Brain & Behaviour

IB Psychology
Biological Approach Techniques & Methods of Studying the Brain

Starter - how do psychologists study the brain?

List as many ideas as you can think of.

Evaluation of the use of animals

 Brain & Behaviour
IB Psychology
Biological Approach Techniques & Methods of Studying the Brain

Animal lesions: Understanding fear (LeDoux)

Describe LeDoux lesion experiments and

what did it teach us about fear?
 Brain & Behaviour
IB Psychology
Biological Approach Techniques & Methods of Studying the Brain

Technique 1 - EEG
What is EEG short for?

Task: make notes about EEG as a method of studying the brain from the video.

Research example:

Technique 2 - CT Scan
What is CT short for?

Task: make notes about CT scans as a method of studying the brain from the video.

Research example:
 Brain & Behaviour
IB Psychology
Biological Approach Techniques & Methods of Studying the Brain

Technique 3 - MRI Scan

What is MRI short for?

Task: make notes from the video about how MRI scans work

Research example:

Technique 4 - PET Scan

What is PET short for?

Task: make notes from the video about how PET scans work
 Brain & Behaviour
IB Psychology
Biological Approach Techniques & Methods of Studying the Brain

Research example:

Technique 5 - fMRI Scan

What is fMRI short for?

Task: make notes from the board & video about how fMRI
scans work

Research example:

Task: which of the techniques do you think is most effective for studying behaviour in psychology? Explain
your answer.

Task: identify whether the following statements are strengths or weaknesses of brain scanning techniques:

1. MRIs and fMRIs are non-invasive, unlike the PET scan.

2. The MRI is a static image that does not demonstrate activity. Research is, therefore, correlational.
Causation cannot be established.
3. Although cheaper and safer than PET scans, MRIs are still expensive. This means that the sample
size for research studies is often small. This makes it difficult to generalize the findings.
 Brain & Behaviour
IB Psychology
Biological Approach Techniques & Methods of Studying the Brain

4. Researchers can carry out limited experiments in an fMRI that allow for cause and effect relationships
to be established.
5. The fMRI is an artificial environment which means that experiments carried out in the fMRI lack
ecological validity. As the MRI is only taking a picture of the static brain, ecological validity is not a
concern.
6. Artifacts can affect the "findings" of a brain scan. Artifacts can be activity in the brain that is the result
of something else besides what is being investigated - e.g. anxiety about being in the fMRI. It can also be
from the machine itself, see the study by Bennett et al, 2010.
7. Scans must be interpreted. Research indicates that the colours presented in a scan may have an
influence on how the scan is interpreted. The significance of activity in the brain may be over-interpreted.
8. Brain imaging techniques allow for researcher triangulation.
9. When used for research, there is the ethical problem of informed consent. Researchers may find a tumour
or some other abnormality; it would be required for the researcher to inform the participant about any such
findings.

Case studies as a method for studying the brain

Prior to the development of modern scanning
technology, one of the most common ways to study the
brain was through the use of case studies of brain
damage. Often such studies provide researchers with a
situation that they could never ethically reproduce in a
laboratory. Case studies of brain-damaged patients are
often carried out longitudinally - that is, over a long
period of time - in order to observe both the short-term
and long-term effects of damage.

In addition, case studies are often holistic in their approach, looking at a range of effects of the damage,
rather than a single behaviour. In order to do this, case studies use triangulation. In the case of a patient
with brain damage, this may include interviews with the family, psychometric testing – for example, IQ or
personality testing, experiments and observations.

However, case studies have limitations. First, as the researchers do not manipulate an independent
variable, no cause and effect relationship can be determined. In addition, since case studies are of
single individuals, from a single case study we cannot generalize the findings to all human beings. And
since it is naturally occurring, the study cannot be replicated. Finally, it may be very difficult to verify
information about the patient before the accident took place. Information about the individual’s IQ,
problem-solving skills, memory or interpersonal skills is often reliant on the memories of family
members. In addition to the fact that this is not an accurate measure, the memories of the family
members may not be accurate.

Task: match the name of the type of triangulation on the board with the description below.

Type of triangulation Description

 Brain & Behaviour
IB Psychology
Biological Approach Techniques & Methods of Studying the Brain

When more than one source of data is used. For example, a case study
of schools that looked at stress in the IB program in five different schools.
In this way, if we get consistent findings, we know that it was not simply
because of the school that we chose.

When more than one research method is used. If we get consistent

findings, that means that the choice of research method was not the
reason for our findings.

When more than one researcher studies a case. Researchers are able to
compare their observations and interpretations in order to increase
reliability and credibility.

When we look at a case from more than one theoretical perspective - e.g.
biological, cognitive, and/or sociocultural.

Case studies as a method for studying the brain

Task: explain how the use of the case study method on HM
demonstrates:
1. How case studies work (the features of them) in the biological
approach...

2. The benefits (strengths) of case studies in the biological

approach…
 Brain & Behaviour
IB Psychology
Biological Approach Techniques & Methods of Studying the Brain

3. The limitations of case studies in the biological approach...

Task: plan an answer to the following 22 mark essay question below:

Evaluate the use of one or more techniques used in the study of the brain and behaviour. (22 marks).