Biological Psychology

• All behaviour is determined by genetic, physiological and neurological factors
• the central nerves system and the brain is a major influence
• normality is a properly functioning nervous system
• stages of behavioural and psychological development are based on stages in brain growth which are genetically determined (maturation)
• What is the preferred method of study in biological psychology?

  experiments (on animals, often rats and humans)
• What are the major causes of abnormal behaviour?

  genetic disorders, organic (bodily) disorders, brain disease or injury, chemical imbalance/allergies, mental illness
• What are the two main parts to the nervous system?

  • central nervous system (CNS)
  • peripheral nervous system
• what does the CNS consist of?

  the brain and spinal cord.
• What is a neuron?

  a cell in nervous system which sends, processes and receives information from around the body
• a sensory neuron receives messages from senses
• motor neurons is for muscle movement
• What are the four types of aggression?

  • person orientated
  • instrumental
  • reactive
  • sanctioned
• What is person orientated aggression?

  the goal is to cause harm to another person. this can be physical or verbal, also occur through showing hostility to another
• what is instrumental aggression?

  the goal is to obtain some kind of reward or preferred outcome. this can be played out through the coercion of another person
• What is reactive aggression?

  a response to a hostile or aggressive situation. often shown in response to provocation
• what is sanctioned aggression?

  aggressive behaviour which is either legal or permitted because the ultimate outcome is seen as justifiable
• determinism is your behaviour predetermined by your biological makeup
• evolution is the gradual development of different kinds of living organisms from earlier forms during the history of the earth
• evolution means that all species share some genes with each other because they all have common ancestors
• evolution sees aggression in terms of its ability to increase survival chances therefore to enhance reproductive success
• How does aggression improve survival chances?

  • defending against attacks
  • gain territory and resources
  • to mate
  • deterring rivals from future aggression
  • negotiating status and power hierarchies
  • inflicting cost on same sex rivals
  • deterrin gmates from infidelity
• animal aggression is ritualistic (for the assertion of power, mating and maintenance of status)
• in humans it appears that aggression is no longer ritualistic, but takes place out of a desire to harm another
• who came up with the psychodynamic theory of aggression?

  Freud
• they key assumption of the psychodynamic approach is that all human behaviour can be explained in terms of inner conflict of the mind
• the structure of the mind is the conscious and unconscious
• the mind

  conscious - the id

  preconscious - the ego

  unconscious - the superego
• what is the id?

  the personality that all humans have from birth until the age of about 2 years, the most primitive and instinctive and aspect of the personality, operates as the pleasure principle, demands immediate satisfaction and doesn't care about reality
• what is the ego?

  it develops around the age of 2, driven by the reality principle, urges of id are controlled, doesn't know right from wrong, only the norms and rules of society, has an appreciation of what is appropriate
• what is the superego?

  develops between the ages of 3 and 6, operates the morality principle by understanding what's right and wrong, 'ideal' force, civilised, socially acceptable figure, develops due to moral and ethical restraints placed on us, feel pride and guilt, aggressive impulses are controlled
• What are some problems with freuds theory?

  any issues with the development of ego or superego could result in problems in managing the impulsive urges of the id, so increase in aggressive behaviour. we may be aware of them through having a love for violent films or enjoying watching boxing (referred to as catharsis - a way of satisfying our urges without resorting to violent impulses)
• freud's psychodynamic theory of aggression needs a balancing act, the strength of each individual force is a factor in personality, if a persons superego is too strong they're seen as rigid, pompous or self righteous
• correlational designs are often used when it is inappropriate or ethically unacceptable to use an experimental design
• a correlation design is a tool of analysis to test relationships between variables, they involve the same participants providing data for two measures
• correlation doesn't cause the other, they are just related
• what are the strengths of correlation?

  • little manipulation of variables (taken of existing situations)
  • straightforward compared to some experiments, observations and surveys
  • can show relationships that might not be expected, used to point towards new areas of research
• what are weaknesses of correlation?

  • only see a relationship (may be coincidental)
  • correlations often use secondary data
• what is spearman's rho?

  • test of correlation
  • determine whether the relationship is significant or not
  • used when two sets of data are pairs of stores from one person
  • used when the data is ordinal or interval
• what is correlation coefficient?

  • refers to the number between -1 and +1
  • states how strong a correlation is