Behavioral Sciences 1-5

Biology and Behavior, Sensation and Perception, Learning and Memory, Cognition, Consciousness and Language, Motivation, Emotion, and Stress

What do interneurons do in reflex arcs?

Relay info to the source of stimuli while simultaneously routing it to the brain

Is the somatic nervous system voluntary or involuntary?

Voluntary

Which nervous system is associated with wakefulness and the fight or flight response?

Sympathetic

Which nervous system is associated with the rest and digest response?

Parasympathetic

What does dopamine do?

Maintain smooth movement and steady posture (think of how dopamine is depleted in Parkinson’s, causing tremors and bad posture)

What are natural painkillers?

Endorphins and enkephalins

Between epinephrine and norepinephrine, which tends to act as a hormone?

Epinephrine

Between epinephrine and norepinephrine, which tends to act as a neurotransmitter?

Norepinephrine (think N for neurotransmitter)

What are the inhibitory neurotransmitters you should know about? Where do they act?

GABA for the brain, glycine for the spinal cord

What are the excitatory neurotransmitters you should know about? Where do they act?

Glutamate for the brain AND spinal cord

Where are testosterone and estrogen produced?

Gonads

Where are testosterone and estrogen released before going to the gonads?

Adrenal cortex

Where are epinephrine and norepinephrine released from?

Adrenal medulla (think Medusa causes the fight/flight response)

Hindbrain parts

Cerebellum, medulla, and reticular formation

Midbrain parts

Inferior and superior colliculi

What category the brain regulate basic survival functions, INCLUDING emotion and memory?

Old brain

What is in charge of the 4 F’s?

Hypothalamus

What is the structure in the brain that has the same function as dopamine (smooths movements and helps postural stability)?

Basal ganglia

Septal nuclei regulate what in the limbic system?

Pleasure and addiction

Which cerebral hemisphere is usually dominant?

Left

Explain the process of neurulation

What kind if stimuli are out in the world around us (e.g. a book) , but not being directly perceived by us (e.g. retinal image of book)?

Distal stimuli

What are sensory ganglia?

Collection of cell bodies outside the CNS

Explain the difference threshold

Minimum difference in magnitude between 2 stimuli before one can perceive this difference

Explain signal detection theory (SDT)

SDT is a model for understanding how humans make decisions based on sensory input. Think of a doctor diagnosing a tumor.

What part of the eye gathers and filters incoming light, but doesn’t focus it?

Cornea

How many muscles does the iris have?

2, the dilator and constrictor pupillae

Where is aqueous produced? Where is it drained?

Produced by ciliary body, drained through canal of Schlemm

Fill in the pathway

Rods/cones → ? → ? → optic nerve

Rods/cones → bipolar cells → ganglion cells → optic nerve

What type of cells perform edge sharpening?

Horizontal and amacrine cells

Explain parallel processing in vision

Color, form, and motion are processed at the same time

What type of cells in the eye process shape?

Parvocellular cells

What can you do about nerve deafness/sensorineural hearing loss (damage to hair cells in inner ear)?

Use a cochlear implant

What are the acronymes for the middle ear?

MIS and HAS

Malleus, Incus, Stapes
Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup

Describe basial tuning

How we can differentiate between frequencies is dependent on soundwaves with different pitches activating specific, different locations on the basilar membrane

What sensory system is the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) important for?

Vision

What sensory system is the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) important for?

Auditory

All Gestalt Principles are governed by which law?

Law of Pragnaz

What is dishabituation? How is it different from extinction?

When a second stimulus intervenes, causing a resensitization of the original stimulus. Extinction is when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced, so it stops.

What is pairing together stimuli/responses or behaviors/consequences to learn?

Associative learning

What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning?

Classical conditioning pairs an involuntary, automatic response with a neutral stimulus (think Pavlov’s dog), while operant conditioning pairs a voluntary action with a consequence (reinforcement or punishment).

Fixed ratio

Reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses. Ex) getting one free meal after buying 10, losing driver’s license after 5 violations

Fixed interval

Exact amount of time passes between each reinforcement. Ex) studying for weekly quiz, weekly paycheck

Variable ratio

Reinforcement occurs after varying # of responses. Ex) playing the lottery, # of shots to shoot a score in a soccer game

Variable interval

Varying amount of time passes between each reinforcement. Ex) checking email, winning a video game

Encoding specificity describes how…

You’re more likely to remember something if your are in the same state of mind as the time of learning (related to state dependent learning)

Semantic encoding is stronger/weaker than both acoustic and visual encoding

Stronger

What is a semantic network?

Basically a mind map that stores facts. Concepts are linked together based on similar meaning.

Korsakoff’s syndrome symptoms

Memory loss, amnesia, fake memories

How is the original semantic network theory different from the modified semantic network model?

The modified model removes the hierarchy. Instead the network develops based on experience and knowledge.

What is egocentrism?

Basically describes how children think they’re the center of the world and no one else matters. They can’t take perspective of another person.

What is projection bias? How is that different from the false consensus effect?

Projection bias just describes when we assume others share the same belief we do. False consensus focuses on how we overestimate the number of people who do.

Compared alpha waves on an EEG, the frequency is higher/lower and the amplitude is higher/lower

Frequency is higher, amplitude is lower

What does the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale measure?

Someone’s ability to learn

How do depressants influence neurotransmitters? Comment on GABA

GABA increases

How do stimulants influence neurotransmitters? Comment on dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin at the synaptic cleft.

Dopamine increases, norepinephrine increases, and serotonin increases

How is transformationalist grammar different from syntax?

Syntax is just the rules dictating word order, while transformationalist grammar describes how different orders of words can convey the same meaning.

Order of brain waves

Theta → Theta → Delta → Beta

When attention is captured by motion of an object, what is that called?

Attentional capture

In Maslow’s Hiearchy of Needs, higher needs only produce drives once…

Lower needs are met

What is self determination theory?

Emphasizes the universal need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness

What theory explains motivation for drug use?

Opponent-Process theory

Which nervous system is stress invovled in?

Sympathetic

What are the three components of emotion?

Cognitive, physiological, behavioral

Mnemonic for 7 universal emotions

CHAD-SurFS

Contempt, happiness, anger, disgust, surprise, fear, sadness

Explain the three theories of emotion