Biological AS Exam Qs

1. Biological AS Exam Qs

2. June 2009 14) Manpreet’sfamily are proud of their daughter’s 10 A grades at GCSE. Her grandmother thinks that Manpreet has inherited her intelligence, whilst her parents think that it is due to the extra stimulation she had as a child. • (i) Outline the meaning of the term nature using the example above. (3) (ii) Outline the meaning of the term nurture using the example above. (3)

3. (i) Outline the meaning of the term nature using the example above. (3) • The nature approach says that our characteristics are determined by our biology/eq; • It says that genes affect our brains and nervous system/eq; • These in turn affect our physical and psychological characteristics/eq; • E.g. Manpreet’s grandmother thinks her intelligence has been passed down through her parents’ genes/eq;

4. (ii) Outline the meaning of the term nurture using the example above. (3) • Nurture refers to the influence of our environment on our characteristics/eq; • It can include factors such as poor diet whilst a child/eq; • Nurture can include the influence of our relationship with our parents/eq; • Manpreet had extra stimulation as a child which could include reading which may have affected her IQ/eq;

5. June 2009 14 b)

6. June 2009 18 a) In the Biological Approach you studied factors affecting gender development. Describe how genes, hormones and/or brain lateralisation affect gender development. (4)

7. Describe how genes, hormones and/or brain lateralisation affect gender development. (4) • Genetic sex is determined by the chromosomes in the egg and those in the sperm/eq; • The egg includes the X chromosome, the sperm contains either the X or the Y chromosome/eq; • If the sperm contains the X chromosome it will be a girl, if it’s the y chromosome it will be a boy/eq; • The Y chromosome will cause the male foetus to develop testes at around 7 weeks/eq; • In a female other genes cause the foetus to develop ovaries/eq; • Hormones are released that stop the male foetus developing a uterus/fallopian tubes/eq; • Male speech and comprehension is controlled by the left hemisphere, whilst females tend to be across both hemispheres/eq;

8. June 2009 18 b) Evaluate the biological explanation for gender. You may like to include comparisons with other explanations as well as other evaluation points. (12)

9. You may like to include comparisons with other explanations as well as other evaluation points. (12) • A family had boys who were thought to be girls until the reached puberty, and the boys had no problem becoming males, so supporting the biological approach/eq; • However, this may be because their community allowed them to become male as it had happened before/eq; • Dorner destroyed sex centres in the brains of newborn male rats, and they behaved like female rats/eq; • However, we may not be able to generalise the findings of this study to humans as our brains are different from rats/eq; • Men are better at spatial tasks and women are better at verbal tasks suggesting there is a brain difference/eq; • A meta analysis on human brains failed to show gender differences in the corpus callosum/eq; • David Reimer was not happy when he was brought up as a girl, and had surgery to turn back to a male supporting the approach/eq; • Female rats who were injected with testosterone behaved like male rats/eq;

10. You may like to include comparisons with other explanations as well as other evaluation points. (12) • It can be argued that there are more similarities between the two sexes than there are biological differences/eq; • Female babies are more sensitive to noise from birth, so there must be biological differences/eq; • The learning approach would argue that gender development is due to your upbringing not your genes/hormones/eq; • The psychodynamic approach says we learn our gender appropriate behaviour by identifying with the same sex parent/eq; • The biological approach can’t explain why in some cultures appropriate male behaviour would be seen as female behaviour in our culture/eq; • Some cultures have more than two gender roles which would be hard to explain in terms of genetics/hormones/eq;

11. Outline one strength and one weakness of using a correlational design in psychological research. (4)

12. Outline one strength and one weakness of using a correlational design in psychological research. (4) E.g. Strength. • Correlations may show a relationship between two variables that was not expected/eq; one mark this can then lead to further research and possible experimentation/eq2nd mark • They can be used to determine a relationship when it is not possible to carry out an experiment/eq; one mark • They can be used to determine a relationship when it is not possible to carry out an experiment, such as the research on twins to see it schizophrenia has a genetic element/eq; two marks. • Fairly easy to analyse using Spearman’s/eq; (one mark) compared to case studies where data are a lot more complex or difficult/eq; (second mark) • It’s easy to read/eq; (one mark) because it is visual and the trend/relationship is clear/eq; (second mark)

13. Outline one strength and one weakness of using a correlational design in psychological research. (4) • E.g. Weakness. • A correlation does not tell us about cause and effect/eq; one mark. So we do not know if violent television causes aggressive behaviouror vice versa/eq; 2nd mark. • The results may not be valid as the measurements are • artifical/eq; one mark. E.g. How can the benefits of • psychoanalysis be measured in an objective way/eq; 2nd mark. • A correlation does not tell us cause and effect/eq; (one mark) • there may be a third factor affecting the results other than the variables of interest/eq; (second mark)

14. June 2010 15 a) Describe the PET scanning technique. (3)

15. 15 a) Describe the PET scanning technique. (3) • PET scanning allows us to see activity in the brain/working brain/eq; • A radioactive chemical is injected into the blood of a person/eq; • As it breaks down it releases radioactivity which can be picked up on the scan/eq; • The more active the brain for a specific task the more radioactivity will be picked up by the scan/eq; • The different colours/shades in the image are interpreted/eq; • Darker/warmer areas show more activity OR lighter/cooler areas show less activity/eq; (one mark for any combination/any direction) • Red/orange shows high(er) activity and blue/green shows low(er) activity/eq; • It allows us to see which parts of the brain are using more glucose/energy/eq; the more active the brain the more glucose/energy it uses/eq;

16. June 2010 15 b) Another method used in the Biological Approach is animal experiments. With regard to practical issues, outline one strength of the use of animals in experiments in the Biological Approach. (2)

17. With regard to practical issues, outline one strength of the use of animals in experiments in the Biological Approach. (2) e.g. 1. • It is possible to have more control over extraneous variables when using animals compared to humans/eq; (ID) • This allows us to be more certain about the cause of a specific behaviour as only one thing is changed between the groups of animals/eq; e.g. 2. • Animals reproduce at a faster rate than humans/eq; • This means that we can study the effect of something such as • genes over the generations/eq; e.g.3 • There are fewer demand characteristic issues as there can be with humans/eq; • Animals may be less aware of the intentions of the study/eq; e.g.4. • Animals such as rats have similar brains to humans/eq; • This means that the results can be generalised from animals to • humans/eq; e.g.5 • we can use animals when we cannot use humans/eq; • so we can single out areas in the brain and see what • behavioursare affected/eq;

18. June 2010 15 c) Name one method other than PET scanning and animal experiments that is used in the Biological Approach. (1)

19. 15c) Name one method other than PET scanning and animal experiments that is used in the Biological Approach. (1) e.g. • MRI scanning/eq; • Twin studies/eq; • Adoption studies/eq; • Correlations/eq; • Laboratory experiments/eq; • Case studies/eq; • Case studies of brain damaged patients/eq; • There are others. Rejected answers • Symbol analysis • Free association • Scanning

20. June 2010 16 c) Steve and Sue are non identical twins. Steve’s bedroom is painted blue, he likes playing football and his favourite television programme is Formula 1 racing. Sue’s bedroom is painted pink, she likes dancing and her favourite film is Sleeping Beauty. Use explanations of gender behaviour from both the Learning Approach and the Biological Approach to explain why Steve and Sue behave differently. (6)

21. Use explanations of gender behaviour from both the Learning Approach and the Biological Approach to explain why Steve and Sue behave differently. (6) • The answer must refer to Steve and Sue at least once otherwise MAX 4 marks. • It could be that Steve was exposed to a high level of testosterone whilst in the womb making him more masculine/eq; • If Sue has reached puberty it could be the high levels of oestrogen/progesterone that are influencing her behaviour/eq; • It could be due to genes - boys have XY chromosome and girls have XX chromosome/eq; • Steve could have been rewarded for showing masculine behaviour so he has learnt that that is appropriate behaviour for him/eq; • Sue may have been punished for masculine behaviour, so in order to avoid the punishment she display feminine behaviour/eq; • Steve’s father could also like football and motor car racing so Steve has imitated his father’s behaviour as he sees him as a role model OR Sue has imitated her mother’s behaviour as she sees her as a role model/eq; (one mark for either or both) • Bandura Ross and Ross found that boys are more likely to copy an aggressive male model than an aggressive female model/eq;

22. June 2010 17) In the Biological Approach you will have studied one of the following studies: • Gottesman and Shields (1966) • Raine et al (1997) • De Bellis et al (2001) Describe one study from the list. Clearly identify the study you are describing. (6)

23. Gottesman and Shields (1966) (6 AO1) • They aimed to see if there was a genetic or environmental influence of the development of schizophrenia/eq; • They studied MZ and DZ twins, in each pair of twins at least one of them had schizophrenia/eq; • Each pair of twins was tested using blood group, fingerprints and how alike they looked to decide whether they were identical or not/eq; • They used hospital records to determine whether one of the pair had schizophrenia as well as interviews/eq; • The twins and their parents were tested for disorganised thinking and the twins also had a personality test/eq; • They tested to see if both twins had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and whether both twins had a mental disorder but different diagnoses/eq; • They found that there was a stronger link in schizophrenia with regard to twins in MZ than in DZ twins/eq; • They found that 42% (+/-5) of the MZ twins both had a diagnosis of schizophrenia compared to 9% (+/-5) of the DZ twins/eq; • 77% (+/-5) of the MZ twins of severe schizophrenics also had schizophrenia compared to `15% (+/-5) of the DZ twins/eq; • They concluded that genes do play a role in the development of schizophrenia/eq;

24. Raine et al (1997)(6 AO1) • Raine aimed to see if the brain activity of murderers/people pleading not guilty of murder through diminished responsibility was different to that of non-murderers/eq; • They wanted to see if there was a difference in the prefrontal cortex of murderers/people pleading not guilty of murder through diminished responsibility and normal people/eq; • Their ppts. were 41 people charged with murder or manslaughter who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI)/eq; • They were compared to a matched group of people not charged with murder or manslaughter/eq; • Some/6 ppts. in both groups were diagnosed with schizophrenia/eq; • PPts. were injected with a radioactive substance and carried out a visual task/eq; • A PET scan was carried out when the task was finished to see how active the brain had been in the prefrontal cortex/eq; • It was found that the murderers had less activity in areas of the prefrontal cortex/eq; • Murderers’ brains were more active in the right side of the thalamus compared to non murders/eq; • They concluded that the areas that had abnormal activity were associated with lower self control/increased aggression/eq; • They concluded that brains of murderers were significantly different from the brains of non murderers/eq;

25. June 2011 16) The central nervous system has an important role in human behaviour. Describe the central nervous system. (4)

26. Describe the central nervous system. (4) • The central nervous system is made up of the brain and the spinal cord/eq; • Nerves in our body send information via the spinal cord to the brain/eq; • The brain then processes this information and sends a message to the body through the spinal cord/eq; • E.g. our eyes send a message about a car coming towards us, the brain processes how far away it is and sends a message back telling us to cross the road/eq; • Different areas of the brain are responsible for different functions, e.g. the hippocampus is important for memory/eq; • Neurons in the brain pass messages along through electrical impulses/neurotransmitter/eq; • Neurotransmitters are released and cross the synaptic gap to be picked up by receptor sites/eq;

27. June 2011 17) Animal studies are often used in the Biological Approach. Evaluate the use of animals in psychological studies in terms of the ethical issues. (4)

28. Evaluate the use of animals in psychological studies in terms of the ethical issues. (4) • It is possible to do things to animals (such as cause brain damage) that would be unethical in humans/eq; • E.g. Skinner gave electric shocks to the rats in the • Skinner box, we wouldn’t be able to give electric shocks to humans in the same way/eq; • Some people argue that we should never do things to animals that we would not do to humans and all animal studies are unethical/eq; • Minimum numbers of animals should be used in studies making them more ethical because any practices are not carried out unnecessarily/eq; • Using Bateson’s cube animal studies are ethical if we are certain there will be a benefit, their suffering is low and the research is of a high quality/eq; (2 marks) • However, whilst we may expect a benefit to come from the research we cannot know there will be any benefit until after the research/eq; • Results from animals such as rats may not be true for humans, meaning that they have been used in vain so making it unethical/eq;

29. June 2011 19 a) Describe the role of hormones in gender development. (3)

30. 19 a) Describe the role of hormones in gender development. (3) • If the H-Y hormone is released when the foetus is 6 weeks then testes will develop/eq; • Testosterone makes males more aggressive/tough and oestrogen makes females more emotional/eq; • If the testes develop male sex hormones will be released when the foetus is 3 months leading to male sex organs/eq; • If no male hormones are released then the female sex organs develop/eq; • In puberty the hormone testosterone lead males to develop facial hair and causes sperm to be produced/eq; • In females oestrogen released at puberty causes breasts to grow and fatty tissue to be deposited on the hips/eq;

31. June 2011 b) Mark was born genetically male but with an undeveloped penis. His parents are trying to decide whether it would be best for him to have an operation to change him into a female. With reference to Mark, use concepts (ideas, theories, research) from the Biological Approach to explain issues involved in gender development. (5)

32. With reference to Mark, use concepts (ideas, theories, research) from the Biological Approach to explain issues involved in gender development. (5) • Mark has already been exposed to male hormones in the womb so his behaviour may remain masculine/eq • Mark will have a male brain with language being more lateralised to the left hemisphere so the operation may not be successful/eq; • Due to his biological make up Mark may feel masculine even if he is brought up as a female/eq; • David Reimer was seriously affected throughout his life as he always felt different even when he didn’t know he had been a boy/eq; • Reiner found that of 14 boys raised as girls after surgery most of them felt male, so it may not work/eq; • Daphne Went is a case of a genetic male raised as a female who was happy being female so showing sometimes people can be successfully raised as the opposite sex/eq;

33. June 2012 16 a) Outline the results and conclusions of Moneys original (1975) study. (3)

34. 16 a) Outline the results and conclusions of Moneys original (1975) study. (3)

35. June 2012 16 b) Evaluate Moneys(1975) study in terms of validity and reliability. (4)

36. June 2012 18) In the Biological approach you will have studied key issue. Describe the key issue you studied in the Biological Approach and apply psychological concepts (theories and/or research) to explain the key issue. Clearly identify the key issue in your answer. (7)

37. June 2012 19) Compare the explanations of gender development give by the Biological Approach and the Learning Approach. Comparisons include considering similarities and/or differences. (5)

38. June 2013

39. June 2013

40. June 2013 20) In the Biological Approach you will have carried out a practical investigation to test differences between groups using a research method such as an experiment. Your results will have included statistical analysis. • Outline the aim/hypothesis of your practical investigation from the Biological Approach. (2) • Describe the results of your practical investigation from the Biological Approach. (3) • Evaluate your practical investigation from the Biological Approach. (7)

41. June 2013 20) Describe and evaluate an explanation of gender development from the Learning Approach. In your evaluation you must include at least one comparison with another explanation of gender development. (12)