CH 3: Biological Perspective

 The biological perspective focuses on behavior due to biological influences. This perspective focuses on the brain including its connections our nervous system which controls mental processes. The nervous system is responsible for memory, feelings, actions, and reactions towards the external world. It is divided into the central nervous system which includes the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system which consists of nerve cells. These nerve cells are called neurons. This neuron consists of a cell body responsible for the cell´s energy, dendrites which receive information from a different neuron, and an axon which sends a message away. For messages to be passed between neurons, it must cross a synapse which is a space between two neurons. Then a neuron releases its neurotransmitters a chemical message to another neuron. The brain is composed of the hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain mainly. Within the hindbrain the medulla, pons, and cerebellum are found. In the midbrain the reticular activating system is found. Within the forebrain the thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, cerebrum, and cerebral cortex are found. The sensory and motor areas of the brain are responsible for the control and senses of certain areas of the body. The biological perspective is also seen in case studies.

                There is a condition called phantom limb syndrome. In one case study a man called Derek was suffering from this condition. He was missing and arm. However he felt it. A known psychologist called Ramachandran   experimented with him. He touched certain parts of him to see if any created a sensory response to his missing arm. As a result his cheek created this sensory response. The psychologist concluded that this was because his sensory part of the cheek was just by the sensory part of his arm. So when Derek lost his arm, these sensory parts in his brain had to be stimulated so they blended with the sensory neighbor. Another case study shows a fellow who had a missing arm but even if the arm was not there, he had it clenched. This was because there is no feedback because there is no arm so the signals keep going. Through a mirror box, this could be unclenched creating a perception as if he still had an arm.

                There is a condition called blind sight. A case study shows how a man is blind, but he can see movement. This is because there are two parts in vision. One part involves the visual cortex which is our conscious part of sight where we select what is important in what we see. The other part involves the brain stem which is the reflexive behavior. This part is unconscious and involves only movement and   reflexes. This is how reptiles see, through reflexes, as well as this gentleman. Another case study involving sight is about Peggy which suffers from visual neglect. Half of the visual world is not important for her. This is a problem of consciousness. There is spatial neglecting in the parietal lobe.  

                There is a condition called the Kapagra Delusion. In this case study a man suffered from an accident. After the accident he could recognize his parents but said they were impostors. This is a visual problem because he could recognize them but did not feel the emotions he felt with his “real parents”. This is because from the temporal lobe, the message does not reach amygdala so he felt no emotions towards his parents. This over time healed itself.

                The final case study is about a man that suffered an accident called John. He had epilepsy. He had an electrical storm inside of him where he felt the emotions to excess. It is an earthquake in the brain that was caused by seizures. Sometimes he felt overpowering, and sometimes extremely sad.

                The biological perspective is so perfect and complicated that a simple change in the brain can make a huge difference. Also how a change in anatomy can make a change int he brain. After these case studies were read, we could understand that the brain is made in a specific way. If something slightly is changed, any signal or any message cannot be sent or is sent incorrectly, it creates an overall huge change. We could also see how powerful the unconsciousness can be and see whenone is blind. We can see how all the messages have to pass through a series of steps to reach its final point. We could also see how stimulation is still being sent or sensed when missing a part. This is how complex the nervous system is. 

CH 2: Survey

Survey                                         

1)        Question:   Do religion and laws affect or control our actions/decisions from our everyday life?

2)        Hypothesis: Religious people and those who trust in the law will have their actions more controlled than those who are not religious or trust in the law.

3)        Target population: Religious People (however also atheists should be included to analyze and compare with religious people) and people who trust in the law (however people of the opposite should be included to analyze and compare).

4)        Sample: Random Sample- Everybody has their own point of view towards religion no matter age or sex. This may include atheism or other religious branches.

5)        Testing- This is an example of the actual survey. This is how testing the hypothesis would be possible. The way I would be able to test the hypothesis is through this survey. I would be focusing specifically on the scenarios (Questions 7-10) and if they would vary depending on their religious status (Question 3 mainly) or their position regarding the law (Question 6). The rest of the questions are to enforce the main questions.

1.        Are you male or female?

2.        How old are you?

3.        Are you religious?    Yes     No

4.        (Answer only if you are religious) How strict is your religion?  Very strict     Somewhat strict  Not so strict

5.        (Answer only if you are religious) How faithful (do you pray often, do you follow rules established by your religion, etc…) are you towards your religion? Very faithful     Somewhat faithful            Not so faithful

6.        Do you think that the laws are effective?    Yes     No

7.        If there was a red light but no cars, would you pass it?   Yes   No

8.        If there is a wallet with money in a chair without an owner, would you take it? Yes        No   Other(lost and found)

9.        If there is no one around, would you harm anyone?  Yes      No

10.     Would you consume drugs if there is no one around? Yes    No

11.     If there were no laws or no religion, would you pass a red light if there are no cars around?  Yes      No

12.     If there were no laws or no religion, would you take the wallet with money from the chair without an owner? Yes   No   Other

13.     If there were neither laws nor religion, would you harm anyone with no other person around?

Yes       No

14.     If there were no laws or religion, would you consume drugs?  Yes    No

6) Analyzing results:

7)        Draw Conclusions: According to the data extracted, the actions from most individuals did change if there was no religion or laws implanted. In other words, religion and laws can control the actions of certain individuals. Especially laws. The hypothesis therefore is verified.

8)        Replication- Certain circumstances changed for future reference would be including different types of religion. Every person who answered that was religious was Christian or derived by Christianity. If this survey were to be conducted again, more religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism or others would be added. Another circumstance that should be changed is region. More regions should be included due to the laws from each individual region.

9)        New Question- How would a different religion control our actions? Do people follow the laws of a religion due to fear?

Do laws or religions simply make us into time bombs ready to rebel at any time and break all of the rules?

10)     Reflection: After finding out that certain laws and religions control our actions, it can be thought these two work together to control society and prevent anarchy from occurring. It may be asked if religion and laws are followed due to the personal morality of one serving as guidance or if they are followed by fear of the punishment. In laws the punishment would be the jail, and in religion it would be hell. It may be thought that the people whose actions changed when there were no laws and religion in the survey are because there is nothing to fear anymore. Instead those in the survey whose actions did not change at all were because they follow their personal morality over the religion and laws implanted. This percentage was less. This leads to an alternate conclusion which is that laws of any type are followed due to fear.  We are controlled by fear.