Biological theories - genetic (MAOA)

What is the MAOA gene responsible for?

(a)  

What neurotransmitter is regulated by the MAOA enzyme?

• Dopamine

• Serotonin

• Noradrenaline

• Histamine

What happens when someone has a faulty MAOA gene?

• It makes you hungry.

• It increases hormone levels.

• Leads to less production of MAOA enzyme.

• Lower levels of aggression are displayed.

Low production of the Enzyme MAOA can lead to...?

(a)  

The MAOA gene has been nicknamed the 'warrior gene'.

• True

• False

The experiment that supports this genetic theory was conducted by who?

• Freud and Little Hans

• Sheldon and Body shapes

• McDermott and the hot sauce study

• Mednick and the adoption study

Those with a low activity MAOA were (a)   to issue the punishment in the experiment.

On strength of the McDermott experiment was:

• There was a mix of males and females taking part.

• It had low ecological validity.

• It was conducted in a lab setting so it had high control over variables.

Select the 2 correct evaluation that challenge the MAOA gene theory.

• Lack of evidence to support the theory that a single gene can cause aggression.

• It has low internal validity as it was a lab experiment which means there was less control over extraneous variables.

• The control variables weren't constant throughout the experiment which makes them unreliable.

• The MAOA gene theory is too deterministic as it suggests a singular mutated gene can cause criminal behaviour.

Research such as the MAOA support

• Nurture

• Nature