Brain and Behaviour
Decision Making
Brain and Emotion
Hormones
General Criminology
100
What part of the brain regulates our impulsive actions?
Prefrontal cortex
100
What are the two types of processing called?
System one and system two (also sometimes called type one and type two)
100
What part of the brain is the "emotional centre?"
The amydala
100
What is the name of the system of glands in the body that release hormones?
Endocrine system.
100
What two areas of the brain are most studied in criminology?
The amygdala and the prefrontal cortex.
200
Veterans from what war have been studied in the USA for the past 40 years?
Vietnam War (or the American War as it's called in Vietnam)
200
What is the name of the task used in Bechara et al.'s study on vmPFC lesion patients?
Iowa Gambling Task
200
What gland in the endocrine system releases stress hormones during the fight/flight response?
Adrenal gland (the pituitary is a gland, but it only sends the signal to the adrenal gland)
200
What are two behaviours associated with testosterone?
Aggression/violence, social dominance, social status, attraction, competition
200
What are two brain imaging technologies used frequently in criminology?
MRI and fMRI (PET also acceptable answer).
300
What machine is used to locate the area of brain damage of veterans so researchers can compare groups?
MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging)
300
What are three characteristics of system two processing?
Slow, conscious, based on logic, rational, based on consequences, controlled
300
What three tests did Feinstein et al. conduct on SM to measure her fear?
Haunted house, pet store and observing scary clips
300
How did Radke et al. manipulate testosterone levels?
With injections.
300
What specific type of aggression has been the focus of explanations in this unit?
Reactive, impulsive aggression. This means reacting to a threat and the reaction is done with little thought. It's different to other displays of aggression, like premeditated aggression.
400
What specific part of the brain was damaged in the group with the most aggressive behaviour in Grafman et al.'s report from the Vietnam Head Injury Study?
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
400
What are four characteristics of system one processing?
fast, nonconscious (unconscious), automatic, intuitive, based on experiences, based on emotion
400
Why does SM have damaged amygdalae?
From a rare genetic condition.
400
How do we know from Radke et al.'s study that testosterone influences the brain in response to social threat, and not just in response to other people?
It only impacted the amygdala when viewing the angry faces, not the faces with other emotions.
400

Who is arguably the most famous criminologist today? He is author of "The anatomy of violence," which looks at the biological origins of crime. (I just showed a video of him talking about criminal brains yesterday).

Adrian Raine

500
What result in Grafman et al's study suggests that it's not just brain damage that influences aggression?
"Disruption to family activities" was a better predictor of aggression than the size of the lesion.
500

What characteristic of system two processing were the vmPFC patients NOT demonstrating in the gambling game in Bechara et al.'s study?

An ability to process information (and make decisions) based on consequences - they were unable to learn from their mistakes.

500
Describe the process of releasing stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) in response to perceiving a threat. There are four specific glands and parts of the brain you must mention (A, H, P, A)
The amygala perceives the threat, sends a signal to the hypothalamus, which signals the pituitary gland, which signals the adrenal gland and stress hormones are released.
500
Why can we not use Radke et al.'s study to explain the actions of a serial killer who murders innocent victims?
Radke et al.'s experiment measures testosterone's activity in the brain in response to social threat - the angry face - and when we're motivated to deal with that threat. In the serial killer scenario, if someone is innocent they're unlikely to be a threat to the killer - in other words, the murder is unprovoked.
500

Why is it important for us to learn about criminology?

Because we all have the responsibility to act in ways that will improve society, so if you can learn how to reduce violence when you get older (e.g. by being good parents and voting for politicians who want to improve prison systems) we can all make the future a better place to live in.

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