Biological area

• Principles

  • Our behaviour is explained by our biological process
  • Psychology should study biological systems to determine then cause of our behaviour
• Concepts

  • Use of scientific equipment (e.g. MRIs and fMRIs)
  • Brain placidity
• Strengths

  • High in internal reliability due to highly controlled lab conditions
  • We can establish high cause and effect by having tightly controlled lab conditions
• Weaknesses

  • Can lack ecological validity as it often uses lab experiments
  • Its often reductionist by only investigating biological causes of behaviour
• Sperry links to the biological area

  • Split brain surgery
  • Because it is shown through split-brain patients, the way in which different abilities are localised within the two hemispheres of the brain and distinct areas control specific behaviours. Sperry's sample was small in comparison to Casey et al's study
• Casey links to the biological area

  • Neutral correlates delay of gratification
  • Because it involves trying to see whether there is a neural basis to self-regulation
  • This is done through fMRI scans of people who, forty years previously, had taken part in Mischel's delay-of-gratification test
• Blakemore and Cooper links to the Biological area

  • An early example of research into brain plasticity, in which evidence is put forward of the impact that the visual environment has on cats' brains (specifically visual neurons). Included as a biological study because of its focus on neurons, and also because it opens up the debate about whether biology affects behaviour or whether behaviour might affect biology
  • Difficult to compare to Maguire because of differing samples
• Similarities between Sperry & Casey

  1. Highly controlled lab experiments
  2. Conducted in a laboratory at California Institute of Technology - Sperry
  3. Conducted in an fMRI room - Casey
  4. Demonstrate specific functions of the brain
  5. Sperry - shows corpus callosum plays an important role in communication between two hemispheres
  6. Shows ventral striatum and frontal gyrus are important in self control
• Differences between Sperry & Casey

  1. Type of method used
  2. Sperry - was snapshot
  3. Casey - was longitudinal - used participants from Mischel's study
  4. Different types of subjects used
  5. Sperry - conducted on abnormal subjects - undergone commissurotomy
  6. Casey - used normal brains - could be more generalisable
• Similarities between B&C and Maguire

  1. Highly controlled
  2. B&C - took place in laboratory - kittens in dark room for 5 hours
  3. Maguire - uses an fMRI scanner room
  4. Objective data gathered - scientific
  5. Took neurophysiological measure of visual neurons of kittens
  6. Use of fMRI scan objectively measures amount of grey matter in the hippocampi of taxi drivers
• Differences between B&C and Maguire

  1. Different types of studies
  2. B&C was longitudinal - from birth to five months
  3. Maguire was snapshot
  4. Area of brain being studied
  5. B&C - visual neurons
  6. Hippocampus being studied