Ch 4&6 Flashcards
(38 cards)
What are the main parts of the central nervous system
Brain and spinal cord
What is the job of the central nervous system?
Receives, processes, interprets, and stores incoming sensory information
What are spinal reflexes?
Automatic behaviors produced by the spinal cord without brain involvement
What is the job of the peripheral nervous systm
Handles the central nervous system’s input and output
What part of the nervous system is responsible for the acceleration of certain processes in the body
Sympathetic nervous system
What part of the nervous system is responsible for regulating functions of blood vessels, glands, and internal organs without conscious efforts
Autonomic nervous system
What part of the nervous system focuses on voluntary actions?
Somatic nervous system
What is glia
Cells that support, nurture, and insulate neurons, remove debris when neurons die, and modify neuronal functioning
Which part of the neuron is responsible for keeping the neuron alive and determining when the neuron is ready to fire messages
Cell body
Which part of the neuron receives information from other neurons, transmitting it toward the cell body
Dendrites
Which neurotransmitter deals with sleep, appetite, sensory perception, temperature regulation, pain, suppression, and mood
Serotonin
Which neurotransmitter affects voluntary movement, learning, memory, and emotion?
Dopamine
What are endorphins
Chemical substances in the nervous system that are similar in structure and action to opiates; involved in pain reduction, pleasure, and memory
What are the two main hormones that are of most interest and importance to psychology because of their involvement in sleep cycles and promotion of attachment and trust
Melatonin and oxytocin
What are the basic characteristics of the adrenal hormones
Secreted by the adrenal glands and involved in emotion and stress
What part of the brain connects the two hemispheres of the brain and is involved in communication between the two hemispheres
Corpus callosum
The detection of physical energy emitted or reflected by physical objects
Sensation
The process by which the brain organizes and interprets sensory information
Perception
The principle that different sensory modalities exist because signals received by the sense organs stimulate different nerve pathways leading to different areas of the brain
Doctrine of Specific Nerve energies
The smallest quantity of physical energy that can be reliably detected by an observer
Absolute threshold
A psychophysical theory that divided the detection of a sensory signal into a sensory process and a decision process
Signal Detection Theory
The reduction or disappearance of sensory responsiveness that occurs when stimulation is unchanging or repetitious
Sensory adaptation
The focusing of attention on selected aspects of the environment and the blocking out of others
Selective attention
What are the visual characteristics
Hue, brightness, and saturation