eBook Chapter 2 Criminology PDF

Chapter 2: Criminology Chapter 2 Criminology Introduction57...

Chapter 2: Criminology Chapter 2 Criminology Introduction57 2.6 Neurotransmission 97 Can chemicals in our brain cause violent crime? 2.1 The Brain and Behaviour 59 (a) Neurotransmission 97 How might brain damage affect our behaviour? (b) Serotonin, Threat and the Prefrontal Cortex  99 (a) The Frontal Lobe  59 (b) The Prefrontal Cortex and Aggression 61 2.7 Neuroplasticity 102 How can the way we think affect our brain? 2.2 The Brain and Decision Making 65 (a) Environment and Brain Development 102 How might brain damage affect the way we think? (b) Childhood and Brain Development 104 (a) Judgement, Processing and Decision Making 65 (c) Meditation and Mindfulness 106 (b) A Dual Process Model of Decision Making  67 (d) Mindfulness and Emotion  108 (c) PFC Damage and Decision Making  69 (d) Processing and Decision Making while Gambling 71 2.8 Genetics and Behaviour 111 Are people born violent? 2.3 The Brain and Emotion 74 (a) Twin and Adoption Studies 111 How might our brain affect our experience of emotion? (b) The MAOA “Warrior” Gene 114 (a) Fear and the Amygdala 74 (b) SM: The Woman with No Fear 76 2.9 Social Cognitive Theory 117 (c) The Amygdala and the Fear Response  78 How can nature affect nurture and vice-versa? (a) Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory 117 2.4 Hormones and Behaviour  81 (b) Vicarious Learning and Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study  119 Why are men more aggressive than women? (a) Testosterone and Aggression 81 Conclusion122 (b) Aggression: An Evolutionary Adaptation 84 (c) Testosterone and Social Threat Part I 86 (d) Testosterone and Social Threat Part II 88 2.5 Culture and Biology 92 How can culture affect testosterone levels? (a) Culture and Cultural Values 92 (b) Cultural Values and Testosterone 94 58 www.themantic-education.com  Introduction In the middle of the night on August 1st, 1966, 26-year-old Charles Whitman sat down at his typewriter in his house and began typing a letter. It begins: “…I don’t really understand myself these days. I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I don’t recall when it started) I have been a victim of very unusual and irrational thoughts.” Later that night, Whitman drove to his mother’s house and killed her. Before leaving, he wrote a note and left it next to her on the bed: “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, I’ve just taken my mother’s life. I am very upset over having done it. However I feel that if there is a heaven she is definitely there now…” Later that night Whitman murdered his young wife, Kathy, while she lay sleeping in bed. He stabbed her numerous times in the chest. Before he did this he wrote another letter…“…It was after much thought that I decided to kill my wife, Kathy, tonight after I pick her up from work at the telephone company. I love her dearly, and she has been as fine a wife to me as any man could ever hope to have. I cannot rationally pinpoint any specific reason for doing this.” (Austin History Centre) Later that day Whitman drove to the University of Texas at Austin campus, where he was a student. He had packed a huge case filled with guns, ammuni- tion, food, water and enough supplies to last for a few days. He climbed to the top of the observation tower that looks out over the campus and the city. Whitman killed the receptionist with the butt of a rifle. He then set up his sniper rifle on the tower and began taking aim at innocent people as they walked around the campus. In two hours of what must have been horrific terror for the people of Austin, Whitman killed 14 people, and injured over 30 others. What are your thoughts when you hear the story of Charles Whitman? Charles Whitman. (Image from wikimedia commons) Whitman’s case was and still is a mystery, like many murderers and 59 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  serial killers who seem to kill without reason. But your job as a psychologist isn’t Chapter 2: Criminology necessarily to judge people’s behaviour, it’s to investigate the research in order to understand it. In this chapter you are going to be introduced to the fascinating subject of psychology by looking at criminal behaviour. In understanding how and why people behave and think the way they do, we have to consider multiple factors – including biological, environmental, cultural and social influences. By the end of this chapter, you’re going to be challenged to answer this question: How might a variation of the MAOA gene increase the likelihood of someone reacting aggressively in a socially threatening situation? If you can keep up with the guiding questions and you understand the significant relationships explained in each section, by the time you reach the topic of genetics you will hopefully be able to answer this really difficult question. In doing so you’ll realise that understanding human behaviour is rarely simple. 60 www.themantic-education.com  2.1 The Brain and Behaviour How might brain damage affect our behaviour? (a) The Frontal Lobe In this first introduction to understanding violent crime, we’re going to focus on the most important organ in our bodies – the brain. As you’ll remember from the introduction, it’s always important that you analyze the evidence when making conclu- sions about behaviour. Remember that understanding human behaviour and mental processes is about understanding relationships, and research (studies and theories) can demonstrate those relationships. Numerous studies have shown that there are correlations found between brain function and violent behaviour. Moreover, there are specific parts of the brain that appear to be different in some violent criminals than in non-violent, ordinary people. Localization of Brain Function: In order to fully understand these concepts, it’s important to have a general under- This describes the concept of different parts of the brain standing of some of the functions of important parts of the brain first. having different functions. When discussing the brain in psychology, researchers refer to specific areas of the brain. Different areas of the brain perform different functions, a concept known as localization of brain function. The brain is generally divided into different lobes, as shown in the image. To begin with, we’re going to begin our focus on what I think is one of the most interesting parts of the brain – the frontal lobe. One important function of the frontal lobe is to regulate our impulsive behaviour and decision making. When the frontal lobe is functioning normally it kind of acts like a “break” on our impulsive behaviour. So when you get really angry at your teacher/parent/ friend and you want to yell and scream at them but don’t because you know that it might get you in trouble - you have your frontal lobe to thank. Or if you’re walking down the street and you see an attractive person and you think, Our brain is made up of different lobes. For now we are going “Wow! They’re gorgeous!” and to focus on the frontal lobe (in red) and later in this chapter you keep that thought to yourself you will learn about the temporal lobe (in green). 61 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  – once again, you have your trusted frontal lobe to thank. Teenagers’ frontal lobes are Chapter 2: Criminology still developing and are not fully formed until later in adult life, which might explain why teenagers can be more impulsive and more likely to take risks than boring adults. But how do we know about the functions of the frontal lobe? Well, how do we “know” anything in psychology? We always have to consult the research. And there is a lot of research on the frontal lobe. One of the most famous studies of a man who had severe damage to his frontal lobe was that of Phineas Gage. I’m going to tell you Gage’s story because it’s really interesting and I’ll guarantee you that you remember this story for a long time, probably because of its gory details. But I will also say that it’s best if you forget about him come exam day. We’re going to investigate far better evidence regarding the functions of the brain, and the frontal lobe. I introduce Gage here because it’s a fascinating story, but also because it generally marks the beginning of studies into understanding neuropsychology. Gage was a railroad worker who was putting dynamite into rocks while working with a team to lay train tracks. As he used a six-foot bar to Neuropsychology: The study pound the dynamite powder into the rocks it of the complex relationships ignited, essentially making the long steel pole a between the brain and behaviour. bullet that fired up through his left eye socket, through the top of his skull and landed about 50ft away. Gage survived and was even conscious while he rode on the cart to the nearest town to get help. He went to see the doctor and probably said something like, “can you help me with this?” As a result of the incident, Gage’s behaviour seemed to change as he went from being a rather mild-mannered man to “no longer Gage” as his friends said. Reports have even said that he was no longer allowed to be around women because he would often say rude things to them. This was in 1848 and Harlow, the doctor who treated Gage, made a few observations about the change Phineas Gage posing with the steel rod that in Gage’s behaviour that has made him one of shot through his frontal lobe. the first and most famous cases that links brain damage to our personality, our “sense of self ’ and also to our ability to regulate (control) our behaviour (Smithsonian Magazine). It is this final function that we’re going to explore further. Guiding Question: How does Phineas Gage’s case suggest that damage to the frontal lobe affects impulsive behaviour? Abstraction Extension: Causation v Correlation: Many students make the mistake of jumping to conclu- sions like, “Phineas Gage’s study proves that damage to the frontal lobe causes impulsive behaviour.” In order to deduce causation we need to eliminate the possi- bility of other factors other than the brain damage affecting Gage’s behaviour. What other alternative explanations could there be for the change in Gage’s behaviour? 62 www.themantic-education.com  If you’re interested… You can find plenty of information about Phineas Gage online, including one article by the Smithsonian Museum’s online magazine. The article is called “Phineas Gage: Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient.” The neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky also explains the case of Gage in one of his Stanford lectures (available on YouTube) and he says jokingly, that they take your license away if you don’t explain Phineas Gage in an introductory psychology class and I took his warning to heart. (b) The Prefrontal Cortex and Aggression Aggression: Feelings of anger and hostility towards someone or Since Gage there has been a lot more research into the functions of frontal lobe, something, often resulting in especially the area within the frontal lobe called the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The violent actions. prefrontal cortex is a more specific area within the frontal lobe. It’s at the very front of the frontal lobe; it’s the area of the brain just above the eyebrows beneath the forehead. The term lobe refers to the whole section of the brain, whereas cortex refers to the dense outer layer of the brain. Like Gage’s study first suggested, lots of recent research has shown that an important function of the prefrontal cortex is to regulate our impulsive decision making and our emotion. This has been shown partly through studies that show people with prefrontal cortex damage lack an ability to inhibit their impulsive behaviour, may not be able to behave in socially appropriate manners and may be easily provoked into aggression. Studies have also shown that there is a correlation between low functioning frontal lobes and criminal behaviour. (Clark et al., 2008; Blair, 2010) Understanding the biology behind criminal behaviour is a popular and important field of study. British criminologist Adrian Raine has conducted many studies inves- tigating biological correlates of criminal behaviour. He and some of his colleagues carried out a study in 1997 with the aim of comparing the brains of convicted murderers with those of healthy controls (i.e. people who had never been convicted of violent crime). The results showed that there was less activity in particular areas of the brains of the murderers, including less activity in the prefrontal cortex. (Raine, Buchsbaum & Lacasse, 1997) Raine’s studies, like many others, can show us that the brains of violent criminals are different to “normal” controls. But it only suggests a correlation and leaves a lot of uncertainty. Another way of studying how the brain can influence behaviour is to find people who have existing brain damage in particular areas of the brain and to compare them with control groups. During the Vietnam War many soldiers received injuries to their brains from a variety of factors (e.g. bullets, explosions, land mines, etc.). The use of brain imaging technology (e.g. MRI – see section on brain imaging technology for more information) allows researchers to pinpoint the exact location of the damage and to find those participants who have damage in areas of specific interest, like the prefrontal cortex. 63 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  The Vietnam Head Injury Study (VHIS) is a longitudinal study of over 1,000 American Chapter 2: Criminology veterans of the Vietnam War that aims to research the impact brain injury has on behaviour. One such report from the VHIS came from investigating the connections between frontal lobe damage and the influence this damage had on the aggressive tendencies of the patients. (Grafman et al., 1996) Based on prior research, the researchers hypothesized that the prefrontal cortex helps exert control over automatic reactions to environmental provocation. In other words, when something makes us emotional, our prefrontal cortex functions to help stop us from reacting in a violent or aggressive manner. To test this idea, the researchers compared Vietnam War veterans who had suffered brain injuries with healthy controls (people with no brain injury). The veterans were also divided into those who had injuries specifically in the prefrontal cortex, and those who had damage to other areas Many war veterans end up with brain injuries. The Vietnam Head Injury Study uses this naturally occurring variable to further our understanding of brain function. of the brain. MRI machines were used to locate the damage in their brains. The researchers hypothesized that because of the role of the prefrontal cortex in inhibiting impulsive behaviours (e.g. reacting violently to someone who makes you angry) those veterans with damage in the prefrontal cortices would demonstrate more aggression than those with no damage or damage to other parts of their brain. The researchers gathered data on a range of aggressive and violent attitudes and behaviours of the participants using self-report forms (e.g. questionnaires) and family observations. This means they measured aggression by asking questions such as, “How often do you react with physical aggression when someone makes you angry?” (Never, Sometimes, Always, etc.) Or, “How often do you swear or shout at people who make you angry?” Etc. The results showed that those veterans who had damage to their prefrontal cortex had higher levels of reported violence and aggression than the controls or veterans with damage to other parts of the brain. By using MRI technology and being able to compare the three groups in the study, the researchers were able to draw the conclu- sion that damage to the prefrontal cortex is more likely to lead to aggressive behaviours than no damage or damage to other areas of the brain. 64 www.themantic-education.com  This is an interesting finding and it’s a good basic introduction to the study of the brain and behaviour. However, the issue with this study is that it doesn’t tell us how damage to the prefrontal cortex might influence our behaviour: we’ll get to that in the next section. Guiding Question: How does the Vietnam Head Injury Study show that damage to the prefrontal cortex may affect aggression? Abstraction Extension: Evaluating Methodology: On the surface, it appears this study may show a rela- tionship between prefrontal cortex damage and aggression. But you have to think critically about the methodology. They measured aggression and violence by using self-report forms, which are the participants’ own answers to the questions. When evaluating research methods, we have to think about their effectiveness in investi- gating the specific relationship we’re investigating. So in this study, to what extent are self-report of violence and aggression useful ways of gathering data? In studying aggression, would people always be honest? If you’re interested… The magazine The New Yorker has an article called “Vietnam’s Neuroscientific Legacy” that goes into more detail explaining this longitudinal study on Vietnam war veterans and the significance of its findings. 65 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/ Chapter 2: Criminology Relevant Topics Ethics Research Methods Localization of Brain Function Origins of conflict Practice Exam Questions Outline one method used in a study related to localization of brain function. Evaluate one origin of conflict. Discuss ethical considerations related to studying the brain and behaviour. Research Methods When studying the relationship between brain damage and behaviour researchers may use correlational studies. In Grafman et al.’s study the two variables being correlated were the size of the lesion in the brain and the extent of aggressive behaviour. Conducting correlational analyses and finding correlational coefficients can enable conclusions to be drawn between naturally occurring brain damage and changes in behaviour. Ethical Considerations When studying sensitive subjects like aggression, anonymity is an important consideration. Individuals who display high levels of aggression, especially in family situations, would probably not want their level of aggressiveness made public. Informed consent is also important when investigating such sensitive issues and using tools like questionnaires: participants would want to know why the researchers were asking such personal questions before they participated. Not knowing this information beforehand could lead to stress, embarrassment or frustration. 66 www.themantic-education.com  2.2 The Brain and Decision Making How might brain damage affect the way we think? (a) Judgement, Processing and Decision Making Hopefully you have started to see how the research paints a pretty strong picture of the effect damage to the prefrontal cortex can have on our behaviour. But so far the evidence we’ve looked at can’t really tell us exactly how the prefrontal cortex influences behaviour, only that it does. In order to know exactly how damage to the prefrontal cortex can influence aggression, we need to go deeper inside the brain. But first, we need to move beyond just the brain, and look inside the mind! Let’s first look at an interesting experimental paradigm that involves a child, a marshmallow and a ten-minute wait with the prospect of two marshmallows. A paradigm is a pattern or typical example of something; in psychology there are many experimental paradigms which means a general design of a study that is often used. This experimental paradigm involves putting a child in a room and giving them one marshmallow. A researcher tells the child that they have to wait ten minutes and then if when the researcher comes back the marshmallow is still there, they’ll be given a second marshmallow and they can eat both. Could you imagine the poor little kids having to resist this temptation? Some kids can, and others can’t (e.g. Mischel, Shoda, & Rodriguez, 1989; Mischel et al., 2011). These experiments with marshmallows are typically done on small children because if we tried it on teenagers, the prospect of having two marshmallows might not If you were a young kid, do you think you’d be able to wait ten minutes for another marshmallow? Try to imagine what kinds of thoughts would be going through a child’s head as they wrestle with this problem. 67 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  be that enticing. But would you have a hard time waiting to get something you really Chapter 2: Criminology loved right now, if it meant by waiting you could get more of that awesome thing? We’re going to see how the ability to control our initial impulse and to think more about the future is a key function of the prefrontal cortex. As you learn more about this fascinating part of the brain, perhaps you’ll be able to hypothesize explanations for why studies have shown that those kids who can wait for two marshmallows are more likely to grow up to be successful in school. First, let’s try to understand the decision making process that might be happening in this scenario. There are many theories of how and why decisions are made, but here we’re going to look at a pretty basic one that might help us understand human behaviour a little better. After all, we can’t understand behavior (the way we act) without thinking about cognition (the way we think). Deciding how to behave in a particular situation first involves processing the infor- mation available to you before making a judgement about that information and then making a decision. If we think about this in terms of the research we’ve just seen on the Vietnam veterans, imagine the door bell ringing at dinner time. The family is around the table, everything’s peaceful, and then “ding-dong”! Dad reacts by storming across the room and shouting down the hallway, “don’t you know it’s dinner time???!!!!” But Dad didn’t do this without thinking – his brain didn’t automatically just make him do it. He had to perform a series of mental processes that lead to his shouting and getting angry. First, he needed to process the information (the door bell ringing, the time of day), then make a judgement (no-one should be knocking at this time) and then make a decision (to shout at the person knocking). ▶ ▶ Processing: Judgement: Decision Making: Analysing and Making an assess- Drawing a conclusion considering available ment based on and deciding how information the analysis of to act based on the information judgement made Here we see that to understand the behaviour (e.g. being angry) we have to also understand the thinking. The cognitive processes involved here are processing, judgement and decision making. While this seems like a basic concept, knowing how these three relate to one another is key to understanding the rather complex theory explained in the next section. Guiding Question: How might processing be influencing the judgement and decision making of the children in the marshmallow study? Abstraction Extension: One of the studies you will study later in this section about judgement and decision making involves a gambling task. Think of a type of gambling that you are familiar with (e.g. betting on sports, horse races, playing poker, slot machines, etc.). Can you explain the relationship between processing, judgement and decision making involved in that particular type of gambling? If you’re interested… There are some interesting TED talks about the marshmallow experiment that you can watch. One is called “The Marshmallow Test and Why We Want Instant Gratification” by Silvia Barcellos. 68 www.themantic-education.com  (b) A Dual Process Model of Decision Making “Dual” means two, so in psychological theories, a dual theory means there are two factors involved. The following theory about how we make decisions is based on how we process the information available to us in order to make the decision. The less we process the faster we make a decision. Conversely, the more we process the longer it takes for us to make a decision. So for Dad’s example when the doorbell rings at dinner time, some Dads might not process much at all and hear the bell (or knock) and snap! They get angry. Another Dad might hear the bell ring, become irritated, but then think “maybe that’s Grandma coming to tell us how Grandad’s operation was.” Kahneman (2003, 2011) has proposed a dual process model of thinking to explain two types of processing involved when making a decision. The dual process model They are appropriately known as: is a general description of how System One Processing we process information by System Two Processing using different systems when making decisions. When we process information using system one it’s fast and automatic. It’s also often based on emotion (Kahneman, 2003). In other words, when processing informa- tion using system one we make a decision without really thinking about it. So getting angry and snapping at the doorbell is processing information using system one. The information in this example is the doorbell ringing – processing involves thinking about that information. System Two is “slower…effortful and deliberately controlled” (Kahneman). When processing information using system two, we take our time and consider more factors. So processing the doorbell ringing using system two requires a little more thought, taking into consideration more factors like “who might this be?” Two Systems of Processing Involved in Thinking and Decision Making System One System Two Fast Slow Nonconscious Conscious Automatic Controlled Based on experiences Based on consequences Let’s go back to the kids and the marshmallows. Some kids probably ate the marsh- mallow straight away as soon as the researcher left the room. But others struggled, they agonized, they fought the temptation. They were probably continually trying to think about the prospect of getting two marshmallows for their efforts. According to the dual processing model of decision making, they were processing using system two, again and again and again for ten whole minutes – thinking about those other factors like how great it will feel to have two marshmallows. Here we see the decision making isn’t just applicable to one situation (aggression) and we could apply this theory to many types of behaviours. In fact, findings from the Stanford Marshmallow Experiments have found that kids that can resist the temptation have a higher chance to grow up 69 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  to be successful in many ways, including higher SAT scores, lower stress and lower Chapter 2: Criminology chances of becoming addicted to drugs (Mischel et al., 2011). Let’s look at one more possible example of what this might look like: you’re sitting in a test with 20 multiple choice questions and you really want to do well. You’re at the front of the class and the supervising teacher has fallen asleep with the answers sitting in front of him. You need to pass the test in order to pass the class and you can simply sneak a peek and see the answers. Processing the information available using system one would involve not thinking past the “need to pass, see answers, get answers!” Using only this system might lead you to look at the answers and copy them into your test so you could pass the class. You’ve made this decision quickly and haven’t thought too much about it. However, using system two processing might override this initial response as you think more carefully about the possible long-term consequences of your actions: “what if the teacher wakes up and I get caught?” “What if I pass but then I might feel guilty for the rest of my life?” “What if they’re not even the actual answers?” What the dual-process model allows us to do when explaining people’s behaviour, is to hypothesize (based on the theory) how the person might have made the decision to act. You’ll learn in later sections how damage to the brain might influence the ability to use system two processing. Guiding Question: How can the system used in processing influence judgement and decision making? Abstraction Extension: Evaluating Psychological Theories by Challenging Assertions: when learning about new theories (e.g. Dual Process Model), it’s always tempting for students to think of these as facts and to talk about them as facts because “I read it in the textbook so it must be true.” It’s true that the dual process model is one explanation of decision making, but it is not the only explanation. Try to see if you can come up with examples of decision making that can’t be explained by this model. I.e. test the theory! This is one way of critically assessing psychological theories: examining to what extent they are accurate in explaining the phenomenon in question. If you’re interested… The American Psychological Association (APA) has many interesting resources related to all fields of psychology. In particular, they have an article available called “Delaying Gratification” which goes into detail about the Stanford Marshmallow Experiments, including research using fMRIs to test the function of the prefrontal cortex when people are presented with something tempting. You might also be interested to read Daniel Kahneman's book, Thinking, Fast and Slow. 70 www.themantic-education.com  (c) PFC Damage and Decision Making We’re now going to examine the role the prefrontal cortex has on our decision making and how it might influence our ability to use the systems outlined in the dual processing model of thinking and decision making in the previous section. The study that we’re about to look at suggests that one role of the prefrontal cortex is that it allows us to plan and make decisions based on long-term consequences. In other words, it allows us to process information using system two. We have other areas of the brain that allow immediate responses without much thought, but it’s the prefrontal cortex that allows us to exercise control over those initial responses based on consideration of other factors. For example, studies have shown that people who are able to resist temptation and show self-control (using paradigms like the marshmallow test) have higher function in their prefrontal cortex than those that can’t (Casey et al., 2011). Based on these two systems involved in decision making and what we know about Empirical Evidence: the prefrontal cortex already, it seems plausible that people with dysfunction in the Information and knowledge gathered through observation prefrontal cortex may have an impairment in their ability to use system two processing and experimentation. and rely more on system one when making decisions. We could hypothesize about this in the Vietnam Head Injury Study, as I’ve done so far with the Dad and the doorbell example. But these are just my hypotheses made up in my imagination – we need strong, solid, empirical evidence from studies that can clearly show the connection between our prefrontal cortex and our ability to process information. Many studies have shown that people with lesions in their prefrontal cortices are primarily guided by immediate rewards and may not think about long-term rewards or punishments (Kim & Lee, 2011). Within the prefrontal cortex there is a more specific region called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The parts of the brain are often named for their location. Frontal – front. Medial – in the middle. Ventral – means on the bottom. So this very specific name – ventrome- dial prefrontal cortex, means it’s in the cortex (outside), in the prefrontal region (front) towards the middle (medial) and the bottom (ventral). We began broadly but you’ll begin to see that the brain is so complex and the function is very specific in very specific areas. If you can’t remember ventromedial prefrontal cortex, you can skip out the ventro- medial part. But the more specific terminology you can learn and use, the clearer your explanations in psychology are going to be. Many studies have The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is a specific area within the investigated patients who have PFC. It is highlighted in red in the image. 71 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and they have shown an inability to Chapter 2: Criminology learn from previous mistakes and to continue to repeat behaviours even when they Cognitive capabilities: This result in negative consequences. Other aspects of their cognitive capabilities (intellect, refers to one’s ability to problem-solving, memory, etc.) remain normal. perform cognitive tasks. Before we consult the research into the relationship between the function of our brain and our ability to process information, it’s important to understand how cognitive processes are investigated in experimental situations. Of course we can’t see the mind (at least not yet!). I don’t know what’s happening inside your mind, for instance. So how can we investigate this in psychology? What happens is that psychologists design an experiment and their dependent variable is the behaviour – that’s what they measure. So they have to design really clever experiments to see the relationship between the thinking and the behaviour. Their independent variable might be a type of task that they think requires different types of thinking, and then they measure the product of that thinking by doing some kind of test. To test the dual process model, for instance, they design experiments that require the participant to process two different types of information and then they time how it takes them to respond. While the study in the next section did not have the specific aim of testing the dual processing model, it is a good example of how behavioural measures in studies can provide insight into cognitive processes. Guiding Question: How might damage to the prefrontal cortex influence decision making? Abstraction Extension: One way of abstracting relationships is to apply them to a different context. If you can understand how damage to the prefrontal cortex could influence decision making, how could this relationship explain the correlation between PFC damage and aggression? Or PFC function and future success in things like the IB exams or standardised tests? The ability to devise hypotheses that abstract one relationship to various contexts is a valuable thinking skill and one you should work on developing as you progress through this course. If you’re interested… There’s a book called The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults. As you’re a teenager, you might like to know how your brain is different now from when you were a little kid and how your brain is going to change over the future years. There is a lot of research in the field of the brains of teenagers, especially that which focuses on why teens tend to engage in more risky behaviours than us boring old adults. 72 www.themantic-education.com (d) Processing and Decision Making while Gambling In the following study researchers measured the gambling behaviour of partici- pants in order to draw conclusions about the role of a particular area of the prefrontal cortex in decision making. Based on previous studies the researchers hypothesized that patients with damage to their ventromedial prefrontal cortices may not consider future consequences of their behaviour. This could be because of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex's role in processing information. One study compared 17 healthy controls with 8 patients who had lesions in their ventromedial prefrontal cortices. By comparing the healthy controls with the patients with damage, they could focus on one variable – the proper functioning of the ventro- medial prefrontal cortex (Bechara, Tranel & Damasio, 2000). They played what has come to be known as the Iowa Card Game or Iowa Gambling Task (named after the university where the research took place). This has been used in The Iowa Card Game has been used in many studies. many studies and you can play it for yourself online. Originally they used real playing cards, but changed It’s tricky to describe, but basically there are four decks of cards and participant are to having just red and told they can choose from any deck of cards. They start with $2,000 (not real money) black cards as people tried to overthink the possible and they win money randomly when they pick cards from either deck. But sometimes patterns. they might have to pay back money – this is why it’s gambling. There are two decks whereby the initial money won is rather small (e.g. $50) and two decks where the money won is larger (e.g. $100). But the smaller reward deck also has smaller penalties (so you might have to pay back $50 every fifth turn), but the larger initial reward deck has bigger penalties (e.g. you have to pay back $1,250 after nth turn). So in the long run it makes more sense and you’ll win more money if you can resist the initial big reward and go for the shorter initial payment with the better long-term gain. There is no real strategy involved1 except learning to go for low rewards. The game is designed to see how people adjust their thinking (and behaviour) based on learning from experience. Perhaps it’s important to note that this was play money and they were not really gambling with figures this high – it might have been a very expensive experiment to run if they were! So there are four decks of cards like below. The cards are just red or black – it’s not about what card they turn over that determines how much money they win. There are just two different types of decks: low reward – long term gain (A and C) or high reward but higher long-term losses (B and D). It’s important to know that the participants weren’t told which deck was which. They had to learn from experience. So the participants had to process information using two systems. According to Deck A Deck B Deck C Deck D Choose from here Choose from here Win $50 nine out and win $100 7/10 Win $50 nine out and win $100 7/10 of ten times of ten times Pay back $100 Pay back $100 One out of ten 2/10 times One out of ten 2/10 times times pay back times pay back Pay back $1250 Pay back $1250 $50 $50 1/10 ten times 1/10 ten times 1 In fact, the researchers began by using actual playing cards but they found this to be a confounding variable because people thought too much about the possible patterns and it took too long to realise the obvious differ- ence between the two decks. 73 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  the dual processing model, system one processing would lead to a fast and automatic Chapter 2: Criminology decision because it would be based on instinct. Not many factors would be considered except for something like, “Go for high reward!” But system two processing would This gambling study can show biological evidence to support require more careful consideration – I want money, but actually I might have to pay the dual processing model back more money so is it the best option? More factors would have to be considered. of decision making. It also demonstrates one localized The results showed that the healthy controls slowly learned to avoid the decks of function of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. cards with high rewards but bigger long-term punishments, and opted instead for the low immediate reward but with longer long-term gains (due to less punishments). However, the patients with damage to their ventromedial prefrontal areas chose the decks with the higher immediate rewards which had long-term punishments. This pattern took a few trials to emerge but generally remained throughout the remaining trials. The patients were less able to consider the long-term factors and consequences of their impulsive decisions, unlike the healthy controls. Guiding Question: How does this study suggest that the vmPFC plays a role in system two processing? Abstraction Extension: Transfer: It’s important that you are able to transfer your learning from one context to another. If what you learn in IB Psychology is only ever going to be useful within the context of IB Psychology, this will be a rather big waste of two years of your life. But if you can begin to transfer what you learn and use it in new ways, suddenly what you learn can stay with you for a long time. While the theme of criminology isn’t always immediately relevant, and in fact, there’s a good chance you won’t even mention criminology in your exam answers, it’s still valuable thinking practice to be trying to abstract significant relationships and to think about how they might be applied in various fields. As you’ve learned more about the role of the PFC in system two decision making, could this be relevant in areas of human thinking and behaviour that aren’t related to criminology? How could PFC function affect learning or studying or addiction, etc.? If you’re interested… At time of writing there is an online version of the Iowa Gambling Task available. Playing this game for yourself is a good way to learn about the methodology of the study. 74 www.themantic-education.com Relevant Topics Thinking and Decision Making Ethics and Research Methods (BA and CA) Localization of brain function Origins of conflict Practice Exam Questions Outline one theory of thinking and decision making. Explain two ethical considerations related to research on thinking and decision making. Discuss research into localization of brain function. Evaluate one theory of thinking and decision making. Research Methods The natural experiment is valuable when studying biological correlates in thinking and decision making. Neuropsychology involves the study of the rela- tionship between biological factors and cognitive processes like thinking and decision making, so using the experimental method where participants have naturally occurring brain damage allow researchers to focus on the relationship between particular areas of the brain and cognitive processes. Ethical Considerations Debriefing would be an important consideration in studies using the Iowa Gambling Task because participants may be curious to know why they were being asked to gamble. Moreover, the results of the study and their impact on patients with vPFC damage may have particular relevance for them: they would want to know that their decision making might be impaired. This is a significant finding and knowing about it (or not) could have a major impact on their life. 75 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/ Chapter 2: Criminology 2.3 The Brain and Emotion How might our brain affect our experience of emotion? (a) Fear and the Amygdala Let’s look at another important area of study in psychology that involves brain function and mental processes: emotion. Emotions are universal and there’s no single common definition of emotion or even types of emotions. For instance, could you objectively tell the difference between people who are “depressed” and people who are just “unhappy”? Or at what point does mild amusement become happiness and then jubilation? The feeling of emotion is a complex human experience and we need to always remember that when learning about it and drawing conclusions from research. In order to understand this complex human experience, we have to investigate the The word amygdala comes relationship between the brain, thinking and emotion. To do this we’re going to first from the Latin for almond look at the biological factors influencing one particular emotion – fear. because the amygdalae are almond-shaped. We’re going to investigate fear because it’s an important aspect of human behaviour that has many implications. Moreover, our response to fear is a type of response to a threat, which is an important idea in understanding violent crime. What may be useful to note is that criminals have been characterized as having a lack of fear and an inability to recognise fear in other people’s faces (Herpertz, Werth and Lukas, 2001). For some types of crime, this seems to make sense. For example, if someone cannot feel fear then they may be more inclined to do something dangerous, like participate in a shoot-out with a rival gang or get involved in a street brawl. Not being able to detect emotion in others may also inhibit experiencing empathy for victims. If one can feel empathy they may be less likely to inflict suffering on others. There is also a lot of evidence that dysfunction and abnormalities in an area of the brain called the amygdala can be found in violent criminals (E.g. Raine, 1997). Later in Unlike the prefrontal cortex on the outer layer of our brain, the amygdala is deep within the temporal lobes of the brain. 76 www.themantic-education.com this chapter you will learn more about possible relationships between fear and crime, but first it’s important to understand where fear might come from2. Our experience of fear is reliant on a few things. First, we need something to be afraid of. When talking about any emotion we call this the emotional stimulus. To keep it simple to start with, we’ll be looking at external emotional stimuli related to fear. In other words, things in our environment that make us scared. As usual, try to make connections to your own life. We’ve all felt fear before. When was the last time you were really scared!? What were the physical reactions in your body? In the previous section you learnt about the frontal lobe and the prefrontal cortex, a section of the outer layer Spiders are an emotional stimuli for many people. Could you hold a of the frontal lobe. We’re tarantula on your hand without feeling scared? now going to look deeper beneath the cortex within the temporal lobe at a part of the brain called the amygdala. Guiding Question: How might a lack of response to an emotional stimulus explain violence? Abstraction Extension: Generalizability: Does a lack of an emotional response explain all types of violence? The ability to think abstractly about relationships involves thinking carefully about the individual components of the relationship you are explaining. In this case, thinking abstractly about what violence means would enable you to assess the extent to which a lack of fear or emotional response might explain all types of violence. Types of violence include punching, stabbing, shooting, rape, etc. If you’re interested… If the study of criminology interests you, Adrian Raine has a book called The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime. As the title suggests, this book devotes itself entirely to studying the biological correlates of crime. We are merely skimming the surface of this fascinating topic in this course; reading books of this nature in your own time is a valuable way of pursuing your interests further. 2 We’ll also study fear in more detail when we investigate origins of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 77 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  (b) SM: The Woman with No Fear Chapter 2: Criminology Studies on the functions of the amygdala go back as far as the late 1800s. Early studies on rhesus monkeys involved removing their entire temporal lobes. After this removal they found a change in a number of behaviours, including the fact that the monkeys lost emotional reactivity, meaning they didn’t react in emotional ways to environmental stimuli. But this involved the removal of the whole temporal lobe – the amygdala is just one part of the temporal lobe. So further replication of these findings was carried out and the monkeys’ amygdalae specifically were lesioned and the changes in behaviour were recorded. The results gathered were similar: damage to the amygdalae resulted in emotional blunting, a reduction in emotional reactions (Weiskrantz, 1956). Numerous animal studies like this have suggested that the amygdala plays an important role in threat perception. But what about in humans? It is very difficult to study damage to such specific parts of the brain as the amygdala in humans. Unlike the prefrontal cortex, that is located near the skull and easily damaged, the amygdalae are located deep within the brain and so it’s rarer to find people with damage in this area. Moreover, often when people do experience damage in this area (e.g. through a stroke or disease), they also have damage in other areas. However, there are some rare exceptions and when people with particular areas of brain damage occur, often they are the subjects of case studies. One such patient is known as SM, who the media have called “the woman with no fear” (Feinstein, Adolphs, Damasio & Tranel, 2011). Like the monkey experiments, numerous studies on people with damaged amygdalae have shown that lesions in amygdalae of human patients result in a lack of fear. One such study was carried out on a patient called SM, a 44 year Fear conditioning means old woman with bilateral lesions in her learning to be afraid of amygdalae that were the result of a genetic something. This serves important purposes for our disorder. Previous research has shown that survival and you’ll learn more she has an impairment in fear conditioning about this process when you (learning to be afraid) and fear recognition study PTSD. (recognizing fear in others' faces). This was the first study on SM that tried to see if the amygdala played a role in the induction of fear - being made to feel scared. In all other ways SM is a normal person - her scores in IQ, memory, language tests and other tests of general cognitive function are as good as healthy controls. Most people would find walking through an One way they tested her fear was to take abandoned hospital in the middle of the night very her to an exotic pet store where there were scary, but not SM. Her study helps to show the important function the amygdala plays in experi- lots of snakes and spiders. These are two of encing fear. the most common fears people have and from an evolutionary view a healthy fear of these animals is a good thing (because of their potential danger). SM had also told the researchers that she didn’t like snakes and spiders and “tried to stay away from them.” So they went to a pet store and made notes on her behaviour as they walked around the store. But even though she had told them she didn’t like snakes and spiders, SM showed no fear. She held one snake for over three minutes and the researchers noticed that she was curious and inquisitive, touching its skin and its scales, but that she didn’t 78 www.themantic-education.com show any fear. In fact, she said things like “This is so cool” and she even kept asking if she could hold the bigger snakes, but the store owner continually told her they were too dangerous. We can see that SM had no fear of something that most people are afraid of. And to test her fear response further they then took her to a haunted house. Every year at Halloween one of the “most haunted places in America”, an old psychiatric hospital called Waverly Hills Sanatorium is turned into a haunted house. So even though it wasn’t Halloween the researchers created the Haunted House and to make sure their house was in fact scary they invited a few other people to join the group so they could make comparisons between their fear response to the haunted house and SM’s. They noted that while walking through the house SM never showed any fear. “Monsters” would jump out from behind dark spaces and SM never seemed to show any physical signs of fear, but would do things like touch their faces instead. Ironically, she even scared one of the “monsters”! So this case study suggests that the amygdala might play an important role in the experiences of fear in scary and threatening situations. If we have damage to this area of the brain, perhaps we won’t be able to experience fear. Guiding Question: How does SM’s case study demonstrate the role of the amygdala in experiencing fear? Abstraction Extension: Generalizability: Thinking critically about research involves assessing to what extent the results from the study can be applied beyond the study itself. One way to assess this is to look at the nature of the subjects of the research. In this case, the subjects in the research mentioned are animals and one woman. To what extent can findings from these studies be used to explain human behaviour? It’s important that you provide reasons for your answer: simply saying “one limitation of this study is that it was carried out on animals and can’t be generalised to humans” is pointless, and is not demonstrating abstract thinking – it is description. You must show you understand the specific factors involved that influence the generaliza- bility. Part of your explanation, therefore, should include reasons why findings may not be generalised. Can you explain some specific reasons that might influence the generalizability of SM’s case study or the animal studies? If you’re interested… Neurosciencenews.com is an interesting website that has regular stories and articles about the fascinating world of studying the brain. They have an article on SM called “The Fearless SM: Woman Missing Amygdala” in which this case study is explained further. 79 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  (c) The Amygdala and the Fear Response Chapter 2: Criminology So you’ve had an introduction to the amygdala and seen in research that it is a necessary component of fear, it’s time to look a little more closely at how the amygdala may cause us to feel fear. In this section we’ll focus only on the biological processes involved after we perceive a threat. With modern technology, we can now see the functioning of the amygdala when people are exposed to scary or threatening stimuli. When images of snakes, spiders, or angry faces appear on the screen our amygdala is activated. One study used a PET scan to compare the responses in the brains of women being exposed to images of snakes or spiders (things they said they were afraid of) and things they weren’t afraid of. The results showed that when looking at the snakes and spiders their amygdala activation was higher than when looking at non-threatening stimuli (Ahs et al., 2009). One function of the amygdala is to perceive threatening One study also suggests that our amygdala plays a particular role in situations stimuli and prepare our body when we feel socially threatened. A social threat is one that comes from another person to react accordingly. or group of people, for example someone swearing at you, challenging you to a fight, etc. It’s an emotional stimulus that is separate from a natural threat, such as seeing a dangerous animal or being trapped in a burning building. If someone is threatening us, we might need to defend ourselves: this is why we have evolved to have biological reactions that can facilitate aggression. If we think back to the theme of our chapter, knowing about a fear of snakes and spiders has little applicability to something like murder. This is why knowing the term social threat is a key concept to understand in this chapter as it is important to really explain what might provoke someone into committing violent crime. One study that we’ll look closely at later in the chapter showed that when people are threatened socially their amygdala is activated. They can see this by putting people in fMRI machines and flashing images of happy, neutral or sad faces and then measuring the activation of the amygdala. When people perceive angry faces their amygdala is activated. But here’s my favourite part: the researchers give the instructions to the participants that they are to push a button as soon as they see an emotional stimuli (in this case the picture of the face). FMRI studies show that the amygdala activates before the person has even consciously realised that they have seen a face (e.g. Williams et al., 2004). Studies have also shown that our amygdala may activate upon perceiving a face from a race different to our own (Chekroud et al., 2014). This will be explored when you learn about social influence and prejudice. Emotion and aggression are How does that happen? When there’s something threatening in our environment closely related because an (i.e. something that might scare us) it is perceived by the amygdala. We have seen this individual is unlikely to be already in the existing research. But in order to understand the physiological response aggressive without feeling emotional. Emotion includes caused by fear (the increased heart rate, heavy breathing, etc.) we need to know what the physiological arousal happens after the amygdala is activated. After a threat is perceived by the amygdala a associated with the stress message is sent to another part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothal- response. amus is below the thalamus (hypo = below) and is like a control centre (imagine an air-traffic controller sitting at a large desk with a whole bunch of buttons or switches, or those little people in the heads of the characters in that Pixar film, Inside-Out). As the hypothalamus receives a signal from the amygdala it needs to get the body ready physically to deal with the threat. The hypothalamus is involved in activating the fight-flight response (Steimer, 2002). It sends a signal to the adrenal glands, which are small glands that sit on top of your kidneys and trigger the release of adrenaline into our blood stream. You may know 80 www.themantic-education.com a little bit about this hormone in our bodies, or just you have heard the word before. The term “adrenaline junkie” is a popular one to describe people who love doing those extreme sports like bungee jumping, sky diving, parasailing, jetboating, white-water rafting, etc. When we receive adrenaline in our bodies our heart races, blood pumps faster, we get more oxygen, and we get more instant energy. The reason these sports increase adrenaline is because they trigger in us a natural fear response as we haven’t evolved to be used to the feeling of jumping head first off a 200metre high bridge! But this response serves an important evolutionary purpose: when we are threat- ened and feel afraid, we need to have the energy to either stand our ground and fight or to run away really fast to escape danger. This is why it’s known as the fight-flight response. Another name for this is the stress response. Understanding the role of the amygdala in emotion is relevant for the study of criminology, as well as origins of prejudice and possible causes of PTSD. We’ll explore more about the significance of this later. Many people like to participate in sports that activate our stress response. Are you an adrenaline junkie? Guiding Question: How does perception lead to the physiological arousal associated with fear? Abstraction Extension: Assumptions: This explanation of fear being a product of the physiological processes activated by the perception of emotional stimuli in our environment doesn’t include explanations of how we can generate emotion internally. Can we feel fear without having to perceive a fear inducing stimulus? What about other emotions: do you think the explanations of the physiology of fear can be applied to emotions like sadness, anxiety and joy? If you’re interested… There are many different theories of emotion that you can read about if you’re interested. One particular theory of emotion from the 1960s is called “The Two Factor Theory.” This theory was originally included in this chapter but its relevance to the current IB Psychology syllabus was questionable and it’s a rather complex theory with a more complex experiment associated with it so it was removed. However, if you’re interested it does provide an explanation of how emotion could be influenced through internal cognitive processes. 81 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/ Chapter 2: Criminology Relevant Topics Localization of brain function Emotion and Cognition Evolution Techniques used to study the brain Ethics and Research Methods (BA) HL Animal studies Practice Exam Questions Contrast two studies related to localization of brain function. Describe one technique used to study the brain and behaviour. Discuss techniques used to study the brain and behaviour. HL To what extent are animal studies models useful in understanding human behaviour? Research Methods Case studies on individuals with unique characteristics are valuable for psychologists investigating relationships between the brain and behaviour. It is rare to have people with bilateral amygdala damage and so the findings from case studies using patients like SM can be used to corroborate findings from animal studies. Ethical Considerations The right to withdraw would be a particular consideration involved in the unique methodology of SM’s case study as they were deliberately putting her in potentially stressful situations. Participants should always be given the right to withdraw, but this is of particular relevance when the methodology involves potentially high levels of anxiety. 82 www.themantic-education.com  2.4 Hormones and Behaviour Why are men more aggressive than women? (a) Testosterone and Aggression So far we’ve talked pretty generally about the brain and areas of the brain. It’s time now to delve a little deeper into the actual chemical functioning of our body and our brain so we can develop our understanding of how biological factors can influence our behaviour. A key biological factor in psychology is the endocrine system, and its role in releasing hormones in our body. Hormones are chemical messengers that are transported through our blood as a result of activation of different glands in the endocrine system. These chemicals perform a number of functions on our physiological processes. Put simply, they are chemicals that can spark physical reactions throughout the body. We’ve already looked briefly at the way one hormone (adrenaline) might play an important role in the experience of emotion through its impact on the physiological processes involved in emotion. Testosterone is another hormone that has been studied extensively and particularly in relation to its influence on aggression. Many studies have shown that criminals in prison have high levels of testosterone (e.g. Dabbs et al., 1997 as cited in Batrinos, 2012). More evidence that suggests testosterone might affect aggression can be found in numerous animal studies. These studies follow a similar experimental design as the monkey studies on lesions in the amygdala, but typically they remove the testicles from male animals (often rats) and compare the differences in their aggressive behaviour before and after castration. Testosterone is the male sex hormone and is produced in the testes (and in the ovaries An example of this can be seen in Albert et al. (1986). In this study they wanted to to a lesser extent in females). investigate the effects of changing testosterone levels on the aggressiveness of male rats. They placed rats in cages and identified the alpha males. An alpha male is the leader of the colony. In animals, this is typically the biggest and strongest. The term can be applied to any animal group, including humans. So the researchers identified the alpha males and they measured their aggression levels when there was a nonaggressive rat placed in the same cage. They measured aggression by recording behaviours such as biting. 83 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  After they measured the aggression levels they divided the alpha males into four Chapter 2: Criminology separate groups to undergo four separate surgeries: A. Castration B. Castration followed by implanting of tubes with testosterone C. Castration followed by implanting of empty tubes D. A “sham” castration followed by implanting of empty tubes (this means they would have cut open the rat and sewn it back up without actually removing the testicles). They then measured the change in aggression when nonaggressive rats were intro- duced to the cage. Those that had the operations that reduced testosterone levels (e.g. Group A and C) had a decrease in aggressiveness (e.g. attacking and biting) but those that had the operations that kept testosterone levels in tact (Group B and D) didn’t have a significant change in aggression levels. You can see the advantages of using a laboratory experiment to manipulate variables in Albert et al.’s study. By measuring effects of aggression on manipulations of testosterone levels, a clear cause-effect relationship can be determined. By experimenting on rats, researchers are able to determine correlations between biological factors and behaviour. Albert et al. were able to manipulate levels of testosterone and conclude that levels of testosterone affect aggression. This evidence by itself demonstrates a correlation between testosterone and aggres- sion. It was followed by a second operation so that those that had the surgery that decreased testosterone had another operation that increased testosterone (e.g. Group C had their tubes filled with testosterone). Those alpha rats that had their testosterone replaced showed returned levels of aggressiveness similar to those in the “sham” castra- tion group. Moreover, the researchers observed that when a subordinate male (one that is not the alpha) is placed in the same cage as an alpha rat that has been castrated the lower rat (subordinate) becomes the dominant (alpha) rat in the cage. Also, when a rat that had the sham operation is put in a cage with a castrated rat, the sham operation rat shows higher levels of aggression. This suggests that testosterone may facilitate behaviour associated with social dominance in rats. 84 www.themantic-education.com  By comparing the before and after changes of aggression, as well as comparing the results of the different operations, this experiment suggests that testosterone levels influence aggression. The researchers concluded that the role of testosterone in aggres- sion influences social dominance in that those rats that have reduced testosterone lose their place as alpha males. Much like with the monkey studies, we can see here how animal studies can show us that there is a relationship between testosterone and aggression, but it doesn’t tell us much more than that. We want to go deeper into understanding aggression. Moreover, rats and humans are pretty different animals with different brain structures, so can we really generalize from an aggressive rat in a lab to a serial killer? Guiding Question: How does Albert et al.’s study suggest a correlation between testosterone and aggression? Abstraction Extension: Analysing Questions: If you are asked to “explain how testosterone influences behaviour, the above research is rather limited. It suggests that testosterone does influence aggression but it doesn’t provide much insight into how it does. However, if you are asked to explain how research suggests testosterone influences behaviour, the above research can be used in a very good explanation of how the research demonstrates testosterone’s role in aggression. However, it’s limited to animal studies so the generalizability to humans needs to be questioned. Analysing the demands of the question in order to identify the explanation/s required to demon- strate your understanding is really important, especially in exam situations. If you’re interested… While rather gory and gruesome, and especially unsettling for boys, there’s a rich and fascinating history behind castration that could be worth researching. Castration is used extensively in farming to control livestock while a castrato is the name given to the singing voice and the boy who had that particular singing voice through castration. This was a popular practice in Europe as was chemical castration to treat homosexuality. One famous case of the latter was that of the famous mathematician Alan Turing. 85 For more resources visit www.store.themantic-education.com/  (b) Aggression: An Evolutionary Adaptation Chapter 2: Criminology In the previous section