P1+Extended+Learning+(Methodology+comparison)

 One research method utilised in both the learning and biological perspective is natural experiments. A natural experiment is a naturally occurring instance of observable phenomena which approximate or duplicate the properties of a controlled experiment. In contrast to laboratory experiments, these events are not created by scientists, but yield data which nonetheless can be used to make causal inferences.
 * __1. “Different perspectives tend to use a range of research methods (e.g. experiments, case studies, interviews) to obtain data about behaviour.” __**
 * __To what extent are research methods used by the learning perspective similar to the research methods used by the biological perspective? __**** [20 marks] **

A famous case study from the biological perspective was the one of Phineas Gage. What happened in his case was that he was working at a railway construction site when a sudden explosion forced a steel rod through the face of Gage, therefore penetrating through the frontal lobe. Against all odds, Phineas Gage survived this accident and this scenario allowed for various tests that could be performed on him. They found that there had been a change in Gage’s behaviour, which made him switch from a calm state to an erratic one in a matter of seconds. These tests demonstrated that the alteration of his behaviour was a result of his lobe being severed (Brain Localization).

Another research method that is used in both the learning and biological perspective is case studies. A famous ‘learning’ case study is that of Little Albert (Watson &Rayner 1920). The aim of the experiment was to discover whether or not fear could be classically conditioned. The single 9-month-old participant (Little Albert) originally was unafraid of various objects including a white rat (unconditioned stimulus). He showed no signs of fear (unconditioned response). The conditioning process involved the presentation of a loud noise that startled Little Albert (unconditioned stimulus) immediately after the presentation of the white rat. The conditioning resulted in the association of the rat and the noise by Little Albert that eventually lead to Little Albert showing signs of fear (conditioned response) i.e. aversion, crying etc. merely at the sight of anything that resembled a white rat (conditioned stimulus).

One similar method research used by the learning perspective and the biological perspective is 'natural experiments'. for example, Sperry’s lab experiment is one of a ‘natural experiment’ (the after effects). The reason for brain split was that there were people with ‘epilepsy’ a neurological disorder that has a characteristic of repeating senseless seizures. This is where Sperry carries his experiment and found that human brain has specialised on the right and left, and each hemisphere can work independently, at the same time allows people to live a normal life. His experiment aims to investigate human behaviours, by removing or destroying areas of the brain; cutting the linkage (**corpus callosum** ) between the 2 hemisphere of the brain, however it was when people sees the odd behaviours, in other words, Sperry’s experiment has created a ‘split mind’. An interesting natural study from the learning perspective occurred in a small Canadian town. Joy et al measured the independent variable of “exposure to aggression” to see what effect it had on the dependant variable of “imitation of aggression in children” by measuring levels of aggression in children, before television was introduced and after television was introduced to the town. Results depicted that the introduction of televisions to the town did in fact increase the aggressive behaviour of the inhabitants.  