UNIT 1 PSYCHOLOGY ATAR 2026 FULL SET

Phineas Gage’s injury

struck by a pole in the left frontal lobe in 1848, resulting in more irritability and organisational issues

localisation definition

some areas of the brain have specific functions, first attributed to damage of Phineas Gage’s brain

purpose of Walter Freeman exploring lobotomies

as an intervention for people with schizofrenia and depression

process of an icepick lobotomy

first performed in 1936, a thin rod was swept laterallt through cerebral tissue, taking under 10 minutes

advertised purpose of icepick lobotomy

an improvement from an institute, a tool for controlling the mentally ill

side effects of icepick lobotomy

severe disablement, loss of language functions, institutionalisation, haemorrhage, zombie-likeness, vegetative behaviour

purpose of Roger Sperry Split Brain Experiments

to study specific functions associated with each hemisphere of the brain, as until the 1960s, it was believed that most people were left hemisphere dominant

examples of split brain experiments

spoon one where the nonverbal right hemisphere cannot say what the left hand felt, half a word one where the right hemisphere cannot indicate the correct word being displayed, interpretation by the left hemisphere of a word as it cannot see what the right hemisphere sees

process of an electroencephalograph (EEG)

measures electrical activity via electrodes on the calp to indicate amplitude and frequency of wave forms from neural activity

benefits of an EEG

can help diagnose epilepsy, sleep disorder, arousal, without requiring radiation or magnets

tomography definition

generating a 2D image of a slice of a 3D section

uses for Computed Axial Tomography

studying brain structures

process of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

magnetic field sends radiofrequency pulses to align and measure signals from atomic nuclei

uses for an MRI

identify structures and tissue in the brain

function of a Functional MRI (fMRI)

detects specific areas of the brain involved in a task, process, or emotion, as active areas consume more oxynamoglobin containing iron compounds, showing magnetisation

hindbrain functions

unconcious vital processes like breathing, as well as some voluntary processes like muscle coordination

elements of the hindbrain

medulla oblongata, cerebellum

medulla oblongata function

connection point for nerves from the spinal cord, controls heart rate, breathing, digestion, and swallowing, considered ‘brain dead’ if damaged

cerebellum function

recieves sensory information to regulate posture, balance, and fine muscle movement

midbrain structure

small structure joining the hindbrain to the forebrain, containing reticular formation

midbrain function

acts as a ‘sensory switchboard’ to screen relevant sensory information to prevent overload, maintains general arousal, sleep/wake cycle

elements of the forebrain

cerebral cortex, thalamus, hypothalamus, corpus callosum, cerebral hemisphere, Broca’s area

structure of the cerebral cortex

covers 75% of the 2 hemispheres, but only 2mm thin due to folds and crevices that increase the surface area to 25cm²

cerebral cortex function

processing perception, language, learning, memory, problem solving, and movement

thalamus function

regulates arousal with reticular formation, filters and relays sensory information

hypothalamus function

regulates hormone release for temperature, circadian rhythm, sex drive, thirst, and hunger

corpus callosum function

allows messages to be sent between left and right hemispheres

longitudal fissure definition

a deep groove seperating the two cerebral hemispheres

control of each cerebral hemisphere

each side controls the other, with left controlling language, and right controlling recognition of faces, patterns, and visual patterns/attention

Broca’s area function

responsible for producing clear, fluent speech through muscle movements

location of Broca’s area

left frontal lobe near motor cortex

elements of the temporal lobe

Wernicke’s area, primary auditory cortex

temporal lobe function

processes visual memory, mood, emotion, language percetion, and long term memory storage/formation

Wernicke’s area function

comprehension of speech, interpretation, and locating appropriate words and responses

location of Wernicke’s area

in the left hemisphere of the temporal lobe, next to the primary auditory cortex

primary auditory cortex function

responsible for recieving and processing auditory information

role of speciallist pathways in the primary auditory cortex

responding to stimuli including sounds, speech patterns, and relating heard information to words in memory

parietal lobe function

intergrates sensory and spacial information, located in the somatosensory cortex, includes primary sensory cortex

examples of damage symptoms to the parietal lobe

hemineglect - inability to attend to one side of the body, sensory distortions or hallucinations on one side of the body

primary sensory cortex role

recieves and processes ensory information

example of damage to the primary sensory cortex

phantom pain

occipital lobe function

detection and intergration of visual information, includes the primary visual cortex

function of specialist pathways in the occipital lobe

movement in the visual field, object identicfication, perception of lines/edges, detecting flashing stimuli

primary visual cortex function

represents visual information from the retina, responsible for initial object detection and motion/spacial relationships

structure of the nervous system

main functions of the nervous system

recieving information via sensory pathways, processing information via CNS, and coordinating a response via motor pathways

role of the sympathetic system

arouse the body to respond to threats

role of the parasympathetic nervous system

rests the body to return to a state of equillibrium

role of the brain

responsible for processing sensory information, coordinating muscles and glands to regulate body systems

role of the spinal cord

carry information between PNS and the brain

role of the somatic nervous system

carries messages away from the CNS to skeletal muscles, transmits information from sense receptor sites towards CNS, voluntary muscle movements

role of the autonomic nervous system

carries nerural messages between the CNS, heart, lungs, and other organs/glands

role of the motor neuron system

brings the body back to homeostasis

role of neurons

recieve, process, and/or transmit information to other neurons through neural impulses

neural information function

in the form of electrical impulses that are passed from one cell to another

motor neuron function and structure (image)

or effector neurons, transmit messages away from CNS to muscles, glands, and organs in the PNS

sensory neuron function and structure (image)

or receptor/affector, specialised cells that recieve external/environmental stimuli and transmit information towards the CNS

interneurons function

provide rapid links between motor and sensory neurons within the CNS

reflex arc definition

a neural pathway that controls a reflex

reflex arc process

incoming sensory information travels via sensory neuron to CNS, then to a motor neuron via an interneuron

purpose of a reflex arc

to reduce the amount of time for a message to be sent, increasing reaction time

action potential definition

within a cell, changes in electrical charge that travel along an axon

role of ion concentrations in an action potential

causes the inside of the neuron to be negative relative to the outside

state of the neuron at rest

relatively more positive sodium ions outside, more potassium ions inside, at -60mV

action potential process

1. nerve impulse is initiated at the axon hillock when signals reach a threshold

2. sodium channels open, allowing positively charged sodium to travel through

3. adjacent sodium channels open due to concentration

all or nothing definiton

action potential either fires or does not, only if the membrane crosses the threshold voltage

threshold voltage value

-50mV

role of dendrites

to collect electrical signals

neurotransmitters definition

chemical messangers that travel between neuron

cell body role

intergrate incoming signals and generate outgoing signals

role of the axon

pass signals from cell body to dendrites or an effector cell

process of neural transmission between cells

1. action potential arrives at axon terminal

2. voltage-gated Ca2+ channels open

3. Ca2+ enters the presynaptic neuron and signals to vesicles

4. vesicles move to the membrane and dock

5. neurotransmitters are released via exocytosis and bind to receptors

6. signal initiated in the postsynaptic cell by the dendrite

synaptic gap/clef definition

the space between neurons

vesicle definition

membrane bound sac cnotaining neurotransmitters

reabsorbtion definition

when excess neurotransmitters are removed through reabsorbtion in the postsynaptic cell

lock and key principle

that receptor sites are only activated by the correct neurotranmitters with the same shape

synapse function

allow the release of neurotransmitters to moderate neural communication

excitatory synapse function

increases voltage through the release of glutamate

inhibitory synapse function

decreases voltage through the release of GABA

main principles of the Australian Psychological Society Code of Ethics

respect for the rights and dignity of people, propriety, integrity

ethical guidelines purpose

ensure research has merit, integrity, and regard for participants

requirements for ethical research

benefit outweighs risk, meets requirements of ethics committee

alternatives to the use of animals

replacement (simulator, AI, lesser animals), reduction, refinement (to minimise harm)

8 key ethical principles

research merit and integrity, justice, beneficence, respect, confidentiality, informed consent, voluntary participation, right to withdraw

research merit and integrity definition

the research must have potential benefit, be well explained and designed, and conducted by competent people

justice definition

participants must be recruited fairly and not exploited

beneficence definition

participants must have likely benefits, or compensation and justification for any actions

respect definition

researchers must regard welfare, beliefs, customs, and culture

confidentiality definition

secrecy of information within a relationship, meaning researchers must not share information without consent

privacy definition

protection of participants' data from unwanted third parties, which governs data type and collection

informed consent definition

participants must know the nature of the experiment, potential risks, deception, and must be written

power of attorney definition

parent/guardian may consent if the participant is under 18 or is mentally disabled

participant rights in psychological research

all participants have the right to protection from both physical and psychological harm

psychological research process

identify, hypothesis, method, collect, analyse, interpret, report

research aim

a statement identifying the objective of the project

extraneous variable

may have an unwanted effect on the dependent variable

confounding variable

has an unwanted effect on the dependent variable, found after an experiment

extraneous variable examples

experimentor effect, participant, demand characteristics, environment

non-directional hypothesis

hypothesis that the independent variable will change the dependent variable variable, but is unknown if it will increase or decrease