Midterm 1 Flashcards
(220 cards)
1
Q
What does psychology today use?
A
Scientific study of behaviour and mind and their neurobiological bases. The scientific study uses scientific method. It focuses on behaviour and the mind and focuses on the mind, not the brain.
2
Q
What is the mind?
A
What we do with the stuff in the brain
3
Q
What is behaviour? What characterizes it, is there certain timing behind it?
A
Action or reaction of person or animal responding to external or internal stimuli. It can be overt or covert and be physical, mental or emotional. The response can be immediate or delayed and intentional or unintentional.
4
Q
What distinguishes between behaviour and operation?
A
Cultural reasons - behaviour can be the same but have different interpretations. There can also be a difference in clarity of communication because science requires it.
5
Q
What are operational definitions? Can you provide an example?
A
Involves defining something in terms of specific process or action used to determine presence and quantity, that is, one defines or describes something in terms of operations used for measuring or manipulating it. This is how scientists achieve clear communications. Example: Party Animal. Henry drank nearly eight litres of beer. When told to refrain from drinking he did a keg stand and lit a lampshade on fire.
6
Q
Who is William James and what are his contributions to psychology?
A
Not a founder but made substantial contributions. Historical events influence what researchers study. What researchers study can affect social/cultural value.
7
Q
What was the historical context in which psychology emerged?
A
Industrialism and the enlightenment, the printing press allowed the middle class to have knowledge because they have books and stuff. There was also an increase in social interaction.
8
Q
What is the difference between Anthropocentrism?
A
Anthropocentrism is the idea that people (anthro) are most important thing in the universe whereas determinism is the idea that every event including human thought and behaviour is casually determined by unbroken chain of preceding events.
9
Q
Charles Darwin.
A
Origin of species challenges our ancestry and said we share common ancestry with primates. Also outlined the way in which organisms and species change over time through natural selection.
10
Q
Aristotle and Plato?
A
Genetic inheritance (nature) versus upbringing (nurture)
11
Q
How did Sir Francis Galton and John B Watson differ in thoughts about the mind and it’s formation?
A
Francis thought genetic inheritance was most important where as Watson thought environment was stronger force. Many psychologists study ways in which nature and nurture interact to influence behavoiur
12
Q
What was Rene Descartes thought process and why did people reject this, what did they embrace instead?
A
Rene believed in dualism between the mind and the body, the physical body is a container for a non physical thing called the mind. Most people embraced Ryle’s scientific materialism which states only things that can be said to exist are composed of matter or of interaction among things that have matter.
13
Q
What do Paul Brocas study?
A
Post morgen studies to find the extent that behaviours were connected to certain parts of the brain. Concluded damage to certain parts of brain impair certain mental functions and therefore the brain and mind are closely linked.
14
Q
Who was Franz Joseph Gall and what did he propose?
A
Phrenology- study of shape and size of cranium as an indication of character and mental abilities.
15
Q
Who were Pierre Flourens and Herman Von Helmoltz?
A
Pierre flourens surgically removed pieces of the brain. Helmoltz studied reaction time and nerve impulses.
16
Q
What is stimulus? What is reaction time?
A
Stimulus is sensory input from environment and reaction time is the amount of time taken to respond to a specific stimulus.
17
Q
What is physiology?
A
Study of biological process in human body
18
Q
What is the goal of psychology?
A
Study the contents of the conscious mind.
19
Q
Wilhelm Wundt?
A
Opened first psychological laboratory in Leipzig in 1879. Credited with the emergence of psychology.
20
Q
What is structuralism?
A
Breaks down mental processes into basic components. All consciousness based on three elemental states, sensations, images and affection. The main assumption is that the content of conscious experience can be analyzed by basic element. Used introspection as method and rigorous description of content of conscious mind. Focused on identifying elements that make up content of our conscious world, operating under main assumption that content of conscious experience can be analyzed into its basic elements.
21
Q
What are some differences between natural science and psychology.
A
Natural science is the riddle of the world. The objective world, world of quantity, somatic world and the world as it is. Psychology is the riddle of ourselves, it’s the subjective world, a world of quality, a semantic world and the world as experienced.
22
Q
What is semantic memory?
A
One of two types of declarative or explicit memory, refers to general world knowledge we have accumulated throughout our lives.
23
Q
What is somatic memory?
A
When you drop a rock on your toe and your toe remembers, you remember it hurt a lot and toe feels memory as dull ache or when your heart has been broken or you’ve grieved and memory can be felt in your chest.
24
Q
What are the main school of Psychology?
A
Structuralism, gestaltism, functionalism, Freudian is, behaviourism.
25
What was the original objective of psychology?
Contents of conscious mind is just a little part, basic elements of conscious mind and not the study of consciousness.
26
What is imageless thought?
Thought that has no conscious precursor.
27
What are some issues with introspection?
It’s complete subjective so it’s not exactly reliable. The degree to which the result of a measurement can be depended on to be accurate each time.
28
What is the cognitive unconscious?
Mental processes not accessible to judgements feelings etc.
29
What is gestaltism?
Reaction against structuralism and based on notion that whole (what we consciously perceive) is more than the sum of the parts. Gestalt asserted perception of the world depends on particular configurations of elements that we experience things as unified wholes. It’s argued that gestalts are perceptual primaries. Would argue that if you can see a soccer ball from just small shapes, you are a gestalt because you can observe things as a whole. Max Wertheimer
30
What is functionalism?
Built on Darwinism and evolutionary perspective. The main assumption is that the function of conscious experience in providing adaptation of organism is more important than structure of conscious experience. Defined psychology as study of functions of psychological abilities.
31
Who were William James and G Stanley Hall and what did they argue?
Psychology should focus on understanding purpose of mental processes, skills, and capacities. The way in which each of them enable people to adapt to environment. Example - what adaptions are enable by people to communicate via spoken language. People are consciously aware of parts of inner or outer world. Psychology should also develop clear functional definitions of core concepts and answer questions like what is required for something to be classified as short term memory or as consciousness. What is it for something to be a kidney or for something to be a carburetor?
32
Freud and the Unconscious?
Freud’s school of thought emphasized influence of unconscious mind on behaviour. Freud believed human mind was controlled by three forces. The Id, ego and superego. Id deals with primal urges, ego is a component of personality charged with dealing with reality and the superego is the part of personality that holds all ideals and value we internalize from our parents and culture. Freud believed the interaction of these three elements led to all complex human behaviours.
33
Freud and Psyschoanalysis? Psychoanalytic theory?
The unconscious is the part of mind that operate outside of awareness but influences conscious thoughts, feelings and actions. Psychoanalytic theory is the approach to understanding human behaviour and emphasizes importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts and behaviours. Psychoanalysis is the therapeutic approach that focuses on bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness to better understand psychological disorders.
34
What is Behaviourism?
Attempt to resurrect the discipline. Psychology should be an experimental branch of science. Should be concerned with directly observable behaviours and responses. Focus on prediction and control of behaviour. Seek to quantify relationship between stimuli and quantify relationships between stimuli and responses. Got their inspirations and foundations from associationist (philosophy), classical conditioning (Pavlov; physiology). Conditioning of emotional reactions (Watson psychology) and operant conditioning (skinner; education)
35
What is learning?
Matter of making connections between stimuli or between stimulus and a response.
36
What are the primary laws of association?
Contiguity, frequency, similarity and classical conditioning.
37
What is contiguity?
Things that occur close to each other in space or time tend to get linked together in the mind.
38
What is frequency? (Primary laws of association)
More often two things or events are linked, the more powerful their association and connection.
39
What is similiarity? (Primary laws of association)
If two things are similar, the though of one will tend to trigger the thought of the other.
40
What is classical conditioning?
Study of dogs bring in a reflexive (natural behaviour) of salivating under control of a new stimulus (eg: ringing of a bell) Reflexive or involuntary behaviours include sweating, shivering, relaxing, salivating, startle, sexual arousal, and envying.
41
What is the little Albert study?
Conditioning emotional responses? Watson and Rainer made loud noise by striking steel bar with a hammer to frighten Albert, 11 month old infant. While playing with a stuffed rat, Watson struck the bar and scared infant. The process was repeated until five weeks later, when the rat was shown to the infant, he immediately started crying. When presented with a white rabbit, Albert feared it almost as much as a rat. Albert still feared these objects two months later.
42
What is operant/instrumental conditioning?
Voluntary responses and behaviours are to be controlled by consequences. Guy below used terms operant to describe behaviour that has some impact or operate on environment. Burrhus Frederic Skinner- consequence of a behaviour determines whether it will be more or less likely to occur again. Same idea as throndikes (1905) “law of effect”
43
Critical Assumption of behaviourism?
Associationist laws are sufficient to account for all learning. All learning is guided by the same principles. In OC, organism can be taught a connection between any response and any reinforcement or punishment. All species learn the same way. There’s a heavy emphasis on nurture (nature is not important)
44
Prepared Classical Condition
Evolution prepared us to be afraid of whatever threatened our forebears (snakes, spiders, blood, fire) as consequence, condition differently to these kinds of stimuli. Garcia did research on taste aversion and showed duration between CS and UCS may be long, hours, or may occur in a single trial. Latent learning is also contrary to behaviourist because a rat can figure out a maze without behavioural reinforcement.
45
What is cognitivism?
Psychology should be experimental science that uses computer software as a metaphor for exploring the mind. Analogy of brain is to hardware. Focuses on how mind processes example encodes, transfmorms and stores information. Investigates information processing programs used by humans and animals and explores emergency and development of these programs.
46
What is cognitive psychology?
Branch that studies mental processes including how people think, attend, perceive, decide, remember etc. Behaviourists view mind as a black box that cannot be studied by scientific method. Cognitivism claims we need to open up box, we cannot achieve any real understanding without looking inside box.
47
Inspiration and socio-historic context for cognitivism?
We need to open box, cannot achieve any real understanding without looking inside the box. Developments in computing technology brought need for explaining learning. Behaviourism inability to give insight into limits of human attention (ex: while driving or on phone), also limit short term memory vs long term memory. Cognitivism is everywhere, knowledge structure interrelated collection of knowledge on topics.
48
What is personality and anxiety?
Personality is a construct or knowledge structure, abstraction that cannot be seen directly but is inferred from patterns of cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses in various contexts. Anxiety is a general term for several disorders that cause nervousness, fear, apprehension and worrying. These disorders affect how we feel, think and behave.
49
What is empiricism?
How to know stuff. The best way to understand is to observe, this is essential element of the scientific method which is the procedure for finding truth by using empirical evidence.
50
What are dogmatists?
Best way to understand illness is to develop theories about the body’s functions.
51
What is a theory?
Hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon.
52
What is the rule of parsimony?
Simplest theory that explains all evidence is the best one.
53
What is a hypothesis?
Falsifiable prediction made by a theory.
54
What is the empirical method?
Sets of rules and techniques for observation.
55
Empirical challenges have three qualities that make them unusually difficult to study, what are they?
Complexity- brain is very complicated with complex thoughts, feelings and actions that are psychology’s core concerns. Variability- people are different, no two individuals are the same. Reactivity - when people are needing studied, they don’t always behave as they should.
56
What is an Instrument?
Mayonnaise. Anything that can detect the condition to which an operational definition refers?
57
What is validity?
Goodness with which a concrete event defines a property.
58
What is reliability?
Tendency for an instrument to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the same thing.
59
What is power?
Instruments ability to detect small magnitudes of the property.
60
What are demand characteristics?
Those aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think someone else wants or expects.
61
What is naturalistic observation?
How to avoid problem of demand characteristic. Technique for gathering scientific information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments.
62
What are cover stories?
Misleading explanations meant for people to not discern the true purpose of observation.
63
What are filter items?
Pointless measures designed to mislead subjects about purpose of observation.
64
What is observer bias?
Expectations can influence observations.
65
What is double blind?
Observation whose true purpose is hidden from both observer and person being observed.
66
Statistics?
Normal distribution, mathematically defined distribution in which frequency of measurements is highest in middle and decreases symmetrically in both directions. Mode is value of most frequently observed measurement. Median is value that is in the middle. Range is the value of largest measurement in a frequency distribution minus the value of the smallest measurement. Standard deviation describes the average difference between measurements in a frequency distribution and the mean of that distribution.
67
What is variable?
Properties whose values can vary across individuals over time.
68
What is correlation? Coefficient? Different types of correlation?
Correlation is when variable in value of one variable are synchronized with variations in value of the other. A correlation coefficient is a mathematical measure of both direction and strength of a correlation and is symbolized by the letter r. Natural correlations are observed in the world around us and can tell us whether two variable have a relationship but cannot tell us what kind of relationship the variable have.
69
What is a third variable correlation?
Two variables are correlated only because each is causally related to a third variable.
70
What is the matched samples techniques? Matched pairs?
Technique where participants in two groups are identical in terms of a third variable. Matched pairs is technique whereby each participant is identical to one other participant in terms of a third variable.
71
What is the third variable problem?
Causal relationship between two variable cannot be inferred from naturally occurring correlation between them because of the ever present possibility of a third variable correlation.
72
What is an experiment?
Technique for establishing the causal relationship between variables.
73
What is manipulation?
Changing a variable in order to determine it’s causal power.
74
Independent and Dependent variable?
Independent variable is the variable that is manipulated. A dependent variable is the variable that responds.
75
Experimental group vs control group?
Experimental group is the group of people who are exposed to a particular manipulation. the control group is the group who are not exposed to particular manipulation.
76
What is self selection?
Problem that occurs when anything about a person determines whether he or she will be included in the experimental or control group.
77
What is random assignment?
Procedure that lets chance assign people to experimental or control group.
78
What are the three R’s when respecting animals in testing?
Replacement - no alternative
Reduction - must use fewest number of animals possible
Refinement - modified to minimize discomfort, infection, illness and pain of animals.
79
What are the four ways of knowing?
Nativism- some knowledge is native/hard wired into brain at birth. Rationalism- exercise of reason not experience, authority or spiritual revelation, provides primary basis for knowledge.
Authoritarianism- knowledge comes from those in position of authority
Empiricism- view that all our knowledge comes from experience (through our sensory systems)
80
What is Naive realism?
Belief or conviction that we see the world precisely as it is. Illustrated by seeing is believing attitude. Too much faith in experience. Is our perception or experience always valid, showing us only what is real and revealing everything that exists? Fail to see things that exist in the world?
81
What is hindsight bias?
Tendency to exaggerate our ability to have foreseen how something would turn out after learning how it would turn out
82
What is overconfidence?
Tendency to overestimate accuracy of current knowledge. Willingness to be satisfied by insufficient or limited data.
83
Availability Heuristic?
Tendency to judge probability of event by ease with which it comes to mind
84
What is a confirmation bias?
Tendency to seek out evidence that confirms our beliefs and assumptions. To learn more you should ask questions that could disprove your assumptions.
85
What is meant by self fulfilling prophecy?
Prediction of events that come about because of one’s belief in prediction and enactment or lack of enactment on belief thus reinforcing belief. Finding that if a certain prediction is made, that person maybe unconsciously will modify behaviours or engage behaviours that will create these situations that will cause predicted events to come about.
86
What is the Hawthorne effect?
Distortion in outcome of test because subjects behaviour changes due to mere fact that you’re being observed.
87
What is the placebo effect?
Beneficial effect produced by drug or treatment that cannot be attributed to properties of placebo itself.
88
What is scientism?
View that scientific method is only route to valid and reliable knowledge?
89
What are goals of research?
Measurement - act of making observations, the assignment of numbers of labels to events, objects, behaviours etc. Description needs to be systematic and complete. Understanding/explaining- cause effect relations are special. Prediction, manipulation and control, basic vs. Applied research.
90
State the process for the scientific method
1. Identify problem, ask question. 2. State hypothesis, make a prediction. 3. Test hypothesis (operationalizing thing we want to observe and make observations). 4. Analyze data. 5. Draw conclusions from data and publish.
91
What are the different types of studies?
Case study, naturalistic observation, survey/questionnaire study, study.
92
What is a null hypothesis? Alternative?
In any experiment, must have two hypothesis, null is the one that states there is nothing. I.e. there is no relationship between yoga and ability to relax. Alternative hypothesis states there is a relationship between yoga and the ability to relax.
93
What is a case study? What are some of it’s advantages and limitations?
Detailed study of an individual group, device or event. Allows you to take advantage of unique cases, gain ideas and insights and obtain illustrative anecdotes and examples. Limitations include being virtually useless for testing theories as studies might not be replicable.
94
What is naturalistic observation?
Involves observing, recording behaviour in naturally occurring situation without manipulation? Advantages, high in ecological validity, might spark research and may complement experimental or lab research. Limitations include that because its used for describing behaviour, not for explaining it, often difficult to obtain complete description of all variable that influence behaviour.
95
What are some differences between ecological and external validity?
Ecological validity if methods or materials closely approximate real world being examined. External validity if finding generalize to circumstances beyond research setting.
96
What is a survey or questionnaire study?
Study is method for ascertaining self reported attitudes, emotions, preferences, behaviours, habits etc of individuals or a group of individuals. Advantage, easy, cheap, quick to obtain large amount of data and can be used to learn about any type of issue or question, high in ecological validity. Limitations is that wording of questions, items and ordering of questions or items affects results. Respondent may fake positive and not be honest, it’s very difficult to obtain representative sample.
97
What is a corrleational study?
Systematic assessment of relationship between two or more variables. Like survey study, may involve examination of resisting records, purpose to learn about relationship between two or more variable to make predictions from one to the other variables. Again, it’s easy, cheap and quick to obtain a large amount of data. It can be used to address nearly any event or behaviour and it’s high in ecological validity. Limitations are that it cannot provide information about cause-effect links.
98
What are noise/nuisance/extraneous?
Variable that may have random influence on dependent variable.
99
What is confounding?
Variable that have systematic or selective influence on dependent variable.
100
What is counterbalancing?
Method used for removing confounding influence due to stimulus or condition order. It does not remove influence due to stimulus or condition order but transforms influence into noice. Randomization helps reduce bias.
101
What is internal validity?
Whether experiment can draw causal conclusions. It’s threatened by confounding variables, sample that was too small or not representative, presence of demand characteristics, placebo effects or experimental bias.
102
What are measurement scales?
Assignment of numbers, labels to objects or events in a systematic fashion. There are four measurements or scales commonly used. Nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
103
Nominal Measurement?
Naming people/objects/events having same value of some attribute. Has no numeric meaning. Only permissible operation is counting for purpose of tabulating
104
What is ordinal/ranking?
People, objects or events with higher scale have more of same attribute. Intervals between adjacent scales are indeterminate. Permissible operations include counting and comparisons.
105
What are intervals?
Intervals between adjacent scale values are equal i.e. difference between 8 and 9 degrees is same as 100 and 101. Permissible operations including counting, comparisons (< or >) addition and subtraction
106
What is a ratio?
Same as interval and there is rational zero point for scale. Ratios equivalent example ratio of 2 to 1 is same as 8 to 4. Ex: temp in kelvin, income in dollars, tallness, weights, items recalled on memory test). Permissible operations - counting, comparisons, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division.
107
What are the different types of statistics?
Descriptive - simple description of what data shows, numerical or pictorial summaries of data. Descriptive refers to collection of procedures/methods used to describe basic features of data set. Inferential statistics are a collection of procedures making decisions about hypothesis. Set of procedures for reaching conclusions that extend beyond data example procedures for making inferences from sample about population from which it was drawn.
108
What are some main types of data descriptors?
Type/shape of distribution. Central tendency - center estimate of distribution, estimate may be mean (average of values), median (score at exact middle of a set of values) or mode (value that occurred most frequently). The dispersion of distribution is the spread of values of distribution, most common measures of dispersion are range (highest value minus lowest value) and standard deviation. (Relation that set of scores has to mean of sample)
109
What are the ceiling effect and the floor effect?
Ceiling effect is what scores are bunched up against top of scale. Independent variable no longer can have any effect (test is too easy). The floor effect has scores bunched up against bottom of scale, IV no longer has any effect (test is too difficult).
110
What is range and standard deviation?
Range is highest minus lowest value. Standard deviation is average distance of values and scores to mean of values and scores.
111
What is the goal of a researcher and what helps or hinders this?
Goal of researcher is to determine whether experimental group is different from control group, whether difference between two distributions is due to change or due to IV. Rejecting null hypotheis is easier when there is less overlap between two distributions.
112
What is a bimodal distribution?
Two peaks, probably have to find SD of both distributions or use IQR
113
What is population?
Can be defined as all people, events, items or behaviours with characteristics one wishes to understand. Rarely enough time or money to gather info from everyone. Goal becomes finding a representative sample of that population.
114
What is a sample?
Something free from costco. Portion, piece or segment representative of population. Set of elements and examples drawn from and analyzed to estimate characteristics of a population. Good ample is large enough and its representative of population.
115
What is correlation?
Linear relationship between variables can range from zero to positive or negative 1. Strongest possible correlation is 1 or -1. Correlation of 0 indicates no relationship. Absolute value of number tells us strength and sign tells us direction. 0.1 to 0.2 is weak, 0.3 is moderate, over 0.4 is strong. Correlations only test strength and direction of linear relationships.
116
What is content validity?
Content validity is whether items or test represent entire range of possible items test should cover.
117
Internal validity?
Concerns degree to which conclusions about causal relationships can be made based on outcome of a study.
118
External validity?
Extent to which results of a study can be generalized for example to different people, places, times etc.
119
Ecological validity?
Concerns extent to which study setting reflect context in which observed behaviour occurs naturally/typically.
120
Measurement reliability?
Whether instrument produces same indication of in response to some stimulation
121
What is test-retest?
Whether a test give at two different times with no treatment in between will yield same results.
122
What is inter-observer?
Reliability concerns consistency of results produced by different testers or coders who are rating/measuring some thing behaviour. Test is valid when measures what its supposed to. If a test is reliable, it yields consistent results. Test can be both reliable and valid, one or the other or neither. Reliability is a prerequisite for validity.
123
Talk about Reseaerch ethics and ethics framework.
All research with humans or animals must undergo an ethics review. In Canada, research with humans must comply with federal law. Ethics framework require that research is good, we need research to advance human welfare provided we have respect for human dignity and is an ethic of research. Involving human subjects should include two essential components. Selection and achievement of moral acceptable ends and moral acceptable means to those ends. It is unacceptable to treat persons solely as means because doing so fails to respect intrinsic humanity.
124
What are the five principles of ethics when conducting human research?
Balancing harms and benefits, respect for free and informed consent, respect for vulnerable persons, respect for privacy and confidentiality, respect for justice and inclusiveness.
125
What is balancing harms and benefits?
Analysis and balance and distribution of harms and benefits is critical to ethics of human research, modern research ethics requires favourable harms benefit analysis, foreseeable harms should not outweigh anticipated benefits.
126
What is respect for free and informed consent?
Individuals presumed to have capacity and right to make free and informed decisions
127
Respect for vulnerable persons
Respect for human dignity to those with diminished competence or decision making capacity that make them vulnerable. Children, institutionalize persons are entitled to dignity, caring, solidarity and fairness to special protection against exploitation or discrimination.
128
What is the respect for privacy and confidentiality?
Respect for human dignity also implies principles of respect of privacy and confidentiality
129
What is respect for justice and inclusiveness?
Fairness and equity requires ethics review process have air methods, standards and procedures for reviewing research protocols and process be effectively independent
130
How many neurons are in the brain?
Approximately 100 billion that perform variety of tasks to allow functions of a human being.
131
What are neurons?
Cells in the nervous system that communicate with another to perform information processing tasks. All neurons have cell body (soma), the largest component of neuron that coordinate information processing tasks and keeps cell alive.
132
What are dendrites?
Receive information from other neurons and relay it to cell body
133
What is an axon?
Carries information to other neurons, muscles or glands.
134
What is the myelin sheath?
Insulating layer of fatty material, composed of glial cells.
135
What are glial cells?
What myelin sheath is composed of, support cells found in nervous system, much smaller than neurons but ten times more numerous. Essential for myelinization of neurons, blood brain barrier, repair, removal of debris etc.
136
What is the synapse?
Junction or region between axon of one neuron and dendrites or cell body of another?
137
What are sensory neurons?
Receive information from external world and convey information to brain.
138
What are motor neurons?
Carry signals from spinal cord to muscles to produce movement?
139
Interneurons?
Connect sensory neurons, motor neurons or other interneurons. The specialization of neurons depends on the location.
140
What is purkinje neuron?
Cell has elaborate treelike assemblage of dendrites?
141
What are pyramidal cells?
Have triangular body and single long dendrite with many smaller dendrites
142
What are bipolar cells?
Have one dendrite and one axon.
143
What is conduction?
Movement of electrical signal within a neuron from dendrites to cell body throughout axon.
144
What is transmission?
Movement of electric signals from one neuron to another over synapse. Small pores allow ions (electrically charged molecules) to flow in and out of cell
145
What is resting potential?
Difference in electric charge when neuron is at rest.
146
What is action potential?
Electric signal conducted along length of a neuron’s axon to a synapse.
147
What is the refractory period?
Time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot be initiated. Imbalance in ions is reversed by active chemical “pump” in cell membrane that moves sodium outside and potassium inside. The myelin sheath facilitates conduction of action potential.
148
What are terminal buttons?
Know like structures that branch out from an axon
149
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals that transmit information across synapse to a receiving neurons dendrites
150
What are receptors?
Parts of cell membrane that receive neurotrnasmitters and either initiate or prevent a new electrical signal.
151
What is acetylcholine involved in?
Motor control
152
What does dopamine do?
Regulate motor behaviour, motivation, pleasure and emotional arousal.
153
What is glutamate?
Major excitatory neurotransmitter in brain. Enhances transmission of information between neurons.
154
What is gaba
Inhibitory neurotransmitter
155
What is norepinephrine?
State of vigilance, heightened awareness of dangers in environment.
156
What is seratonin?
Involved in regulation of sleep, wakefulness, eating and aggressive behaviour.
157
What are endorphins?
Chemicals that act within pain pathways and emotion centres of brain
158
What are agonists?
Drugs that increase action of a neurotransmitter
159
What are antagonists?
Block function of neurotransmitter?
160
What are the nodes of Ranvier?
BReaks in myelin sheath
161
What is the central nervous system?
Composed of brain and spinal cord.
162
What is the peripheral nervous system?
Connects central nervous system to body’s organs and muscles. The somatic nervous system is a set of nerves that convey information between voluntary muscles and central nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is a set of nerves that caries involuntary and automatic commands that control blood vessels, body organs and gland.
163
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
Set of nerves that prepares body for action in challenging or threatening situatitions.
164
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
Helps body return to a normal resting state.
165
What are spinal reflexes?
Simple pathways in nervous system that rapidly generate muscle contractions
166
What is the hindbrain?
Coordinates information coming into and out of spinal cord. Made of medulla, reticular formation, cerebellum, pons.
167
What is medulla?
Extension of spinal cord into skull that coordinate heart rate, circulation and respiration.
168
What is the reticular formation?
Regulates sleep, wakefulness and levels of arousal
169
What is the cerebellum?
LArge structure of hindbrain that controls fine motor skills
170
What is the pons?
Structure that relays information from cerebellum to rest of brain?
171
What makes up the midbrain?
Tectum, tegmentum. Tectum orients an organism in the environment. The tegmentum is involved in movement and arousal.
172
What is the forebrain and what are its parts and functions?
Forebrain, highest level of brain. Controls cognitive, emotional, sensory and motor functions. Made of cerebral cortex which is outermost layer of brain, visible to naked eye, divided into hemispheres. Also made of subcortical structures.
173
What are subcortical structures?
Areas housed under cerebral cortex near center of brain. Include thalamus which relays and filters information from senses and transmits information to cerebral cortex. Also includes hypothalamus which regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst and sexual behaviour. The pituitary gland is the master gland of hormone producing gland, releases hormones that direct functions of other glands in the body.
174
What is the lambic system?
Group of forebrain structures including hypothalamus, hippocampus and amygdala, involved in motivation, emotion, learning and memory. The hippocampus is critical for creating new memories and integrating them into a network of knowledge so they can be stored indefinitely in other parts of cerebral cortex. The amygdala is the central player in emotional processes especially in formation of emotional memories. The Basal ganglia is a subset of subcortical structures that direct intentional movements.
175
What is contra lateral control?
Right side of body controls left and vice versa.
176
What is the corpus callous?
Connects large areas of cerebral cortex on each side of brain and supports communication of information across hemisphere.
177
What is the occipital lobe?
Process visual information.
178
What is the parietal lobe?
Carries out functions that include processing information about touch
179
What is the temporal lobe?
HEaring and language
180
What is the frontal lobe?
Specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory and judgement.
181
What are association areas?
Neurons that help provide sense and meaning to information registered in context/
182
What are mirror neurons?
Active when animal performs behaviour like reaching for an object and also activated when animal observes another animal performing the same behaviour.
183
What does brain plasticity?
Ability to be modded explains phantom limbs.
184
When does nervous system form?
Embryo.
185
What is ontogeny?
How brain develops in a given individual
186
What is phylogeny?
How it developed within a particular species
187
What are cilia?
Tiny threads help Protozoa toward food source.
188
True or false, evidence that human brain evolved more quickly than brains of other species.
True.
189
What is a gene?
Major unit of hereditary transmission?
190
What are chromosomes?
How genes organized. Strands of DNA wound around each other in double helix configuration.
191
What is the degree of relatedness?
Probability of relatedness?
192
What are epigenetics?
Environmental influences that determine whether or not genes are expressed, degree to which they are expressed without altering basic DNA sequences that constitute genes themselves/ An epigenetic matrix are chemical modifications to DNA that can turn genes on or off.
193
What is DNA methylation?
Addding methyl group to DNA
194
What is histone modification?
Adding chemical modifications to proteins called hi stones involved in packaging DNA.
195
What is heritability?
MEasure of variability of behavioural traits among individuals that can be accounted for by genetic factors
196
What is a chimeric face?
Assembled from half-face components. Split brain studies reveal two hemispheres perform different functions and can work together seamlessly as long as corpus callous is intact.
197
What is an electroencephalograph?
Device used to record electrical activity in the brain
198
What is trans Randal magnetic stimulation?
Activates and deactivates regions of brain with magnetic pulse temporarily mimicking brain damage.
199
What feature detector?
Neurons that respond only to a particular thing.
200
What is coding stimulus intensity?
All action potentials equal in size. Stimulus intensity coded as frequency of action potentials.
201
What is GABA?
Primary inhibitory. Regulate neuronal excitability throughout nervous system directly responsible for regulation of muscle tone. ACts to relax muscles. Most sedative/tranquilizer/anti anxiety drugs designed to increase GABA effects
202
What is dopamine?
BRain reward system, cognition, voluntary movement, motivation, punishment, reward, sleep, mood, attention, working memory and learning. Released by rewarding experiences like food, sex, drugs and neuronal stimuli. Cerebral dopamine depletion is a sign of Parkinson’s.
203
What is seratonin?
Most of it is produced in intestine but remainder in CNS. Feel good well being, regulates homeostasis, appetite, sleep, memory, learning, temperature, mood behaviour, muscle contraction and function of cardiovascular system. Plays roles in depression. Most drugs alter seratonin levels, inhibit reputable and therefore increase concentration in the brain.
204
What do drugs do? What are antagonists or protagonists?
Mimic neurotransmitters. Antagonists block function of neurotransmitters. protagonists increase the function.
205
What are reputable inhibitors?
No idea.
206
Nervous system
See your notes from third last notebook
207
What is the somatic nervous system? What is an afferent nerve fibre? Efferent?
Nerves that connect CNS to voluntary skeletal muscles and sensory receptors. Communication fast and localized and inolves neurotransmitters. Afferent nerve fibres are axons that carry information inward to central nervous system from periphery of body. Efferent nerves are axons that carry information outward from central nervous system to periphery of body.
208
Autonomic Nervous system and its parts.
Nerves connect to heart, blood vessels, muscles and glands. Sympathetic division mobilizes body resources for emergencies (arousing function). Parasympathetic division is a branch of ANS that generally conserves bodily resources.
209
What is the endocrine system?
Collection of glands that produce hormones that regulate metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sexual function, reproduction, sleep and mood among other things. Includes testes, ovary, pancreas, adrenal gland, thyroid gland, pituitary gland and pineal gland.
210
What is the cerebrum?
Two large hemispheres that cover upper part of brain. Cerebral cortex is outer layer of cerebrum and contains 70% of neurons in CNS
211
Talk about Language processing?
Visual cortext receives written words as visual stimulation, angular groups transforms visual representations into auditory code, wernickes area interprets auditory code. Broca’s area controls speech muscles via motor cortext. Motor cortex is how the word is pronounced
212
What is a frontal labotomy?
Procedure involving scraping away most of connections to and from prefrontal cortext, anterior part of frontal lobes. Used to reduce symptoms of mental disorders such as schizophrenia, manic depression and bipolar disorder.
213
What is hemispheric specialization?
Left brain- logical, sequential, rational, analytical, objective, looks at parts. Right brain is random, intuitive, holistic, synthesizing, subjective and looks at whole.
214
What is a post mortem study?
Examine effects of brain diseases or injuries on behaviour. Ablation/legioning is surgical removing or chemical inactivation of brain tissue and study of results. Electrical stimulation of brain is activation of small areas of brain by means of electrical stimulation.
215
What is TMS
Type of lesion - uses magnetic field in order to temporarily enhance or depress activity in a specific area of the brain.
216
MRI Scans?
MRI uses magnetic fields, radio waves and computerized enhancement to map out brain structure. Provide better images of brain structure than CT scans. Produce 3D pictures of brain that have remarkably high resolution.
217
Functional magnetic resonance imaging?
New variation on MRI that monitors blood flow and oxygen consumption in brain to identify areas of high activity.
218
What is PET?
Positron emission tomography. Scanning used to examine brain function, mapping actual activity in brain over time. Radioactively tagged chemicals into brain serve as markers of blood flow or metabolic activity in brain which can be monitored with x-rays.
219
What is PET scan.
Provide colour coded map indicating which areas of brain become active when subjects clench fist, sing etc.
220
CT scanning
Computerize tomography. Multiple x-rays are shot from many angles and computer combines reading to create a vivid image of horizontal slice of brain. Entire brain can be visualized by assembling series of images representing successive slices of brain.
