Aaaaand I'm back!

Hello world,

Long time no speak, sorry about that (if you missed me, of course!), it’s been a pretty hectic few weeks here, the exam stress is multiplying daily, as is the homework.

I haven’t posted much revision-y stuff recently as I’ve done a lot by hand; mind maps/ flash cards and the like.

I finally fixed my laptops internet problem – I realised that my internet dongle was fried so I’m sharing my dads until I get a new laptop that isn’t 10 years out of date, that’ll be around June 2014.

So what else has happened recently? Well, you know that DIY I was doing during the holidays, building loads of cupboards to put on the wall…Well, a couple of weeks ago they decided they would rather be freestanding, so at 2am I awoke to an almighty crash, clambered out of my room to see what had happened and was was met with the sight of one cupboard, having ripped out of the wall, pulled another with it, it also turned the light on and knocked the thermostat of the wall.

So there we were, 2am, me trying to support the offending cupboard (bear in mind, the reason it broke free was due to the literal tonne of books that lay within), while my dad tried to unscrew it from the other cupboards before the house completely fell apart, unfortunately, I didn’t quite manage to say that doing that would mean I would be single-handedly lifting the cupboard full of books before my dad had done the aforementioned unscrewing.

Not surprisingly, this resulted in a rather loud outcry as my right arm was crushed between the heavy cupboard and the one that stood beneath it, how I didn’t break my arm I don’t know, maybe I was owed some luck.

I also purchased my first skirt for school since the age of 11, and this was shortly followed by a dress (I had many Christmas and birthday vouchers), many gasps were heard from friends as they realised I am in fact, a girl!

I started as a young leader at cubs recently, they aren’t half a lively bunch. In fact, we have to split the group in two during games as having them all inside while playing hockey is just a minibus to A&E waiting to happen, but I’m enjoying it so far.

If anyone has some good games that won’t get them over-excited, I’m all ears! (Literally, if anyone has seen me in my Pudsey ears, no? Well, you’re in luck.)

I took part in the St George’s day parade on Sunday 21^st April, this consisted of a march through the high street, followed by a service in the church in which a played the part of an old woman and narrator number 2, much enjoyment was had by all, I have to say.

Had a bit of a crazy one this past week, geography mock on Tuesday along with a (somewhat anticipated) breakup, never an easy thing to go through, but I think I learnt a lot from my last relationship and didn’t make the same mistakes, and I think I’m handling it pretty well this time around. Besides,  it wasn’t messy.

I then went to Cardiff’s open day on Wednesday, leaving at 4am, I wasn’t too keen at first but it really grew on me, the course is amazing and the parks and gardens are gorgeous, I can see myself waiting all year for a day to be able to work outside haha!

Then on Thursday I had a biology and a psychology mock, which I don’t think went too badly, Friday was non-uniform day with an on-site music festival (complete with a downpour right on cue) and as I walked home with my friend Jonny, many laughs were had about 9 people sharing a bed, chimpanzees and some clear confusion about the male anatomy; this is a pretty average conversation for us.

Saturday consisted of 3 essays, a quick trip into town, geography homework and settling down to watch Doctor Who followed by Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Sunday (today) I did a bit of revision for each subject, ran into town for some bread and to enjoy the sunshine, gobbled down a fish finger sandwich all before my dad picked me up at 1pm. On returning home I’ve unpacked and written this post, I now need to fine tune my essays before watching Catchphrase and Endeavour.

All in all, a pretty hectic week but I’d rather be busy than bored and restless any day, even if it does involve getting up at  and revising for exams.

I have decided that I know longer want to be an adult…if anyone wants me, I will be in my blanket fort, colouring.

Alons-y.

Psychological investigations

Psychological investigations

Experiments

• Lab – Researcher manipulates one variable and measures the effect on another. All other variables are controlled as far as possible. Sometimes considered Cause (IV) and effect (DV).  E.g. Loftus & Palmer

-High control

-Not ecologically valid.

-Demand characteristics.

-Often involve deception – ethics.

• Field – Real-life situation. IV and DV still exist, but not in controlled way. E.g. Piliavin et al.

-Natural environment (ecological validity)

-Lack of control

• Quasi – Naturally occurring IV such as age or gender, cannot be experimentally manipulated. E.g. Maguire.

-Not high control.

-Difficult to establish causal relationships.

Extraneous variable - A variable other than the IV that affects the DV.

Experimental design

INDEPENDENT MEASURES

• Using different participants for each condition of an experiment.
• This means there is no problem with order effects.
• Error may result from individual differences.
• Uneconomic as twice the number of participants are required.

REPEATED MEASURES

• Testing the same individuals in each condition.
• No individual differences.
• Fewer participants required.
• Order effects – people behave differently according to which order the conditions were carried out (Pps may become bored/tired). Reduced by counterbalancing which randomises the order that different Pps carry out each condition.

MATCHED PAIRS

• Using different participants for each condition but participants are matched in key variables, such as scores in certain tests.
• Difficult to obtain matched pairs.
• Time consuming.
• Expensive.

Hypotheses

A predictive statement that can be tested.

ONE-TAILED HYPOTHESIS (DIRECTIONAL)

• Predicts the direction of results.
• E.g. Participants will perform better on memory tests at 10am than 10pm.

TWO-TAILED HYPOTHESIS (NON-DIRECTIONAL)

• Does not predict the direction of results.
• E.g. There will be a difference in performance on a memory test between participants tested at 10am and participants tested at 10pm.

ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS

• States expected results
• All adult participants will gain higher scores on memory tests at 10am than 10pm.

NULL HYPOTHESIS

• States no difference.
• E.g. there will be no significant differences in performance on a memory test between participants tested at 10am and participants tested at 10pm.

Control

• Sometimes, the results of an experiment are due to the individual, e.g. If participants perform better on a test in the morning than the evening, it might be that participants who took the test in the morning are better at memory tests.
• Sometimes however, results mat be due to the situation, e.g. if the test was conducted in a noisy environment. Scientists reduce this as far as possible.
• To reduce demand characteristics, a single-blind technique can be used. Here, participants are not aware of the aims of the experiment.
• To reduce experimenter bias, a double blind technique can be used, both researcher and participant are unaware of the aim.

Descriptive statistics

• Descriptive statistics offer a summary of data.
• Do not allow us to make a conclusion.
• Two main ways:

-Measure of central tendency (mean, median, mode).

-Measure of dispersion (range, Standard deviation).

Observations

• Tend to be high in ecological validity
• Does not manipulate an IV.
• No demand characteristics.
• Useful as a starting point.
• Difficult to replicate.
• Do not give information on thoughts or feelings.
• Little control of extraneous variables so cannot conclude casue and effect.
• Observer bias.
• Lack of informed consent.
• Time consuming.

NON-PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

• Researcher does not join in activity being observed.

PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

• Observer is also a participant in the activity being studied.
• Provides more insights about behaviour.
• Observer may lose some objectivity.

UNDISCLOSED (COVERT) OBSERVATION

• Participants are not fully aware that they are being studied.
• Researchers may use one-way mirrors.

STRUCTURED OBSERVATION

• Researchers design a coding system to record and categorise participants behaviour.
• Generally provide quantitative behaviour.
• Sometimes behaviours may overlap or a behaviour may occur that has not been previously thought of.

UNSTRUCTURED OBSERVATION

• Researchers record behaviour they can see.
• Can be difficult without a camera.
• Can be difficult to analyse.
• Provides rich, qualitative data.

CONTROLLED OBSERVATION

• Researchers control some variables.

Reliability – How consistent a measuring device is.

Inter-rater reliability - How closely the ratings of two observers compare.

Validity – Whether a study measures what it set out to.

Self-report

• Any method that involves asking the participant about feelings, attitudes, beliefs etc.

QUESTTIONAIRES

• Consist of a set of questions.
• Open questions - invite the respondent to provide their own answers.

-provide qualitative data.

-difficult to analyse.

-can produce more in-depth responses.

• Closed questions - provide a limited choice of answers.

-Provide quantitative data.

-Easy to analyse.

-Do not allow for in-depth insights.

• Likert scale - A scale used for participant to decide how strongly they agree or disagree with statements.

Meeting the challenge of religion: The Elizabethan Religious Settlement

Meeting the challenge of religion: The Elizabethan Religious Settlement

The religious beliefs of Elizabeth I

• She left no clear statement of her own religious views.
• Upbringing predisposed towards Protestantism – legitimacy of mothers marriage coincided with break from Rome, likely to associate her own right to the throne with opposition to the Papacy. Education was also distinctly protestant.
• Anne Boleyn had entrusted Matthew Parker with the spiritual welfare of Elizabeth – Elizabeth made him her first Archbisop of Canterbury.
• Catherine Parr was the one that brought Elizabeth back to court, and was herself protestant.
• The Dean of St Paul’s in 1561 left a prayer book in Elizabeth’s place, it contained engraved pictures of saints and martyrs – she told him she had an “aversion to idolatry, to images and pictures of this kind.”

Supremacy and Uniformity: The First Moves

• Options:

-Maintain Catholicism - would preserve alliance with Spain but Elizabeth was Protestant.

-Maintain Catholicism without Pope – Follow her father’s footsteps.

-Switch to Calvin’s Protestantism – Rebellions

-Moderate Protestantism – No one is put out too badly.

     

• Had to be passed by act of parliament so had to bear in mind the attitudes of the Marian Bishops.
• Kept 2 principles in mind:

-The need to establish a national church to secure the religious conformity and attendance of as many of Elizabeth’s subjects as possible.

-The need to perform a balancing act between Protestants and Catholics.

• Forbade elevation of the host at mass in Royal chapel on Christmas day. Priest refused & Queen walked out.
• Jan 1559 – snubbed monks at Abbey of Westminster crying “Away with these torches” “we can see very well”.
• Elizabeth told the Spanish ambassador that she aimed to restore the form of religion as practised in the final years of Henry’s reign – which many Catholics had found acceptable.

Supremacy and Uniformity: The Parliament of 1559

• When parliament assesmbled in 1559, the international situation remained uncertain.
• Spanish interests bound up in her retaining the throne otherwise Mary Stuart unite England, Scotland and France against Spain.
• Negotiations took place at Cateau-Cambresis between France, Spain and England in Feb 1559 to end the war.

The acts of Supremacy and Uniformity

• First 3 government bills were sufficiently radical to arouse opposition. One aimed to sever connections with Rome – the bill of supremacy.
• Likely that the other two bills included re-adoption of the second Prayer book used by Edward. Passed in house of commons but rejected by Lords. 2^nd attempt saw the Lords alter the bills beyond recognition.
• French threat removed in April 1559 when The Peace of Cateau-Cambresis was signed.
• Elizabeth learned that Marian Bishops were to oppose any measure tampering with Catholicism. She therefore instigated aggressive propositions attacked authority of pope, spiritual value of mass and use of Latin in public worship.
• Catholic representatives withdrew in anger and Elizabeth took the opportunity to arrest 2 of them on a charge of disobedience.
• The reduced number of Catholics in the Lords giving the government a greater chance of pushing through Protestant measures.
• Substituted “Supreme head of the church of England” with “Supreme Governor”.
• Act of Supremacy demanded that clergy & royal officials swear an oath that they accepted Queen’s title.
• It also sought to repeal laws on heresy and set up a Commission for Ecclesiastical causes which would have the right to judge on orthodox doctrine.
• Only one layman voted against it in the Lords due to the absence of the Abbot of Westminster and the 2 arrested bishops.

The act of Uniformity 1559

• Required use of the book of common prayer and provided a punishment for those who refused.
• Amended the 552 book which included the “black rubric” which declared that kneeling at communion must not be taken to imply that Christ was a real presence in brad and wine. This was omitted.
• Also removed insulting references to the Pope.
• Fine of one shilling for absence from church on Sundays and holy days.
• Surplice and Cope.

Race and American Society, 1865-1970s

Race and American Society, 1865-1970s

Chapter 3: Change from above: evidence concerning the role of state and federal authorities

OVERVIEW

• The system of ‘checks and balances’ was designed to prevent any one institution becoming too powerful.

CONGRESS, THE CONSTITUTION AND RECONSTRUCTION

• Enshrined in American Constitution were principles that civil rights activists fought for.
• Most relevant to race were amendments 13, 14 and 15.
• Their objective was to make sure these amendments were fully implemented in the whole of society.

Amendment 13

1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United states, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

      2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Slavery cannot be enforced except as a punishment, for which the offender as been lawfully convicted.

 

• The abolition of slavery represented a social and economic revolution in southern states, enabling mass migration from plantations to cities, and then from South to North, setting up African-American businesses, black churches, schools and colleges.
• The southern former slave states resisted further concessions to equality by imposing the Black codes.
• They varied between states but effectively prevented most freed slaves from voting, sitting on juries, marrying whites, carrying guns and giving evidence against a white person.
• Also, many were obliged to agree to binding new contracts with plantation owners who had formerly owned them – the T&Cs were not far from slavery.
• In retaliation, northern republicans in congress, without support of President Johnson, passed a civil rights act in 1866 and demanded a 14^th amendment making Black codes illegal. Ratified in 1868.

Amendment 14

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the Jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for president and vice-president of the United States, Representatives in congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United states, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens of twenty-one years of age in such State.

3. No person shall be a senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an Officer of the United states, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or Rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorised by law,

including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United states, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

   

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

• The final ‘reconstruction’ amendment was the 15^th – in theory, this guarunteed voting rights of African Americans.
• In reality, intimidation and other strategies disenfranchised many for a long time afterwards.
• 15^th amendment ratified in 1870.

Amendment 15

1. The right of citizens of the United States shall not be denied or

      abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race,

      color, or previous condition of servitude.

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate

      legislation.

                     

• 15^th amendment should have enfranchised 700,000 southern blacks, giving them the majority over the 600,000 white voters.
• Many African Americans were elected in lesser posts, none were elected as governors during the reconstruction era, whites continued to dominate senates.

Sanders gave several possible reasons for this:

• Blacks lacked education, organisation and experience
• Blacks were accustomed to white leadership and domination
• The black community was divided. Ex-slaves resented free-born blacks who saw themselves as superior
• Blacks were a minority in most states
• Sure of the black vote, the Republican Party usually put forward white candidates in the hope of attracting more white votes.
• White republicans usually considered blacks to be less able to govern than whites
• Southern black leaders were usually moderates who had no desire to exclude ex-confederates from office.

Biology Unit 2

BIOLOGY UNIT 2

7. Variation

7.1_Investigating Variation

·       When one species differs from another, this is called interspecific variation.

·       However, members of the same species also differ from each other, this is intraspecific variation.

SAMPLING

• Involves taking measurements of individuals selected from the population of organisms being investigated.
• Can we be sure the sample is representative?
• Sampling bias – Investigators may be making unrepresentative choices when sampling. E.g. may avoid areas in cow dung or stinging nettles.
• Chance – Individuals may, by pure chance, not be representative.

-Best way to eliminate sampling bias is to eliminate as much human involvement as possible.

-Random sampling – Divide area into grid with numbers > Use random number table to obtain coordinates. > Take samples from these coordinates.

-Cannot completely remove chance but can minimise its effect:

-Use a large sample size – more reliable data.

-Analysis of data collected – Statistical tests can be used to determine to what extent chance may have influenced results – allow us to determine whether variation is due to chance or another cause.

CAUSES OF VARIATION

·        Variation is the result of two main factors:

-         Genetic differences

-         Environmental influences

Genetic differences:

·        Mutations: Sudden changes to genes and chromosomes may, or may not, be passed to next generation.

·        Meiosis: Special form of nuclear division formes gametes. This mixes up genetic material before it’s passed to gametes, all of which are therefore different.

·        Fusion of gametes: In sexual reproduction, offspring inherit some chacteristics of each parent so are different from both. Which gametes fuse is random, adding to variety.

·        Variety in asexually reproducing organisms can only be increased through mutations.

Environmental influences:

·        Genes set limits, but it’s largely the environment that determines where, within the limits, an organism lies.

·        E.g. a buttercup may have genes to allow it to grow tall, but if there is low light in an area, it will not grow properly.

·        Variation is usually due to a mixture of genetic differences and environmental influences.

·        Difficult to distinguish between effects of many genetic and environmental influences so it is very difficult to draw conclusions about what causes variation in any particular case.

8. DNA and meiosis

8.1_Structure of DNA

NUCLEOTIDE STRUCTURE

Individual nucleotides have 3 components:

-Deoxyribose (sugar)

-Phosphate group

-An organic bas belonging to one of 2 groups

  *Single-ring bases – cytosine (C) and Thymine (T)

  *Double- ring bases – Guanine (G) and Adenine (A)

·        The deoxyribose sugar, phosphate group and organic base are combined (through a condensation reaction), to give a mononucleotide.

·        Two mononucleotides may cobine in a condensation reaction between the Deoxyribose sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate group of another, to form a dinucleotide.

·        A long chain of these is a polynucleotide.

DNA structure

• In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick worked out the structure of DNA, following on from the work of Rosalind Franklin on the x-ray diffraction patterns of DNA.
• DNA is made up of two strands of nucleotides (polynucleotides), each of which are very long and joined by hydrogen bonds between certain bases.
• Simplified, DNA is a ladder where phosphate and Deoxyribose form the uprights, while the organic base pairs make the rungs.

Pairing of bases

• Organic bases contain nitrogen.
• Double-ring structures (A & G) have longer molecules than Single-ring structures (C & T).
• Therefore, for the rungs of ladder to be same length, base pairs must always form from one double-ring and one single-ring structure.

-Adenine always pairs with Thymine by two hydrogen bonds.

-Guanine always pairs with Cytosine by two hydrogen bonds.

• Adenine is complementary to Thymine and Guanine is complementary to Cytosine.
• Quantities of Adenine and Thymine are always the same, as are the quantities of Guanine and Thymine, but the ratio of A & T and G & C varies between species.

The double helix

• The ladder arrangement of two polynucleotide chains is twisted to form a double helix.
• The phosphate and Deoxyribose form the backbone of the DNA molecule.
• For each complete turn of the helix, there are 10 base pairs.

The function of DNA

• DNA is the hereditary material responsible for passing genetic information between cells and generations.
• There are around 3.2 billion base pairs in the DNA of a typical mammalian cell.
• This means there is an almost infinite variety of sequences of bases along the length of a DNA molecule, which provides immense genetic diversity.

DNA molecule adapted to carry out functions in number of ways:

-Very stable and can pass between generations without change.

-Two separate strands are joined only with hydrogen bonds, allowing them to separate during DNA replication and protein synthesis.

-Extremely large molecule so carries immense amount of genetic information.

-Having the base pairs within the helix means that the genemtic information is somewhat protected from being corrupted by outside chemical and physical forces by the deoxribose-phosphate backbone.

• The function of DNA depends on the sequence of base pairs it possesses.

8.2_The triplet code

WHAT IS A GENE?

• Section of DNA that contains coded information for making polypeptides.
• Coded information in form of specific sequence of bases along DNA molecule that determines a polypeptide which is a sequence of amino acids.
• Polypeptides combine to make proteins so genes determine proteins of an organism.
• Enzymes control chemical reactions so are responsible for an organisms development and activities.
• Genes determine nature and development of all organisms.

THE TRIPLET CODE

·        Must be a minimum of 3 bases coding for each amino acid:

-Only 20 amino acids regularly occur in proteins

-Each amino acid must have own code of bases on DNA.

-Only 4 different bases are present in DNA.

-If each base coded for different A.acid, only 4 could be coded for.

-Using a pair of bases – 16 (4²) codes possible – still inadequate.

-3 bases produce 64 (4³)codes – more than enough for 2 A.Acids.

• Three bases = triplet code.
• 64 codes and only 2 amino acids = some amino acids have more than one code.
• In eukaryotes much of nuclear DNA doesn’t code for Amino acids,
• These sections are called introns and can occur within genes and as multiple repeats between genes.

INTRONS

8.3_DNA and chromosomes

Prokaryotic cells – e.g. bacteria – DNA molecules are smaller, form a circle and not associated with protein molecules. Do not have chromosomes.

Eukaryotic cells – DNA molecules are larger, form a line and occur in association with proteins to form chromosomes.

CHROMOSOME STRUCTURE

• Chromosomes only visible as distinct structures during cell division.
• Rest of the time – widely dispersed throughout nucleus.
• When visible – two threads joined at a single point. Each thread is a chromatid.
• DNA in chromosomes held in positions by proteins.
• Around 2m of DNA in every human cell is highly coiled and folded.

-Helix wound around proteins to fix in position.

-DNA- protein complex then coiled.

-The coil is looped and further coiled.

Coil packed into chromosome.

• Single DNA molecule has many genes along length.
• Each gene in a specific position.
• Same number of chromosomes for normal individuals of a species e.g. humans have 46, potato plant have 48 an dogs have 78.
• Almost all species have an even number of chromosomes in cells of adults because of homologous pairs.

HOMOLOGOUS CHROMOSOMES

• Reason for pairs – fusion of sperm & egg in sexual reproduction.
• One of each pair from mother(maternal), one from father(paternal).
• Total number of homologous pairs is the diploid number. (46 in humans).
• A homologous pair is always 2 chromosomes that determine same genetic characteristics – ‘determining the same characteristics’ is not being identical – Homologous pair may posses info on eye colour and blood group, one chromosome blue and A, one green and B (alleles).
• During meiosis, the halving of the number of chromosomes is done in such a way that ensures each daughter cell gets a chromosome from each homologous pair – each cell receives one set of information for each characteristic.
• When these haploid cells combine, diploid state with homologous chromosomes is restored.