less generalisable, valid, reliable, useful, etc.)WHY? (Must be detailed and related to the original study)

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Research method (underline): Experiment / Observation / Self-report / Correlation / Longitudinal / Snapshot / Case-study

What makes it that method?

Strengths of the method as used in the study Weaknesses of the method as used in the study

Aims / hypotheses / research question:

Background context / previous research for the study:

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Sample details: Sampling method (underline): Self-selected / Opportunity / Random How were they gathered using this method?

For experiments: Experimental Design (underline): Independent measures / Repeated measures / Matched Pairs What makes it that design?

Strengths of the method as used in the study Weaknesses of the method as used in the study

IV (Independent Variable): How was it manipulated / what are the different conditions of the experiment?

DV (Dependent Variable): How was the DV measured?

Controls:

Methodical Issues

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Validity: Is there something getting in the way of measuring what they wanted to measure eg extraneous variables, demand characteristics?

Reliability: Is the study replicable? How consistent is the measure? Does it have a standardised procedure?

Conclusions/explanations of results:

Findings/results:

Evaluation Issues

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Other evaluations relevant to the study: Pick the key evaluations for this study and comment on how they are an issue e.g. how the study might be

reductionist. Remember to try and offer balanced evaluations (such as how it is both high and low in Ecological Validity).

Ethnocentrism:

Reductionism/holism:

Nature vs nurture:

Ecological validity:

Socially sensitive research:

Free will/determinism:

Individual/situational:

Usefulness: Psychology as a science

Ethics: Were any ethical guidelines broken / how were they maintained: Deception, confidentiality, harm, debrief, withdrawal and consent

Activity: Compare and Contrast Comment on the similarities and differences between the two studies on some of the key evaluative issues associated with the studies. Place the similarities in the middle and the differences either side.

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SimilaritiesKey Study 1: Key Study 2:Differences Differences

Activity: Key Themes To what extent does the contemporary study change our understanding of the key theme and changes our understanding of individual, social and cultural diversity?

Activity: Key Themes and Areas of Psychology Page | 26

How do each of the Core Studies relate to its key theme and how each core study relates to the area of psychology it is placed within.

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Classic Study:

How this core study relates to its key theme?

Contemporary Study:

How this core study relates to its key theme?

Classic Study:

How this core study relates to the area of psychology it is in?

Contemporary Study:

How this core study relates to the area of psychology it is in?

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Question TimeMaguire (A Level) – Contemporary

(a) Outline the function of the hippocampus as described in this study. [2] (b) Explain why taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers were used. [2] (June 2012)

(a) Identify the two techniques used to analyse the MRI scans. [2] (b) Outline one difference between the MRI scans of the taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers. [2] (Jan 2012)

(a) Outline one strength of using a correlation in this study. [2] (b) Outline one weakness of using a correlation in this study. [2] (June 2013)

(a) Identify two criteria used to select the taxi drivers in this study. [2] (b) Explain why Maguire et al could not manipulate the independent variable (IV). [2] (Jan 2011) (a)Identify two controls used in this study. [2] (b)Explain why it was important to use controls in this study. [2] (June 2011)

The Maguire et al study on taxi drivers used MRI scans (magnetic resonance Imaging). (a) Explain what the MRI scan measured in this study. [2] (b) Outline one piece of evidence that suggests that the brains of taxi drivers are different from the brains of non-taxi drivers. [2] (Jan 2009)

Maguire et al investigated structural changes in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. (a) Identify the independent variable (IV) and the dependent variable (DV) in this experiment. [2] (b) Describe one effect the independent variable (IV) had on the dependent variable (DV). [2] (Jan 2010) Sperry (AS and A Level) – Classic (a) Describe one finding from the visual tests used in this study. [2] (b) Describe one finding from the tactile tests used in this study. [2] (June 2014)

(a) Outline how information was presented to the patient’s left visual field. (LVF). [2] (b) Explain why patients could not identify in words material presented to their LVF. [2] (June 2013)

Describe two ways having a split brain affected the patients performance on the tasks in this study. (4) (Jan 2013)

(a) Describe what is meant by the term “hemispheric deconnection”. (2) (b) Explain why a split bran patient could not describe in speech, material presented to their left visual field. (2) (June 2013)

Describe how visual stimuli were presented to participants in this study. [4] (Jan 2012)

Sperry’s ‘split brain’ study investigated the psychological effects of hemisphere deconnection. (a) Give one reason why the participants had previously undergone an operation to deconnect the two hemispheres of the brain. [2] (b) Outline one problem with generalising from the sample used in this study. [2] (Jan 2010)

(a) Describe how split brain patients responded to visual material presented to their right visual field. (2) (b) Explain why a patient in this study was able to point with his left hand to pictures of images flashed to his

left visual field. (2) (June 2015)