Download To what extent would you argue that Stephen

Psychology at Ravens Wood School
Summer task 2016
Name_________
In preparation for the start of your AS Psychology course, I would like
you to research both the origins of psychology and 3 of the main
approaches within psychology.
There are three aims attached to this unit:
1
2
3
You should be able to outline in brief how psychology has
progressed to being a recognised discipline in its own right.
You should be able to describe, in your own words, three of the
main approaches in modern psychology and evaluate them in
terms of positives and negatives points.
Following your research, you should be able to use your
knowledge of two of these approaches (biological and
behavioural) to critically assess their value in answering the
question:
“To what extent would you argue that Stephen Mobley’s
behaviour is caused by either biological or environmental
factors. (12 marks)
You should answer the question using information for one or more of the
approaches that you have researched. All work needs to be in your own
words and research needs to be referenced in a Bibliography page at the
end of your work. Plagiarised work will result in exclusion from the
course.
Please note; when researching on the internet, it is wise to put
‘psychology’ in the search engine as well as the word you are
looking for.
You can also research using books, including the textbook we will be
using next year - We have bought the digital copy of the Illuminate
Publishing AS for Psychology. You can collect the password from the dept.
If you have any problems with the
work, then please email Mrs Knapp
[email protected]
The origins of psychology
Who is Willhelm Wundt? What is he known for?
What is meant by introspection?
How did Wundt’s methods vary from traditional philosophical views of brain
and behaviour?
The biological approach to psychology – The medical model
What are genotypes and phenotypes? Give examples in your answer.
What are neurotransmitters?
What mental illnesses are the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine
associated with?
What are hormones? What characteristics is testosterone associated with?
The Behavioural approach to psychology – learning theory
Define classical conditioning; refer to key terms and brief research in your
answer.
Define operant conditioning; refer to key terms and brief research in your
answer.
Define social learning theory, refer to key terms and brief research in your
answer.
The cognitive approach to psychology
Define the term schema as used in cognitive psychology. Give an example to
illustrate your answer.
What is cognitive neuroscience?
Why do some cognitive psychologists liken the brain to a computer?
Do your genes make you a criminal?
Read the following article that originally appeared in The Independent newspaper. You will need to
refer to it when you complete the extended question task.
STEPHEN "Tony" Mobley has all the attributes of a natural born killer. Nobody could blame his
upbringing - he came from an affluent, white, middle-class American family and he was not abused or
mistreated as a child. Yet as he grew up he became increasingly violent, and at the age of 25 he walked
into a pizza store and casually shot the manager in the neck after robbing the till and joking that he
would apply for the job vacancy when the man was dead.
That was in 1991. Now Mobley is waiting on Death Row in Georgia to hear whether his appointment
with the electric chair is to be confirmed. His last chance of a reprieve rests with a plea from his lawyer
that the murder was not the evil result of free will but the tragic consequence of a genetic
predisposition. The genes of Tony Mobley, his lawyers argue, meant he was born to kill.
The chief witness for the defence is Mobley's aunt, Joyce Childers, who has testified that various
members of the Mobley family over the past four generations have inexplicably been very violent,
aggressive and criminal, although most of them "mellowed" in middle age.
``There is no legal defence to his crime,'' says Daniel Summer, Mobley's attorney. ``There is only the
mitigating factor of his family history. His actions may not have been a product of totally free will."
Murder, rape, robbery, suicide, "you name it", the Mobley family has had it, he says.
The idea of invoking the Mobley genes as mitigation for the brutal murder of the pizza manager came
to Mr Summer after reading about genetics research in the Netherlands. Scientists studying the
history of a particular Dutch family had identified a specific genetic mutation that resulted in a
chemical imbalance in the brains of some of the males in the family. This, they said, could explain why
the same men were prone to unusually violent outbursts.
"We applied for $1,000 from the court to see if Mobley had a similar chemical imbalance, but we were
refused. However, our appeal to the Supreme Court against the death sentence still rests on his family
history of violent behaviour," Mr Summer says.
This week, at a closed meeting of scientists at the Ciba Foundation in London, Mobley's family tree
will again come under intense scrutiny, this time by researchers studying the link between genes and
violence. Deborah Denno, a genetics expert at the law school of Fordham University, New York, will
end the conference by saying that it is not a question of whether genetic evidence will ever be admitted
to court, but when and under what circumstances.
THERE is nothing new about the notion that criminals are born rather than made; it has cropped up
repeatedly over the past century in the continuing debate over nature versus nurture.
This is, however, the gateway to a moral minefield. If it could be proved that the criminal urge might
be traced to genes, then, some would argue, crime could no longer be blamed on parents, or society, or
unemployment, or bad housing, or anything else that is capable of improvement. It would simply be a
fact of life for which nobody was to blame, but which would be traceable to a minority of individuals.
This has uncomfortable overtones of eugenics, the pseudo-science which held that mankind could be
improved by breeding out the bad, and which the Nazis took a step further by their policy of
exterminating the Untermenschen. Even if it stopped there, the idea of the "criminal gene" would be
controversial enough, but it does not, for modern science opens up new and different possibilities. If
there are genes conferring on certain people a genetic predisposition to crime, could they and their
carriers be identified, perhaps as early as the womb? What should happen to those embryos?
Moreover, if someone is born with a criminal mind, what else should be done with them other than to
lock them away for as long as possible?
The arguments date back at least to 1870, when Cesare Lombroso, an Italian doctor, devised his
theory of the criminal man. The idea came to him in a "flash of inspiration" on a gloomy day in
December when he was studying the skull of a notorious brigand: "At the sight of that skull, I seemed
to see all of a sudden, lighted up as a vast plain under a flaming sky, the problem of the nature of the
criminal - an atavistic being who reproduces in his person the ferocious instincts of primitive
humanity and the inferior animals." Enormous jaws, huge eye sockets and handle-shaped ears were
the sort of inherent features to be found in "criminals, savages and apes", Lombroso wrote.
Throughout the 20th century further attempts have been made to refine what Lombroso started.
Many did little to improve on his nonsensical ramblings.
As recently as 1968, for instance, scientists thought they had stumbled across another physical marker
for criminal behaviour. They found that 3 per cent of the male inmates in a hospital for mentally
abnormal offenders had an extra Y chromosome. Enterprising lawyers seized upon this information
and used it as defence evidence in court: "My client has the extra Y chromosome; he couldn't help
himself." But it was soon discredited when it was shown that the majority of XYY men had no obvious
abnormality and were no more likely to be involved in serious crime than normal XY men.
The more durable research into the genetics of crime has its roots in 1931, when psychologists began
looking at nature's own "experiment" in genetics - twins. Identical twins share exactly the same genes,
whereas non-identical twins share about 50 per cent of their genes, just like other brothers and sisters.
Comparing the fates of pairs of identical twins and non-identical twins, it was clear, could offer some
idea of how much a behavioural trait was due to genes (nature) and how much to upbringing
(nurture).
Thus the results of twin studies have been at the forefront of the evidence for a genetic component to
criminal and antisocial behaviour. Chief of these is the Danish twin study, which has been running for
the past quarter- century.
Denmark has become a magnet for social psychologists interested in criminal genetics. Not only is it
racially homogeneous, with a good health care system (both of which help to standardise data), but
every pair of twins born since 1870 has been registered with the authorities, as has every criminal.
The Danish twin study has cross-checked criminal records for pairs of identical and non-identical
twins to compare their fate. The broad conclusion is that a Danish man with an identical twin who has
a criminal record is about 50 per cent more likely to have been in prison himself compared with the
average Danish male. Non-identical twins are between 15 and 30 per cent more likely to both have
criminal records.
Irving Gottesman, a psychologist at the University of Virginia who has worked on the Danish twin
study, believes the results show that "criminals are not born, but the odds at the moment of birth of
becoming one are not even".
Another Danish study, this time of identical twins who are reared apart in different families, appears
to support the notion of being born with a criminal disposition. According to Sarnoff Mednick, a
psychologist at the University of California at Santa Barbara, a child whose biological parents are
criminals is more likely than other children to begin a criminal career himself even if his adopted
parents are law abiding.
Yet another Scandinavian adoption study, this time in Sweden, found a link between criminality,
genes and alcohol abuse. Michael Bohman, professor of child psychiatry at Umea University, says the
results show a clear genetic predisposition to alcohol abuse which leads to a rising tendency towards
anti-social or criminal behaviour. "Of course if there was no alcohol in the environment then there
would be no alcoholism," he says. "The risk is related to your genes and the amount of alcohol you're
swimming in, but not everyone, of course, drowns."
Studies on twins and adopted children have always suffered from a basic problem. They can only
indicate a possible genetic component to a trait. They cannot find the genes involved, nor can they say
much about the mechanisms by which environment or upbringing could overcome the genetic
predisposition. Every geneticist knows that even if a trait is 100 per cent genetically determined, that
does not necessarily mean that nothing can be done about it. The classic example here is the inherited
disease phenylketonuria, which can lead to mental retardation. A simple change in the infant's
environment, in this case a diet free of the amino acid phenylalanine, can completely override its
genetic "destiny" and the disorder is overcome.
The history of studies such as these, especially in relation to the debate over IQ and genetics, is littered
with controversy. Conclusions from such work have usually been fiercely challenged and some have
had to be withdrawn after other researchers had identified methodological flaws. Today, however,
there is a new dimension.
ALTHOUGH twin studies go on much as they always have, genetics has become transformed over the
past 10 to 15 years. New techniques in molecular biology have enabled scientists to identify specific
inherited defects in DNA, the genetic blueprint. One of the most startling pieces of research into the
genetics of violence has come out of the Department of Human Genetics at the University Hospital in
Nijmegen. This was the work that inspired the unusual plea of mitigation from Tony Mobley's lawyers.
The scientists at Nijmegen studied the apparent inherited aggression of the Dutch family. Han
Brunner, who led the research team and who will also be attending this week's Ciba conference, has,
however, distanced himself from suggestions that he has found a "gene for aggression".
"The notion of an `aggression gene' does not make sense," he says, and it would be wrong to suggest
that any one gene or collection of genes can account for something as complex as aggressive human
behaviour. He emphasises that his research has only demonstrated how a very specific genetic defect
can result in a fairly specific behavioural abnormality in one particular family, not society at large. The
family spanned four generations and almost a century in time. He found that at various times 14 men
in the family had displayed mental retardation combined with unusually aggressive posturing, verbal
abuse and sometimes physical violence. There was one instance of rape, two of arson and one of
attempted murder.
Professor Brunner's investigation soon found that the trait was "sex linked" like the blood disorder
haemophilia, which affects only males but is transmitted through the maternal line. Further work
identified the gene itself, which is responsible for an enzyme called monoamine oxidase- A.
Defects in the gene of the aggressive men prevent the enzyme from working, so causing a build-up of
neuro-transmitters in the brain, perhaps resulting in over-excitation of the nerves in stressful
situations.
Although this sounded a neat solution to the problem, Professor Brunner was presented with some
logical inconsistencies in that drugs blocking monoamine oxidase-A have been used extensively to
treat patients with depression, with no apparent increase in violent tendencies. Furthermore, one of
the neurotransmitters building up in the men was serotonin, which other researchers have found to
depress, rather than increase, the propensity for aggression.
Such contradictions serve to reinforce the difficulties of explaining complex emotions in biological
terms. Nevertheless, psychologists keep pointing to a clear biological basis for criminal or antisocial
behaviour on the basis of their studies on twins and adopted children.
Even if there does appear to be a genetic basis to some types of behaviour that lead to criminality,
psychologists are almost unanimous in their belief that it does not mean some children are doomed to
a life of crime. "Just because it's genetic it doesn't mean to say it's not amenable to environmental
intervention," says Judy Silberg, a clinical psychologist at the Virginia Commonwealth University. "If
weapons are available and you have kids with, say, attention deficit disorder, it's a set-up. You're
setting up a situation to happen."
THERE are some bitter opponents of what has become known as "neurogenetic determinism". Steven
Rose, a brain researcher at the Open University, is a long-standing critic of those who believe that
individual differences in human behaviour, notably IQ, have a genetic rather than environmental
basis.
He lambastes the "reductionists" who believe there is a raw genetic basis for criminality and violence.
The rise in genetic determinism offers no solutions to what are essentially society's problems, he wrote
this month in the journal Nature.
"Although only the most extreme reductionists would suggest that we should seek the origins of the
Bosnian war in deficiencies in serotonin-reuptake mechanisms in Dr Karadzic's brain, and its cure by
the mass prescription of Prozac, many of the arguments offered by neurogenetic determinism are not
far removed from such extremes."
Professor Rose is particularly scathing about a recent attempt by some US researchers to establish a
"violence initiative" which would investigate the biological basis of ghetto crime. "As an approach to
diminishing the violence of city streets, it would seem unlikely to achieve as significant an impact as
would measures to reduce the estimated 280 million handguns currently in personal possession in the
United States."
This issue excites strong emotions. Two years ago there was public outrage in the US over a federal
anti-violence initiative, conceived by Louis Sullivan, a black physician and then secretary of the US
department of health and human services. The idea was to help young black people, who are
disproportionately involved in violent crime. Part of the initiative involved investigating the
``biological'' basis of violent crime.
Civil rights leaders and others became deeply suspicious, especially after one leading scientist cited
monkey violence and sexuality as the research rationale. "Maybe it isn't just the careless use of the
word when people call certain areas of certain cities `jungles'," he said. Amid uproar, the project was
shelved.
The notion that crime, genetics and race might be linked has particularly inflamed both proponents
and opponents of "genetic determinism". Because skin colour is a genetic trait, because crime
statistics show that blacks are more likely to end up in jail than whites, and because an increasing
number of researchers appear to believe in a genetic basis of crime and violence, some commentators
have jumped to the conclusion that black people are more likely to be involved in crime because of
their genes.
The water has been further muddied by the recent publication in the US of a book called The Bell
Curve by two right-wing social scientists, Richard Hernstein and Charles Murray. The book argues
that IQ has a genetic basis and this accounts for an inherent difference between the IQs of the races.
Low IQ people, the book says, are more likely to commit crimes because they lack foresight and
cannot understand that robbing someone is wrong.
Few, if any, of the psychologists and geneticists at this week's Ciba conference would agree with
Hernstein and Murray. They might, however, be persuaded that cold-blooded murderers such as Tony
Mobley can have a genetic predisposition to violence and antisocial behaviour which they are born
with.
The problem for Mobley, and others like him, is that judges and juries may be all too ready to agree
and conclude that the only treatment is to lock them up and throw away the key, or, in the case of
Mobley, throw the switch on the electric chair.
Downloaded from The Independent online – 14/05/2015
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/do-your-genes-make-you-a-criminal-1572714.html
Extended writing in psychology
“To what extent would you argue that “Stephen Mobley’s
behaviour is caused by either biological or environmental
factors. (12 marks)
The AS assessment will include a variety of question styles including some multiple
choice, some short answer Qs for between 2-6 marks and some extended writing
questions for between 8-12 marks (This rises to 16 marks in the 2nd year). In
preparation for this type of question and to allow me to assess your written work, I
want you to answer the above question, using the information given to you in this
booklet plus your own research and analysis.
As a rough guide you should be aiming for 25 words per mark so for a 12 mark
answer you should end up with approximately 300 words.
Below is an example mark scheme to help you plan your extended answer.
The question will be marked out of 12.
Level
12 mark Q
Description
4
10-12
3
Evaluation
Organisation
Specialist
terminology
Accurate & well Thorough &
detailed
effective
Clear and
Coherent
Used
effectively
7-9
Evident
although
occasional
inaccuracies.
Mostly
effective
Mostly clear
and organised
Mostly used
effectively
2
4-6
Mostly
descriptive,
lacking some
accuracy
Limited
effectiveness
Lacks clarity
and
organisation in
places.
Used
inappropriately
on occasions
1
1-3
Limited and
many
inaccuracies
Limited, poorly Poorly
focused or
organised
absent
Either absent
or used
inappropriately
Planning for these questions is important as you will be expected to
write the answer within less than 15 minutes in the exam.
Therefore, it is a good idea to plan how you are going to write before
you begin. I have given you a template below to give you an idea of
where to start. Description and evaluation would gain equal marks and
should have an equal balance within the answer.
Skeleton Plan—example
Point one—Biological explanation of criminal behaviour—for example—twin studies in
Denmark that suggest that criminality has a genetic component—criminal parents more
likely to have (breed) criminal children etc.
Point two (evaluation) —An issue with the biological explanation is that it is difficult to
separate genetic causes from environmental ones etc. Or a strength with the biological
explanation is…….
Point Three—A behaviourist explanation for criminal behaviour might be Social learning
Theory(SLT) — This would suggest that all behaviour is learnt from role models etc.
Point four (evaluation)—An issue with SLT is that evidence suggests that some of our
behaviour is innate—in other words, not all behaviour is learnt etc.
Summary—Does one approach explain this behaviour better than the other—if so why / if
not why not?
These points are at their most basic. You need to think about how you could expand each
one to access the highest level on the mark scheme. Explanation and description needs to
be detailed and accurate. Evaluation needs to be well explained and effective. Credit will be
gained for the use of psychological terminology where appropriate.
This is a template only and these points are suggestions. You can, of course, choose your
own points to use in your answer.