Biological Bases of Behavior(Unit 1)

Nature vs. Nurture

Describes the question of how much a person's characteristics are formed by either nature or nurture

Nature = biological factors

Nurture = upbringing or life experience more generally

Evolutionary Psychology

The study of behavior, thought, and feeling as viewed through the lens of evolutionary biology

Eugenics

The practice or advocacy of controlled selective breeding of human populations (as by sterilization) to improve the population genetic composition

Genes

Segments of DNA that codes for psychological features and physical features / the best unit of heredity that are passed from parents to their children

Nervous system

The major controlling regulatory, and communicating system in the body/ send signals throughout the body

Central nervous system

Made up of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is the body's processing center

Peripheral nervous system

Part of nervous system that lies outside your brain and spinal cord. It sends information from different areas of your body back to your brain

Autonomic nervous system

A component of the peripheral nervous system that regulates involuntary psychological processes including heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and digestion

Somatic nervous system

A component of the peripheral nervous system associated with the voluntary control of the body movements via the use of skeletal muscles

Neurons

The fundamental mental units of the brain and nervous system (also called neurones or nerve cells)

Glial cells

A type of cell that provides physical and chemical support to neurons and maintain their environment (Located in the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system) (Also called glue of the nervous system& neurologlia/glia

Spinal cord

The conduit between the brain and the rest of the boyd

Neurotransmitters

Endogenous chemicals that allows neurons to communicate with each other throughout the body.

Hormones

Chemical messengers released from endocrine gland that influence the neurons system to regulate the physiology and behavior of individuals

Psychoactive drugs

Substances that when taken in or administered into ine’s system, affect mental processes, perception, consciousness, cognition or mood, and emotions

Circadian rhythm

The natural cycle of physical, mental, and behavior changes that the body goes through in a 24 hour cycle

(Most affected by light and darkness)

(Controlled by a small area in the middle part of the brain)

Sensation

The process of the sensory organs transforming physical energy into neurological impulses the brain interprets as the five sense of vision, sense, taste, touch, and hearing

Vestibular sense

Allows us to move smoothly

(Also known as the movement, gravity, or balance sense)