Biological Psychology Overview

According to Sheldon's constitutional theory, which physique type is most likely to be associated with criminals?

What percentage of delinquents did Glueck and Glueck find to be mesomorphic?

According to Masters and Greaves' findings, what percentage of prisoners had facial deformities?

What was the original concept behind the social defences devised by criminal anthropologists?

What did Evolutionary theory, descendant of Darwin, propose about forcible rape?

What does property offending suggest about males, according to Evolutionary theory?

What does evolutionary psychologists' claim about genetic connections with crime?

What is the focus of biological psychology?

According to biological determinism, what did Lombroso believe about criminals?

What did Drahm differentiate in terms of causes of criminal offense?

What did Goring find to be a common factor among inmates?

What criticism do opponents of Lombroso's theories often cite?

What aspect of criminal behavior does Parson's 1909 work focus on?

Genetic theories don't provide ______ as to why certain people with the same genes lead non-criminal lifestyles.

High ______ for MZ than DZ.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET scans) highly localised ______ can be measured (this allows the review of whether the brain functions differently in serious criminals).

Brain imaging has shown that the hippocampus shows abnormal functioning in murders and structural ______ in psychopaths.

Studies of brain demonstrate abnormal brain ______ of aggressive / violent offenders in comparison to non-criminal controls.

The amygdala Critical role in emotion and cognition.

Alcohol prone families shows ______ in the amygdala.

Poor fear conditioning at age 3 predisposes to crime at age 23 - ______ the amygdala and ventral prefrontal cortex dysfunction and a lack of fear of socialising punishments in children who become criminals.

Brain research Electro Encephalographic Measures (EEGs) measure the electronic ______ of the brain.

Both genes are located in the X chromosome and, when lower levels of ______ are produced, it can lead to difficulties controlling emotional responses to anger in the amygdala.

Klinefelters syndrome is characterized by degeneration of the testes, sterility, enlarged breasts, alcoholism, homosexuality, moderate mental retardation and over-representation in institutions for the ‘subnormal’. XYY syndrome is associated with being taller and more aggressive than the average male, and strongly associated with being more criminal. Early research found it to be a prevalent syndrome in prison populations which led calls in the USA to detain men identified as XYY. Others suggested they should be acquitted of their crime as they are victims of inheritance. Later research found that XYY has been overestimated in prison and underestimated in the general population. Owen, 1973 found that XYY males are no more aggressive than XY males. Bit, Witkin et al 1976 found that XYY males have a lower IQ. MAO-A gene (warrior gene) - MAO-A is an enzyme that normally functions by breaking down key neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine which are important in aggression, emotion and cognition. Cadherin 13 (CDH13) - is linked to impulse control.