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General Learning Outcome 2: How Principles that Define the Biological Level of Analysis are Demonstrated in Research. Mike , Shannon , and Uriel. Principals. 1) Behavior can be innate because it is genetically based 2) Animal research can provide insight into human behavior
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General Learning Outcome 2:How Principles that Define the Biological Level of Analysis are Demonstrated in Research Mike, Shannon, andUriel
Principals 1) Behavior can be innate because it is genetically based 2) Animal research can provide insight into human behavior 3) There are biological correlates of behavior
Behavior can be innate because it is genetically based Innate: existing from birth, inborn, native (innate musical talent, or intelligence) Genetics: resemblances and differences of related organisms (parents and children sharing eye color or diseases)
Types of behavior Decision making How you learn How you interact with others How we dress How we talk Day to day actions….. Basically anything that we do is our behavior
Possible Influences in Behavior Culture (how, where you grew up) Values (what is important to you) Ethics (your moral principles) Authority (your ability to make decisions) Genetics…… And more
Behavior in Nature vs. Nurture Nature vs. Nurture: a theory looks at if behavior is from birth or learned from environment around us Nature: human behavior is a result of biological (our body) factors Nurture: human behavior is a result of environmental (our surroundings) factors
Types of Studies Twin studies: can compare both monozygotic (same egg, identical) and dizygotic (different eggs, fraternal) twins. Compare/contrast how the twins develop and act similarly/differently while being brought up in the same environment Adoption studies: can compare both kinds of twins. Compare/contrast how the twins develop and act similarly/differently while being brought up in different environments (being adopted by different families, separated at birth) Individual case studies: study an individual that is raised differently from what is “normal”. Then observe the differences and similarities between him/her and other “normal” children
Koluchova (1976) This study reported the consequences on emotional and cognitive development in a set of twin boys that were severally deprived The boys were left in the cellar for five and a half years and beaten from time to time When they were found by a child care agency the twins were dwarfed in stature, lacking speech, and did not understand the meaning of pictures.
Koluchova (1976) cont. • The doctors who examined them confidently predicted permanent physical and mental handicap. • The twins underwent a program of physical remediation, and entered a school for children with severe learning disabilities • They were then adopted by women that cared for them a lot • They soon caught up with the academic levels of children their age and eventually went on to higher education
Koluchova (1976) cont. • Both twins are now married, have children, and lead normal lives, despite their harsh childhood • There are no reports of any abnormalities • This is a perfect example of nurture over nature; despite their horrible beginning and all of the natural problems they faced, the twins were nurtured with a caring and loving environment and they turned out completely fine
Money (1974) • Dr. John Money claimed that children were born gender neutral; basically biological sex did not correspond with psychological sex • He thought that children could be raised successfully into what ever sex was assigned to them • He got his chance to conduct this unethical study when one of two twin boys lost his penis during a circumcision
Money (1974) cont. • The boy was surgically transformed into a girl and was raised as a girl • As a child the girl did not behave as a girl and had masculine behavior • Eventually it was decided that psychosexual development is not determined by what sex the child is raised as or what genitalia it has, but by the chromosomes and hormones in its body • This is an example of nature over nurture; even though the child was raised as a girl, it still did not feel right and went back to their body’s natural sex
Thomas J. Bouchard 1990 • This study looked at how genes matter when dealing with twins • Many sets of twins were studied and it was found that their surroundings had little or no effect on how similar they were to each other, even when they were separated • There are no psychological characteristics that are unaffected by out DNA (our behavior deals with our genetics no matter what) • Perfect example of nature over nurture
Animal research can provide insight into human behavior • Animal study are widely used to develop new medicines and to test the safety of other products. • Many experiments cause pain to the animals or reduce the quality of life in other ways. • Ablation: removing part of the brain • Lesioning: damaging the brain
The explanation for animal research • Testing of medicines and drug usage on humans • Testing for cosmetic interests • Testing to see the effects of brain and other damage on animal’s behavior
Monkey Drug Trials (1969) • The point of the experiment was simply to understand the effects of addiction and drug use. • In this experiment, a large group of monkeys and rats were trained to inject themselves with an assortment of drugs, including morphine, alcohol, codeine, cocaine, and amphetamines. Once the animals were capable of self-injecting, they were left to their own devices with a large supply of each drug. • The results of the experiment showed that the animals became crazy and tried hard to escape that they broke their arms in the process. The monkeys taking cocaine suffered convulsions and in some cases tore off their own fingers (possible as a consequence of hallucinations), one monkey taking amphetamines tore all of the fur from his arm and abdomen, and in the case of cocaine and morphine combined, death occurred to them within 2 weeks.
University of California - San Diego (2011, November 4). Biologists use flies and mice to get to the heart of Down syndrome. • A novel study involving fruit flies and mice has allowed biologists to identify two critical genes responsible for congenital heart defects in individuals with Down syndrome, a major cause of infant mortality and death in people born with this genetic disorder. • This study also led to identify a second defect, which is not frequently observed in Down syndrome patients, but is a common and very serious condition in the general population, was a thickening of the heart wall -- referred to medically as cardiac hypertrophy.
University of California - San Diego (2011, November 4). Biologists use flies and mice to get to the heart of Down syndrome, cont. • This is study is an example the tiered genetic approach, using fruit flies, then mice, could be useful in identifying genes involved in other common genetic disorders that are thought to be caused by multiple genes.
Of Rats and Men: How Stress Affects the Brain • Is a recent research that has demonstrated that the human brain functions less well under stress, and we now know that stress causes actual physical changes in the brain, and those changes are directly associated with a decrease in brain function. • This experiment’s research was originally conducted with rats in this area as the subject. Later tests with human subjects generated similar results.
Of Rats and Men: How Stress Affects the Brain cont. Case #1: Rats • Rat’s brain under stress, nerve cells of the prefrontal cortex shrink, resulting in slower performance on attention-shifting tasks. • They were tested by performing a response-reversal task Case #2: Humans • This experiment was performed on where they were asked to perform two different mental tasks while their brains were being scanned with MRI. • The stressed students were less able to shift their attention from one task to another and showed changes in the prefrontal cortex.
Of Rats and Men: How Stress Affects the Brain cont. • In both cases, it shows the results of the experiments produced similar results when it came to attention-shifting tasks and response-reversal tasks. Not only that, tests showed that the physiological effects were temporary in the rats as well as the humans. • It concluded that while stress causes changes to the brain and decreases some brain functions, the brain is able to recover fairly quickly.
There are biological correlates of behavior • This implies that it should be possible to find a link between a specific biological factor and a specific behavior • This is the aim of researchers in this level of analysis
CAS: Changing behavior through social action (pg. 65 in psych book) • Is a non-profit research that looks at the effect of poverty on criminal behavior (among other issues). • This research focuses on the tactics they used to decrease youth arrest in the UK in 2002, by having programs to help difficult neighborhoods. This shows how biologically nurture affects/ correlates to the decisions we make or behaviors we take in the future.
CAS: Changing behavior through social action cont. • It also focused in researching Canada (2003), and helping “at-risk” mothers by handing over the children to child protection authorities and foster homes. The parent training program produced a 67% reduction in the number of teens. • Although this study is a sociocultural research it is also an example of how these strictly environmental theories biological factors would be related to criminal behavior.
A Theory Explaining Biological Correlates of Criminality • This article puts forward a theory that takes account of biological as well as environmental factors, and predicts that variables such as age, gender and social status will be associated with offending probabilities. • It is argued that male sex hormones operating on the human brain increase the probability of competitive/victimizing behavior. This type of behavior is hypothesized to exist within variety of criminal forms at one end and commercial forms at the other. • Individuals wanting to learn and plan will move rapidly after puberty from criminal to non-criminal forms of competitive/victimizing behavior.
A Theory Explaining Biological Correlates of Criminality cont. • The theory predicts among other things that serious criminality will be concentrated in adolescent and young adult males of low social status. • Evidence is reviewed on links between criminality and various biological variables, including testosterone, mesomorphy, maternal smoking during pregnancy, hypoglycemia, epilepsy, altered heart rate and skin conductivity, cortisol, serotonin, monoamine oxidase, and certain brainwave patterns.
Biological correlates of homosexuality theory (pg. 138) cont. • In most of the articles and theories we have researched they seem to be unsure whether if homosexuality is a nature or nurture. • According to an article on http://allpsych.com Charles Darwin states, "...we do not even in the least know the final cause of sexuality. The whole subject is hidden in darkness.” • Although the APA currently states that sexual orientation is not a choice, rather that "...it emerges from most people in early adolescence with no prior sexual experience”. • Social theorists argue that an individual's upbringing can directly influence this sexual orientation. • The purpose of this article is to establish a thorough understanding of the biological and social theories surrounding the cause of homosexuality.
Biological correlates of homosexuality theory (pg. 138) • In the book it says that “homosexuality is only abnormal if the individual has negative feelings about his or her sexual orientation.”
The End Thanks for watching and taking notes :)
