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The Biological Perspective P1

The Biological Perspective P1. 12 th IB Themes. Outline the principles that define the biological level of analysis. Question 1. Principles of Biological. Behavior can be inherited because it is genetically based (Innate-within since birth) Evolution may play a key role in behavior.

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The Biological Perspective P1

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  1. The Biological PerspectiveP1 12th IB Themes

  2. Outline the principles that define the biological level of analysis. Question 1

  3. Principles of Biological • Behavior can beinheritedbecause it is genetically based (Innate-within since birth) • Evolution may play a key role in behavior. • What behavior traits do you share with your parents? • Animal research provides insight into human behavior. • LOTS of animal research. Unethical for humans • There are biological correlates of behavior. • A link between 2 factors: hormone & behavior • Can you think of an example?

  4. Terms To KNow • Physiology: • The science of the function of living systems. A subcategory of biology. • Organs, cells, endocrine system, hormones • Biological ecosystem

  5. Ex: The Biology of Behavior • Many physiological (biological) factors play a role in behavior: • Brain processes • Neurotransmitters (NT) • Hormones • Genes • Responds to environmental stimuli • Stressful situation/stimuli (PTSD, Little Albert) • Attractive person, pheromones, sex drive • Brain damage (Phineas Gage) • Nature Via Nurture Debate

  6. Terms To KNow • Bidirectional: • The relationship between biology and cognition goes both ways. • Biology may affect cognition • Cognition may affect biology • Ex: you can think stressful thoughts and cause the body to respond.

  7. Nature or Nurture? Neither! • Interactionist: • The theory used by modern psychology (and IB); a holistic approach • Nature (biological) & nurture (environment) • Life is a Rube Goldberg machine?

  8. Terms To KNow • Reductionist: • Micro-level of research • Break down complex human behavior into its smallest parts • Ex: a gene, NT, a protein enzyme • Ex: reduce in math to the smallest number The sum of you?

  9. Dr. HouseReductionistAll you are, is the product of genetic soup.

  10. Reductionist approach • Arguments Against Reductionism • A complex system is nothing but the sum of its parts • The simplest explanation is the best • Putting people under a microscope, genetic biology • Reducing all of human experience to what biologists can poke and test • No nurture, culture, gender, experience, exposure • Limits our understanding of complex systems (forcing animal instincts onto human behavior) • A reductionist view ignores influences such as social, cognitive, or cultural factors

  11. Explain how the principles that define the biological level of analysis may be demonstrated in research. Question 2

  12. You pick … • ANY biological study that demonstrates (at least) 1 of the 3 principles. • Behavior can be genetically based. • Animal research = human behavior. • A link between 2 factors: biology & behavior • Can you think of an example?

  13. Ex: neuronS • Neurons: • NT are Endogenous (from within) chemicals which relay, amplify, and modulate signals between neurons • Send electrochemical messages to the brain • Cause us to respond to stimuli-from the environment or from internal changes in the body

  14. EX: neurotransmitters • Have a range of effects of human behavior: • Mood • Memory • Sexual arousal • Mental illness • NTs are Excitors or Inhibitors.

  15. nT’s Are Reductionist? • Your soul mate is really a love cocktail of dopamine, norepinephrine, and oxytocin? • Mothers only love their children because of oxytocin? • NTs may not explain behavior alone

  16. See NT’s pg. 59 • To help you make your chart for your RW • Know 5 MAJOR NTs, and some studies

  17. nT STUDY, PG 61 • Kasamatsu & Hirai, 1999 • NT serotonin study, Tokyo Univ. • “How sensory deprivation affects the brain” • Buddhist monks, 72 hr pilgrimage to holy mountain • No food, water, no speaking, exposure to cold • After 48 hours hallucinations, “seeing the ancestors” • Researchers took blood samples before they left and after the reported hallucinations • Found increased serotonin levels, activated hypothalamus and frontal cortex • Sensory deprivation triggers serotonin, alters experience DVD: Monk Levitates

  18. NT Study, PG 62 • Martinez & Kesner, 1991 • The Role of NT in Learning and Memory • Experiment to determine the role of the NT acetylcholine (ACH) on memory (formation). • Rats trained through maze, to end, received food. • Group 1: injected rats with scopolamine, which blocks ACH receptor sites (decreasing available ACH) • Group 1 slower in maze, more errors

  19. Neurotransmitter Study • Martinez & Kesner, 1991 • Group 2: injected with physostigmine (f-eye-so-stig-mean) • Blocks the production of cholinesterase (chol-in-ester-aise) which “cleans-up” ACH from the synapse • Now there is more ACH to excite neurons • Does not return the neuron to its resting state. Cholinesterase Normally cleans up ACH from synapse

  20. Neurotransmitter Study • Martinez & Kesner, 1991 • Group 2: injected with physostigmine (fis-o-stig-mean) • Group 2: ran through maze, found food even quicker, fewer errors, even better than the control group • Group 3: Control. No injections. Cholinesterase Normally cleans up ACH from synapse

  21. Results: • Conclusion: ACH plays an important role in creating memory

  22. Results: • Strength of this study: design, application, use of an experimental method (control group) made it possible to est. a cause-and-effect relationship between ACH and memory. • Limitation: to what extent can these findings be generalized to humans? Is it possible to apply rat studies to humans? • It is assumed memory processes are the same for all animals. Are they? • Principle #2? Videos: Mouse Maze (3)

  23. HUMAN Results: • Human research DOES show that ACH-producing cells in basal ganglia (forebrain) are damaged in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

  24. The IB goal… • Did you see how we broke that 1 study down? • All the way through? • Method, results, strengths, limitations, ethics • Application to animals • Application to humans • Now you need to be able to do this.

  25. SEROTONIN & SEXUAL PREFERENCE • Liu et al, 2011, China • Serotonin is linked to sexual behavior • Group 1: male mice, low serotonin • Group 2: male mice, normal serotonin • Group 1 tried to mount male mice (8 min), with male/female choice, tried to mount both 80% • Group 2 mice, only tried to mount male 20-30% • Pg 64, Video: http://ibpsychrevision.blogspot.com/p/biological-level.html

  26. a neuron that fires when an animal (or person) performs an action • ALSO fired when someone ELSE performs that same action and your OBSERVE

  27. Discovered by accident (Gallese et al, 1996) Italy • Isolated the neural response in rhesus monkeys for food (peanut, neural messages are electric, cracking sound) • Just watching another monkey get a peanut, they observed the same response • Pg 67 • Video: Monkey see/monkey do • Contagious Yawning

  28. Marco Iacoboni (2004) look at human faces in fMRI • Does looking at the emotion expressed on a face cause the brain to be stimulated? • 1st participants imitated the faces they were shown • 2nd time just watch faces • Same results in humans! • Stimulated the limbic system for happy face (pleasure center) • Pg 67

  29. People learn by observing others, imitation (Cognitive & Learning) • The Chameleon Effect? • Mirror neurons: play a vital role in the ability to learn (and empathize) with others • Mirrors the behavior of the other • See AND doing=the same thing in the brain!

  30. Of course, too much beer might kill mirror neurons with brain cells

  31. Art (& Music) Appreciation? • Freedberg & Gallese (2007), pg. 66 • Is this why we like certain art? • We feel the pain or joy? • Can we apply to musicals, opera, ballet, television, movies, soap operas? • Books, poems? • (video: • Mirror Neurons Part 1 & 2)

  32. Mirror Neuron System (MNS) theory of autism • Distortion in development of the MNS interferes with imitation • Leads to autism’s core features of social impairment and communication difficulties. • Also Asperger’s? • MNS theory does not explain the normal performance of autistic children on imitation tasks that involve a goal or object.

  33. New Brain Research • V.S.Ramachandran(Vilayanur Subramanian) • Neurologist (India), Dir. Center for Brain & Cognition • Behavioral neurology & neurological syndromes • Profound impact on the way we think about the brain. • Pub. over 180 papers in scientific journals, book Phantoms in the Brain (NOVA, PBS, BBC) • Phantom Limb Syndrome: • Pain in missing limb; use of visual feedback as treatment (the mirror box) • Are these mirror neurons? • (video)

  34. Read the Article • “In the Mind” (Mirrors in the Mind)

  35. Discuss how and why particular research methods are used at the biological level of analysis. Question 3

  36. The Brain • The “Command Center” of human activity • Matures over a lifetime • Adapts to the environment • Prior to modern scanning (PET, EKG, MRI) all we had were case studies of brain damage (Gage) • Longitudinal Studies: over a long period of time • Ex: childhood results, teen, adult • Observe both short-term and long-term

  37. Ways we study the Brain • PET Scan, Cat Scan • EKG, EEG • MRI (fMRI) • Case Studies (of accidents, strokes) • Lesion/Ablation Studies (animals) • What are the limitations to the fMRI? • Pg 68

  38. Case Study: Phineas Gage • Dr. John Harlow, 1848 • Phineas Gage, 25, railroad foreman, well-adjusted, well-respected member of the community, • 3 ft iron rod exploded into skull • Entered left cheek, pierced base of skull, through front of brain, high speed exit top of head • Pole landed 100 ft away, covered in blood & brains • Taken by ox cart to local hotel for Dr. • Lost vision in left eye, perfect in right eye • Phineas was awake, alert, walking, talking • Pg. 69

  39. Case Study: Phineas Gage • Medically healed in 2 months • Emotionally he was a different person • Balance between intellectual abilities (reason) & emotional control was destroyed. • Highly agitated, irreverent, gross profanity (pornographic), impatient, indulgent, fitful • No follow through on plans • “a child in his intellectual capacity, but with the animal passions of a strong man.” • On a social and human relations level, Gage could not function. • He was incapable of making good and effective decisions, although his memory, language and traditional “intelligence” were untouched.

  40. Case Study: Phineas Gage • Gage lived for another 13 yrs, in good health, free from paralysis, with speech, memory, & basic intelligence intact • Yet…Gage could not hold a job • Eventually joined a circus “freak show.” • After a series of epileptic seizures, he died at 38.

  41. Case Study: Phineas Gage • Dr. John Harlow, 1848 • Longitudinal study: • provided evidence that the brain affects personality & social behaviors. • Front lobe no longer considered expendable. • Now we know: frontal lobe has a specific function, many behaviors are localized there (reason, emotion) • Useful case study? • Can you ethically justify this case study? • Video: Phineas Gage

  42. Case Study: ELLIOT • Dr. Antonio Damasio, 1994 (pg 71) • Patient “Elliot” (30s) • Had been responsible, successful business person, with a good job • He had a happy, stable family life • Then…a tumor grew in his frontal lobe--the size of an orange, putting pressure on both frontal lobes • The tumor & damaged tissue had to be removed. • Would you remove the tumor and live?

  43. Case Study: ELLIOT • “Elliot” experienced a radical personality change • Could not follow a schedule, impulsive, no self-discipline • Obsessed on unimportant tasks • Could not motivate himself enough to get dressed • Incapable of making basic decisions • Ex: he would spend an entire afternoon deciding whether to classify data by date or place. • The next date for an appointment • Whether to use a black or blue pen • Which restaurant to visit for lunch

  44. Case Study: ELLIOT • He lost his job, could not hold a new job • Entered a risky business ventures, ended up bankrupt. • His marriage ended in divorce • He quickly married, divorced again. • He became dependent on a disability check to survive. • Had to be in the custody of a sibling. • Unable to live in a community (lacked social intelligence). • Developed a passion for collecting ‘junk’ (hoarding?) • His self-destructive behavior doesn’t bother him.

  45. Sounds like A country song? Lost my job Lost my wife Lost my dog Lost my frontal lobe…

  46. Case Study: Elliot • On “intelligence” & personality tests, Elliot seemed normal, well-adjusted • I.Q. score superior, perceptual, LTM & STM memory, new learning, language, and math ability intact. • He’d tell his story without feeling anything • He seemed detached from his feelings. • He was monotone: no sadness, no impatience, no frustration • When shown disturbing pictures of injured people, natural disasters, complete destruction, he had no emotional reaction • Elliot realized he would have reacted differently before the surgery

  47. Dr. Damasio case STUDY: Elliot • Dr. Antonio Damasio • According to lesion studies, & fMRIs, the frontal cortex = reasoning. • Elliott could reason…he knew all his choices. • Elliott no longer felt anything, without emotions he could not make a choice. • You must feel something to make a choice. • Dr. Damasio is a leading expert, speaker, author Videos: Damasio

  48. case STUDY: Elliot • Try to imagine not feeling. • Imagine your favorite show, • or song, or band, or dance move, • or animal, or person… • and imagine feeling nothing.

  49. Dr. Damasio Dr. Damasio’s theory • Our forebrain uses “somatic markers” in decision making • (biasing devices to help us choose) • We make many decisions in a day: • Watch out! from a falling object, to eat, to be a friend, to vote, to drive in bad weather, activities like writing, composing, designing a new bridge, jogging, graduate, go to college, having surgery • Somatic markers let us “keep in mind” the feelings associated with the long term goal (satisfaction, health). This gets us through the transition period.

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