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IB SL/HL Psychology (biological approaches to behaviour): Discuss the use of one or more research methods used in the biological approach to understanding human behaviou£5.49
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IB SL/HL Psychology (biological approaches to behaviour): Discuss the use of one or more research methods used in the biological approach to understanding human behaviou
Discuss how and why particular research methods are used at the BLOA [22]
This essay will offer a balance review of how and why particular research methods are
used at the biological level of analysis. The biological level of analysis states that all
cognitions, emotion and behaviour has a physiological origin. Research methods can
be used at the BLoA to measure things like the effect of the hormone cortisol on
memory and also to look at localisation of function between brain parts and behaviour
such as the hippocampus and memory. This essay will focus on the use on the
research methods of laboratory experiments and case studies.
Experiments are an orderly procedure with the goal of verifying or refuting the validity
of a hypothesis. They are considered a quantitative research method however
qualitative data can be collected also. The experimental method can be used to
demonstrate insight into cause and effect relationship i.e. what outcome occurs when
a particular factor is manipulated. Laboratory experiments or a true experiment take
place in the artificial environment of a lab. The researcher manipulates the
independent variable and the effect of the dependant variable is measured. There is
high control over the procedure and the independent variable. There is also high
control over variables which ensures that extraneous variables do not affect the study
results. Extraneous variables are factors that may influence the experiment outcome
but are not the variables of interest. If not controlled, they may cause error to the
results. The conditions in a lab experiment are artificial and highly controlled, it is
therefore sometimes necessary to deceive the participants so that they do not guess
the experiment’s true aim. Deception is used to avoid the possibility of demand
characteristics which is a type of bias where participants form an interpretation of the
experiment’s aim and consciously or unconsciously alter their behaviour to fit that
interpretation.
Rozenweig and Bennet is an example of a laboratory experiment used at the BLOA to
investigate brain plasticity. They aimed to investigate whether environmental factors
such as a rich or impoverished environment would affect the development of neurons
in the cerebral cortex in rats. The independent variable was the enriched or deprived
environment. The dependent variable was the structure of the rat brain. In the
enriched environment, ten to twelve rats were placed together in a cage and provided
with different stimulus objects to explore and play with. In the deprived environment,
each rat was placed in isolation and given no stimulation. In the control condition, rats
were placed in a group of three which is the ‘natural’ environment for rats in a litter.
They were placed in a standard laboratory colony cage with adequate space, food and
water. The rats spent thirty to sixty days in their respective environments before
being euthanized so researchers could study changes in their brain anatomy. The
brains of rats in the environmental condition had increased thickness and weight of
the cortex.
Rozenweig and Bennet used laboratory method as it is highly controlled which allowed
a cause and effect relationship to be developed and established. The cause was the
environmental stimuli and the effect was the amount of brain plasticity. This would
not have been found with any other research method as the three different conditions
could not be found naturally, they had to be created in the artificial environment of a
lab. There was a high level of control in this experiment to ensure that the any effects
on the rat’s brain structure were a direct result of the environment they had been
kept in. Due to the standardized procedures and careful control of a laboratory
experiment, numerous studies have replicated these findings which increases their
reliability. However, it is difficult to replicate in humans due to methodological ethical
reasons.
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