Behavioral Sciences - Cognition, Consciousness, and Language

Dyssomnias

sleep disorders characterized by insomnia or excessive sleepiness; insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea and sleep deprivation

Parasomnias

odd behaviors during sleeping; night terrors, sleep walking

Mesolimbic pathway

Mediates drug addiction. Includes nucleus accumbens, medial forebrain bundle, and ventral tegmental area. Dopamine is the main neurotransmitter.

Depressants examples

barbiturates, alcohol, benzodiazepines

Depressants function

sense of relaxation and reduced anxiety

Stimulants examples

amphetamines, cocaine, ectasy

Stimulants function

increased arousal

Opiates/Opioids examples

heroin, morphine, opium, pain pills

Opiates/opioids function

decreased reaction to pain; euphoria

Hallucinogens examples

LSD, peyote, mescaline, ketamine, psilocybin-containing mushrooms

Hallucinogens function

distortions of reality and fantasy; introspection

Marijuana

features of depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens

Sensorimotor stage

focuses on manipulating the environment to meet physical needs through circular reactions; object permanence ends this stage

Preoperational stage

focuses on symbolic thinking, egocentrism, and centration

concrete operational stage

focuses on understanding the feelings of others and manipulating physical (concrete) objects

Formal operational stage

focuses on abstract thought and problem solving

Selective attention

allows one to pay attention to a particular stimulus while determining if additional stimuli require attention in the background

Divided attention

uses automatic processing to pay attention to multiple activities at one time

Wernicke's area

language comprehension

Broca's area

motor function of speech

Broca's aphasia

generating each word requires effort

Wernicke's aphasia

lack of comprehension

arcuate fasciculus

connects Wernicke's and Broca's areas

Conduction aphasia

inability to repeat words despite intact speech generation and comprehension