Practise Edexcel Psychology questions on Raine et al. (1997), describing PET procedures and evaluating brain-abnormality evidence for aggression.
In your studies of biological psychology you will have learned about the following classic study in detail:
- Raine et al. (1997).
Describe the results of the classic study by Raine et al. (1997).
AO1 (3 marks)
Credit up to three marks for accurate description
For example:
- Raine et al. (1997) found that the 41 NGRIs had lower glucose
metabolism in the prefrontal cortex compared to the control group
(1). The murderers had lower activity in the left angular gyrus and
in the parietal area of the brain (1). There was no significant
difference in the metabolism of glucose in the lateral temporal
lobe between the murderers and the control group (1).
Look for other reasonable marking points.
(3)
Explain one strength and one weakness of the classic study by Raine et al. (1997).
(4)
Strength
Weakness
AO1 (2 marks), AO3 (2 marks)
Credit one mark for accurate identification of each strength/weakness
(AO1)
Credit one mark for justification/exemplification of the
strength/weakness (AO3)
For example:
Strength
- Raine et al. (1997) matched the NGRIs with the control group for
age, sex and factors such as whether they have schizophrenia (1)
which increases the validity of the results as they can be sure the
results were not due to other factors which may affect brain
activity, such as mental illness (1).
Weakness
- Raine et al. (1997) only used murderers who pleaded guilty by
reasons on insanity as his experimental group (1), this limits the
generalisability of the results as there may not be the same brain
activity in criminals who committed murder but did not plead
insanity (1).
Look for other reasonable marking points.
(4)