AP Psychology Unit 1 Biological Bases of Behavior - Elrod

AP Psychology Elrod Unit 2 Test Study Guide

Nature vs. Nurture

Evolutionary Perspective

Central Nervous System

• Brain and Spinal cord

• Carries messages to the brain

• Sends messages from the brain

Pheripheral Nervous System

• Nerves not encased in bone

• divided into somatic and autonomic

Somatic Nervous System

• Controls voluntary muscle movements

• recieves messages from motor cortex

Autonomic Nervous System

• controls automatic functions of the body (heart, lungs, organs, glands, etc.)

• controls our response to stress

• divided into 2 (sympathetic and parasympathetic)

Sympathetic Nervous System

• Fight or Flight or Freeze Response

• mobilizes our body to respond to stress

• accelerates some functions but conserves resources needed for a quick response by slowing down some functions

• speeds up: heart rate & breathing

• dilates: pupils

• Slows down: digestion

Parasympathetic Nervous System

• Responsible for slowing down our body after a stress response

• Homeostasis

• The brake pedal that slows down the body’s autonomics nervous system

• slows down: breathing, heart rate

• constricts: pupils

• speeds up: digestion

Reflexes

• information is controlled by the spine & does not require the brain to respond

• Work differently from the normal nervous system transmission

Brain (matching)

Responsible for transmitting information throughout the body

Central Nervous System (matching)

Responsible for cognitive functioning

Spinal Cord (matching)

Responsible for sending messages to and from the brain

Pheripheral Nervous System (matching)

Responsible for all nervous system functions outside of the brain and spinal cord

Somatic Nervous System (matching)

Responsible for voluntary movement

Autonomic Nervous System (matching)

Regulates heart rate, breathing, digestion, etc.

Sympathetic Nervous System (matching)

spends reserved energy

Parasympathetic Nervous System (matching)

Restores & repairs spent energy

Neurotransmitters

determine what type of signal is being sent

Synapse

space between neurons where neurotransmitters travel through via, receptor sites

Dendrites

where signals are recieved

Neurons

Carry messages using electrical impulses

Glial Cells

Provide physical & chemical support of neurons

Types of Neurons

• Afferent (Sensory)

• Interneurons

• Efferent (Motor)

Afferent (Sensory) Neurons

• take infro from the senses and outside world to the brain

• Part of PNS

Interneurons

• Once information comes from the senses, takes info to different parts of the body

• Part of CNS

Efferent Neurons

• Take information from the CNS to muscles

• Part of PNS

Mnemonic device for Neurons

Think SA/ME (Sensory=Afferent/Motor=Efferent)

Neural Firing

Electrochemical Process

• Electrical inside the neuron

• chemical outside the neuron (neurotransmitters)

Resting Potential

When a neuron is “charged” but waiting for the next action potential

Threshold

the minimum level of stimulation needed to activate a neuron and create an action potential

Action Potential

• All or nothing process

• when a neuron sends information down an axon, away from the cell body

Refractory Period

If a neuron fires, it has to go through a resting period before it can fire again

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that move between neurons

Types of Neurotransmitters

• Excitatory

• Inhibitory

Excitatory Neurotransmitters

• make it more likely the next neuron will fire

• chemical secreted at terminal button that causes the neuron on the other side of the synapse to generate an action potential (to fire)

Inhibitory Neurotransmitters

• make it less likely the next neuron will fire

• chemical secreted at terminal button that reduces or prevents neural impulses in the postsynaptic neuron

Hormones

can act similarly to neurotransmitters

Types of Outside Influence (Nurture) on Neural Firing

• Agonists

• Antagonists

Agonists

Blocks re-uptake/excites (SSRIs)

• stimulants

Antagonists

Blocks release/inhibits next neuron from firing

• pain reliever

• depressants

• hallucinogens

Divisions of the Brain (vertical-top to bottom)

• Forebrain

• Midbrain

• Hindbrain

Divsions of the Brain (lateral)

Connected by Corpus Collosum

• Left Hemisphere

• Right Hemisphere

Lateralization

Specialization

Higher up in the the vertical ordering in the brain

= higher function (typically)

Functions controlled by Left Hemisphere

• Verbal Memory

• Speech

• Rational Symbolic Thought

• Superior Language Comprehensions

• Feeling shapes with right hand

• Right hand motor control

• Hearing vocal sounds

• Vision (right field)

Functions controlled by Right Hemisphere

• Musical Ability

• Hearing Non-Vocal Sounds

• Limited language comprehension

• Memory for shapes

• Left hand motor control

• Feeling shapes with left hand

• Intuitive, non-verbal thought

• Superior recognition of faces & spatial relationships

Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex

• Frontal

• Temporal

• Parietal

• Occipital

Methods of Studying the Brain

• Accidents (Case Studies)

• Lesions (Lobotomies)

• Electroencephalogram (EEG)

• Functional MRI

Electroencephalogram

Detects and Investigates brainwaves & consciousness

Functional MRI

Allows us to see the structure of the brain & what parts are active

Split Brain Research (Gazzaniga & Sperry Study)

• patients had severed corpus collosum

• depending on which side of the brain the word was flashed on, the patient responds by saying or drawing it

• Because the 2 sides of the brain aren’t connected or able to work together, the responses are isolated by side (ex. can draw the word but can’t say it)

Brain Plasticity

• Developing Neural pathways/networks

• Strengthening/weakening neural connections

• Lateralization and specialization can change

• Depends on age

Sleep

• State of consciousness (just less aware)

• Part of the natural circadian rhythm

Circadian Rhythm

• Awake & sleep cycle

• Body naturally changes with the rhythm

• Hormones (melatonin) and brain waves

Stages of Sleep

• Awake

• Awake and Relaxed

• Stage 1 (N1)

• Stage 2 (N2)

• Stages 3 & 4 (N3)

• REM Sleep

Awake

Beta waves

Awake & Relaxed

Alpha waves

Stage 1 (N1) - Between Awake & Asleep

• Only occurs once

• Theta waves

• Hypnogogic sleep

Stage 2 (N2)

• Theta waves but slower

• Sleep spindles & k-complexes

• Possibly important for memory consolidation (not 100% sure)

Stages 3 & 4 (N3)

• Deepest sleep

• Delta waves

• Important for physical & hormonal health

REM Sleep

• Most Conscious

• Most likely to remember dreams

Sleep & Dreams

• Dream in different stages

• Most likely to remember dreams in REM sleep

Theories of Dreams

• Activation-Synthesis theory

• Consolidation theory

Activation-Synthesis Theory

• Dreams caused by random neural firing

• Cerebral cortex tries to make sense of it

• Biological theory

  • explained by biological processes (no real meaning)

Information Processing/Consolidation Theory

• Brain is processing information from the day

• Information is moved to memory

• This neural activity causes dreams

• A cognition explanation

How do we know sleep is important?

• We sleep

• Health problems associated with lack of sleep

How do we know dreams are important?

• We dream

• REM Rebound

Sleep Cycle Chart

Beta Waves (Image matching)

Theta Waves (Image matching)

Alpha Waves (Image matching)

Delta Waves (Image matching)

Common Sleep Disorders

They interrupt sleep or are symptoms of dysregulated sleep

• Insomnia

• Narcolepsy

• Sleep Apnea

• Somnubulism

• REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

Insomnia

Inability to fall asleep

Narcolepsy

Inability to stay awake

Sleep Apnea

Condition where you stop breathing in your sleep and wake up

Somnobulism

Sleepwalking

REM Sleep Bahavior Disorder

Keep getting thrown back inot REM sleep - not getting other stages

Sensation

• Involves our senses

• Collects information from the outside world

• Use process of transduction

• Senses work together

  • Synthesia

  • McGurk Effect

McGurk Effect

Conflicting information presented to eyes & ears and brain can’t comprehend it so it overrides it with vision

Synesthesia

• Means joined sensations

• neurological condition that causes sensory crossovers, such as tasting colors or seeing shapes when smelling certain scents

Absolute Threshold

• Detect stimuli 50% of the time

• From nothing to something

Just Noticable Difference/Difference Threshold

Notice a change in stimuli intensity

Weber’s Law

Proportional change in stimuli is necessary

Color Vision Theories

• Trichromatic Theory

• Opponent Process Theory

Trichromatic Theory

• Red, Green, and Blue cones

• Explains range of colors

• Helps us understand color blindness

Opponent Process Theory

• Receptors come in pairs

  • Blue/Yellow

  • Red/Green

  • Black/White

• Helps explain afterimages

Vision Deficiencies

• Near/Far-Sightedness

• Colorblindness

• Prosopagnosia

• Blindsight

Near/Far-Sightedness

• problem with accomodation

• refractive eye conditions that affect how light focuses on the retina

• near: hard to see objects that are far away; the image is formed in front of the retina, instead of on it.

• far: hard to see objects that are close up; the image is focused behind the retina.

Colorblindness

• Issues with cones or ganglion cells

• dichromatism/monochromatism

dichromatism

partial color blindness that occurs when a person's color vision is based on only two primary colors.

monochromatism

rare form of color blindness in which people can only see shades of gray and are unable to differentiate colors

Prosopagnosia

face-blindness

Blindsight

Sensing things you can’t or don’t visually see

Acetylcholine

• Voluntary movement and muscle contraction

• Learning

• Memory

• Sleep

Dopamine

• Movement

• Attention & alertness

• Rewards (related to addictions)

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

inhibits excitation and anxiety (calming)

Endorphins

• Pain, relief, and feelings of pleasure

• Stress reduction

• “natural opiates”

Serotonin

• Mood regulation

• Hunger/appetite

• Sleep

Epinephrine/Norepinephrine

• “Fight or Flight” response (increased heart rate, circulation, respiration)

• Alertness/Arousal

• Norepineprine slows down appetite and digestion during fight or flight

Glutamate

• Brain’s major excitatory neurotransmitter

• creates links between neurons that form basis of learning, long-term memory