Unit 1.4-1.6 - Biological Bases of Behavior

Covers Module 1.4-1.6 of Myers' Psychology for the AP Course 4th Edition by David G. Myers, C. Nathan Dewall, and Elizabeth Yost Hammer

What is neuroplasticity?

The brain’s ability to change during childhood, reorganizing after damage, or by building new pathways.

What is a lesion? How might this occur in the brain?

Tissue destruction. It may occur naturally (from disease or trauma), during surgery, or experimentally.

What is an EEG (electroencephalogram)?

An amplified recording of the waves on the brain’s surface from eletrods placed on the person’s scalp.

What is an MEG (magnetoencephalography)?

A test that measures magnetic fields from the brain’s natural electrical activity.

What is a CT (computed tomography) Scan?

A series of x-rays taken from different angles to get pictures of slices of the brain.

What is a PET (positron emission tomography)?

A test to detect brain activity that involves using a form of glucose and then seeing where that glucose goes when the brain preforms a task.

What is an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)?

It uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce images of soft tissue. (computer generated)

What is an fMRI?

A type of MRI that measures and maps brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow and oxygen levels.

What is the forebrain? (what does it contain and what is its function)

Contains the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and hypothalamus. It manages complex cognitive activities, sensory/associative functions, and voluntary motor activites.

What is the brainstem?

The central core of the brain and is responsible for automatic survival functions.

What is the medulla?

It is at the brainstem’s base and is responsible for heartbeat and breathing.

What is the thalamus?

The brain’s relay station that sends sensory information to the right areas of the brain for processing. Located in limbic system.

What is reticular formation?

A nerve network that travels through the brainstem into the thalamus.

What is the cerebellum?

It processes sensory input, coordinates movement output and balance, and enables nonverbal learning and memory.

What is the limbic system?

Located in the forebrain and controls emotions and memories.

What is the amygdala? Where is it located?

Processes emotions, especially fear and aggression. It’s the reason why your heart races when you’re scared. Located in limbic system.

What is the hypothalamus? Where is it located?

Regulates basic drives like hunger, thirst, and body temperature--keeping you in balance (homeostasis). Located in limbic system.

What is the hippocampus? Where is it located?

It plays a major role in forming new memories. Located in the limbic system.

What is the cerebral cortex?

Responsible for higher-level functions like thought, perception, and voluntary movement.

What are the frontal lobes?

The portion of the cerebral cortex that enable linguistic processing, muscle movements, thinking, making plans/judgements.

What are the parietal lobes?

Part of the cerebral cortex that receives sensory input for touch and body position.

What are the occipital lobes?

Portion of the cerebral cortex that are meant for vision.

What are the temporal lobes?

Portion of cerebral cortex responsible for hearing and language processing.

What is the motor cortex?

Rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.

What is the somatosensory cortex?

It registers and processes body touch and movement sensations.

What are association areas?

Ares of the cerebral cortex that are involved in higher mental functions like learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.

EX: Prefrontal cortex

What does the hindbrain contain/what is its function?

Brainstem structures that have essential survival fucntions.

What does the midbrain do?

It controls some movement and transmits seeing/hearing information.

What does the forebrain do?

It manages complex cognitive activities, sensory and associative functions, and voluntary motor activities.

What is neurogenesis?

The formation of new neurons.

What is the corpus callosum?

A large band of neural fibers that connect the two brain hemispheres and transmits messages between them.

What is split brain?

A condition that separates the brain’s two hemispheres by severing the corpus callosum.

What is dual processing?

The idea that information is often processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.

EX: If you are a driver, consider how you move into the right lane. You unconsciously do this sometimes without much thought.

What is blindsight?

A condition where a person can respond to a visual stimulus (like an object) without consciously experiencing it.

What is parallel processing?

Processing multiple aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously.

It basically enables your mind to takecare of routine business.

What is sequential processing?

Processing one aspect of a stimulus/problem as a time.

What is the circadian rhythm?

The biological clock in humans over a 24 hour period.

What is REM sleep?

A phase of sleep that has rapid eye movement, increased brain activity, and where vivid dreams occur.

What are alpha waves?

Slow brain waves that occur during a relaxed, awake state.

What is NREM sleep?

Non-rapid eye movement sleep that encompasses all stages of sleep besides REM.

What are hallucinations? (in terms of sleep)

False sensory experiences, like seeing something that isn’t there. Typical when someone is sleep deprived.

What are hypnagogic sensations?

Bizarre experiences, like jerking or feeling of falling while transitioning to sleep.

like a hypnic jerk :)

What are delta waves?

Large, slow brain waves that are associated with deep sleep.

What are suprachiasmatic nueclei? What happens with light?

A pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that control circadian rhythm. In response to light, they adjust melatonin production.

What is insomnia?

A condition where it is hard to fall/stay asleep.

What is narcolepsy?

A condition where people have uncontrollable sleep attacks. The person may fall into REM sleep whenever.

What is sleep apnea?

A condition where temporary pauses in breathing during sleep and frequent consciousness occur.

What is REM sleep behavior disorder?

A condition where normal REM paralysis does not occur and sleep walking, talking, or even kicking does.

What is dream manifest content?

The things we remember and can tell from our dreams.

What is dream latent content?

The inner meanings of our dreams.

What is REM rebound?

The idea that REM sleep increases after people were sleep deprived.

What are sensations?

The process where our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimuli from the environment.

What are sensory receptors?

Sensory nerve endings that respond to stimuli.

What is perception?

The process where our brain organizes and interprets sensory information.

What bottom-up processing?

Information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain to be processed.

EX: When we first see the letter A, we have no idea what it is other than a bunch of different lines. Soon, we perceive that and recognize a connection between the lines. 

What is top-down processing?

Mental processes guided by our own experiences and expectations.

EX: If there’s a slanted letter, like the A in cat, we will still think of it as “cat” even though it isn’t spelt like that. 

What is transduction?

Conversions of one form of energy to the other.

EX: In sensation, the transformation of physical energy (like sigh) into neural impulses in the brain to interpret.

What is an absolute threshold?

The minimum stimulus energy needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time.

What is the signal detection theory?

It assumes that we do not have an absolute threshold (smallest quantity of physical energy needed to detect something) and instead only detect things based on our experiences, motivations, and fatigue level.

What is subliminal?

It is stimuli you cannot consciously detect 50% of the time when it is below our absolute threshold.

What is the difference threshold?

The smallest difference between two stimuli that can be detected 50% of the time, also known as the just noticeable difference (JND).

EX: If we listen to music at 40 decibles, we might barely notice a difference at 45 decibles.

What is Weber’s Law?

The idea that for something to be percieved as different, two stimuli MUST differ by a constant minimum percentage.

EX: Two lights must differ in intensity by 8%.

What is sensory adaptation?

Diminished sensitivity overtime as a consequence of constant stimulation.

What is the cornea?

The eye’s clear, protective outler layer that covers the iris and pupil.

What is the pupil?

The adjustable opening in the center of the eye where light enters.

What is the iris?

A ring of contractable muscle that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil.

What is the lens?

A transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to foocus images on the retina.

What is the retina?

The light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye that converts light into neural signals for the brain.

What are rods? What do they help with?

Retinal receptors that detect shades of gray, black, and white. They help with night vision and peripheral vision.

What are cones?

Retinal receptors that detect all colors and help with regular vision in day light or in well-lit conditions.

What is the fovea?

The small focal point in the retina that provides the clearest vision due to a high concentration of cones.

What is the optic nerve?

The nerve that carries neural impullses from the eye to the brain

What is the blind spot?

Where the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a blind spot where no cones/rods are.

What is the Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (three color) theory?

A theory that the retina has three different types of color receptors (green, red, and blue), which combine to create the perception of various colors.

What is the opponent-process theory?

A theory that opposing colors (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision.

EX: If cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red, other cells will be stimulated by green and inhibited by red.

What are feature detectors?

Nerve cells in the brain’s visual cortex that respond to specific features of a stimulus, like shape, angle, or movement.

What is parallel processing?

Processing multiple aspects of a stimulus/problem simultaneously.

What is the middle ear?

The chamber between the eardrum and cochlea that contains three tiny bones that amplify sound vibrations.

What is the cochlea?

A coiled, bony, fluiid-filled tube in the inner ear that triggers nerve impulses when sounds travel through it.

What is the inner ear?

The innermost part of the ear that contains the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs.

What is sensorineural hearing loss?

It is the most common form of hearing loss and is caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells/auditory nerve.

What is conduction hearing loss?

It is caused by damage to the mechanical system that conducts sound waves to the cochlea.

What is a cochlear implant?

A device that converts sounds into electrical signals to stimulate the auditory nerve.

What is the place theory?

When different frequencies are perceived at different locations along the cochlea, which allow the brain to determine pitch.

What is the frequency theory?

The brains reads pitch by monitoring the frequency of neural impulses.

What is embodied cognition?

The influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements.

What is sensory interaction?

The principle that one sense can influence another.

EX: When we smell food and invision how it tastes.

What is the vestibular sense?

Our balance sense.

What is kinesthesis?

Our movement sense.

What is the gate-control theory? How is this “gate” opened/closed.

The theory that the spinal cord contains a “gate” that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The “gate” is opened by the activity of pain and is closed by information coming from the brain.

What does the Right Hemisphere Control?

Spatial abilities, visual processing, creativity, artistic skills.

What does the Left Hemisphere Control?

Verbal tasks, analytical thinking, language processing, and logical reasoning.

What is Wernicke’s Area? Where is it located?

It is responsible for speech comprehension. Located in left hemisphere.

What is Wernicke’s Aphasia?

It makes it difficult to understand language.

What is Broca’s Area? Where is it located?

Responsible for speech production. Located in Left Hemisphere.

What is Broca’s Aphasia?

It makes it difficult to produce words and sounds. You can still understand things.

According to Weber’s law, what happens if the stimulus intensity is high?

The just noticeable difference (JND) will be large (it takes more of an increase in stimuli to notice a difference).

According to Weber’s law, what happens if the stimulus intensity is low?

The just noticeable difference (JND) will be smaller (it takes less of an increase in stimuli to notice a difference).

What is change blindness?

Failing to notice changes in the environment.

What is inattentional blindness?

Failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere.