The Biological Level of Analysis Levels of Analysis

The Biological Level of Analysis

Levels of Analysis

Weekly Lesson Objectives Complete reflection on intro unit on course wiki Familiarize yourselves with the IB syllabus outline for this section Gain an overview of how the biological LOA has developed Outline the principles that define the biological level of analysis Explain the effects of neurotransmitters on human behavior

The IB syllabus:

Questions to check your understanding: 1. Why could the biological LOA be called the most basic LOA? 2. Name two discoveries that demonstrate that ‘all that is psychological is first physical’ 3. What has the development of brain imaging technologies allowed biological psychologists to do? 4. What has advancements in pharmacology allowed the medical profession to do? 5. What is the human genome project? What will it allow biological psychologists to do? 6. What do behavioral geneticists study?

The IB syllabus

Unit Understandings Cognitions, emotions and behaviors are products of human biological systems. Patterns of behavior can be inherited. Animal research may inform our understanding of human behavior. Biological explanations of behavior are reductionist.

Essential Questions What role do our biological systems play in determining our behaviour? How do psychologists study the effect of biological factors on human behaviour? To what extent is behaviour inherited?

Learning Plan The background, principles of the Biological LOA & reductionism (2 weeks) Neurons & Neurotransmission (1 week) Localization of function in the brain (1 week) The stress response system (effects of hormones on behavior, environmental effects on physiological processes & the interaction between cognition & physiology) (5 weeks) Genetics & behavior – the influence of genetic inheritance, evolutionary explanations & ethical considerations (3 weeks)

Looking for the mind…. One of the most perplexing issues in psychology is the relationship between mind and the body What is the basis of the mind? Think about this question and write some responses below The mind is…… The body is…… Are the mind and body separate or are they united?

Looking for the mind…. One of the most perplexing issues in psychology is the relationship between mind and the body What is the basis of the mind? Think about this question and write some responses below The mind is inner subjective experience of awareness The body is a physical being – including what many people feel is the basis of the mind – the brain Are the mind and body separate or are they united?

Clive Wearing: How brain damage affects memory processing Can you imagine what it would be like if you were caught in the present and unable to remember anything from your past or to learn anything new? What if you were lost in time, with no sense of the past or future? This is exactly what happed to Clive Wearing. Oliver Sacks (1997) documented his case (see article)

Clive Wearing has a neurological disorder called Anterograde Amnesia (due to a complicated infection which caused brain damage) which is a condition that doesn't allow new memories to transfer from short term memory into long-term memory. This means that he will never remember anything since his incident, similarly to the movie Memento. Clive was an accomplished pianist in the 80 s', and fortunately can still play the piano flawlessly. He only remembers his wife, and anything else to him is new information, even if it was presented to him once before. In a diary provided by his caretakers, Clive was encouraged to record his thoughts. Page after page is filled with entries similar to the following: 8: 31 AM: Now I am really, completely awake. 9: 06 AM: Now I am perfectly, overwhelmingly awake. 9: 34 AM: Now I am superlatively, actually awake. http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=w. DNDRDJy-vo

Clive Wearing suffers from the most extensive amnesia ever seen. The transcript of his diary gives a heartbreaking insight into what its like to lose ones memory. MRI scanning of Clive Wearing’s brain shows damage to the hippocampus and some of the frontal regions, this was due to a syphilis infection This indicates that retrograde amnesia could be explained as ‘trauma that can disrupt the consolidation of memory’. The case of Clive Wearing offers insight into the biological foundation of different memory systems. Wearing’s episodic memory and some semantic memory is lost. He cannot transfer new information to long term memory either.

Understanding the physiological basis of behavior One of the most perplexing issues in psychology is understanding the relationship between the mind and the brain. We are all have conscious awareness of our surroundings, and also of ourselves – this is the experience normally described as the mind But what is the basis of the mind? Is it the expression of a non-physical soul, or is it a product of physical processes within our body? Psychologists and philosophers have been pondering this for centuries William James regarded explaining the nature of consciousness as one of the most challenging questions for psychology to answer. Today more than 100 years later, the challenge still exists Key question for biological psychologists: What is the relationship between structure and function? What influence do genes have on human behavior and thought?

Quick Quiz 1. What was the name of the condition that Clive Wearing was suffering from? 2. What caused his condition? 3. How did his condition influence his behavior? 4. What does the case of Clive Wearing tell us about human brain 5. The Biological LOA proposed that ‘all that is ……………. . is first ………. . ’ 6. What has the development of brain imaging technologies allowed biological psychologists to do? 7. Do you feel that the ‘mind’ and the ‘brain’ are the same? How do you think biological psychologists view this question? 8. Name a practical application that has come from research in the biological LOA? 9. What is the nature - nurture debate? 10. Some biological psychologists study the ‘structure & function’ of the human brain – what does this mean?

Studying mind and brain: The use of case studies Some of the earliest methods used to explore the workings of the brain was the detailed analysis of clinical patients who had suffered physical trauma These case studies have led to remarkable insight – they have provided the historical beginnings of the study of the biological basis of behavior.

Broca’s area Broca's area is a section of the human brain that is involved in language processing, speech or production, and comprehension. Broca's area is named after the 19 th-century physician Paul Broca. He arrived at this discovery by studying the brains of aphasic (speechless) patients. His first patient in the Bicêtre Hospital nicknamed "Tan" due to his inability to clearly speak any words other than "tan". In 1861, through post-mortem autopsy, Broca determined that Tan had a lesion caused by syphilis in the left cerebral hemisphere. This lesion was determined to cover the area of the brain important for speech production.

A controversial case – much debate ad many different interpretations – often inaccurate and exaggerated The case of Phineas Gage "the American crowbar case" Harlow (1868) One of the best known clinical cases involved the dramatic injury to an unfortunate railroad worker. Whilst placing an explosive charge, a spark of metal on a rock set off the charge, sending a long tamping rod flying upwards. The rod entered Gage’s head just below the left eye and exited from the top of his scull (1848). Remarkably – Gage survived – and his behavior apparently changed dramatically – he used to be likeable and responsible, then he was prone to terrible fits of temper. Sadly he spent his remaining years wondering around the US, displaying the hole in his scull that had brought him such grief – although recent images show him proudly holding the tamping iron which inflicted the controversial injury - consistent with the ‘social recovery hypothesis’ (Macmillan, 1998) – perhaps the severest mental changes where short-lived – evidence of ‘neural plasticity’ His story has been a source of endless fascination – it appears that the rod extensively damaged the association areas (which produce a meaningful perceptual experience of the world) of the left frontal lobe Activity: Write a few sentences to reflect on the video (cog neuro 4. 15) and explain how these case study may indicate that behavior and thought have a physiological basis.

Phineas Gage and his tamping iron, his "constant companion during the remainder of his life. " Damasio (1994)