PSY 2012 FSU Exam 2

3 Types of Neurons and Functions

1)Motor Neurons - conduct impulses to muscle & gland cells

2) Sensory Neurons - affected by changes in the environment and respond to touch, light, & other senses

3) Interneurons - Internally communicate and intervene between sensory inputs and motor outputs. Controlling complex cognitive processes

Dendrite

Tree-like structure that receives signals

Cell Body

"Soma" and produces the components of the cell such as proteins

Axon & Axon Terminal

Nerve fiber that comes out of cell body that carries nerve impulses.

Has synaptic Vesicles

Axon Terminals connect into the new cell body and is the end of the axon that. Axon terminal is a transmitter

Synapse

The tiny-fluid filled space between neurons through which neurotransmitters travel

Action Potential

Electrical impulse that travels down the axon triggering the release of neurotransmitters

Acetylcholine

Muscle contractions and memory; Related to Alzheimer's

Dopamine

Learning and reward center; Excess of dopamine - schizophrenia

Undersupply - Related to Parkinson's

Serotonin

Mood, hunger, and sleep; related to depression

Norepinephrine

Brain arousal and mood.

Undersupply - depression

Central Nervous System

Brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

Deals with all other nerves of the body

Somatic Movements

Part of Peripheral Nervous System.

Voluntary Movements; consciously initiated

Autonomic Movements

Automatic by the body; involuntary

Sympathetic Vs. Parasympathetic

Part of Autonomic Movements;

Sympathetic - arousing, "fight or flight," prepares for physical activity

Parasympathetic - calms the body, slows high energy functions such as feeding and breathing

Phineas Gage

His attitude changed because a rod went through his frontal lobe. Frontal lobe has to do with cognitions, sense of self, etc

EEG Graph

Measures electrical activity in the brain

CT Scan

Like an x-ray for the brain to find tumors

PET Scan

Radioactive substance is put into body and then glows depending on how much glucose is consumed in the brain

MRI Scan

Magnetic 3-D picture

FMRI

Studies functions of the brain

Cerebral Cortex

Outermost part of forebrain; responsible for analyzing sensory processing and higher brain functions

Cerebrum

Forward part of the brain that allows advanced intellectual abilities

Frontal Lobe

Planning, Sense of self, and motor functions

Known as Foreman

Parietal Lobe

Touch and body position

Occipital Lobe

Ocular and eye senses

Temporal Lobe

Hearing

Cerebellum

Known as little brain

Sensory information is coordinated such as balance;

Hindbrain

Limbic System

Associated with emotions, and our survival drives.

Emotion center of the brain and deals with memory, motivation, and smell

Amygdala

Emotions

Hippocampus

Memory

Hypothalamus

Autonomic function; retains homeostasis

Ex. Tells you that you're hungry

Corpus Callosum and what happens when cut?

Connects brain hemispheres.

When it's cut the brain interprets separately as hemispheres

Endocrine System

System of glands and hormones

Hormones

Influence organ and gland functions

Pituitary Gland

Controlled by hypothalamus and directs other glands of the body

Adrenal Gland

Releases Adrenaline

Oxytocin

The love hormone; Maternal and romantic

Myelin Sheath

Insulators of the neruon's signal

Node

Help conduction of nerve impulses

Gene

DNA

Genotype

Our genetic makeup

Phenotype

Physical traits

How do scientists study connection between genes and Behavior?

Study Behavioral genetics. Has to do with heritability

How is nature vs. Nurture Relevant

Has to do with genes and how genes from the parents cause the offsprings characteristics

Sensation

Detection of physical energy by sense organs, which then send information to the brain

Perception

The brain's interpretation of raw sensory inputs

Subliminal Perception

Seeing something when something really isnt there. Our brains make it up. Ink blots

Cones

Let you see colors

Rods

See's light and low light

Trichromatic theory

Idea that color vision is based on our sensitivity to three primary colors

Opponent Process Theory

Theory that we perceive colors in terms of three pairs of opponent colors: either red or green, blue, or yellow, or black and white

Amplitude

How loud something is

Pitch

Higher frequency is higher pitch

Frequency

High frequency is high pitch. Def - Distance between the waves

How do we tell direction of sound?

Based on when the waves hit each ear

Ex. If it hits left ear before right then it comes in direction of left ear

McGurk Effect

-Influence of visual perception on our auditory perception

-Impact on speech perception knowledge

Ear Canal

Conducts sound waves

Pinna

Structure of the ear; Channels the sound

Ear Drum

Vibrates and responds to sound-waves

Coachella

Converts vibration to neural activity

Place Theory

The model of pitch perception; matches tone with specific pitch

Frequency Theory

The rate at which neurons shoot action potentials to reproduce the pitch

Olfaction

Smell

Gustation

The Taste

Pheromones

Alter our Sexual Behavior

Gate control Model

Idea that pain is blocked or gated from consciousness by neural mechanisms in spinal cord

Vestibular Balance

Balance

Gestalt Principles

Analyze an image and its context of its surroundings

Monocular Depth

Depth using one

Binocular Depth

Depth using both eyes

Consciousness

Aware of ourselves and the environment

and animals are conscious

Circadian Rhythm

Changes that occur in a 24-hour basis in many biological processes such as hormone releases, blood temperature

Biological Clock

Term for the area of the hypothalamus that's responsible for controlling our levels of alertness

Lucid Dreaming

When you know that you are dreaming

Narcolepsy

The rapid and often onset of sleep

Drive Theory

Behavior is "pushed" from within by drives stemming from basic biological needs

- we must maintain our homeostasis

Maslow's Hierarchy

1) Self-Actualization Ex. Morality, creativity, problem solving

2) Esteem Ex. Confidence, respect of others and respect of others

3) Love/Belong

ex. Family, Friends, and Relationships

4) Safety Ex. Security of body and employment

5) Physiological Ex. Breathing, food, water

Intrinsic Motivation

Doing something because the person wants to do it for themselves Ex. Studying so they get smarter or playing sports because they enjoy it

Extrinsic Motivation

Doing something because of the reward that comes along with it.

Ex. Studying to get a good grade or playing sports to make lots of money

Leptin

Chemical that signals to the hypothalamus that it is time to stop eating

Refractory Period

Period after males organs before resolution

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Someone will be more likely to be happy if they are forced to smile

Canon-Bard Theory

Emotion provoking events simultaneously induce the subjective experience (emotion) as well as our physiological experience

Ex. My pulse is racing AND I'm Scared

James Lang Theory

We experience a physiological reaction which in turn creates our emotional subjective experience.

Ex. My heart is racing! And its making me scared

Schacter-singer (Two factor) theory

We must interpret our physiological reaction so that we can assign an appropriate emotional label on an event.

Ex. My heart is racing?! Why is it racing? Because this is dangerous and scary situation! I'm Scared!

Matching Hypothesis

the idea that people are more likely to form successful relationships with and express liking for people whose level of physical attractiveness roughly equals their own.

Sternberg's Triangular Model of love

Intimacy, Passion, and commitment