Psych Exam 1 Review

Psych 101

What is the job of the spinal cord?

to carry sensory information and motor commands.

Sensory info carried to brain

Motor commands carried to muscles

Which lobe is the teal-blue representing?

Frontal Lobe

What is the frontal lobe responsible for?

Responsible for thinking, planning, decision-making, and controlling behavior 

What lobe does the purple color represent?

Parietal Lobe

What does the parietal lobe do?

processes sensory information, perception, and spacial awareness

What cortex is significant in the Parietal lobe?

Somatosensory cortex: receives and processes sensations from the body

What are the cortexes in the frontal lobe?

Motor, Prefrontal, Brocas area

What does the motor cortex do?

responsible for voluntary movements of the body, planning, preparation and initiation of motor movements. 

Prefrontal cortex

responsible for thought, planning, decision-making, and self control 

Brocas area

responsible for language production

What color does the yellow region represent?

Temporal lobe

What does the green region represent?

Occipital lobe

Temporal Lobe

• Responsible for hearing, language, memory

• Helps with recognizing and identifying what you see; visual recognition of objects and faces 

Cortex in Temporal lobe

Auditory cortex: processes sounds and hearing

Wernicke’s Area

located usually left temporal lobe, understanding language.

temporal lobe

occipital lobe

• Responsible for receiving and processing visual information (color, shape, size, movement, location of objects).

What does the highlighted area represent?

Insular lobe

insular lobe

• Responsible for sensing internal states, maintaining homeostasis, diverse roles. 

• Taste, emotions, pain, heartbeat, hunger, etc. 

Corpus Callosum

• Responsible for connecting left and right cerebral hemispheres, allows two hemispheres to communicate, coordinate, and share information. 

• In split-brain patients, the corpus callosum is cut so the hemispheres cannot communicate, leading to perceptual difficulties. 

Cerebellum

• Responsible for controlling movement, balance, posture, motor learning and coordination. 

Limbic System: Thalamus

• Responsible for relaying sensory information; receives sensory signals and sends them to the appropriate areas of the cerebral cortex. 

• Relays information about vision, hearing, touch, temperature, pain. (Except smell)

Limbic: Hypothalamus

• Responsible for maintaining homeostasis, keeping body’s internal environment stable. 

• Regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, sleep, heart rate/blood pressure, stress emotions 

Limbic: Amygdala

• Responsible for processing emotions, especially fear and threats

• Fear and threat detection, anger/aggression, emotional responses, emotional memories.

Limbic: Hippocampus

• Responsible for learning and memory 

• Forming new memories, learning new information, spatial memory 

Basal ganglia

• Responsible for controlling movement and motor coordination, damage linked to Parkinson’s 

• Ex; starting/stopping movements, controlling smooth purposeful movements, learning habits and motor skills, reward and motivation.

Sympathetic System

excited, “Fight or Flight”

• Adrenaline released 

• Increased heart rate 

• Increased blood pressure

• Lungs relax 

• ⁃ Digestion inhibited 

What system is sympathetic ?

peripheral → automatic

Parasympathetic

relax

• Slows heart rate

• Promotes growth 

• Stimulates digestion 

• Promotes cell regeneration

Ventricles

empty space in the brain where fluid flows through

Pseudoscience

Overuse of ad hoc immunizing hypotheses - making excuses for lack of evidence 

exaggerated claims

over-reliance on anecdotes.

absense of connectivity to other research 

lack of peer review 

unnecessary jargon 

talk of "proof", instead of evidence. 

Biological psych

The study of how biological processes in the brain and body are related to behavior

Ex; neuroscience, behavioral genetics 

“How Brain and Body relate to Behavior”

Clinical psych

Study of causes of mental disorders and their treatment 

Ex; educational psych 

“Mental Disorders and their Treatment”

Social psych

Study of how people think about themselves and others and how they influence one another 

“What People Think and How They Influence One Another” 

Developmental psych

Study of how change in behavior and mental processes over the lifespan

Ex; educational psych 

“How Behavior Changes Over Time” 

Personality psych

Study of similiarties and differences among people such as sociability, reliability, emotionality and others. 

Ex; industrial-organizational 

“Similarities and Differences Among People” 

Cognitive Psych

Study of mental abilities including sensation, perception, learning and memory, thinking, consciousness, intelligence and creativity 

Ex; perception and language

“Study of Mental Abilities” 

Confirmation Bias

the tendency to seek evidence that supports what you already believe, while ignoring information that contradicts it. 

Bandwagon Fallacy

believing something is true or correct because many other people believe it. 

"everyone thinks its true so it must be true"

Emotional Reasoning Fallacy

he belief that because you feel something strongly, it must be true. 

"I want it to be true, so it must be true"

Glial cells

support cells of the nervous system

• insulates neurons with myelin

which part of the neuron is responsible for releasing neurotransmitters'?

terminal branches

The evolutionary perspective emphasizes the influence __________ on behavior?

genetics

What is one surprising result of studies of twins rear apart?

twin pairs were just as similar whether raised together or apart.

Brainstem

connects brain to spinal chord

What is an interesting fact about adoptive studies?

Similarities between adoptive children and their biological parents on intelligence get stronger over time.

Brainstem - Midbrain

• Helps control vision and visual tracking, hearing and auditory reflexes, movement, eye movements. 

Brainstem - Pons

• middle part of the brainstem 

• Acts as a bridge between cortex and cerebellum. Helps regulate breathing, sleep, arousal.

Brainstem - medulla

Located at the lowest part of the brainstem, directly above spinal cord. 

• Controls important automatic functions such as heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, sleep and wakefulness. 

Which part of the brain, located on the left frontal lobe, was identified by a surgeon as being implicated in speech production?

Broca’s Area

Which essential area of the brain helps to regulate such critical functions as breathing, digestion, and the beating of your heart?

Brainstem

Juan is eating paella, his favorite dish of rice and seafood. What part of Juan’s cerebral cortex is probably most active as he is enjoying the taste of his dinner?

Parietal Lobe

______theory deals with the evolution of cognitive biases that lead to judgments and decisions we make in situations of uncertainty.

Error Management

Cultural Relativism

understanding a person's behavior, beliefs, or values within the context of their own culture, rather than judging them based on the standards of your own culture.

“different doesn’t necessarily mean wrong”

Ethnocentrism

the tendency to judge another culture based on the standards, values, and beliefs of your own culture.

One problem with adopting cultural relativism is that it leaves no room for criticism of ______.

harmful cultural practices

Which of the following examples would demonstrate the influence of nature on one’s success? (nature= genetic/biological influences).

a football player is born with the genes to be very tall, very fast and quite muscular

The field of _______ involves searching for genes that are associated with characteristics using genetic testing.

molecular genetics

🧠 Parietal

physical sensation

🧠 Frontal

Future & Function

🧠 Temporal

temples = hearing

🧠 Parietal

Parie-feel → sensory info

🧠 Medulla

maintenance of life.

🧠 Pons

bridge

🧠 Midbrain

movement & senses

🧠 brain stem

basic survival → keeps essential body functions running automatically.

🧠 hippocampus

memory maker 

🧠 amgydala

alarm

🧠 hypothalamus

homeostasis

🧠 thalamus

traffic controller

🧠 Cerebellum

coordination

🧠 Corpus callosum

communication bridge

🧠 Insular

inside

🧠 Occipital

Optical = Vision