contemporarymottledsheep

What is Psychoanalysis?

2011-09-09T06:17:00.000-07:00

A short video on Psychoanalysis produced by the Institute of Psychoanalysis. If you visit their website there are two other short video's on Psychoanalysis: British Psychoanalysis Yesterday and Today and Training to be a Psychoanalyst.

Link to Institute of Psychoanalysis

Deindividuation

2011-02-27T09:29:00.001-08:00

Sick mob urge teen into 60ft death fall - The Sun

COPS last night slammed a baying mob who urged a suicidal lad to jump 60ft to his death from a multi-storey car park.
Police negotiators had spent three hours trying to talk Shaun Dykes, 17, down from the ledge.

But a crowd gathered opposite and began goading Shaun, who was depressed at a relationship break-up.

Some yelled, "Get on with it" and "How far can you bounce?" before he fell, dying instantly.

Witnesses in Derby said adults were watching with their children.

Cops are investigating and Supt Andy Hough called it a "shocking reflection on society".

Rob Howard, head at Heanor Gate Science College which Shaun attended, said: "I wonder what value some people put on human life."

Shaun's parents, of Kilburn, near Derby, were too upset to comment.

The police stated that the behaviour of the crowd was a reflection of a sick society. How would a social psychologist explain the behaviour of the crowd?

The video below is an ITN news report of the incident.

Suicidal teen urged to jump
Uploaded by ITN. - News videos from around the world.

The link below is to a detailed article on deindividuation and has links to a range of research studies on deindividuation:

Article on Deindividuation

The placebo effect

2011-02-13T22:11:00.000-08:00

Defining Mental Illness

2011-01-03T03:58:00.000-08:00

"Every so often Al Frances says something that seems to surprise even him. Just now, for instance, in the predawn darkness of his comfortable, rambling home in Carmel, California, he has broken off his exercise routine to declare that “there is no definition of a mental disorder. It’s bullshit. I mean, you just can’t define it.” Then an odd, reflective look crosses his face, as if he’s taking in the strangeness of this scene: Allen Frances, lead editor of the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’sDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (universally known as the DSM-IV), the guy who wrote the book on mental illness, confessing that “these concepts are virtually impossible to define precisely with bright lines at the boundaries.” For the first time in two days, the conversation comes to an awkward halt".

Link to an article in Wired on the problem of defining and diagnosing mental disorders and conflicts between psychiatrists over the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders: Inside the Battle to Define Mental Illness

Memory Improvement Strategies

2010-11-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

Brain images

2010-11-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

Wired has just published some interesting images of the brain. You can see them....here.

The male brain and the female brain

2010-11-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

The guardian has a short video of Simon Baron Cohen talking about sex differences between the male brain and the female brain and what these physical difference may mean for female and male behaviour. He outlines his research which suggests that autism may be caused by an extreme male brain and discusses how male and female psychological differences may have evolved. Our early male and female hominid ancestors may have had very different roles: females played a bigger role in childrearing and social activity males had a more solitary role tracking and hunting animals. He points out that he is not a biological determinist or a cultural determinist but that biology and culture interact to produce sex differences in behaviour and psychology.

You can watch the video.... here

Psychodynamic Approach

2010-11-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

A film about Freud called A Dangerous Method will be released in 2011 starring strider from The Lord of the Rings as Freud. This is evidence of the continued influence of Freud on popular culture and interest in the psychodynamic approach.

The psychodynamic approach explains all behaviour (normal and abnormal) in terms of unconscious processes. People are not aware of why they do what they do. They may think that they know why they do what they do but they don’t. According to Freud abnormal behaviour is caused by unconscious conflict.

This unconscious conflict originates in early childhood. This conflict is partly between the Id, Ego, and Superego, and partly because of early traumatic experience. Freud proposed that at birth the child is amoral. The only mental structure at this stage is the Id. The Id is composed of instinctual drives, desires, and energy. This energy is directed towards the satisfaction of immediate desires. The baby wants satisfaction and wants it now.

The next mental structure to develop is the Ego. The ego develops out of the collision of the Id with reality. The Id cannot always achieve immediate satisfaction and the Ego mediates between the Id and external reality, harnessing it’s energy to achieve realistic goals (Freud compared the Ego to a rider controlling a powerful horse. The horse is the Id).

The Superego is the final mental structure to develop and emerges out of conflict between the child and the same sex parent for the affection of the opposite sex parent. It is initially the internalized ‘voice’ of the father (or mother) and represents the moral standards of the child’s culture. The infant is now no longer amoral but has developed into a moral being.

Freud argued that these mental structures are in conflict. The Id and the Superego are in direct conflict. The Id wants immediate gratification irrespective of social or moral constraints, the Superego as the mental structure that represents social and moral values restrains the Id in it’s drive for satisfaction.The Ego manages this conflict. If the Ego fails to develop it cannot control the conflicting demands of the Id and the Superego. This failure may lead to abnormal behaviour.

Freud also claimed that the young child was vulnerable to psychological trauma. The Ego is not well developed in the young child. It is not strong enough to help the child cope with emotionally intense experiences. The ego may defend itself against these emotionally intense experiences by using a range of defence mechanisms, especially ‘repression’. Painful and traumatic experiences, thoughts and feelings may be ‘repressed’. A similar experience in later life may ‘trigger’ these repressed memories, thoughts and feelings, leading to unconscious conflict and anxiety, and this conflict may lead to abnormal behaviour.

According to Freud the unconscious contains thoughts, desires, and memories that we cannot directly access. Freud claimed that these thoughts, desires, and memories were disturbing and had to be ‘repressed’ (‘pushed’ down into the unconscious and kept out of consciousness. We ‘forget’ but they are not ‘forgotten’. They continue to influence how we feel and think, therefore how we behave.). Many of these disturbing thoughts, desires, and memories are linked to our early childhood. Freud argued that the mind is like a castle, the unconscious is a prison in the basement of that castle. Disturbing thoughts, desires, and memories are locked into this prison and guarded by defence mechanisms. Repression is one of these defence mechanisms.
If defence mechanisms fail to keep disturbing thoughts, desires, and memories locked into the unconscious they may ‘escape’ into consciousness and cause intense anxiety which can lead to abnormal behaviour. If they are too successful in guarding the prison of the unconscious then this may also cause abnormal behaviour

Freud also argued that children pass through 5 stages of psychosexual development. Each stage is associated with a part of the child’s body. The first three are the most important for personality development and the development of abnormal behaviour in later life. Each stage presents the child with a significant developmental issue:

Oral Stage - issues of security.

Anal Stage - issues of control.

Phallic/Oedipal - issues of identity, especially gender identity.

The Oral Stage is associated with the mouth, sucking and feeding. Conflicts are centered on this area of the body. The major developmental issue associated with this stage is: Am I Safe.

The Anal Stage is associated with the anus. Conflicts are focused on toilet training. The major developmental issue is: Who is in Control.

The Phallic/Oedipal stage. Conflicts revolve around the same and opposite sex parent. The major developmental issue is: Who am I.

According to Freud if the child fails to resolve the conflict (and the developmental issues) associated with a particular psychosexual stage this may lead to abnormal behaviour in later life. The person may become ‘fixated’ at a specific stage of development. They may become ‘stuck’ at the Oral, Anal, or Oedipal stages of development. If the person is ‘fixated’ at an early stage of psychosexual development this may lead to a rigid (maladaptive) pattern of neurotic behaviour in later life: to abnormal behaviour.

Freud argued in Mourning and Melancholia (1915) that depression can be caused by significant trauma, especially the loss of a parent in early life, and is a form of maladaptive grieving. He claimed that people who experienced problems at the oral stage of development were more vulnerable to depression in adulthood. A significant loss in later life causes the individual to regress (return to) the oral stage of development as a ‘defence’ against overwhelming distress. They may also, through the process of ‘introjection’, direct their feelings for the lost love object onto themselves. These feelings may include anger and hatred at being abandoned, rejected, unloved and unsafe, and may also involve the person in blaming themselves for the loss. This may lead to the abnormal behaviour associated with depression

Most textbooks (and students) state that Freud was obsessed with sex, based his theories on an unrepresentative sample, is culture bound (a child of its time), and has little if any empirical support. They may add that it has been influential in that Freud’s theory was one of the first attempts to explain mental illness in psychological terms.

It seems difficult on the basis of these criticisms to explain why Freud was, and continues to be, so influential.

Many people who write about Freud remember the sex bit of ‘Infantile Sexuality’ but forget the infantile bit. Freud was not writing about adult sexuality. His concept of infantile sexuality was more like ‘sensuality’. The infant interacts with the world (and people around them) and their own body in a sensual way. Libido for Freud is also much more than ‘sex drive’. It is the biologically derived source of energy that enables the person to engage with the world and achieve important objectives, such as the satisfaction of basic needs (survival), and the fulfillment of desires. Observe any mother washing or caring for a child and the central importance of this sensual engagement with others is clear.

Freud may have based his theories on a biased sample. However, a lot of empirical psychological research has used students, Americans, and males as participants. It could be argued that this represents a biased sample and undermines the external validity of this research as well.

Freud derived his theories from many sources of evidence not just case studies based on his patients. Literature, art, and history all informed the development of his structural theory (Id-Ego-Superego) and developmental theory (Oral-Anal-Phallic/Oedipal stages of psychosexual development). It is not an accident that he called the most important stage in psychosexual development the Oedipal stage (and was very interested in Hamlet).

It has also been argued that Freud’s theory is unscientific. Karl Popper stated that only theories that can be tested and refuted (tested empirically and no support found) are true scientific theories. He claimed that Freud’s theories could not be tested empirically and were therefore pseudoscientific (rubbish). However, attempts have been made to investigate key Freudian concepts experimentally and recent research has found significant support for psychodynamic psychotherapy. A recent study published in February 2010 in the American Psychologist" found that psychodynamic psychotherapy based on Freud's ideas was very effective in treating a wide range of mental health problems including depression. Dr Shedler who conducted the research stated:

“The American public has been told that only newer, symptom-focused treatments like cognitive behavior therapy or medication have scientific support,” said study author Jonathan Shedler, PhD, of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. “The actual scientific evidence shows that psychodynamic therapy is highly effective. The benefits are at least as large as those of other psychotherapies, and they last.”

Also, new brain imaging technologies have made it possible to test scientifically key Freudian ideas and have led to the development of a new scientific discipline: Neuro-psychoanalysis. The initial aim of neuro-psychoanalysis is to establish the physical (neurological correlates of psychoanalytic theory: basically which bits of the brain and its chemistry are responsible for repression, regression, dreaming etc). If this is established then neuropsychoanalysts can translate Freudian theory into a series of testable hypotheses. Eric Kandel (Kandel is one of the worlds leading neuroscientists and a winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology) has recently written in the American Journal of Psychiatry that “psychoanalysis still represents the most coherent and intellectually satisfying view of the mind we have” and has argued that the integration of psychoanalysis and neuroscience represents a “new intellectual framework for psychiatry” in the twenty-first century (Kandel,1999).

It is often overlooked that Freud began his career as a scientist and a neurologist. He only abandoned the attempt to establish the neurological basis (physiological basis of psychoanalysis) of psychoanalysis because of the limited neurological and physiological understanding of the period. It is also easy to forget that the methods available to scientifically investigate the mind in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century were primitive. It was for these reasons Freud sought alternative methods to investigate the mind and invented psychoanalysis. In this sense he, like all psychologists, is a child of his time.

You can read "The efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy" here:

“The Efficacy of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy,” Jonathan K. Shedler, PhD, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine; American Psychologist, Vol. 65. No.2.

Biological Therapies

2010-10-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

A short but clear animation of what Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors do. This is also a very clear explanation of one major biological explanation of depression: the serotonin hypothesis.

You can see it here...

Real World Applications

2010-10-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

Have a look at ..this. Then have a read of this...

Don't watch this...

Copy Cat Suicide

2010-10-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

Read this news article in the Sun. How would social learning theory explain the behaviour of the two women?

Women dead in copycat suicide

"I never liked to wear a dress"

2010-10-02T23:47:00.000-07:00

Androgen insensitivity, the role of testosterone in gender development, the Batistas.

A short documentary on intersex....here

Brain Surgery

2010-09-28T05:04:00.000-07:00

Fancy having a go at Brain surgery? Click here....

Classical Conditioning

2010-09-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

The Marshmallow Test

2010-08-07T04:11:00.000-07:00

CSI: Fact or Fiction?

2010-08-06T04:55:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to see it in full.

Source: Forensic Science

Under Pressure

2010-08-02T03:49:00.000-07:00

What do Baboon's and Civil Servants have in common? What's the difference between Oscar winning actors and actors who haven't won an Oscar and what links attachment, separation and vulnerability to stress?

Wired Magazine has just published a long but useful article on stress and the impact of chronic stress on human health. It gives a clear explanation of the biology of stress and outlines a range of different studies that have changed our understanding of stress and it's impact on health. It also provides an interesting overview of the scientific process: initial observation, the formulation of a hypothesis, collection of data and the testing of that hypothesis in field experiments, lab experiments, natural experiments and longitudinal studies. Of particular interest is the outline of Michael Marmot's Whitehall study and how the civil service is the human equivalent of a Baboon troop:

"The British civil service comes with one other feature that makes it ideal for studying the health effects of stress: It’s hierarchical, with a precise classification scheme for ranking employees (in other words, it’s the human equivalent of a baboon troop). At the bottom are messengers, porters, and security guards. Just above them are the clerical officers, followed by staff scientists and other professionals. This last group implements the policies dictated by powerful administrators who run the governmental agencies. Marmot wanted to investigate how differences in status “in people who are neither very poor nor very rich” might lead to measurable differences in health".

The article brings stress research bang up to date with Robert Sapolsky's work on a stress vaccine. Sapolsky is developing and testing a gene therapy for the negative effects of stress on the brain by modifying the herpes simplex virus to infect brain cells to protect them against the damaging effects of stress. This is a good example of how psychology is also an applied science: psychological research is not just about finding out interesting things about how the mind works and how it can influence basic biological processes, it's also about developing practical applications that can help people to deal with problems like the negative effects of stress.

Link to Under Pressure: The Search for a Stress Vaccine

Evolutionary psychology rap

2010-08-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Baba Brinkman was contacted by David Buss to produce a rap guide to evolutionary psychology:

"Actually it wasn’t my idea; David Buss suggested it to me. He’s the professor who wrote the EP textbook that’s used in most college courses on the subject, and apparently someone gave him a copy of my Evolution CD which prompted him to write me this endearing email message (verbatim): “This is one of the coolist [sic] things I've ever heard! I've passed it on to all of my evolutionary psychology colleagues. You should consider doing one exclusively on EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY! So many cool topics to cover. If interested, I'd like to send you a copy of my Evolutionary Psychology text.”

The CD is free to download and includes tracks on short term mating, parental investment, and twin studies. Have a listen, you might learn something, I did (have a listen to the track David Buss Message).

Link to: The Rap Guide to Human Nature

The Tenth Level

2010-07-24T02:57:00.001-07:00

Mindhacks have found The Tenth Level on youtube: a 1975 American TV film of Milgram and his obedience to authority experiments, starring William Shatner.

Link to The Tenth Level

Stress causes wounds to heal more slowly

2010-06-22T04:03:00.000-07:00

Marucha et al (1998) found that exam stress led to a reduction in the speed of wound healing. They concluded that exam stress can have a significant effect on wound healing. Recent research by Weinman at King’s College London suggests that this may be due to increased levels of cortisol. Weinman gave healthy volunteers a standardised questionnaire to measure their level of life stress and then gave each participant an identical punch biopsy wound. The researchers monitored the wound for three weeks and used ultrasound imaging to measure how quickly the wound healed. They found that participants who had a low stress score on the life stress questionnaire healed twice as quickly as participants who had a high stress score. They also measured levels of cortisol and found that the high stress score participants had higher levels of cortisol. More importantly this finding has been replicated and a systematic review of 22 studies investigating stress and wound healing support the link between stress and wound healing.

Synaptic cleft

2010-06-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

Synapse fanatics gather round.....

“Don’t wanna sound like a cynic. We’ve all got a protein they call nicotinic.
It’s a receptor can’t tell the difference between Ach (Acetylcholine) and
nicotine….get a grip. But nicotine leads to too much bindin so Ach receptors get
to hidin. The neuromuscular functions, they can’t quite function cuz your
receptors went out to lunch and now the dopamine system is on for reward
prediction, but it’s down regulated – and your getting addicted. Fixin to kick
the habit? With busted synapses? How tragic.”

Backyard Brains

2010-06-13T04:33:00.000-07:00

Want your own brain recording kit? According to Backyard Brains you can with their spike box:

"Backyard Brains offers a series of exciting and affordable entry‐level Brain Recording Kits that provide the ability for a new user population to learn about the brain!

For the first time ever, school children and amateur scientists will have access to similar tools used by neuroscience worldwide to study Electrophysiology: the electrical activity of neurons. By following a few simple steps, everyone can experience how the brain is able to communicate our senses, memories, hopes, and desires!"

Link to Backyard Brains

Monkey business

2010-06-13T03:52:00.000-07:00

If you want to find out more have a look at the invisible gorilla....

Freud

2010-06-13T03:27:00.000-07:00

2010-06-10T05:03:00.000-07:00

This infographic shows the most prescribed psychiatric drugs in America.

Diagnosis

2010-06-09T03:54:00.000-07:00

Scizophrenic or psychotic depression? Phobic or obsessive compulsive? How about a personality disorder? The Wall Street journal has an article on how film characters are being used to train psychiatrists to diagnose mental disorders using checklist systems like DSM IV. Why not have a go yourself and use the signs and symptoms checklists in DSM IV to complete the diagnosis of the following film characters.....

Link to: Fictional stars, real problems

Link to: See a shrink

Gender

2010-05-24T03:14:00.000-07:00

The pituitary-adrenal system

2010-05-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

The human stress response evolved to help us survive in an environment like Africa. It helped our early ancestors to deal with predators, competition with other humans and protect offspring. It prepares the body for fight or flight by releasing energy and speeding up some physical processes.

There is a fast stress response activated by the nervous system, the sympathetic-adrenomedullary pathway and a slower stress response the hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal system activated by the endocrine system. Both systems are activated by a stressor but the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal system is a hormone based system and prolongs the stress response by releasing energy stored in the body. It also reduces sensitivity to pain and helps the blood to clot. Both are adaptive if faced by a short term physical threat but if the stress response is activated a lot by stressors that can't be dealt with in an immediate physical way or by the way we think it can be maladaptive and cause stress related illness.

The first two video clips are part of a series on stress and show how the body responds to a stressor-Bulls. The first clip is useful for showing how the stress response is identified and measured. This is useful for understanding the type of research methods physiological psychologists use and the type of data they collect.

You need to be able to outline the hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal system. The animation below should help you to do this. Be careful though this system causes corticosteroids to be released such as corticosterone and cortisol not adrenaline and noradrenaline.

The exam questions are set using the specification. It is unlikely that you will be set a short essay just on the pituitary-adrenal system but it is on the specification and the rules do allow that type of question to be set.

Download outline of the sympatho-medullary pathway

Download outline of the pituitary-adrenal system

Download evaluation

Download types of question set in the exam and advice on how to answer them

Jan unit 1 past paper

Jan unit 2 past paper

Evolutionary psychology bingo

2010-04-12T03:46:00.000-07:00

Frankenstein op saved me from suicide

2010-04-12T03:34:00.001-07:00

Frankenstein op saved me from suicide

Genetic determinism

2010-04-09T02:13:00.000-07:00

Lighter sentence for murderer with 'bad genes'

"Some fear that such cases could lead to the acceptance of genetic determinism — the idea that genes determine the behaviour of an organism — in criminal cases.

"90% of all murders are committed by people with a Y chromosome — males. Should we always give males a shorter sentence?" says Steve Jones, a geneticist at University College London. "I have low MAOA activity but I don't go around attacking people."

Farahany points out that prosecutors could use the same genetic evidence to argue for tougher sentences by suggesting people with such genes are inherently 'bad'.

"The question is where do you stop," Jones adds".

Link to: Italian court reduces jail term after tests identify genes linked to violent behaviour

Psychology Apps

2010-04-09T01:41:00.000-07:00

If you have an iPhone or iPod you might want to try some of these psychology apps:

Link to:Top 10 Psychology Apps for the iPhone, & iPod

Genetic factors and aggression

2010-04-09T01:10:00.000-07:00

A comprehensive article on genes and aggression from the New Scientist that focuses on the role of MAOA in aggression. One thing the article makes clear are the implications of a biological approach to explaining aggression for the nature nurture debate and free will and determinism:

"Bayout's history of mental illness got him a soft nine-year sentence. The defence team managed to reduce this by a further year on appeal, arguing that carrying the MAOA-L gene predisposed Bayout to violence. This is the first time that behavioural genetics has affected a sentence in a European court. But it is not the first instance of lawyers trying the "my genes made me do it" defence, which is now the subject of heated debate".

Linl to: Dangerous DNA: The truth about the 'warrior gene'

Biological treatments: Drugs

2010-04-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

Before 1952 biological treatments for mental disorders were limited. In 1952 a French surgeon discovered by accident the first drug treatment for serious mental disorders: chloropromazine.

This site has a cartoon strip that describes the discovery of the first drug treatment for serious mental disorders.

Milgram

2010-04-04T06:12:00.001-07:00

The BPS Research Digest blog has a really interesting post on Milgram's obedience studies and a link to the full article:

Russell, N. (2010). Milgram's obedience to authority experiments: Origins and early evolution. British Journal of Social Psychology.

Link to Milgram's obedience to authority experiments: Origins and early evolution

ECT

2010-04-04T05:53:00.000-07:00

The Folens on-line companion has a post on Daryl Cunningham's new comic strip book 'Psychiatric Tales'. The story below is all about one biological treatment: ECT. It's well worth reading: Daryl Cunningham really knows what he is talking about.

More here...

Radioactive cocaine..

2010-04-04T04:40:00.000-07:00

...and the sexy button. The documentary below should give you a lot to think about and raises many ethical issues associated with research on addictive behaviour. The introduction states:

"On BBC 2 now how can anyone kick the habit be it drink, drugs or smoking. Extraordinary research into constant craving. Includes scenes of drug use and animal experiments"

"Olds and Milner (1954) first identified brain sites where direct electrical stimulation is reinforcing. Laboratory animals will lever press at high rates (> 6,000 times per hour) to obtain brief stimulation pulses to certain brain regions. The reinforcement from direct electrical activation of this reward substrate is more potent than other rewards, such as food or water. The potency of this electrical stimulation is most dramatically illustrated in a classic experiment where the subjects suffered self-imposed starvation when forced to make a choice between obtaining food and water or electrical brain stimulation (Routtenberg & Lindy, 1965). A second distinguishing feature of reward from electrical brain stimulation is the lack of satiation; animals generally respond continuously, taking only brief breaks from lever pressing to obtain the electrical stimulation. These two features (i.e., super-potent reward and lack of satiation) are important characteristics of direct activation of brain reward mechanisms".

You can watch the rest of the documentary here...

2010-03-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

You may be able to see drawings and paintings by patients with mental disorders at the Royal Bethlem Museum but you can see paintings and drawings by some of America's major serial killers at the FBI's 'Evil Minds Research Museum'. According to this post at Mindhacks you can see 'Killer Clown' paintings by John Wayne Gacey and other examples of serial killer art.

Link to FBI's Behavioural Science Unit

The FBI's Behavioural Science Unit also run a 12 week student intern programme. You can check out the details here...

Brain Scans for Psychiatric Diagnosis

2010-03-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

From Channel N:

"Ethics of Brain Imaging

Excellent panel discussion on issues involved in using brain imaging for psychiatry from the Neuroethics Learning Collaborative, featuring three leading experts. They begin with a mention of Daniel Amen’s claim that he can use SPECT imaging to diagnose and treat psychiatric illnesses. Most psychiatrists and psychologists, however, base diagnoses on a person’s behaviour and perception rather than brain structure. The panel explains how a biological basis for behaviour differs from biological disease, and ethical and technical issues involved in the potential use of neuroimaging for diagnosis. They also touch on the use of neuroimaging in law. Although it isn’t the focus of their discussion, it also happens to address a perennial criticism of antipsychiatry activists about why biological tests aren’t used for mental health issues".

Gender development

2010-03-24T23:18:00.000-07:00

AS Essay Prize (£500)

2010-03-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

"Following the success of last year’s inaugural competition, Cambridge University’s Department of Social & Developmental Psychology is again hosting an essay competition for sixth-form students. This year, we are inviting essays on the following title:

“In an era of genetics, are psychological studies of environmental influences irrelevant?”

More information, can be found in the competition details.

Stress Management

2010-03-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

Stress management techniques for kids.

Neurotransmitters and Aggression

2010-03-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

"An overactive dopamine reward system in the brain may help explain why psychopaths pursue rewards without regard for consequences, according to new research published this week in the journal Nature Neuroscience".

Read more here...and here.

The Dunbar Number

2010-03-21T03:47:00.000-07:00

Evolutionary anthropologist Robin Dunbar explains Dunbar's number and the limitations of Facebook here...

Depression: Nature v Nurture

2010-03-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

"The debate whether it’s nature or nurture that dictates your life has raged since the time of Darwin. But the latest DNA testing and our understanding of genetic action, is sending us into a new era.

Jonica Newby steps into the future by taking a DNA test not yet available to the public. The test will reveal whether she has the double gene for depression. If she does, science says she will be prone to severe depression during stressful times.

The story captures the moment when the news is delivered and discusses the implications of knowing your genetic destiny.

The link between genes and behaviour is being closely studied in Dunedin, New Zealand. Similar attempts over the last 20 years have failed – but this team did something unusual. They cross-referenced the genes with the person’s background – with extraordinary results.

Their first discovery has been hailed as a gene for violence. We explain how it works – people who have one version of the MAOA gene are not readily able to damp down their stress response in the brain. But it’s only a problem if they have a stressful childhood – most people with the wrong gene/environment combination have ended up in jail for violent crime.

And now, the same team has found a gene for depression. It involves a different neurotransmitter – in this case using the serotonin system – but the same applies; combine a certain gene with stressful life events, and these people are far more likely to develop depression.

The debate between nature and nurture may soon be declared a tie.

Combine the two and it seems you may have a powerful predictor of human behaviour. The discovery will change society forever from our legal system, to healthcare and insurance and even perhaps what it means to be human".

Click the link under the headline Nature Nurture to launch a 10 min ABC documentary on nature v nurture in aggression and depression.

Systematic Desensitisation

2010-03-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

"Progressive muscle relaxation [PMR] was first identified by Jacobson in 1934 as tensing and releasing of 16 muscle groups. Wolpe adapted it for use with systematic desensitization in 1948 and Bernstein and Borkovec in 1973 studied adjustments to the technique to fit cognitive behavioral stress management".......read more here...

Bedlam

2010-03-17T02:38:00.000-07:00

Why not organise a visit to the Bethlem Royal Hospital Museum? The Bethlem Royal Hospital is the original 'Bedlam' and is one of the oldest hospitals for the treatment of mental illness in the world. It has a fantastic art gallery with a collection of drawings and paintings produced by people with mental illnesses. The Bethlem Royal Hospital website states that it's collection was started by two psychiatrists:

"The core of the collection was started by two psychiatrists, Dr Eric Guttmann and Dr the Hon Walter Maclay who worked at the Maudsley Hospital in the 1930s. They were clearly influenced by the art of the insane. Guttmann was primarily interested in clinical research. Maclay, a wealthy man, collected for his private enjoyment, and his interest was an extension of his more general cultural pursuits.

Also dating from this period are the pictures produced during experiments at the Maudsley Hospital with the hallucinogenic drug mescaline, in which Guttmann was particularly involved. These experiments were based on the theory that drug-induced hallucinations would demonstrate the hallucinations experienced by patients during psychotic illnesses. After their deaths a Trust was set up and the curator, Dr D L Davies, continued to acquire paintings, notably those by Louis Wain (1860-1939)".

It also has paintings and drawings by:

Richard Dadd,

William Kurelek,

and Louis Wain.

The visit could include an illustrated talk on the history of the hospital and mental illness, an archive handling session using the19th century case books and Victorian photographs, a workshop based round the art collection, and most interestingly, talks from current clinicians.

Link to Visiting Bethlem Royal Hospital

Extreme Zone

2010-03-17T01:37:00.000-07:00

A French TV show has adapted Milgram's obedience to authority experiment to demonstrate the influence of TV on peoples behaviour. The producers set up a fake TV contest called Extreme Zone and recruited 69 people to take part. The participants believed that it was a pilot for a new game show and were ordered by the game show host to give electric shocks to innocent people.

"The documentary - due to be broadcast in France on Wednesday - used the ruse of a TV show to explore how even a game show host had the authority to persuade participants to inflict horrendous pain on other people".

How many of the 69 participants delivered the maximum electric shock? More or less than Milgram's original obedience to authority experiment?

Read more here...

Answer the following question:

Question 1:

(a) How would a social psychologist explain the behaviour of the game show participants? (6)

(b) Identify two ethical issues raised by the Extreme Zone game show. (1 + 1)

(c) Explain how a social psychologist would deal with the two ethical issues identified in (b) (2 + 2)

Dentist Phobia

2010-03-17T00:42:00.000-07:00

"A girl who starved to death after having eight teeth removed had a deep fear of dentists which went unnoticed by authorities, a coroner has said".

Read more here...

Answer the following questions:

'Describe how the cognitive approach to psychopathology would explain the girls fear of dentists'. (6 marks)

'Outline how a cognitive behavioural therapist would use REBT to help the girl with her fear of dentists'. (6 marks)

DSM-V

2010-03-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

The image above shows how the number of mental disorders have expanded with each new publication of the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders. This has led some psychiatrists to claim that ordinary states of mind, feelings, and some behaviours have become pathologised.

A new version of the DSM is being produced right now and many psychiatrists and psychologists are concerned that 'normal' states of mind and some 'normal' behaviours will be classified as disordered or abnormal and require treatment:

"Three changes, in particular, could lead to an enormous pathologization of non-disordered conditions. The first is the suggested revision of the criteria for Major Depressive Episode to remove the bereavement exclusion from this diagnosis. At present, the criteria for major depression require five or more out of nine symptoms including sadness or lack of interest or pleasure that least for at least two weeks. However, the criteria exclude people who experience these symptoms in response to bereavement: “The symptoms are not better accounted for by Bereavement” That is, people who develop enough symptoms to meet the criteria after the death of an intimate are nevertheless not defined as disordered but instead as suffering from a natural, nondisordered response to loss".

Link to DSM-V: Getting Closer to Pathologising everyone

Link to DSM-IV-TR

Link to DSM-V Development

Depression's upside

2010-03-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

"For Darwin, depression was a clarifying force, focusing the mind on its most essential problems. In his autobiography, he speculated on the purpose of such misery; his evolutionary theory was shadowed by his own life story. “Pain or suffering of any kind,” he wrote, “if long continued, causes depression and lessens the power of action, yet it is well adapted to make a creature guard itself against any great or sudden evil.” And so sorrow was explained away, because pleasure was not enough. Sometimes, Darwin wrote, it is the sadness that informs as it “leads an animal to pursue that course of action which is most beneficial.” The darkness was a kind of light".

How evolutionary theory might explain depression: Depression's Upside

Lancelot Link and The Evolution Revolution

Lancelot Link Roll In the clover
Uploaded by Roag3. - Watch hilarious animal videos

The Red Queen Hypothesis

2010-03-14T04:55:00.001-07:00

"It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place"

The Red Queen Hypothesis...Here

Coping with family stress....

2010-03-13T10:26:00.000-08:00

More here....

What is normal?

2010-03-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

"What does it mean to be normal? And abnormal? Who gets to decide, and what are the repercussions? When do we applaud deviations from the norm, when do we condemn them, and why? Ken and John take a look at the uses and abuses of making judgments about normality with Charles Scott from Vanderbilt University, author of Living With Indifference".

Link to: Philosophy Talk discussion of what is normal?

Link to: Philosophy Talk radio broadcast 'What is normal?'

2010-03-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

"According to a Canadian study of 22,777 romance novels published over the last 60 years, the genre's popularity is due, in large part, to titles that speak to evolutionary impulses. That is, those urges that make females want to get horizontal".

Link: Romance titles reflect women's mating instincts

Obesity

2010-03-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

'Supernormal stimului' meets 'conditioned hypereating'.

Lnk: Obesity: The killer combination of salt, fat and sugar

Educational Tools for Cognitive Neuroscience

2010-03-08T05:49:00.000-08:00

Mindhacks have found a site produced by the University of Idaho on cognitive psychology with videos and short on-line experiments. One video discusses how research now suggests that the capacity of short term memory is about 4 items not 7+/- 2 items, other videos discuss working memory capacity, research tools in cognitive psychology, and fMRI.

The website describes it's goal as:

"The goal of the GoCognitive web project is the creation of an online center for teaching in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. We are providing online demonstrations of cognitive and neurological phenomena as well as video content related to research in neuroscience. Many of the demonstrations are downloadable and the content modifiable so that they can be used in small-scale research projects by students".

Link to GoCognitive.net

Jealousy

2010-03-05T08:44:00.000-08:00

"Studies from around the world have reported that men are more jealous of sexual infidelity than emotional infidelity. And women are the opposite—they’re more jealous of emotional cheating than sexual cheating. Experts often lean on an evolutionary cause for this gender difference: Men can never be sure they are the baby-daddy and women are most concerned with securing a genuinely loyal father to care for the children".

Or do they...?

A short article (and 60 second podcast) from Scientific American on a recent study that suggests things may be a little more complicated.

Link to: Sex Differences in Jealousy

The drugs just don't work...or do they?

2010-03-05T07:43:00.001-08:00

Are anti-depressants just expensive Tic-Tacs, no better at treating depression than a placebo? Press reports of recent studies suggest just that: the drugs just don't work. But, as always its a bit more complicated than that. The research actually suggests that the drugs do work but mainly for people with severe depression.

The first link is to a short Scientific-American article that summarises the do they don't they work debate.

The second link is to a longer analysis from Newsweek.

The third link is to an interesting analysis of one of the most recently published studies in the Journal of the American medical association.

What implications does this research have for the biological explanation of depression? What implications does this research have for biological therapies in terms of their effectiveness and appropriateness? Plenty of AO2/AO3 material in these articles. Why not read one and turn it into a short paragraph? Could come in useful for a Unit 4 psychopathology essay in the exam.

Fear of Flying

2010-03-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

Marge: [panicked] I think I'll go get a picture of the plane taking off.
[struggles with her seat belt]
Homer: Marge, what's wrong? Are you hungry? Sleepy? Gassy? Is it
gas? It's gas, isn't it?
Marge: Homer, I've never told you this before, but I'm not a good flyer.
[pants, gasps] I have to get off the plane. Let me off the
plane. [stands up] I'm asking you nicely to open the doors!
Homer: Take it easy, Marge. How about if we dope you up real good?
Marge: [screaming] Let me off let me off let me off let me off let me
off let me off -- [runs up and down the aisle]
[the plane takes off as the family watches]
Homer: It's OK, Marge. We don't need to go on a trip; we'll just wait
for the killer bees to come to us.

Watch Fear of Flying.

Answer the following question:

Marge is afraid of flying. She goes to see a behavioural psychologist. The psychologist recommends systematic desensitisation as a treatment for her fear of flying.

(a) Marge goes to see a behavioural psychologist. Outline key features of the behavioural approach to psychopathology. (6 marks)

(b) Explain how systematic desensitisation might be carried out to overcome Marge's fear of flying. (6 marks)

The Infant Brain

2010-03-04T10:24:00.000-08:00

In Our Time has just broadcast a programme on the infant brain. It has a very clear outline of natavism and empiricism and the competing theories of Piaget and Chomskey. There is also a good outline of how the brain works, learning and the main research techniques used by developmental psychologists.

Professor of psychology Denis Mareschal states that the brain is both simple and complex and is a statistical inference machine:

"The brain is both a very simple and very complex system. The building blocks of the brain are very simple. These building blocks are cells called neurons, very long elongated cells a bit like cables that transmit information in the form of electrical pulses. All these cells do is sense, pay attention to what signals are being sent into them. If the number of signals sent into them exceeds some threshold they start firing as well and start sending their own electrical signals. Thats all they do. They send electrical signals down their own cable and communicate to other cells across synapses, gaps between cells. They can't make the electrical signal jump across synapses, they secrete some chemicals called neurotransmitters. These bridge the gap and cause a little signal in the receiving neuron. Simple cells. simple firing of electrical signals. Where the complexity comes in is in the number of neurons we have and the number of connections between those neurons. There are about 10 billion neurons in the adult brain and most of those if not all of them are in place from birth, each of those makes an average of about a thousand connections, so there are about 10,000 billion connections".

Link to: In Our Time: The Infant Brain

ABC

2010-03-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.

Operant conditioning

2010-03-03T22:04:00.000-08:00

"Sex works even better than chocolate to modify behaviour".

Watch this....

French Anti-smoking Ads

2010-03-03T21:17:00.000-08:00

"Smoking means being a slave to tobacco"

According to the French Secretary of State for Family these anti-smoking ads should be banned for offending public taste.

Link to: Sexual Slavery and Tobacco Compared in new Anti-Smoking Ad

Schizoskunk

2010-03-01T07:39:00.000-08:00

Mindhacks has covered research that suggests that some types of cannabis may contain more THC and less cannabidiol. Herbal cannabis grown to have high levels of THC may be linked to feelings of paranoia and psychosis. The two clips below are from a BBC documentary "Should I Smoke Dope?"

The Mindhacks blog has a link to the whole of the documentary "Should I Smoke Dope"

Hooked (1966)

2010-03-01T05:57:00.000-08:00

More here...

Alcoholics Anonymous comic strips

2010-03-01T05:42:00.000-08:00

More about Alice here...

Drugs and the Brain

2010-03-01T05:33:00.001-08:00

A website that uses animations to give a very clear explanation of how the brain works and the action of a variety of drugs on the brain.

Link to Drugs and the Brain

Not recommended for children....

2010-02-28T15:12:00.001-08:00

However, we conclude that there is now sufficient evidence to warn young people that using cannabis could increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life.

Cannabis use and risk of psychotic or affective mental health outcomes: a systematic review

Psycho-Donuts

2010-02-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

The Bipolar, the Manic Malt, and the Massive Head Trauma. Does this raise any ethical issues?

Link to Psycho Donuts

2010-02-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

Results seem to be more consistent for vulnerable individuals with the hypothesis that cannabis use may precipitate psychosis, notably among vulnerable subjects. In particular, early onset of cannabis use during adolescence should be an environmental stressor that interacts with a genetic predisposition to induce a psychotic disorder.

Cannabis and psychosis: search for a causal link through a critical and systematic review

Focus on Hallucinogens

2010-02-28T06:42:00.000-08:00

A book published for 9 year olds in 1991.

Brain Poster

2010-02-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

The monthly science supplement from the Times Eureka has a good poster of the brain in its February edition.

Download the poster here...

O.C.D

2010-02-24T01:11:00.000-08:00

Psychfiles has an interview with a student with OCD. It also has links to useful information about OCD and its treatment.

Link to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder-An Interview with Bobbi

Twin Town

2010-02-24T00:42:00.000-08:00

This is not Twin Town. A documentary on heroin addiction in Swansea.

Link to Swansea Love Story

The Nature-Nurture Debate

2010-02-21T09:25:00.000-08:00

Neuron Game

2010-02-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

Mindhacks have discovered a game produced by the university of Utah where you can role play a mad scientist and build a neuron.

Why not have a go, you can find it here.

The site is a general introduction to genetic science and has a good section on addiction.

Link to Learn Genetics

Link to the New Science of Addiction: Genetics and the Brain

Pavlov

2010-02-20T03:39:00.000-08:00

I.P. Pavlov with three colleagues operating on a dog in the Physiology Department, Imperial Institute of Experimental Medicine, St Petersburg. Photograph, 1902/1903.

A short black and white film from the Wellcome trust library made in the 1930's of Pavlov's experiments demonstrating conditioned and unconditioned responses in humans and animals.

The Wellcome trust catalogue describes the film as:

This black and white, silent film, attempts to show the difference between conditioned and unconditioned responses in animals and humans. It begins by enacting Pavlov's experiments on a dog's salivary mechanism. Gradually we are shown how the unconditioned production of saliva at the sight or smell of food can be conditioned to appear at the sight of a flashing light. We also examine a newborn baby's reflexes of sucking and grabbing and see how they become conditioned as it grows older. Simple animated diagrams attempt to explain changes in the brain as a subject becomes conditioned. Professor Krasnagorski enacts a salivary test on a young boy in his laboratory. Attention is paid to the difference between instinctive behaviour in animals and learned behaviour. This is illustrated by images of animals in the wild and those in zoos. We see trained seals performing tricks for rewards and Prof. Gladishikov demonstrating 'the pain method of training' on lions and bears. 6 segments.

Link to Pavlov film

Psychosurgery or The Extraction of the Stone of Madness

2010-02-17T03:39:00.000-08:00

Psychosurgery as a treatment for mental disorders has a long and dark history. The earliest skull with evidence of a form of psychosurgery was found in France and is thought to be 7,000 years old. This skull had a hole drilled in it and is thought to be evidence of trepanning: a surgical procedure that involved drilling a hole in the skull to relieve mental distress. We don't know why this type of neurosurgery was developed but explanations have ranged from relieving headaches to releasing demons that caused abnormal thoughts and behaviour. It can also be interpreted as evidence of a very early link between the brain and behaviour.

The surgeon Charles Bell published a book Illustrations of the great operations of surgery in 1815 that showed trepanning as an accepted surgical procedure.

More recently Bart Hughes used an electric drill to perform trepanning on his own skull. The documentary A hole in the head has interviews with people who drill holes in their skulls because it makes them feel better.

Have a look at the trailer for the film. Apply one of the definitions of abnormality to their behaviour. Would they be defined as abnormal and have a mental disorder? How about the deviation from social norms definition? If trepanning was a common biological treatment for mental disorders in the past would people who self administer trepanning today have been been defined as abnormal and have a mental disorder?

Link to: Illustrations of the great operations of surgery

Link to: A hole in the head

Conformity

2010-02-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

PsyBlog has a post on 10 influences on conformity. There are links to relevant research abstracts and some full research papers are available.

Link to PsyBlog Conformity: Ten Timeless Influencers

"I Learnt it by Watching You"

2010-01-30T09:42:00.000-08:00

If you study the aggression topic you have to use social learning theory to explain how people, especially children, learn to be aggressive to deal with problems and achieve their objectives.

Watch this ad:

Social Learning Theory and aggression

But, you can also use it to explain how other behaviour, like addictive behaviour, can also be learnt. This can be through direct observation of role models in the social environment or indirect observation. The video clip is an old ad that suggests smoking cannabis can be learnt through direct observation of role models.

Smoking, drinking and drug use can also be learnt through vicarious observation: role models in the media may influence peoples behaviour. Recent research has found that drinking in films may cause people to drink more.

You can always use one theory or explanation to evaluate another theory or explanation. Social learning theory is useful for this, so learn it well and practice using it to explain a variety of behaviour.

Jealousy

2010-01-30T09:17:00.000-08:00

Watch the ad below:

How would an evolutionary psychologist explain the behaviour of the male?

How would a social psychologist like Albert Bandura explain the same behaviour?

Write one paragraph using evolutionary theory to explain the mans behaviour in the ad.

Write a second paragraph explaining the same behaviour but use social learning theory.

Write a third paragraph: what theory is more convincing? Back up your conclusion with evidence.

Sapolsky on the Evolution of Aggression

2010-01-27T22:21:00.000-08:00

Evolution.....

2010-01-27T22:14:00.000-08:00

.....Simpsons style.

All About the Brain

2010-01-27T01:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, when I'm explaining the serotonin hypothesis and the action of neurotransmitters in regulating mood, I think I sound like this to my students:

The Trouble With Testosterone

2010-01-24T05:35:00.000-08:00

One recent research study found that elevated levels of testosterone may have caused participants to behave pro-socially, this research study found the opposite effect:

"We conclude that elevated testosterone causes men to behave antisocially".

Elevated levels of testosterone may have different effects on the behaviour of men and women.

Read the Abstract of the study and turn it into AO2/A03 material for an essay.

Post Avatar Depression

2010-01-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

"I'd like to talk to you about a fresh start on a New World where you can make a difference."

There have been self-reports that people are feeling blue after watching Avatar. According to this news report this is because their lives lack meaning.

Is this the beginning of a new syndrome, a new mood disorder, like the Truman Show delusion? Or has it got something to do with the 3D technology used to make and watch the film?

A clinical psychology professor at Oxford, Dr Gordon Claridge, claims that 3D technology may be the cause. He points out that 3D virtual simulations are used to educate and treat paranoid disorders and:

"If the presentation of a virtual reality under lab conditions can affect behaviour, it is not hard to believe that it has the power to do so in the Cinema."

Answer the following question:

A clinical psychologist has observed some people who watch the film Avatar have developed depression. Design a study to investigate the relationship between watching the film in 3D and 2D and the development of depression. You should include sufficient details to permit replication, for example a hypothesis, variables, detail of design and procedure, sampling, etc. (12 marks)

This Times article discusses post-avatar depression

Conformity

2010-01-22T03:20:00.000-08:00

Stan: But if life is only pain, then.....what's the point of living?

Goth: Just to make life more miserable for the conformists.

Stan: Alright, so how do I join you?

Goth: If you wanna be one of the non-conformists, all you have to do is dress just like us and listen to the same music we do.

Conformity South Park Style...Here

The Stress Response

2010-01-21T10:48:00.000-08:00

The Schizophrenic Mind

2010-01-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

"You are about to experience a brief simulation of a psychotic episode in a patient with schizophrenia"

More simulations ....here

The Science of Inheritance: Epigenetics

2010-01-21T09:20:00.000-08:00

This Horizon documentary The Ghost In your Genes investigates inheritance and how this may not be just due to D.N.A. and set in stone at conception but also how the experiences of our Grandparents and Parents may influence our physical development and some behavioural traits. Stress experienced by the mother may be transmitted to the fetus and switch on genes that change that child's stress response: an experience like 9/11 might lead to the transmission of something similar to post-traumatic stress disorder to the child.

The first part of the documentary explains the biology of inheritence and how genes are the basic mechanism of this process.

Turn.....

2010-01-20T02:09:00.000-08:00

.......this into a positive evaluation point of the biological approach to psychopathology.

How can you tell?

2010-01-19T17:39:00.000-08:00

Rosenhan...?

The Fourth Kind

2010-01-19T17:08:00.001-08:00

Chris French explains why the Fourth Kind is rubbish....here

Testosterone

2010-01-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

The relationship between Testosterone, masculinity, and aggression has been a source of debate for centuries. This article discusses the history of that debate and the link between testosterone and aggression. One point that many textbooks make about research on the link between testosterone and aggression is that this research has focussed on correlations between testosterone and aggression in males, experiments measuring levels of testosterone between aggressive males and non-aggressive males and animal studies using male animals. This may raise the issue of gender bias, a major problem in most psychological research. These studies may be androcentric: they may tell us something valid about the link between testosterone and aggression in males but not females.

However, some research has investigated the relationship between testosterone and aggression in women. This research suggests that women with high levels of testosterone are more dominant and aggressive than women with low levels of testosterone. It also suggests that some women may respond to threats, especially social challenges with the production of more testosterone and may engage in more aggressive and dominant behaviour.

The latest research suggests otherwise. Researchers at a University in Zurich conducted a study where they manipulated the level of testosterone in female participants and measured their behaviour in a game invoving the distribution of rewards. They found that testosterone led to an increase in fairness in the allocation of these rewards and concluded that the effect of testosterone is mediated by cognitive processes: what people think about testosterone influences how they behave not the basic biological effect of testosterone itself. The findings of this study concludes Professor Ashley Grossman:

"...puts hormones in their place. hormones provide a basic backdrop, but changes in levels will do little to behaviour compared to personality, culture and society".

Link to a detailed discussion of this research with some criticisms of how it has been reported in the media.... here

Natural Born Killers?

2010-01-17T05:55:00.000-08:00

Social learning theory argues that behaviour is learnt through observing the behaviour of role models directly in the social environment and indirectly through the media. Bandura developed the concept of vicarious learning to explain how we can learn new behaviours through watching films and T.V. He conducted the Bobo doll studies to test his hypothesis that children can learn aggressive behaviour by watching a role model behave aggressively and be rewarded for that aggressive behaviour. One of his Bobo doll studies tested his hypothesis that children can learn to behave aggressively through vicarious learning: indirectly by watching role models in films and on T.V. Bandura modified his social learning theory and introduced cognitive processes to explain how vicarious learning worked. This Social Cognitive Learning Theory has been very influencial in explaining the effect of the media on aggression and aggressive behaviour.

Natural Born Killers the film by Oliver Stone focusses on the role of the media in causing aggression, aggressive violence and murder, especially serial killings. The film suggests that the murders by Mickey and Mallory the male and female killers in the film are due to the way the media reports and celebrates violence and serial killers. Like Dr Frankenstein the media is responsible for the creation of serial killers.

Some psychiatrists agree with this analysis and have backed this up with evidence of 'copy cat murders' after the media has reported cases of extreme violence.

However, Mickey claims that he is a natural born killer, he does what he does because it's innate, it's part of his nature:

"The Wolf don't know why he's a Wolf, the Deer don't know why he's a deer. God just made 'em that way."

Psychologists don't look to God for an explanation of behaviour like aggression but evolutionary mechanisms and genes and inheritance. Some psychologists now think that there may be natural born killers: psychopaths. After all millions of people watch T. V. and films like Natural Born Killers and don't go out and murder people.

The film also suggests that Mickey and Mallory may have been raised in an abusive environment. Watch the film. What do you think: is Mickey right he is a natural born killer or is the film director right it's down to the media. How about a Social Learning theory explanation? Being raised in an abusive environment and observing adults behave aggressively explains Mickey and Mallory's aggression?

You can watch the film on Youtube....here

Twins

2010-01-17T04:22:00.000-08:00

Non-identical twins are called dizygotic twins. Two separate eggs are fertilised by two separate sperm cells. They may share the same prenatal environment but are just brothers or sisters that happen to be the same age. Identical twins are called monozygotic twins. A single egg is fertilised by the same sperm cell and after the egg has been fertilised it splits into two sepearate embryos. Some monozygotic twins share almost exactly the same D.N.A and the same prenatal environment and can be thought of as natures clones. This is why psychologists are interested in monozygotic twins: they can help psychologists to measure the influence of genes on certain types of behaviour, to estimate how likely a particular behaviour is inherited. However, some monozygotic twins share the same placenta others do not. Some monozygoic twins share the same amniotic sac some do not. These differences may have a significant effect on the development of the two embryos: specific prenatal environmental differences may affect the expression of genes, they may influence the switching on or off of various genes and lead to variation in behaviour. They may be identical but the specific prenatal environment may be different for each twin. Maybe some monozygotic twins are not so identical after all.

You can see more Victorian twins here....but I think the video below is even creepier.

Psychopath

2010-01-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

Mark Brandon Read is better known as "Chopper". In 2000 a film based on his life was released. Chopper has claimed to have murdered 19 people, had his ears cut off in prison, and thinks using bolt cutters to cut off people's toes is humane. In the news clip below he rejects the suggestion by the reporter that he is a sociopath.

It's possible that Chopper is a psychopath. Recent research suggests that psychopaths are born to be psychopathic and their childhood experiences, family, and environmental factors play no role. The Hare psychopathy checklist has been developed to identify people with psychopathy. Most researchers now think that psychopathy is due to a neurological disorder. These findings raise serious legal and moral issues. If someone is born with a biological predisposition for aggression and aggressive behaviour can they argue that they are not responsible for their behaviour? How does this research influence the free will and determinism debates? Could Chopper claim that he is not responsible for his extreme aggression: he was born to be aggressive and violent.

The video below is an Equinox documentary that outlines the latest research on psychopathy.

You can watch the film Chopper on Youtube here...

The Two Headed Boy

2010-01-16T04:28:00.000-08:00

Francis Galton conducted some of the first twin studies and was the first to publish research that used the expression nature versus nurture.

You can read an article about the basic twin study method and how twin studies try to identify and measure the role of genes in determining behavior here....

Twin studies have one major advantage. Given that monozygotic twins share the same genes and the same prenatal environment then if they are well designed and carefully conducted they can estimate how likely a physical characteristic or behavioural trait is inherited. However, it is difficult to find monozygotic twins that do not share the same childhood environment. This makes it difficult to control for the effects of that shared physical and social environment on the behaviour the psychologist is interested in. This is why psychologists are really interested in Monozygotic twins that have been separated in early childhood and reared apart. If both twins behave in the same or similar ways even though they were raised in very different environments then this can be interpreted as evidence that the behaviour is inherited and it does have a genetic basis.

The Krays were monozygotic twins and they were both aggressive and violent. Watch the film and decide which is the most important: the fact that they are monozygotic twins and share the same genes and prenatal environment or the physical and social environment that they were raised in?

Explain their aggression using the biological approach: they have inherited their aggression and it has a genetic basis. Back up your argument with evidence from twin studies research.

How would social learning theory explain the aggression of the Krays? Use this to evaluate a genetic explanation for their behaviour. Back up your argument with evidence from research. You could always conclude that it might be both genes and environment, that there is no real debate: it's both nature and nurture. Finally you could have a look at this...epigenetics.

Scanners

2010-01-16T02:33:00.000-08:00

Images of MRI, CT, and PET scanners here...