Lesson 3.4.1

3.4.1 Key question: drug therapy and nature versus nurture in aggression Quiz: Pearson Edexcel Psychology, Unit 3

20 questions

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Lesson 3.4.1, Key question: drug therapy and nature versus nurture in aggression: 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel Psychology (9PS0), Unit 3: Biological psychology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Methadone is used in the treatment of heroin addiction. Which description best matches how it works?

    • It is a long-acting opioid that reduces withdrawal and cravings, helping users reduce heroin use
    • It is an antidepressant that blocks the reuptake of serotonin so that users feel less anxious about their drug use
    • It is a stimulant that increases the release of dopamine so that users feel more energetic and alert during the day
    • It is a sedative that removes all dependency on drugs within a few days, with no need for any follow-up treatment

  2. A patient on methadone maintenance is stable, but relapses when exposed to drug-related cues. Which concept best explains this relapse?

    • Cue-induced relapse, in which cues linked to heroin use trigger craving and drug-seeking during treatment
    • Spontaneous recovery, in which a previously extinguished response returns after a long delay with no related cue at all
    • Vicarious reinforcement, in which the patient observes others being rewarded for drug use and copies their behaviour
    • Primary punishment, in which the patient experiences an unpleasant effect of the drug that stops them from using it again

  3. Which finding would most support the use of drug therapy for addiction as an effective treatment?

    • Patients who receive a drug treatment report feeling happy, which shows that the drug has removed the need for any further help
    • Patients who receive a drug treatment stop attending all follow-up appointments, which shows the treatment is working well
    • Patients who receive a drug treatment are never observed by doctors, so their progress cannot be judged by any objective measure
    • Patients who receive a drug treatment show reduced drug use compared with those given a placebo over a set period of time

  4. What is the main ethical concern with using drugs to treat aggression or addiction?

    • Drugs can only be tested on animals, so no human trial of any drug can ever be ethically carried out in the modern world
    • Drugs may have side effects and raise questions about consent, autonomy and social control
    • Drugs are too cheap to produce, so pharmaceutical companies have no incentive to research or develop any new treatments
    • Drugs always cause permanent brain damage, so no drug treatment can ever be justified on any ethical basis whatsoever

  5. If aggression is found to be mainly caused by nature rather than nurture, which social implication is most likely to follow?

    • Society may focus more on biological screening or treatment, and may question whether offenders are fully responsible for their actions
    • Society will have no need for laws, since aggression will be prevented automatically by the body's hormones and brain chemistry
    • Society will stop all education programmes, since genes make learning irrelevant to any individual's behaviour at any stage of life
    • Society will ban all family contact for children, since parents can no longer influence the aggression of their children at all

  6. Which argument best illustrates the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate in aggression?

    • Men have higher testosterone than women on average, which shows that hormones alone explain all sex differences in aggression
    • Children who observe violence at home are more likely to act aggressively, showing that learned experience shapes aggression
    • Brain scans show the prefrontal cortex is active in aggression, which shows that aggression cannot be learned in any way
    • Twins raised together show identical levels of aggression, which proves the environment has no effect on violent behaviour

  7. A study finds that a drug reduces aggression in some participants but not others. What does this suggest about individual differences?

    • Individual differences, such as genetic or environmental factors, may affect how people respond to drug treatments for aggression
    • Drugs only work for people who are older than fifty, so the younger participants could not have responded to the treatment
    • Drugs never work for aggression, so the participants who improved must have improved because of their expectations alone
    • Everyone responds to drugs in exactly the same way, so variation between participants in the study must be due to measurement errors

  8. Which is a limitation of relying on drug therapy alone to treat aggression?

    • Drugs always remove the need for social support, so they make psychological and social interventions completely unnecessary
    • Drugs address only the biological side, and may not change the social or learned factors that contribute to aggressive behaviour
    • Drugs can only be prescribed by psychologists, which means that doctors are not able to use them in treatment of any patient
    • Drugs have no effect on any neurotransmitter, so they cannot influence the biological side of aggression at any level of the brain

  9. A researcher argues that the nature-nurture debate in aggression has practical consequences. Which example best illustrates this?

    • A researcher counting the number of words in a questionnaire, which is a purely technical step with no social consequences
    • A government deciding whether to fund parenting programmes, based on whether aggression is seen as learned or biologically fixed
    • A school choosing the colour of its classroom walls, which is unrelated to any beliefs about how behaviour is caused
    • A scientist measuring the speed of a neuron's firing, which has no link to any social policy or decision about treatment

  10. Why is a biological explanation of aggression important when considering drug therapy?

    • Because if aggression has a biological basis, drugs that act on the relevant neurotransmitters or hormones may reduce it
    • Because a biological explanation of aggression proves that all treatment must be based on learning theory and not on drugs
    • Because a biological explanation implies that aggression cannot be treated in any way, so drugs are a waste of money altogether
    • Because a biological explanation shows that drugs are never needed, since aggression is always a conscious and voluntary choice

  11. Which evaluation point about the key question of drug therapy is most accurate?

    • The effectiveness of drug therapy depends on the individual and on side effects, so comparisons with other treatments are needed
    • Drug therapies can only be evaluated by asking the patient how they feel, since no objective measures of drug use exist at all
    • Drug therapies are always more effective than psychological therapies, so there is never a reason to consider any other approach
    • Drug therapies have no side effects, so they can be given to anyone without any need for medical supervision or follow-up care

  12. A study compares methadone maintenance with a placebo over 12 months. Participants on methadone have 30% fewer relapses. What is the most appropriate conclusion?

    • Methadone has no effect, because a 30% difference is too small to be meaningful for any treatment of addiction at all
    • Methadone causes all users to recover fully, since a 30% reduction means that relapse is eliminated in most participants
    • Methadone is associated with fewer relapses than placebo in this study, though the result depends on the design and sample
    • Methadone increases relapse, since participants who receive any drug will always be more likely to return to drug use

  13. Which is the best example of an ethical trade-off in drug therapy for aggression?

    • Choosing a placebo for a control group, which always harms participants by denying them any treatment they need
    • Giving a drug to a patient without any explanation, which is standard practice and carries no ethical concerns at all
    • Testing a drug on animals before humans, which has no ethical implications because animals never feel pain of any kind
    • Treating a violent person with medication that calms them, weighed against the loss of autonomy or the risk of side effects

  14. Which statement about the nature-nurture debate is most accurate?

    • Nature has no influence on aggression, since all violent behaviour is learned from the people who surround the individual
    • Nature and nurture interact, so aggression is usually influenced by both genetic predispositions and environmental experiences
    • Nature and nurture are mutually exclusive, so a behaviour must be caused either by genes or by the environment but never both
    • Nurture has no influence on aggression, since all violent behaviour is inherited directly from parents through their genes

  15. A government considers screening children for genetic predispositions to aggression. Which concern is most relevant?

    • Screening would always produce perfectly accurate predictions of future violence, so there is no risk of any error at all
    • Screening would be illegal in every country, so no government could ever consider it as a policy option for any reason
    • Screening would have no effect on any child, since genes never influence any behaviour that is observed in childhood development
    • Screening could lead to labelling and discrimination, and could be misused to predict or control individuals unfairly

  16. Which is the strongest reason a psychologist might recommend combining drug therapy with psychological therapy for aggression?

    • Because psychological therapy is always harmful, so drugs must be given to counteract any damage the therapy might cause
    • Because drugs and psychological therapy both act on exactly the same mechanism, so combining them doubles the effect size
    • Because drugs address biological factors while psychological therapy addresses learned behaviour
    • Because neither treatment works on its own, so the combination is always the only option that the evidence supports at all

  17. Which best describes social control in the context of drug therapy for behaviour?

    • The use of treatments to make patients happy at all times, which is the only goal of any medical intervention for behaviour
    • The use of treatments to regulate behaviour in ways that others consider desirable, which may raise questions about power and rights
    • The use of treatments to increase the number of crimes committed, which is the main aim of regulatory policy in society
    • The use of treatments to remove all emotion from a person, which prevents them from forming any relationships in society

  18. A researcher finds a drug reduces impulsive aggression but has no effect on learned aggression in a social situation. What conclusion is best supported?

    • Learned aggression must be caused by the drug, since the drug had no effect on it and the two must therefore be linked
    • The drug must be ineffective overall, since it has no effect on any form of aggression in any setting at any time
    • Impulsive aggression is entirely social, so the drug must have worked on the social setting rather than on the brain
    • The drug probably acts on a biological route to aggression, but learned or social routes may need different treatment

  19. Why do researchers consider a key question about drug therapy and aggression from a societal rather than an academic perspective?

    • Because the question is only about the chemistry of drugs, so it has no connection to the lives of patients or families
    • Because the question has no real-world relevance, so it is only examined in academic papers and never in public debate
    • Because the question concerns real decisions about treatment, policy and rights that affect people beyond the laboratory
    • Because the question can only be answered with mathematical formulas, which means that it does not involve people at all

  20. A psychologist claims that aggression is caused entirely by the brain, so social programmes are unnecessary. What is the best evaluation of this claim?

    • The claim is correct, because brain differences always appear before birth and cannot be changed by any environmental factor
    • The claim ignores the evidence that social and environmental factors also contribute, so it is an oversimplified account
    • The claim is fully supported, since brain scans show all aggression and no social factor has any measurable effect at all
    • The claim is irrelevant, since psychologists never discuss brain function in relation to aggression in any research setting

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