To investigate the biological bases of behavior and mental processes, biopsychol

Question

To investigate the biological bases of behavior and mental processes, biopsychologists must find ways to observe and record both the activities of the brain/body and of behavior. The research methods of biopsychology fall into two general categories: methods of manipulating and measuring behavior, and methods of manipulating and measuring biological factors, most often brain activity. The behavioral methods can include (1) paradigms to look at naturally occurring behaviors in animals like motor activity, grooming, swimming, eating, drinking, copulating, fighting, nest-building; (2) seminatural animal paradigms like learned taste aversion, responding in mazes; (3) conventional conditioning paradigms like operant/instrumental conditioning, Pavlovian classical conditioning.

Assume that this is a laboratory in which you are given two rats and are told that one of the rats has a brain lesion whose origin and locus is unknown. The other rat is normal. Your task is to test the rats to determine which one has the lesion. How would you test the rats to determine which one has the lesion? What is the first thing that you would want to do and how would you do it? How would you determine the behavioral effects of the lesion? You should consider why you would use the methods that you use. Identify each of the two methods that you will use in your subject line--one should be a biological method and one should be a behavioral method.

Explanation / Answer

For identifying the rat with lesion, I would use these two methods-

1. Behavioral Method- To identify the naturally occurring behaviors in animals like motor activity, grooming, swimming, eating, drinking, copulating, fighting, nest-building.

2. Biological Method- Record the activities of the brain/body.

I would choose to firstly identify that which brain portions are responsible for a particuar behaviour. The naturally occuring behaviours are the fixed action patterns that are manifested when the stimuli is present in the environment. Due to lesions of brain certain behaviors will change. Though there is plasticity in the brain, the complete behaviour may not change, yet there will be a significant change in naturally occuring behviour.

The rat with lesiosn will be a part of experimental group while the rat without lesion will be a control in the experimental situation.

The rat without lesion will exhibit the natural behaviours whereas the rat with lesions will behave in a different manner than what is termed 'natural'. The neuronal activity of rat with lesions will be different from the other rat.

The reason for choosing the above methods is that they are a part of experimental study.

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