Biological Revision booklet

Key assumptions:

Jaspreet H

1. Our behaviour is determined by our genes and chromosomes e.g. intelligence is a gene which determines how smart you are/intellect e.g. species specific behaviour- rats cant vomit yet humans can e.g. some behaviours run in families like schizophrenia, anorexia etc 2. Our behaviour is directed by our Central Nervous System (CNS) and hormones. E.g. movement and speech is controlled by our brain Central Nervous System: - Brain + Spinal cord - Brain controls billions of neurones (nerve cells) - Brain then communicates with the rest of the body though the nervous system telling the different parts what to do - Neurones communicate with each other through synapses Synapse: - Small junctions between neurones where neurotransmitters are released Neurotransmitter: - A chemical that transmits electrical impulses within the body Receptor: - A part of the receiving end of a neurone, this part receives information Genes:

- They code for characteristics in a DNA molecule Hormones: - A chemical in our bodies that causes certain behaviours e.g. moodiness when a girl is menstruating is caused by the oestrogen hormone Biological explanation for gender development: 1. Up to 6 weeks the embryos look the same although they could have XX or XY sex chromosomes 2. AT 6 weeks Gonads develop and they look the same. Theyre Bi-potential gonads at this moment in time. 3. The Y chromosome contains SRY gene which produces testis determining factor hormone. This stops production of ovaries and the gonads develop into testes. 4. Then the testes make the anti-mullerian hormone which prevents the growth of female sex organs 5. Testes produce testosterone which does 2 things: makes the wolffian system (male gonads) develop into FULL male sex organs e.g. the penis 6. Testes also stimulate pituitary gland in the brain to produce more androgens (male hormones) 7. FEMALES: The mullerian system in XX embryos develops into female sex organs because of the ABSENCE of TESTOSTERONE Brain lateralisation: One-sidedness of the brain Left hemisphere = language + logic Right hemisphere = spatial + creative Males are said to be more lateralised than women

How does information travel across a synapse? 1. In the terminal button of the sending neurone are vesicles. These vesicles contain chemicals called neurotransmitters 2. Electrical activity in the sending neurone triggers the release of these neurotransmitters into the synaptic gap 3. The neurotransmitter travels across the synaptic gap to the dendrite of the receiving neurone 4. There the neurotransmitter binds a special type of protein molecule called a neurotransmitter receptor. This receptor changes its shape in response to binding with the neurotransmitter 5. This shape change results in a series of other changes in the receiving neurone. These other changes result in alterations in the electrical activity of the second cell. 6. If enough excitatory messages are received from other dendrites of the receiving neurone it will fire and so the electrical impulse is passed on. 7. Any neurotransmitter not used is taken up by the presynaptic (sending) neurone. This process is called re-uptake

Brain lateralisation: If youre less lateralised i.e. women- then itll be easier to recover from a stroke because the unaffected side can learn the functions the affected side did more easily than in a male brain which is usually more lateralised KEY STUDIES: Gottesman + Shields: Aim: to see if there is a genetic component to schizophrenia Procedure:

- Researchers studied MZ + DZ twins - At least one of the twins was diagnosed with schizophrenia - They used the data to calculate the concordance rates for MZ + DZ twins i.e. if one twin had the disorder, what % of their twin would also have it? Results: - MZ twins concordance rate: 48% - DZ twins concordance rate: 17% - Incidence in general population: 1% Conclusion: Study shows that the closer the people are genetically, the more likely it is they will develop schizophrenia (genetic component) EVALUATION: - The fact that the concordance rate is not 100% suggests that the onset of the disorder being developed is not purely down to genes- environmental factors also play a part too e.g. stress, loss of job, a death in the family Ethics: - Consent gained from pps - Standardisation = high (experimental validity) - Twins share the same pre-natal environment, this may affect behaviour e.g. if the mother smokes cannabis when pregnant - Twins share the same post-natal environment, this may also affect their behaviour e.g. if they are raised in the same household, same upbringing - Influential to schizophrenia research = led to our modern understanding of the disorder and led to treatments e.g. drug treatments

- High population validity = results can be applied to wider schizophrenia population - High experimental validity = accurate, standardised, replicable and reliable - Study has been replicated = findings show same trend i.e. MZ twins C-rates always higher than DZ twins and both are higher than general population significantly - Biased sample = volunteer sampling MONEY (1975) Aim: To test his theory of gender neutrality (he theorised that kids were born genderless and gender was determined by upbringing; he was the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate) Procedure: - In 1965 identical twins Bruce and Brian were born (MZ twins) - They were sent for a circumcision at 10 months due to a problem in urinating - There was a mistake during the procedure which caused Bruces penis to be completely removed - They saw Dr Money on TV about intersex children being brought up as either male or female - He argued that the sex of a child is determined by the process of their upbringing outside of the pre-natal environment - After contacting Dr Money, a decision was made to bring up Bruce as a girl, as it would be too difficult for him dealing with the absence of his penis in later life - Bruce was castrated surgically and his name was changed to Brenda (removal of testicles, can no longer produce testosterone) - He was dressed in dresses and was given dolls to play with,, and his hair was grown long

- Did feminine activities such as baking - At age 12 he was given oestrogen- to induce female puberty Results: Brenda had masculine traits Liked boys toys, was a tomboy, used to fight in playground Urinated standing up without a penis Behavioural and emotional difficulties At 15 was so unhappy, was permitted to live as a boy Changed name to David- phalloplasty to create a penis Was happy as a man and in his 20s married In his 30s Brian commits suicide due to childhood trauma of this - David- unhappy and depression worsened - 2004 David commits suicide Conclusion: This case suggests that GENES + BIOLOGY heavily determine a childs gender rather than upbringing EVALUATION: Ethics: POOR - Stress caused, traumatic experiences, drastic change in identity = caused stress to David/Bruce Brian and parents - Suicide = both brothers committed suicide, other people who also had a sex change also did the same. Some people have also criticized this study and said it influenced both Reimer twins into their suicides due to the trauma caused by it - Why make a vagina? Because it was easier (only basic surgery was available then) but this does not mean it was best for Bruce - Sexually explicit material shown to a child = A woman giving birth in graphic detail

Data highly valid: Case study, data gathered from more than one source, qualitative data, in-depth and rich Data highly reliable: Data comes from more than one person e.g. Parents, Bruce, Brian Ecological validity: HIGH procedure + study took place in natural environment of the twins Replicability: LOW hard to test for reliability, unique case + circumstances, cant be generalised to the general population PFEIFFER (1936) support for gender development - Removed sex organs of genetic male and female newborn rats and found that they all developed into adults with female hormone release patterns from the pituitary gland. - Some rats who had their gonads removed and had testes transplanted onto them (even female rats) there was also a steady release of male sex hormones from the pituitary gland. - Suggests that the presence or absence of testosterone from the testes accounts for sex differences in the hypothalamus (the part of the brain which controls the release of sex hormones from the pituitary gland) - Conclusion: this provides support for the biological explanation of gender development

METHODOLOGY: Lab experiments D&E: Description: - Experiment conducted in a controlled environment with high control over extraneous variables. - Artificial setting - Researchers usually manipulate the IV and measure it against DV to see a cause and effect relationship Evaluation: - Strength is can be highly controlled which makes it standardised so highly replicable - Weakness is that its a lab so unnatural environment which reduces ecological validity - High control which means low chance of extraneous variables affecting results which increases experimental validity - Usually made to perform unnatural tasks, could result in demand characteristics (likely to guess aim) and therefore display behaviour they believe is required for the experiment. This is not their true behaviour Scans: PET scans: - Show the function of the brain, like the brain doing a task e.g. adding up numbers - The patient lies in a scanner and is injected with water or glucose containing a radioactive tracer - When the brain uses oxygen in the water or glucose solution the tracer starts to decay, emitting positrons - These positrons collide with electrons forming gamma rays, forming a picture of the working brain

Key words: function, glucose, radioactive, oxygen, electron, positron, gamma rays, water, colours, tracer, decay MRI scans: - Scans that show the structure of the brain, like brain tissue containing tumours; the scans are usually black, white + grey - The patient lies in the scanner and a strong electromagnetic wave is passed through their head - These waves cause the nuclei in the patients hydrogen atoms to spin a certain way emitting radio waves - Different types of tissue have different hydrogen concentrations and so, the scanner can make a picture of what the inside of the brain looks like Key words: structure, electromagnetic, radio waves, hydrogen atom, spin, nuclei, concentrations, black white + grey

Twin studies & Adoption studies D&E: Twin studies: Adoption studies Description: Adoption studies- Adoption studies are when children who were adopted are assessed in later life, on certain characteristics. The information on these characteristics is compared with their adoptive parents and their biological parents. If the adopted children are more like their adoptive parents then nurture/the environment is important to the development of that characteristic. If the adopted children are more like their biological parents then nature/genes is important to the development of that characteristic.

Twin studies- twin studies are used to see if behaviours are shared by those who are genetically similar, in this case twins are 100% genetically identical (MZ twins) Psychologists look at twins to see what traits they share by looking at concordance rates between them (the likelihood that if one twin has a certain trait, the other twin will also have the same trait) e.g. gottesman + shields schizophrenia If there is a high concordance rate between MZ twins there may be a genetic cause for the trait they share. If the concordance rate is higher for MZ than DZ then it is likely that genes play a strong part in the behaviour being studied. NATURE VS NURTURE Evaluation: - Both methods are good for testing genetic causes of behaviour: for twin studies the twins are compared with one another so if the researcher gets similar results, then they can assume it is due to their genes, and if results are different it is likely to be due to their environment. In adoption studies the child is compared with their biological parents and adoptive parents allowing the researcher to conclude that behaviours shared with B parents (and not with A parents) are genetic, and behaviours shared with A parents (and not B parents) are due to nurture + their environment - There is a problem studying MZ twins in the same home because you cannot decide if similar traits are due to their genes or the environment that they share, as they are already 100% genetically identical - Studying MZ twins raised in the same environment however is more beneficial to researchers because they are more able to observe differences and similarities between both twins, as you can see if similarities are due to genes and differences due to environment

- Concordance rates for behaviours between MZ twins are rarely 100% e.g. schizophrenia is 48%. This suggests our behaviour is due to BOTH our nature (genes) and nurture (upbringing) - One problem with these types of studies is twins share a prenatal environment together, and also like adoptive children they share their pre-natal environment with their biological mother. The behaviour of the mother could affect the development of the child such as; drug use, smoking, alcohol, sex hormones e.g. taking testosterone, stress, medication, food/diet etc - Adoption agencies placing twins with different families usually try to place them with similar couples, so they will be brought up similar and share similar experiences and environments. This could affect results of studying the genetics of MZ twins because if the researcher finds similarities its hard to determine whether they are due to the genes or the similar environments. - There is a minimal amount of twins raised separately. This can affect sample size and results found because it reduces the sample size and its hard to test for reliability because there may not be enough pps to replicate the studies. - Many of the pps for twin + adoption studies are gathered using ads. The researcher is likely to gain a bias result because it will be biased towards people who have the time and interest to volunteer, so the results may not be generalisable to all twins. Demand characteristics may occur, reducing validity where the twins may act more similarly than usual because they think that is what is required. Identify, describe and apply: Levels of significance: it needs to be shown that it is 95% certain that the behaviour predicted by the hypothesis is NOT due to chance. If there already is a lot of supporting evidence,

then the level of significance acceptable rises to 99% or 1% likelihood that the hypothesis is down to chance, 99% it is not. Usually P<0.05 Alternative hypothesis: the one that suggests there will be a difference between the IV and the DV. Can be 1 or 2 tailed Experimental hypothesis: The one that suggests that the IV will affect the DV, can also be 1 or 2 tailed Null hypothesis: The null hypothesis states no effect other than that which occurs by chance Mann-Whitney U tests- critical and observed values Design Type of Data Nominal Repeated Measures Matched Pairs Sign Test Type of Data Ordinal Wilcoxon Sign test Wilcoxon Sign test MannWhitney U test** Spearman RHO ** Related T-test Type of Data Interval/Ratio

Sign Test

Related T-test

Independent Measures

ChiSquare**

Unrelated ttest

Correlation

ChiSquare**

Pearson moment

IV + DV: IV = the independent variable is the causal variable; the one being tested by the researcher DV = the dependent variable is the measured variable, the one that is changed by the independent variable. Use of control groups: The control group is a comparison group of participants/subjects that do not experience the independent variable but are as similar as possible to the experimental group. Experimental procedures, including allocating groups to conditions (e.g. randomising) and sampling Nominal- categorised data e.g. hair colour/eye colour Ordinal- ranking (high to low) e.g. scores in a test, positions in a race Interval- equal spacing between interval points but NO true zero e.g. temperature Ratio- Like interval measurements but have a TRUE ZERO e.g. height or weight D&E use of animals in lab experiments, including strengths and weaknesses, validity, reliability, generalisability, credibility, ethical and practical issues Description: - Animals are used in many ways in research and very frequently - E.g. lesion studies = cutting or burning away areas of the brain, or using drugs to shut parts of the brain off temporarily - Normally observe difference in behaviour - Area damaged can be linked to behaviour change

- damage = independent variable - change in behaviour = dependent variable - normally compared with control group = normally functioning Evaluation: - Animals are easier to house and monitor because they are smaller and have simpler needs - Rats for example, are genetically similar enough to humans with similar body plans etc. So some generalisations from animals to humans can be made - This enables researchers to conduct studies on animals that would be unethical on humans e.g. lesion studies - Animals are naive pps, so they wont guess the aim or change their behaviour, so the researcher wont get DCs - Animals like rats breed quickly (22 days gestation) so a ready supply of pps can be produced easily and quickly HOWEVER - Animals are not 100% genetically similar to humans; therefore we cant always assume that results you get using an animal pp would be the same as if you used a human pp. This reduces generalisability - Animal exps are criticized of being speciesist- the idea that human life is more valuable than animal life. Some see this as immoral - May be more expensive than humans (must have highest level of care) 24 hours a day! Ethics: - Legislation = laws regarding animal welfare - Choice of species = animals chosen should be most suited to research and least likely to suffer adverse effects from taking part in the study

- No. Of animals = must be kept to the minimum amount that needs to be used so results are gathered with the least possible effect - Procedures = researchers should avoid causing pain, discomfort or death to animals. If it is unavoidable and necessary a license must be in place and must be done under controlled supervision. All potential suffering is kept to a minimum - Procurement of animals = acquired from reputable suppliers - Housing and animal care = should be housed in environments similar to natural habitats - Final disposal of animals = animals may be re-used as long as care is maintained PRACTICAL- SPATIAL ROTATION TASK Aim: To see if there is a difference between genders in terms of performance on spatial rotation tasks Null Hypotheses: There will be NO difference between males and females in terms of performance on spatial rotation tasks Alternative/Experimental Hypotheses: There WILL BE a difference between males and females in terms of performance on spatial rotation tasks (2 tailed) Males will be better than females at spatial rotation tasks in terms of performance (1 tailed) (choose any just know the difference) VARIABLES: - Variables were operationalised - IV was changed or manipulated thus 1 group males + 1 group females - DV was measured thus test score was out of 9 Research method: quqsi experiment b/c gender is naturally occurring

Best environment for this exp= lab/classroom, provides higher control over extraneous variables e.g. noise, temperature Fairly easy task= so all pps were able to attempt it and understand what they are required to do QUANTITATIVE/ORDINAL DATA PROCEDURE: - Each student collected a PP from the common room (opportunity sampling) - We had 10 boys and 10 girls - Read out standardised script w/ consent form (they ticked for consent) - Given a test paper regarding spatial rotation tasks (9 Qs) - Gave 5 mins to complete the test - Debriefed and then collected papers - Papers were marked by invigilators (in this case researchersbeing us) Target population: Males + Females sixth form students aged between 16-18 Experimental design= independent measures- each pp only takes part in one experimental condition APPARATUS Each pp receives test paper, pen, consent form ANALYSIS: Why Mann Whitney U test? - Was a test of difference - Ordinal data (ranking- because youre deciding who is better) - Independent measures design. (Each group does one task once)

RESULTS: - Not significant enough so we rejected our alternative hypotheses and accepted the null. EVALUATION POINTS: High ecological validity: conducted in school, natural environment for tasks like these to be conducted. Not generalisable: 6 form students, cant apply to different ages Biased sample: opportunity sampling, may have got one type of pps who were on a free lesson at the time, e.g. physics students/art students Standardised: so replicable and can be tested for reliability Population validity: do not represent whole population (LOW)

PROBLEMS: more than one pp sat per table- could cause cheating/distractions Improvements: next time assign one pp per table in an individual room to avoid cheating and distractions ETHICS: all you need to know is- Consent (not fully informed to not reveal true aim and avoid DCs) - Debriefing- Remind them RTW and at the end reveal aim - Right to withdraw- told at start and finish - Right to destroy information- at own will, given option to do so How we avoided extraneous variables: Student invigilators increase in validity Teacher prepared test papers

CONTROLS: - Having more controls would mean higher experimental validity. More controls mean that there is less influence from extraneous variables such as noise or temperature on the DV - To introduce controls we ensured: - PP age= 16-18yr olds - Tasks undertaken= all pps do same task - Environments= all pps in same environment - Time given= 5 mins - Seating per table= 3 per table facing the front - Instructions given= scripted therefore standardised Other stuff which might come up: - OVERT observation- pps know they are being watched - COVERT- pps dont know they are being watched e.g. one way mirror (could be unethical) - PARTICIPANT- observer is a part of pp group - NON-PARTICIPANT- observer is separate from pp group - NATURALISTIC- observing people in natural environment naturally. Not doing anything but observing (no manipulation of IV or DV) - STRUCTURED- researcher will have a set list of behaviours they are looking for and may have set the room up in a certain way or task in a certain way. (controlled- easier to replicate)

KEY ISSUE: is autism an extreme male brain condition? Autism: a developmental disorder, child has trouble building relationships with others (inc parents) Who came up with this idea? Simon Baron Cohen Ratio of male to females w/ autism = 3:1 So.. 75% of autistic people are male

Why? males have much larger amounts of male hormones than females produced by the pituitary gland, Low level of male hormones are produced in female adrenal glands, could amount to females developing autism Structural differences between male/male/autistic brain: 1. Male brain is heavier than female brain, autistic brain is heavier still 2. Male brains grow more quickly in early development, autistic brains grow quicker still 3. Male brains have a smaller corpus collosum, autistic brains have a smaller one still 4. Males have a larger amygdale (negative emotions like aggression are controlled here), autistic people have a larger one still Functional differences between male/male/autistic brain 1. Male brain is better at spatial tasks e.g. map reading, autistic brains are even better at this 2. Male brain shows more brain lateralisation of brain function, HOWEVER autistic people do not show stronger than normal brain lateralisation Could autism be genetic? - There is a high concordance rate of 60-90% for autism in MZ twins - Only 5% in DZ twins - Suggests there is a STRONG genetic link EXTRAS Make sure you know all the sampling methods Make sure you know all the experimental designs and how to evaluate them Make sure to know your results and what they mean

Problems you encountered and overcame Improvements