Kaplan Behavioral Science Unknown Concepts Flashcards
What are reflex arcs?
interneurons in the spinal cord relay information to the source of stimuli and to the brain simultaneously
How is the nervous system divided?
central nervous system = brain + spinal cord
peripheral nervous system = cranial + spinal nerves
1) somatic
2) autonomic = para and symp
What are the main parts of the forebrain and their functions?
thalamus = relay station for sensory info
hypothalamus = homeostasis + endocrine system through a portal system that connects to anterior pituitary
basal ganglia = smooth movement + posture
limbic system = controls emotion and memory
- septal nuclei = pleasure, addiction
- amygdala = fear and aggression
- hippocampus = consolidates memories
cerebral cortex
- frontal = executive function, motor function
- parietal = somatosensation, spatial processing
- occipital = vision
- temporal = sound processing, speech perception, memory, emotion
What is the most important peptide neurotransmitter to know?
endorphins = natural painkillers produced by the brain
- neuromodulator: slow, longer effects than NT
Describe the disorders associated with dopamine.
Dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia: delusions, hallucinations, and agitation arise from either too much dopamine or oversensitivity to it
Parkinson’s Disease: associated with loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia
- bradykinesia, postural instability
What is released from the adrenal cortex? the adrenal medulla?
Steroid hormones: cortisol, testosterone, estrogen, aldosterone
Catecholamines: epinephrine and norepinephrine
How does the nervous system develop?
Neurulation: neural tube = CNS, neural crest cells differentiate into many tissues
What are primitive reflexes?
exist in infants and disappear with age
1. rooting: infants turn their heads towards anything that brushes their cheek
2. Moro: extends arms, slowly retracts and cries in response to sensation of falling
3. Babinski: brush sole of foot, toes spread apart
4. grasping
How do motor skills develop?
gross to fine, head-to-toe order, core-to-periphery
Describe social development in infants.
parent-oriented (separation anxiety, stranger anxiety) –> self-oriented (parallel play) –> other-oriented
What is a threshold?
minimum stimulus that causes a change in signal transduction
- absolute threshold = minimum stimulus energy that is needed to activate a sensory system
- threshold of conscious perception = creates signal large enough in size and duration to be brought to awareness
- JND = minimum difference in magnitude between 2 stimuli before one can perceive the difference
What is signal detection theory?
effect of nonsensory factors on perception of stimuli
- RESPONSE bias: stim may or may not be given, asked if it was, either hit, miss, false alarm, or correct negatives
Visual pathway
optic nerves, optic chiasm, optic tracts, LGN of the thalamus, visual radiations to the visual cortex in the occipital lobe
Auditory pathway
vestibulocochlear nerve–>MGN of the thalamus–> auditory cortex of temporal lobe
What is responsible for pain perception?
nociceptors
- gate theory of pain: pain sensation is reduced when other somatosensory signals are present
What is habituation? What is dishabituation?
repeated exposure to the same stimulus causes a decrease in response
recovery of a response to a stimulus AFTER habituation has occurred
What is associative learning?
creation of pairing between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response
- classical or operant conditioning
What is classical conditioning?
takes advantage of biological, instinctual responses to create associations between two unrelated stimuli
What is an unconditioned stimulus vs. an unconditioned response? Compare to the conditioned situation.
unconditioned stimulus brings about reflexive unconditioned response
conditioned stimulus is normally neutral that through association causes a reflexive, conditioned response
Entire process = acquisition
loss of conditioned response = extinction
- spontaneous recovery reverses
What is generalization? what is discrimination in classical conditioning?
a stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can produce a conditioned response
distinguish between similar stimuli
What is operant conditioning? How does it relate to behaviorism?
way consequences change the frequency of voluntary behaviors
- theory that all behaviors are conditioned
Compare reinforcement to punishment.
Reinforcement: increasing the likelihood of a behavior
- positive: add positive consequence or incentive = $$$
- negative: remove something unpleasant = escape learning + avoidance learning
Punishment: reduce the occurrence of a behavior
- positive: adds unpleasant consequences
- negative: removing stimulus to reduce behavior
Name the types of reinforcement schedules in decreasing order of effectiveness.
- variable-ratio: reinforce a behavior after a varying number of performances of that behavior, with the average # of performances remaining the same
- gambling addiction - fixed-ratio: reinforce a behavior after a specific amount of performances
- variable interval: reinforce a behavior the first time that behavior is done after a varying amount of time
- fixed interval: reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specific time has elapsed
What is shaping in operant conditioning?
rewarding increasingly specific behaviors that come closer to a desired response