Biopsychology Chapter 1 - Key Terms Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the major terms and concepts from Chapter 1 notes.

Biopsychology

The scientific study of the biology of behavior.

Neuroscience (relevant to biopsychology)

The broad field of studying the nervous system; in biopsychology, six related disciplines are neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neuroendocrinology, neuropathology, neuropharmacology, and neurophysiology.

Neuroanatomy

Study of the structures of the nervous system.

Neurochemistry

Study of chemical processes underlying neural function.

Neuroendocrinology

Study of interactions between the nervous system and the endocrine system.

Neuropathology

Study of diseases of the nervous system.

Neuropharmacology

Study of how drugs affect neural function and behavior.

Neurophysiology

Study of the physiology of the nervous system.

Physiological psychology

Direct manipulation of the nervous system; mostly animal subjects; laboratory setting; focus on pure research.

Psychopharmacology

Manipulation of the nervous system pharmacologically; study of drug effects on behavior; drug effects change neural activity; can be pure or applied research.

Neuropsychology

Focus on the psychological effects of brain dysfunction; uses case studies and quasi-experimental designs; applied research.

Psychophysiology

Study of the relation between physiological activity and psychological processes; uses noninvasive recordings (e.g., muscle tension, eye movements, pupil dilation, skin conductance) in humans.

Cognitive neuroscience

Youngest division; neural basis of cognitive processes (learning/memory, attention, perception); uses noninvasive functional brain imaging; involves interdisciplinary collaboration.

Comparative psychology

Adopts comparative and functional approaches; includes laboratory and ethological studies; covers evolutionary psychology and behavioral genetics.

Converging operations

Progress in biopsychology from using multiple approaches; each method compensates for the weaknesses of others.

Scientific inference

Empirical approach to studying brain activity by inferring unobservable processes from observable effects.

Critical thinking

Identifying weaknesses in arguments and evaluating biopsychological claims.

Korsakoff’s syndrome

Memory disorder often related to thiamine deficiency and alcoholism; characterized by severe anterograde amnesia and confabulation; used as a case to illustrate converging operations.

Hebb’s Organization of Behavior (1949)

Foundational text that helped establish biopsychology as a discipline and introduced ideas about neural mechanisms underlying learning (Hebbian plasticity).

Pure research

Research driven by curiosity with the aim of acquiring knowledge for its own sake.

Applied research

Research aimed at producing practical benefits for humankind; often includes translational work to apply findings.

Translational research

Pure research findings translated into practical applications.

Six divisions of biopsychology (primarily taught in the course)

Physiological psychology, psychopharmacology, neuropsychology, psychophysiology, cognitive neuroscience, and comparative psychology.

Advantages of human subjects

Can follow directions, report subjective experience, and study the human brain directly (subject to ethical considerations and costs).

Advantages of nonhuman subjects

Tend to have simpler nervous systems, enable a comparative approach, and often face fewer ethical constraints.

Quasiexperimental studies

Used when controlled experiments are impossible; involve self-selected subjects and cannot fully control confounds.

Experiments

Can establish cause-and-effect; involve between-subjects or within-subjects designs; manipulate independent variables and measure dependent variables, while controlling confounds.

Between-subjects design

Experimental design in which different groups of subjects are exposed to different conditions.

Within-subjects design

Experimental design in which the same subjects experience all conditions.

Independent variable

The variable deliberately manipulated by the experimenter.

Dependent variable

The variable measured to assess the effect of the manipulation.

Confounding variable

An extraneous variable that varies with the independent variable and may affect the dependent variable, threatening internal validity.

Case studies

In-depth study of single or a few cases, often rare conditions; high detail but limited generalizability.