...The Case Study PSYC 210: Developmental Psychology Spring D 2015 Antonio Robinson L270221508 APA In the case study presented, a situation was highlighted in which a child’s impulsivity caused a deadly outcome to occur. Observance of behavioral experiments and theories, over the years, has given the understanding that a child’s behavior is influenced by what they see, hear, and are taught from other children and adults. As brain functioning develops, children learn how to process simple thoughts and emotions into more complex reasoning skills. They will also become more experienced, thoughtful, and less impulsive as they mature. Children will experience multiple stages of development and growth until they finally reach adulthood. In the case of the 6 year old mentioned above, the child cannot be held responsible for the crime that was committed because the factors that determine brain development and functioning have not fully matured. Legally, no child under the age of 7 can be held accountable for their actions until all of the biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial portions of brain and behavioral functioning have fully matured. First of all, the biosocial aspect of development in early childhood relates to brain development and thought processes. A majority of the brain is already present and operational by age 2 (Berger, 2014, p.219), however, the prefrontal cortex of the brain is considered to be the last part to mature. This region of the brain helps with...
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...The Age of Criminal Responsibility Case Study Katherine Zabonik Liberty University Abstract Our legal system states that children under 7 are not to be held responsible for crimes. Children 6 years and younger are not able to form criminal intent; There are biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial reasoning behind this legal decision. Biosocial factors include the inability for a child of this age to control emotional impulse; cognitively, children are unable to view the world outside of their own perspective, and psychosocial factors include emotional regulation and media influences. The Age of Criminal Responsibility Case Study Can a child commit a crime with criminal intent? It is said that a 6 year old cannot form criminal intent, because the brain has not yet completely developed. The prefrontal cortex, also known as the frontal lobe, will continue to mature over the years. This development occurs through early experience. “Brains grow rapidly before birth and throughout infancy” (Berger, 2014). By the age of 6, most of the brain is functioning and present, however the maturation of the prefrontal cortex is important. Games like “Simon Says” or the “Shape Game” can be played to observe if the prefrontal cortex is working, “but might personal experience rather than brain maturation be the reason?” (Berger, 2014) The Limbic system aids the expression and regulation of emotions which lodges three major areas of the brain;...
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...individual is left unaware that they are dreaming. Certain neural patterns describe this state, such as, the deactivation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Contrastly, lucid dreaming describes a state of sleep where the individual is aware that they are dreaming. Lucid dreaming can also be characterized by increase of 40-Hz wave activity and coherence in the frontal region of the brain. It is interesting to note that lucid dreamers are able to communicate their state by eye movements that can be tracked by an electrooculogram. Apart from the awesome idea of being aware that one is dream, lucid dreaming also have some benefits, such as, treating nightmares. In order to understand the neural changes in lucid dreaming and examine its neural correlates EEG and fMRI techniques were used in this study to compare lucid vs non-lucid REM sleep....
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...Curr Opin Neurol 2006; 19:559-64. Cognitive function following stroke and vascular cognitive impairment. Top of Form [pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic]de Haan EH, Nys GM, Van Zandvoort MJ Bottom of Form Abstract PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review of the cognitive status following stroke and vascular cognitive impairment starts by questioning the concept of vascular dementia and related concepts. Our position is that in many cases these labels promote a superficial conceptualization of an inherently complex and heterogeneous phenomenon hampering a more detailed understanding. RECENT FINDINGS: After stroke or disease of the cerebral vasculature, the cognitive and emotional outcome is dependent on a combination of three factors with the relative importance differing between causes. First, focal damage may lead to selective impairments that are dependent on the localization of the (grey matter) lesion. Second, diffuse neuronal dysfunction produces a more uniform profile of a decrease in mental speed, memory problems, and reduced executive functioning. Third, cognitive outcome is further modulated - notably in terms of severity - by patient variables such as age, sex, premorbid level of functioning, and comorbidity (e.g. hypertension). SUMMARY: The complex character of the cognitive repercussions of stroke can be better harnessed by employing modern neuropsychological assessment procedures. This allows both a detailed categorization of the patients for the selection and effectiveness...
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...Literature Review Traumatic brain injuries are inherently complex in that most do not affect only one brain region or circuit but encompass many different dimensions. In the case of Judy, the frontal and temporal lobes are injured along with generalized stress put on most other brain regions as well (Apps, Newby, & Roberts, 2010). This complicates the process of relating individual symptomology to specific isolated causality. Rather traumatic brain injury being a consequence of specific, repeatable action, each incident is a product of its own unique circumstance constructed from many different connections. Due to this, it makes sense to focus on one or a few different areas that have more profound implications on the system than more minor...
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...ABSTRACT This study examines previous research of antisocial personality disorder. Both biological and psychological research was examined. This paper will attempt to identify common environmental factors shared among people with antisocial personality disorder. PROBLEM STATEMENT Undoubtedly, the first question asked by many upon the gruesome discovery of a murder victim is, “Who could commit such a heinous crime?” Newspaper journalists, broadcast reporters, and the public alike, have asked the question, “What kind of person is capable of taking another person’s life?” A person with Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) is capable of just that and much more. Common careers of people diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder include, sales, management, and business professionals, as well as con artists. This is not an exhaustive list of careers for the antisocial person, as it is common practice for an antisocial person to be a career criminal, and in the most severe cases a serial killer. APD has been defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association as a person having, “a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others” (1994, p.645). The criteria outlined in the DSM-IV notes that APD behavior is indicated by at least 3 of the following characteristics: 1) failure to conform to social norms, 2) deceitfulness, 3) impulsivity, 4) irritability, 5) reckless disregard...
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...The Law Of Infancy Case Study By: Katelin Presley Liberty University April 5, 2012 The law of “Infancy” According to our current legal system and the defense of infancy, children within the age limit of “Infancy” are excluded from any criminal liability because it is said that a child under the age of seven are incapable of committing a crime. However, between the ages of seven and fourteen, children are still presumed incapable of committing a crime although the presumption is rebuttable. When a person comes to read the “Law of Infancy”, they may come to the conclusion that a child, seven and under, is not capable of committing a crime because they do not have the ability to fully understand what they have done was wrong. However, In the February 29, 2000 case of Kayla Rolland, a six year old boy of Buell Elementary school brought a .32 caliber semiautomatic handgun to school shooting Kayla in the neck because of a fight that happened the day before stating that he just wanted to scare her. Although the 1997 Michigan statute stated that a child of any age could be prosecuted as adults for serious crimes, there are many factors proving that a six year old like Dedric Owen, who shot Kayla, could not be held accountable for the crimes they commit. For example, at the age of six, a Dedric has not yet reached the brain developmental maturity, two family members are currently in prison for gun related crimes, and a six year old does not have the ability to regulate...
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...Running head: Case Study Children Under 7 Case Study Anjeana Epps Liberty University Online - APA Abstract The paper will discuss the myelination and the corpus callosum and define and discuss the prefrontal cortex as well as the limbic systems as it relates to the development of a child under the age of 7. Further this paper will explore Paget's theories on of how children under the age of 7 experience different cognitive developments which don't support critical thinking, and Erickson's theory that children under the age of 7 must resolve several crisis that involve the need of the individual conflicting with the needs of society. This papers perspective will show that a child under the age of 7 is not capable of being criminally responsible. Children under the age of 7 should not be held criminally responsible for crimes due to the biological underdevelopment of their brains, the immaturities of their thought processes and the lack of resolution of their psychosocial stages. By ages 6 children have less myelination (fatty tissue that speeds the transmission from neuron to neuron) than teenagers. During this time, myelination areas focus on the motor and sensory area not on information processing that is significantly slower (page 220). Myelination also affects the development of the corpus callosum which affects communication between the right an left hemispheres of the brain. Another biological issue is the lack of maturation of the prefrontal cortex. May children...
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...Anatomy of Violence Paper December 2013 The Anatomy of Violence is a non-fiction book, written by Adrian Raine, which investigates and presents facts to prove a neurocriminology hypothesis. Adrian Raine conducted experiments, researched and studied the biological roots of violence. He inaugurated neurocriminology, a newer field that incorporates neuroscience methods with the intention of examining the causes of violent criminal acts. Raine analyzes criminal minds. He pieces together research, data, and experiments of psychology, neurology, and criminology in order to inform the public of this new notion which sheds a new light on why people are or become violent criminals. This book was very interesting, well-explained, an easy read and the author incorporated many scientific examples to back up his theories. Adrian Raine takes us on a scientific expedition and exposes brain malfunction to be the cause of violent criminal acts. Raine’s theories are interesting and definitely bring forth many important questions however, while reading, I found some of his concepts are difficult to fully envision for logical reasons. A number of his concepts give an overreaching impression and are a bit too broad. While Raine brings up many valid points, I found myself asking important questions while reading Anatomy of Violence. Does this new research and belief give criminals a “Get out of jail free” card? While reading this book, I asked myself, Will this new theory allow...
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...* Case Studies Research Papers Analyzing Psychological Disorders Analyzing Psychological Disorders Brandie L. Coleman University of Phoenix August 29, 2010 INTRODUCTION Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disease that affects the neural basis of the brain. Discussion of the symptoms, the causes and drug therapies for schizophrenic patients will be discussed and covered. Schizophrenia is a mental illness that is yet completely understood. The areas of the brain affected in schizophrenia can not be named by one specific region of the brain. There are a number of regions of the brain that are affected by schizophrenia. Changes reported in the parahippocampal gurus may arise from abnormal neuronal development during formation of the cortex. Additionally, changes have been implicated in the basal region of the temporal lobe, the cerebellum and the mesolimbic system. There are also several regions of the brain that show altered level of function is schizophrenic patients. FMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) studies Is this essay helpful? Join OPPapers to read more and access more than 470,000 just like it! get better grades show reduced blood flow to the frontal cortex, dorsolateral pre prefrontal cortex and par limbic region, and increased blood flow to the anterior prefrontal cortex. The hippocampus shows higher than normal resting blood flow, but no increase in blood flow during cognitive tasks. The temporal, parietal and parahippocampal cortices are involved...
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...THE USES OF REASON by Jonah Lehrer The summer of 1949 had been long and dry in Montana; the grassy highlands were like tinder. On the afternoon of August 5—the hottest day ever recorded in the area—a stray bolt of lightning set the ground on fire. A parachute brigade of firefighters, known as smokejumpers, was dispatched to put out the blaze. Wag Dodge, a veteran with nine years of smokejumping experience, was in charge. When the jumpers took off from Missoula in a C-47, a military transport plane left over from World War II, they were told that the fire was small, just a few burning acres in the Mann Gulch river valley. As the plane approached the fire, the jumpers could see the smoke in the distance. The hot wind blew it straight across the sky. Mann Gulch is a place of geological contradiction. It is where the Rocky Mountains meet the Great Plains, pine trees give way to prairie grass, and the steep cliffs drop onto the steppes of the Midwest. The gulch is just over three miles long, but it marks the border between these two different terrains. The fire began on the Rockies’ side, on the western edge of the gulch. By the time the firefighters arrived at the gulch, the blaze had grown out of control. The surrounding hills had all been burned; the landscape was littered with the skeletons of pine trees. Dodge moved his men over to the grassy side of the gulch and told them to head downhill, toward the placid Missouri River. Dodge didn’t trust this blaze. He wanted to be near...
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...Information about which structures and connections in the brain that are important for memory has come from studies of amnesiac patients and from systematic experimental work with animals. Work in animals includes studies which assess the effects of selective brain lesions on memory, as well as studies using neurophysiological recording and stimulating techniques to investigate neural activity within particular brain regions. An important development that has occurred in the area of memory during the past two decades was the establishment of an animal model of human amnesia in the monkey (Mahut and Moss 1984; Mishkin 1982; Squire and Zola-Morgan 1983). Prior to this and the cause of the resurgence of interest in this area, Scoville and Milner (1957) had previously described the severe amnesia that followed bilateral surgical removal of the medial temporal lobe (patient H.M.). This important case demonstrated that memory is a distinct cerebral function, dissociable from other perceptual and cognitive abilities. Before H.M., due particularly to the influence of Karl Lashley, memory functions were thought to be widely distributed in the cortex and to be integrated with intellectual and perceptual functions. The findings from H.M. established the fundamental principle that memory is a distinct cerebral function, separable from other perceptual and cognitive abilities. The implication was that the brain has to some extent separated its perceptual and intellectual functions from its...
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...Lecture 6 70% = lecture 30% = book Medial temporal lobe/medial temporal cortex Divided into two parts = cortex and subcortex Cortex • Perirhinal cortex o Peri means next to or surrounding o Colatoral sulcus = humans. Rinal sulcus = rats • Enorhinal cortex • Parahippocampal cortex o Para = next to. Thus next to hippocampus Subcortical • Hipocampus • Amygdala In textbooks etc. they sometimes use the more general term vs. specific i.e. say medial temporal cortex when they mean perirhinal cortex. Medial diencephalon • Thalamus • Hypothalamus Sense of smell goes to parahippocampal and enorhinal cortex Wilder Penfield To do experiment = only remove a little bit of a tissue. Permanent window = remove bone forever. Or bone flaps, cut 3 sides and crack a hinge so that they can see under. Tissue is already damaged Bone has an arterial structure in it. Arrest response = stopping response = then you know you want to stay away from this area, i.e. when the patient stops talking etc. Stimulating parts of the brain: 1/3 sensory reports 1/3 dejavu like experiences 1/3 actual memories you can stimulate any part of the cortex and evoke a memory. Also makes a difference of where it was Area especially rich for evoking memories was in the temporal lobe This is also where epileptic fits happened in many people. Where neurons fired rapidly and incoherently. Then eventually starts spreading. Locus/loci spontaneously causing epileptic fits Drugs...
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...Case Study: Theodore Bundy Jeana Avery PSY 410 University of Phoenix Jan 27, 2010 Case Study: Theodore Bundy This paper will look at the case study of the serial killer Ted Bundy, who had antisocial personality disorder. Background of Bundy’s life will be provided, as well as the definition and criteria of antisocial personality disorder. Last, the paper will look at the biological, emotional, and cognitive causes of antisocial personality disorder. Background Theodore Bundy was born November 11, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont. Bundy never knew his biological father, and was raised in his early years by his grandparents, who Bundy believed were his parents. Bundy’s mother, whom he believed to be his sister, eventually took Bundy from his grandparent’s home and remarried. Three children resulted from his mother’s marriage to Johnnie Bundy, and Ted Bundy reacted with anger, resentment, and jealousy. Bundy did well in school, attended Sunday school, and was an avid skier. However, Bundy was haunted by his illegitimacy, and his mother’s resentment towards him. Bundy’s step-father would become violent when provoked, and Bundy felt overlooked, unsupported, and ignored. As a child, Bundy looked at naked pictures of women, obsessed about material possessions, and was humiliated by his family’s economic status. Due to Bundy’s lack of social skills, Bundy was shy, introverted, and felt inferior to others (Meyer, Chapman, & Weaver, 2009). “I am the most cold-blooded son...
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...Phineas Gage Wilson PSY 360 10/15/14 Robert Goodnight Phinea's Gage Paper From past to present the study of psychology has lead researcher's to uncover scientifically based studies about human brain power that can manipulate numerous functions related to cognition. The human brain is responsible for memory, perception, learning, and emotions that contribute to how information is gathered; in addition, environmental factors can determine how information is recorded and utilized. The brain is a huge operating system of which human cognitive skills and abilities depend on proper brain functioning that regulate particular biological processes. Cerebral Cortex The Cerebral Cortex is a region of the brain predominantly responsible for identifying human language; environmental perception and methods of which the brain will process information retrieved. The cerebral cortex is divided into a right and left hemisphere that contains four lobes; parietal, frontal, occipital and temporal. Within the cerebral cortex each lobe controls a particular bodily function that allows us to see, hear, smell, and touch. The executive functioning happens within the frontal lobe which controls human thinking and the method of which we reason and make judgments. "The frontal lobe is susceptible to injury because of the position inside of the skull. This area of the brain is responsible for motor function, solving problems, socialization, and impulse...
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