Chapter 1 Notes - Biopsychology Notes PDF

Aa 1.Thinking creatively about biopsychology III HEALY Biology of...

Aa 1.Thinking creatively about biopsychology III HEALY Biology of behavior →base thinking on the evidence provided →but also think outside the box 2.Clinical implications → study of diseased or damaged brains lead to new knowledge → new knowledge leads to new treatments 3. The evolutionary perspective → consideration of environmental pressures on human evolution →may use comparative approach 4.Neuroplasticity → the brain is plastic, not static continuously grows and changes in response to an individual's environment and experiences. What is Biopsychology? Emerged as a discipline in the late 1940'S Hebb (1949) proposed that psychological phenomena might be produced by brain activity His work helped discredit the notion that psychological functions were too complex to be derived from physiological activities through Experiments ( Humans & Non-humans) Observations of daily life 6 Disciples Of Neuroscience Neuroanatomy - Study Neurochemistry - Study Neuroendocrinology - Study of structure of the of the chemical bases of of the interactions between nervous system neural activity the nervous system and the endocrine system Neuropathology - Neuropharmacology - Study Neurophysiology - Study Study of the nervous of the effects of drugs on the of functions and system dysfunction neural activity activities of the nervous system TYPES OF RESEARCH THAT CHARACTERIZE THE BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH 1.Human and Non Human Subjects Advantages Humans Non - Humans They follow instructions Brains and behavior of nonhuman They can report subjective experiences subjects are simpler than of human participants Cheaper to work with Insights frequently arise from the THEY HAVE HUMAN BRAINS comparative approach (gain insight by making comparisons with other species) Fewer ethical restrictions - although also requires extensive ethical oversight! 2.Experiments and Non-Experiments Involves the Researcher does not control manipulation of the variables of interest variables Quasi experimental studies Case studies EXPERIMENTS Living subjects are required to be placed in various conditions Between subjects design - a different group of subjects are tested under each condition Within subject design - same group of subjects under each condition 1. Independent Variable - difference between the conditions 2. Dependent Variable - Variable measured which is the effect of the independent variable 3. Confounding Variables - Variable that affects the independent variable but are not controlled for NON-EXPERIMENTS Quasi experimental studies - studies of groups of subjects who have been exposed to the conditions of interest in the real world Not true experiments because potential confounded variables are not being accounted for - eg. by random assignment of subjects to conditions. Quasi experiments = can only tell Experiment = independent variable causes VS us if two variables are correlated change in dependent variable with one another (does NOT show cause and effect)  Case studies Studies that focus on a single subject/very small number of subjects — eg. Jimmie G & H.M In-depth than other approaches but they’re NOT generalizable (degree to which results can be applied to other cases) 3.Pure and Applied Research Motivated Intended to bring primarily by the about some direct curiosity of the bene t to researcher — humankind acquiring knowledge! Many research programs include elements of both approaches Pure research = more vulnerable to the vagaries of political regulation — politicians ask why research of no immediate practical bene t should be supported? SIX MAJOR DIVISIONS OF BIOPSYCHOLOGY WITH EXAMPLES OF HOW THEY HAVE APPROACHED THE STUDY OF MEMORY EXTRA INFORMATION Neuropsychology Usually has clinical emphasis Almost deals exclusively with case studies and quasi experiments Psychophysiology Usually measures brain activity through EEG Eg. Psychophysiological experiment shows schitzophrenic people’s visual tracking is abnormal/dif culty Cognitive Neuroscience Majority are human participants and are non-invasive Functional Brain Imaging — recording images of the activity of the brain while participants are engaged in mental activity Comparative Psychology Lab/Ethological Research — study of behavior in animals natural environment Converging Operations Using multiple approaches to address a single question Eg. Korsakoff’s Syndrome - severe memory loss and most commonly seen in alcoholics Jimmie G. is an alcoholic with Korsakoff’s syndrome however this syndrome is also seen in malnourished people who had no alcohol! Additional support came from experiments in which thiamine de cient rats were compared with controlled rats and showed memory loss. Alcohol accelerates the development of brain damage in thiamine-de cient rats as alcohol interferes with the metabolism of what little thiamine they do consume. By exploring the possible causes of Korsakoff’s syndrome using converging operations, ndings are more accurate. Korsakoff’s syndrome is the result of thiamine de ciency but the damage is accelerated by alcohol. Scientific Inference The empirical method bio psychologists use to study the unobservable Eg. Gravity, ice age, evaporation Scientists measure what they can observe and use these measures as a basis for inferring what they can’t observe How does brain ‘see’ movement? Critical Thinking The identi cation of weaknesses in existing beliefs/evidence Case 1 Case 2 Delgado claims that a charging bull can be Muniz wins Nobel Prize for prefrontal tamed by stimulation of its caudate nucleus lobotomy Many possible alternative explanations Adoption for human therapy based on a study eg. It is very painful! (or) rendered the bull of a single chimpanzee confused/ sleepy Inadequate post operative evaluation of human Morgan’s Canon — give precedence to the patients, often by the physician who simplest interpretation for behavioral prescribed the surgery observation. Undesirable side effects such as lack of foresight and emotional unresponsiveness. Prefrontal lobotomy procedure HE