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Biopsychology- Aqa psychology
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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER FOR BIOPSYCH EXCEPT BRAIN SCANS
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BiopsychologySynaptic transmission:
• Action potentials travels through synapse
• Causing vesicles to fuse with membrane/ action potential reaches pre synaptic terminal
• So neurotransmitter released and it then diffuses across synaptic gap/cleft
• And binds to receptors on post synaptic neuron (receptors only on post synaptic which is
why its unidirectional so can only travel one way)
• This then has a excitatory or inhibitory effect so makes neuron either more or less likely to
fire
• Serotonin=inhibitory -less likely to fire
• Adrenaline=excitatory – more likely to fire
• Summation=whether post synaptic neuron fires/whether action potential is generated-
action potential only triggered if the sum or excitatory and inhibitory signals at any one time
reach the threshold
Flight or fight response:
• During stressful event hypothalamus activates pituitary gland and this triggers activity in
sympathetic branch
• Adrenaline released from adrenal gland into blood, triggering physiological changes which
creates physiological arousal required for flight or fight response
• It then binds to receptors on target organs such as SAN leading to increase in excitations,
leading to increased heart rate
• Once threat has passed the parasympathetic nervous system returns body to its resting rate,
reducing the activities of the body that were increased by the sympathetic branch
Evaluations-
• Gender bias-specifically androcentrism/beta bias - typically a male response to danger with
early research into the response typically conducted on males and research has shown that
females adopt a tend and befriend response in dangerous or stressful situations so may not
generalise to females- Taylor found that women are more likely to protect their offspring and
form alliances with other women rather than fight or flee
• The response has been criticised for being incomplete- researcher has proposed that
animals also freeze before flying or feeing to gather info on whats the best reaction to the
situation whilst they are hypervigilant
• However differences found between genes of males and females which could explain why
the response only applies to males- A study showed that a gene that is found on the male Y
chromosome that is responsible for the flight or fight response is absent in females
Biological rhythms
Circadian rhythms-
AO1
, • Rhythms that last for around 24 hours and two examples are the sleep/wake cycle and body
temperature
• Sleep wake cycle is governed by both exogenous zeitgebers and endogenous pacemakers
• Effect of daylight is the exogenous zeitgeber
• The sleep wake cycle is also governed by endogenous pacemaker, a biological clock called the
superchiasmatic nucleus or the SCN which lies just above the optic chiasm which provides
information from the eye about light, and light can reset the SCN
• There has been research conducted on the effect of leaving the biological clock on its own
without any idea if it was day or night
• The main research on this was through Siffre’s case study who was a self-styled caveman that
spent several extended periods underground to study the effects on his own biological
rhythms
• He was deprived of exposure to natural light and sound but had access to adequate food and
drink
• He spent 2 months in the caves of the southern alps and a decade later he spends 6 months
in a Texan cave
• In each case his biological rhythms settled down to one that was just beyond the usual 24
hours of 25 hours though he did continue to fall asleep and wake up on a regular schedule
• Similar results were recorded by Aschoff and Wever who convinced a group of participants to
spend 4 weeks in a World War 2 bunker deprived of natural light and found that all but one
of the participants who’s sleep wake cycle extended to 29 hours displayed a circadian rhythm
between 24 and 25 hours.
• This suggest that the natural sleep wake cycle may be slightly longer than 24 hours but that is
entrained by exogenous zeitgebers associated with our 24-hour day.
• Despite this we should not overestimate the effect of exogenous zeitgebers on our biological
clock as Folkard also conducted a cave study and found that when the researchers gradually
speeded up the clock an apparent 24-hour day only lasted 22 hours and only one participant
of the 12 were able to comfortably adjust
• This would suggest the existence of a free running circadian rhythm that cannot easily be
overridden by exogenous zeitgebers.
AO3
• One strength of research into circadian rhythms is that it has been used to improve medical
treatments
• Circadian rhythms coordinate a number of basic processes such as heart rare, digestion and
hormone levels which can rise and fall during the course of a day
• Leading to the field of chronotherapeutics which is how medical treatment can be
administered in a way that corresponds to a person’s biological rhythms
• For example aspirin as a treatment for heart attacks is most effective if taken last thing at
night as heart attacks are most likely to occur early in the morning which means that timing
of taking it matters and it can reduce the risk of heart attack by reducing blood platelet
activity
• This shows that circadian rhythm research can help increase effectiveness of drug treatments
• In addition to this research has suggested that vaccinations could be more effective if
administered at specific times during the day, such as the influenza vaccine as administration
in the morning has been shown to improve antibody response over afternoon vaccination
response in people over 65
, • Therefore have been significantly effective in health and diseases
• One limitation of research into circadian rhythms is that generalisations are difficult to make
• The studies such as Siffre’s are based on very small samples of participants and sleep wake
cycles may vary widely from person to person
• Czeisler found individual differences in cycles varying from 13 to 65 hours
• Study by Duffy also revealed that some people have a natural preference for going to bed
early and others preferring the opposite
• In addition to this Siffre also observed that his own sleep wake cycle slowed down since he
was a young man which suggests that sleep wake cycles also vary and change with age
• Therefore research data may difficult to use to discuss anything other than averages which
means that it may be meaningless and limits the reliability of the research
• Research into circadian rhythms have lead to discussions around shifting the school day
• A number of researchers such as Wolfson have recommended that the school day should
start a couple of hours later to fit in with the typical teenage sleep pattern
• This is because of hormonal shifts in the teenage body meaning that getting to sleep
becomes more difficult and therefore adolescent students tend to be more sleepy at the
start of the school day
• Research has shown benefits for academic and behavioural performance with later starts
including reduced dependence on caffeine
• However shifting the school day is disruptive for both teachers and parents and limits the
number of extracurricular activities after school
• In addition to this critics of the proposal suggest that a later school start would not actually
reduce sleep deprivation but would simply mean that teenagers will stay up later and still be
exhausted
• This means that research into circadian rhythms is not as effective as it seems in regulating
the school day as the cons outweigh the pros of having a later start to the school day
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