Psychology BLOA notes:

My personal notes
LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR THE BIOLOGICAL LEVEL OF ANALYSIS
General Learning Outcomes:
1. Outline principles that define the biological level of analysis
Definition of BLOA: states that all cognitions, emotions and behaviours have a
physiological basis.
Principles of BLOA:
● Principle #1: There are biological correlates of behavior (emotions and behavior
can happen because of the physiology of the nervous and endocrine system
● Principle #2: Animal research can help understand human behavior
● Principle #3: Behavior is innate and can be genetically inherited (therefore
evolution plays a role.
Purpose of the principles:
- Main ideas that focuses on specific areas of research of behavior and physiology
- Helps our understanding that behavior can be caused/influence by biological
factors.
2 .Explain how principles that define the biological level of analysis may be
demonstrated in research (that is, theories and/or studies).
Principle 1: There are biological correlates of behavior (emotions and behavior can
happen because of the physiology of the nervous and endocrine system
- Specific brain processes, neurotransmitters, and hormones can play a role in
behaviour. Physiological processes that forms the basis of the biological level of
analysis, in relation to how it functions which then affects human behavior in
daily life. (e.g.dea of localization of function, in that each area of the brain is
responsible for coordinating a certain part of our body/nervous system and thus
our behaviour.)

2 brain studies in Localization:

Localization Function: The idea that different parts of the brain do different things
Hippocampus: part of the limbic system, the area in the brain that is associated with
memory (stores memory, long-term memory), emotions, and motivation.
The role of Hippocampus in the case study: That it plays a critical role I converting
memories of experience from short-term memory to long-term memory.
#1: “Hippocampus” The Study of H.M
Aim: To study the role of the hippocampus in memory
Method: “Longitudinal Study” Neurosurgeon, Dr. Scoville, performed a experimental
surgery taking out most of the hippocampus and tissue from the medial temporal lobes;
HM was 27. HM was told to perform several sensorimotor tasks such as mirror-reading,
playing video games, and solving puzzles.
 -Removed parts of HM's temporal lobes (part of his hippocampus along with
it).The seizures were reduced drastically, but then HM suffered from Amnesia.
Results: HM lost the ability to form new memories (anterograde amnesia).He also lost
his memory for events that had happened after his surgery: he could not remember
moving house, nor that he had eaten a meal thirty minutes previously. He had also
suffered some retrograde amnesia of events preceding the surgery, such as the death
of his uncle three years before (retrograde amnesia). His intelligence also remained as
before, at slightly above average.
Conclusion: The surgery to remove part of the hippocampus, the uncus and the
amygdala resulted in total anterograde amnesia and partial retrograde amnesia.

- Concluded that the hippocampus wasn't the site of memory storage, but the site
where it turns short term to long term memories.
- asserting that the function of organization of memory is localized in the
hippocampus
Shown In:
Milner (1957): reported effect of removal of part of HM's brain and the effect on memory

Corkin et al. (1997): Performed MRI scans on HM's brain to show damage, and parts of
the brain removed to show effect on memory.
Evaluation:
Strength:
1.) Longitudinal study= more validity and credibility
Limitation:
2.) If HM was unstable and in critical condition, the results may have affected the whole
experiment
#2: Maguire et al (2000):
Aim: To investigate whether or not the hippocampus plays a role in human spatial
memory
Method: Structural MRI scans were obtained. 16 right-handed male London taxi drivers
participated; all had been driving for more than 1.5 years. Scans of 50 healthy right-
handed males who did not drive taxis were included for comparison. The mean age did
not differ between the two groups.
Results: Taxi cab drivers showed significantly more grey matter in both left and right
hippocampus compared to the control group
Conclusion: The results provide evidence for structural differences between the
hippocampi of London taxi drivers and control participants, therefore suggesting that
extensive practice with spatial navigation affects the hippocampus.
Evaluation:
Strength:
 - Internal validity is strong because the patients cannot manipulate the scans
- No ethical implications
- Supported the hypothesis
Limitations
- Only observed males (lack of generalization)
- Only observed 16 matched pairs.
- Researcher bias can affect internal validity
2 studies in Neurotransmitters:
● Roger and Kesner (2003)-> Acetylcholine
● Hirai and Kasamatsu (1999)-> Serotonin
Role of Neurotransmitter: Neurotransmitters are the body’s natural chemical
messengers which transmit information from one neuron to another. They are stored in
the neuron's' terminal buttons.
- When an electrical impulse travels down the axon (body of neuron), it releases
neurotransmitters which cross the gap between two neurons known as a
synapse.
Roger and Kesner (2003)
Acetylcholine: activate muscles to help the body move. In the brain, ACh
(Acetylcholine) is involved in breathing, attention, arousal, motivation, etc. It plays an
important role in memory formation as well.
AIM: To investigate the role of acetylcholine on memory encoding and memory retrieval
Procedure:
It was a laboratory experiment using rats. Rats were trained to learn a simple maze, but
before the memories could be learned well-enough to be transferred from short-term
memory to long-term memory, the rats were divided into groups and injected with drugs:
● Group 1: injected with scopolamine; blocks Acetylcholine -> No acetylcholine
● Group 2: injected with (blocks cholinesterase) - -> high acetylcholine condition
● Group 3: placebo group; injected with an inert saline solution that had no effect
on acetylcholine -> control condition
The rats were placed in the maze for two days. Their memory and learning were
measured by comparing the number of mistakes they made.
Results:
- Absence of Acetylcholine: Unable to retrieve; making more mistakes during the
last five trials during the 1st day.
- High Acetylcholine condition: Made less mistakes compared to the 1st group
during the last five trials on the 1st day and did not show a deficit in retrieval

Conclusion:
Acetylcholine plays an important role in memory encoding and formation. (rats with low
acetylcholine levels wandered around the maze as though lost, even though they had
learned it before)
Evaluation:
Strengths:
- There were the presence of the three experimental conditions which leads to a
cause and effect conclusions
- Multiple trials were performed for reliability
- No harm of people (as rats were used as subjects)
- Easily replicable
Limitations:
- Ethical concerns towards the rats that suffered in the experiment
- Results cannot be applied to us, humans
- It’s difficult to generalize results from animal studies to humans, because the
results may not be wholly applicable.
Hirai and Kasamatsu (1999):
Serotonin: an important chemical and neurotransmitter in the human body. It is
believed to help regulate mood and social behavior, appetite and digestion, sleep,
memory, and sexual desire and function.
AIM: to study the role of serotonin in conditions of sensory deprivation.
Procedure:
Field experiment. Exposed to harsh weather conditions, the monks didn't eat, drink, or
speak. After 48 hours, the monks reported hallucinations; researchers took blood
samples both before monks ascended the mountain and right after pilgrimages.
Results:
-Serotonin levels had increased in the monks' brains after the pilgrimages
-These levels activated parts of the brain called the hypothalamus and the frontal
cortex, resulting in hallucinations.
Conclusion: Sensory deprivation triggered the release of serotonin, which
actively altered the way that the monks experienced the world.
Evaluation:
Strengths:
- High ecological validity
- opportunity sample (have chosen the monks)
- detailed descriptive data.
Limitations:
- Hard to generalize
- Hard to replicated
- Research Bias (only used monks in this experiment)
2 Studies in Hormones:
 ● Newcomer et al (1999) (Cortisol is secreted in the adrenal gland)
● Baumgartner et al. (2008) (Oxytocin is secreted from the pituitary gland)
Role of Hormone: A chemical substance produced in the body that controls and
regulates the activity of certain cells or organs. Many hormones are secreted by special
glands and are released into the bloodstream.
Newcomer et al (1999):
Cortisol: a steroid hormone, in the glucocorticoid class of hormones. It is released in
response to stress and low-blood-glucose concentration.
AIM: Experiment on the role of the stress hormone, cortisol on verbal declarative
memory
Procedure:
A self-selected sample (recruited through advertisement) of 51 normal and healthy
people aged 18–30 was used. It was a randomized, controlled, double-blind experiment
running for four days. All participants gave informed consent.
Conditions:
● Group 1- (High dose cortisol), had tablets containing 160mg of cortisol fo 4 days-
consequence of a major stressful event
● Group 2-(Low dose of cortisol), had tablets with 40mg of cortisol for 4 days-
consequence of a minor stressful event
● Group 3-(Controlled group), had placebo tablets
Result: The high-level group performed worse on the verbal declarative memory test
than the low-level group. They performed below placebo levels after day 1. The low-
level group (mild stress) showed no memory decrease.
Conclusion: An increase in cortisol over a period has a negative effect on
memory.
Evaluation:
- controlled randomized experiment so it was possible to establish a cause-effect
relationship between levels of cortisol and scores on a verbal declarative memory
test.
- Ethical issues were observed with informed consent
- The negative effect of taking high doses of cortisol was reversible so no harm
was done.

Baumgartner et al. (2008):

Oxytocin: known as the love hormone, is released by the pituitary gland and is
responsible for human behaviors associated with relationships and bonding. It is also
associated with empathy, trust, sexual activity, and relationship building.
AIM: To investigate the role of oxytocin after breaches of trust in a trust game.
Procedure:
 ● The participants played a trust game used by economists and neuroscientists to
study social interaction. The “investor” (player 1) receives a sum of money and
must decide whether to keep it or share it with a “trustee” (player 2). If the sum is
shared the sum is tripled. Then player 2 must decide if this sum should be shared
(trust) or kept (violation of trust).
● fMRI scans were carried out on 49 participants. They received either oxytocin or
placebo via a nasal spray.
● Participants played against different trustees in the trust game and against a
computer in a risk game. In 50% of the games their trust was broken. They
received feedback on this from the experimenters during the games.
Results:
● Participants in the placebo group were likely to show less trust after feedback on
betrayal. They invested less. Participants in the oxytocin group continued to
invest at similar rates after receiving feedback on a breach of trust.
● The fMRI scans showed decreases in responses in the amygdala and the
caudate nucleus. The amygdala is involved in emotional processing and has
many oxytocin receptors. The caudate nucleus is associated with learning and
memory and plays a role in reward-related responses and learning to trust.
Conclusion: Increased levels of oxytocin can correlate to increased levels of trust
Evaluation:
Strength:
- Oxytocin could explain why people are able to restore trust and forgive in long-
term relationships.
Limitations:
- Scanner research is merely mapping brain activity but nothing definite can be
said about what it really means at this point in science.
- Giving oxytocin like this in an experiment may not reflect natural physiological
processes. The function of oxytocin is very complex and it is too simplistic to say
that it is "the trust hormone"

Principle #2: Animal research can help understand human behavior

- Researchers use animals to study physiological processes because it is
assumed that most biological processes in non-human animals are the same as
in humans. One important research for using animals is where there is a lot of
research where animals cannot be used for ethical reasons.
2 Studies Supporting Principle 2:
● Rosenzweig and Bennett (1972)
● Francis et al
Rosenzweig and Bennett (1972)-> The role of environmental stimulation on brain
plasticity
Brain Plasticity: idea that the brain is physically sculpted by the environment and
experience. It refers to the brain's ability to rearrange the connections between its
neurons; that is, the changes that occur in the structure of the brain as a result of
learning or experience.
Aim: To investigate whether environmental factors such as a rich or an impoverished
environment affect development of neurons in the cerebral cortex.
Procedure:
Two condition: Rats were placed in either an enriched environment (EC) or an
impoverished condition (IC).
● EC: 10–12 rats in a cage provided with different stimulus objects to explore and
play with. This group also received maze training.
● IC: each rat in an individual cage (isolation and no stimulation).
● The rats typically spent 30 to 60 days in their respective environments before
they were killed so the researchers could study changes in brain anatomy.
Results:
● The anatomy of the brain was different for rats in the EC and the IC
● The brains of EC rats had increased thickness and higher weight of the cortex.
EC rats had developed more acetylcholine receptors in the cerebral cortex
(important neurotransmitter in learning and memory).
Conclusion: Since brain plasticity is assumed to follow the same pattern in
animals and humans, the implications of the study are that the human brain will
also be affected by environmental factors such as intellectual and social
stimulation. The research challenged the belief that brain weight cannot change.
Evaluation:
Strengths:
- Study is reliable as the results can be replicated by redoing the experiment.
- This study was a laboratory experiment, so researchers had strict control over
the variables, which made it easier for replication.
- The laboratory experiment established a cause-effect relationship, due to the
strict control of variables.
- This study provided insight upon brain plasticity; this study showed that the brain
can change and adapt to new situations
- This study used rats instead of humans, ensuring no possible harm done to
humans.
- Rats are inexpensive, and have large litters, which allows for members of the
same litter to be assigned to different experimental conditions
Limitations:
- This study is difficult to generalize to humans. This is because the brain and
environmental contributions differ between humans and animals, such as rats in
this case
 - This study has low ecological validity, as it does not show how various levels of
stimulation might affect the brain development of animals in their natural
environments.
Francis et al:
Aim: Investigate how an interaction between genes and the environment influences
how rats nurture their offspring
Procedure:
Within 12 hours of being born, researchers switched baby rats born to "high licking"
mothers with baby rats born to "low licking" mothers (licking is a sign that mother rats
are caring and loving to their offspring)
Results:
● The rats that were raised by "high licking" mothers grew up to be less stressed,
and eventually became "high licking" mothers when they had children of their
own, even if their biological mother was a "low licker".
● Through an examination of genes related to maternal care, researchers found
that rats raised by "high lickers" had lost the methyl groups around these genes,
causing those genes to be "turned on".
Conclusion: Being raised in a nurturing, loving environment causes changes in
genetic expression. These epigenetic changes are then passed on to the next
generation.
Evaluation:
- carefully controlled lab experiment, showing a clear causal relationship between
the independent variable (being raised by a high vs low licking mother) and
dependent variables (stress in adulthood, and maternal behavior after having
children)
- Use of animals in this experiment had several advantages: switching babies with
different mothers would be highly unethical if done to humans, and the shorter
lifespan of rats made it easier to study behavior across generations
- Since this experiment was done on rats, it cannot be said for certain that these
epigenetic changes also occur in humans as animals and humans differ in a
huge aspect.
Principle #3: Human Behavior, to some extent, genetically based.
Behavior can, to some extent, can be explained by genetic inheritance, although this is
rarely the full explanation since genetic inheritance can be seen as genetic
predisposition which can be affected by environmental factors.
● Researchers interested in the genetic origin of behavior often uses twins so that
they can compare one twin with the other on a variable such as intelligence,
depression, or anorexia nervosa.
● Identical twins (monozygotic-MZ) are 100% genetically identical as they have
developed from the same egg-> act as a control for each other
 ● Fraternal twins (dizygotic twins-DZ) have developed from two different eggs.->
They share 50% of their genes, so they are no more similar than siblings.
KEY VOCABULARY:
EPIGENETICS: is the study of how the environment affects gene expression.
Depending on your life experiences and environment, different genes can become
turned "on" and "off", determining which genes take effect.
Concordance Rate- Correlation carried out in twin studies
MZ & DZ- Identical and Fraternal
2 Studies Supporting Principle #3:
● Bouchard et al (1990)->Twin study investigating genetic inheritance in
intelligence
● Brendgen et al (2005)
Bouchard et al (1990):
Aim: To investigate the relative influence of environment and genetic factors on human
characteristics and behaviours, including intelligence.
Method:
● A cross-cultural correlational study of more than 100 pairs of reared-apart twins
and siblings whose data was compared with twins and siblings reared together.
The participants comprised identical (monozygotic/MZ) twins and non-identical
(dizygotic/DZ) twins, with an average age of 41 years. MZ twins are often used in
genetic research because they have identical or almost identical genes.
● Each participant underwent over 50 hours of psychological testing and
interviews.
● In twin research, the correlation found between each twin and therefore
presumably between genetic inheritance and a particular behaviour is called the
concordance rate.

Results:
The concordance rates for IQ were:
MZ twins reared together: 86% (0.86)
MZ twins reared apart: 76% (0.76)
DZ twins reared together: 55% (0.55)
Biological siblings reared together: 47% (0.47)
Conclusion: 70% of intelligence is heritable, meaning that genes account for 70%
of the variation in intelligence from one person to the next.
Evaluation:
Strengths:
- Had a control group
- Longitudinal thus showing change, or lack thereof, over time
- Unique in its approach
 - This study was the large of its kind and had a large sample size given the strict
parameters of the study (monozygotic twins reared apart)
Limitations:
- Results remain correlational due to the fact that there are so many confounding
variables
- Participants were all self-selected volunteers, and therefore may be
fundamentally different than non-volunteers (this limits generalizability)
- Serious potential for confirmation bias in twin studies, as twins seek similarities
- Ethical Concerns: There were ethical concerns with the fact that Bouchard made
some participants aware that they were a twin. This could have been emotionally
disturbing news and thus the ethical standard of protecting individuals from
physical and emotional harm was perhaps violated.
Brendgen et al:
Aim: Examining the genetic and environmental (shared and non shared) effects on
social and physical aggression using 6-year-old twins.
Procedure:
IV: MZ and DZ twins (Monozygotic=identical, Dizygotic=Fraternal)
DV: Teachers’ and Kids’ Ratings
Number of pupils: 234 consisting of 6-year old twins
(94 MZ twins- 44 male and 50 female, 73 DZ same -sex twins= 41 male and 32 female,
DZ mixed-sex Twins=67)
Location: Canada (Opportunity Sampling)
THE RATINGS:
-Teachers were given questionnaires of a 3-point scale
Never Sometimes Often
-It consisted of 6 statements: 3 on social aggression and 3 on physical
aggression
-The scores were added together to result to 2 overall scores

In the next step:

-The children were shown pictures of their classmates and they had to circle the
photos consisting of 4 descriptions: 2 for social and 2 for physical aggression.\
Results:
● The teacher was more likely to find boys to be more physically aggressive than
girls and girls to be more socially aggressive.
● The teacher was more likely to find boys to be more physically aggressive than
girls and girls to be more socially aggressive.
● MZ twins had a higher concordance rate for PHYSICAL aggression than DZ
 Twins, MZ and DZ twins had the same concordance rate for SOCIAL aggression.
(concluded that physical aggression is related to genes.Found out that physically
aggressive children turned socially aggressive later in life
Shared Environments:
It was found out that around 50 - 60% of aggression related activities are related/linked
to genes (Only for physical aggression)
Around 20% of social aggression are affected/linked to genes
Non-shared environments:
Around 40% of physical aggression is linked to genes
Around 60% of social aggression is linked to genes
Conclusion: Social aggression on the other hand seems to be influenced more by
our environmental factors than inherited factors. It appears that physical
aggression has a much higher genetic factors involved, this suggests that
physical aggression may be due to the genes we inherit rather than our
environment.
Evaluation:
- One of the first studies to assess heritability and make the distinction between
social and physical
- Self reported measure
- Longitudinal twin study which are very useful in determining genetic factors
Limitations:
- Small Sample size – so can it be generalised
- Can only be generalised to 6 year olds
- Validity – are 6 year olds really able to understand physical and social
aggression ?!?

**Examine one evolutionary explanation of behaviour:

● Proposed by Charles Darwin - the changing of inherited traits of a species over
time. Those who adapt best to their environment and changes in their
environment have a better chance of surviving and passing on favourable
characteristics - survival of the fittest.
Key terms:
-Charles Darwin;evolution;natural selection
BEHAVIOUR - DISGUST (in pregnant women)
Pregnant women often feel nauseous when presented with certain foods. This loss of
appetite could be an inherited behaviour passed down through generations. One
evolutionary explanation could be that the loss of appetite could have protected the
mother and the foetus from diseases. The expression of disgust, which leads to food
rejection, lessens the chance of contamination.
Fessler et al (2006):
Aim: to investigate disgust sensitivity in the first trimester of pregnancy
Procedure:
- Conducted a web survey with 496 pregnant participants
- Asked to rank levels of disgust in different scenarios (e.g. maggots in food, dustbins)
- Also had to indicate levels of morning sickness
Results:
- Women in first trimester had greater levels of disgust when presented with scenarios
- Disgust was particularly elevated in scenarios involving food
Conclusion:
- First trimester - the mother’s body weakens its immune system (via hormones) so that
it will not attack the baby. This is when food-borne diseases are particularly dangerous
- Nausea and vomiting was evolved during this time in order to decrease the likelihood
of digesting dangerous food
- This characteristic was passed down through natural selection to give the baby the
best chance of survival.
- Natural selection may have helped human ancestors to be pickier with food to
compensate for increased susceptibility to disease.
-Being pickier with food would also help humans avoid diseases that could harm unborn
offspring, and thus, threaten the species.

Evaluation:
- Questionnaire may not be reliable
- Low ecological validity - computer survey
- Underestimation of cultural factors
- Demand characteristics / participants may have been dishonest
3 .Discuss how and why particular research methods are used at the biological level of
analysis (for example, experiments, observations, correlational studies).
Types of Research:
● Experiments (ROSENZWEIG AND BENNETT)
● Case Studies (Case of HM)
● Correlation research (BOUCHARD ET AL)
4. Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the biological level of
analysis.
Ethical considerations in all research in psychology includes,
- Protection of participants from harm Consent
- Withdrawal
 - Confidentiality
- Deception (result of investigators providing false or incomplete information to
participants)
- Debriefing (procedure that is conducted in psychological research with human
subjects after an experiment or study has been concluded)
But there are slight exceptions for consent and deception
Animal research has slightly different ethical considerations
Differences regard harming participants and ethical euthanasia
One example:
1.) Rosenzweig and Bennett (1972):
Participation Protection:
- researchers placed rats in enriched and deprived environments to study the
effects of the environment on brain plasticity
- May have caused distress to the rats living in the environment
- Rats were euthanized to study their brains
Consent:
- The rats used cannot be fully informed in the experiment, thus can give a
consent- so rats wouldn’t be able to understand if they were being studied
Withdrawal:
- Rats could not express any desires to withdraw from the study
Debriefing:
- rats were not debriefed
- But since they are animals and they did not know they were in a study, they
would not desire a debriefing
Animal ethics:
- The welfare of the rats was not monitored

Physiology and Behaviour:

1. Explain one study related to localisation of function in the brain.

Case of HM (Hippocampus)
2. Using one or more examples, explain effects of neurotransmission on human
behaviour.
Roger and Kesner (2003), Hirai and Kasamatsu (1999)
3. Using one or more examples, explain functions of two hormones in human behaviour.
Newcomer et al (1999)->cortisol, Baumgartner et al (2008)-> oxytocin
4. Discuss two effects of the environment on physiological processes.
Supporting study 1: Rosenzweig and Bennett (1972) -> relationship between the
environment and physiology is often said to be “bidirectional”
Bidirectional: means travel or movement in two different directions; functioning in two
directions
The two effects of the environment on physiological processes that will be
discussed include:
● Enrichment of certain environments on brain plasticity
● And the observation of experienced actions on the activation of mirror neurons
Start thesis of Essay: “The first effect of an environment on physiological processes that
will be discussed is brain plasticity.”
DEFINE BRAIN PLASTICITY: refers to the brain's ability to change and adapt as a
result of experience
5. Examine one interaction between cognition and physiology in terms of behaviour.
Evaluate two relevant studies.
Case of H.M, Case study of Clive Wearing (Brain damage)
Clive Wearing (2007):
Background:
- Clive Wearing was a musician who got a viral infection - encephalitis.
- This left him with serious brain damage in the hippocampus (biological cause),
which caused memory impairment (effect on cognition)
- He suffered from anterograde and retrograde amnesia
Results:
- He could not transfer information from STM to LTM.
- His memory lasted 7-30 seconds, and he was unable to form new memories.
- Wearing still had the ability to talk, read, write, conduct and sight-read music
(procedural knowledge)
- Wearing’s episodic memory and some of his semantic memory were lost.
- MRI scans of Wearing’s brain showed damage to the hippocampus and some of
the frontal regions.
Conclusion:
The case of Clive Wearing provides insight into the biological foundation of
different memory systems, which is a cognitive process.
Wearing’s case highlights the interaction between cognition and physiology as it
establishes the link by illustrating the effect of physiological causes in the brain (brain
damage occurring in hippocampi region, on the social and cognitive interactions of the
individual.
Evaluation:
Strengths:
- In-depth and realistic study
- Ecological validity: High, study of a real life case.
- Ethics: Patient’s name was disclosed under consent.
Limitations:
 - Low potential ability to generalise because cases are individual
- Cannot be easily replicable
- They may be biased and affected by researcher’s belief, opinions, and values.
6. Discuss the use of brain imaging technologies (for example, CAT, PET, fMRI) in
investigating the relationship between biological factors and behaviour.
Types:
● PET: Positron Emission Tomography
● MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
● fMRI: functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
● EEG: Electroencephalogram
● CAT: Computerised Axial Tomography
Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages and are appropriate in
varying situations

Genetics and Behaviour:

1. With reference to relevant research studies, to what extent does genetic inheritance
influence behaviour?
Type of studies used in genetic research:
Twin studies
- Used in genetic research to study the correlation between genetic inheritance
and behaviour due to the common genetics shared by twins.
- Monozygotic twins (MZT) identical - share 100% genetic material.
- Dizygotic twins (DZT) fraternal - share 50% genetic material.
- It is usually further explored, by studying the twins either separated or together to
make a correlation of their behaviour.
Adoption studies
- Allow researchers to study the comparison between genetic and environmental
influence on behaviour.
- Adopted children share no genes with their adoptive parents but 50% of genes
with their biological parents.
Family studies
- Study behaviour between family members who have similar genetics to different
degrees. Inheritance
Outline intelligence
- Intelligence is an aspect of behaviour that has been studied in relation to
genetics.
 - It was questioned whether intelligence was attributed to genetic or environmental
factors. Intelligence is difficult to define
- IQ tests have been developed by a French person called Binet to measure of
intelligence and are used in much psychological research.
Example Studies: Bouchard et al. (1990) - Minnesota Twin Study
Aim: To determine how much of intelligence is attributed to genetics and environment.
Method:
● Longitudinal study
● Over 100 sets of MZT (monozygotic – identical twins raised together) and DZT
(dizygotic – fraternal twins raised together) from around the world who were
reared/raised together and apart.
Researchers gave them approximately 50 hours of psychological and physiological
testing.
Results:
Similarity rates between MZTs reared apart was approximately 76%
Bouchard determined a heritability estimate of 70% of intelligence attributed to genetics,
and 30% to other factors.
Connection of study to question :
This study relates to the effect of genetics on behaviour as the concordance rate
between twins shows that their behaviour was affected mostly (70%) by genetics, rather
than the environment, where the other 30% may be attributed to other factors in the
surrounding environment.

Evaluation:
Strengths:
- much research has supported his findings, making them more reliable
- large sample of participants, making the study more externally valid than most
twin studies

Limitations:
- Bouchard used media coverage to recruit the sample
- No control over the frequency of contact between twins before the study
- Bouchard assumed that the twins reared together experienced the same
environment – equal environment assumption
2. Examine one evolutionary explanation of behaviour.
Fessler (2006)
Connection of study to question
● Fessler’s study supports that disgust may be an evolutionary behaviour as it may
assist reproduction of offspring and protection against disease, thus having a
 greater chance of surviving or living a longer life, having children passing on
genes to their offspring.
This study supports the role of disgust in aiding reproduction, and thus, as an
evolutionary behaviour.
3. Discuss ethical considerations in research into genetic influences on behaviour.
Nurnberger and Gershon (1982)
Aim: A study which shows revelations of carrying genes linked to depression
Method: Reviewed the results of seven twin studies.
Results: Concordance rate – correlation – for major depressive disorder was consistently
higher for monozygotic twins (MZTs) than dizygotic twins.
Connection of study to question:
This study supports that there are genetic predispositions to depression.
Ethical considerations:
Knowledge of a genetic predisposition to depression may cause people undue stress as they
may fear the onset of the disorder.
Self-fulfilling prophecy:
If one MZT has depression, their twin may express the self-fulfilling prophecy and demonstrate
symptoms of depression as well.
Stigmatization :
Twins may be stigmatized – social discrimination of an individual with characteristics that
distinguish them in society
People may be stigmatized because their twin has a disorder, even if they themselves do not
Informed consent:
- The potential harm of participants due to knowledge of genetic predispositions is why
genetic testing requires informed consent from the individual involved or from family
members responsible for them.
- Participants should be informed of the risk that they may experience revelations of a
genetic predisposition.
- They must give informed consent to show that they have a clear understanding of true
aims and nature of the study they are participating in, and the implications, including
potential harm.

Conclusion
It is important to carry out, implement and consider ethical implications before commencement
of research, especially into genetic research as there are many controversial consequences
which could occur if not carried out properly.
Ethics should always be considered in research to protect individuals and avoid harming
participants.
Research in psychology should always be critically evaluated for ethical issues.