Sociological, Anthropological, and Neurobiological Perspectives of the Self

Flashcards testing core sociological, anthropological, and neurobiological concepts related to the formation and biological basis of the self.

How does C. Wright Mills define the sociological imagination?

The sociological imagination connects personal individual experience to larger structural patterns and public issues.

What are the three analytical moves used to identify sociological patterns in personal experience?

1. See the general in the particular (use one experience to notice wider patterns).
2. See the strange in the familiar (question explanations that feel obvious).
3. See individuality in social context (connect choices to institutions, culture, and unequal resources).

What is the core premise of Symbolic Interaction Theory?

People create and interpret meanings through interaction, and those meanings guide behavior.

What are the three steps in Charles Horton Cooley's looking-glass self concept?

1. Imagine how others perceive you.
2. Interpret their imagined judgment as approval or disapproval.
3. Feel pride or shame, and build a sense of self from that reflected appraisal.

According to George Herbert Mead, what are the three stages of role-taking in self-development?

1. Preparatory stage: Infants imitate without understanding intentions.
2. Play stage: Children pretend to be significant others (e.g., parents, doctors, firefighters).
3. Games stage: Children coordinate several roles and understand expectations of the generalized other.

How does George Herbert Mead distinguish between the 'I' and the 'Me'?

The 'Me' is the socialized self formed from internalized norms and expectations of others. The 'I' is the spontaneous, creative, and less predictable response emerging from the individual.

What is Erving Goffman's concept of dramaturgy, and how are frontstage and backstage defined?

Dramaturgy focuses on how people perform roles to guide others' impressions. Frontstage behavior is performed for an audience and shaped by audience expectations. Backstage is a space with fewer frontstage expectations where people prepare or relax the performance.

What are the literal meanings of the Greek root words 'Anthropos' and 'Logos'?

'Anthropos' means human, and 'Logos' means study.

What are the four main branches of anthropology?

1. Cultural anthropology (how people live in the present and recent past)
2. Linguistic anthropology (language in its cultural context)
3. Archaeology (past people through what they left behind)
4. Biological anthropology (human evolution and variation within the species)

How did Edward Tylor define culture?

A 'complex whole' of knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and acquired habits.

How did Clifford Geertz characterize culture and its relation to self-identity?

Geertz described culture as inherited conceptions and symbols that help people communicate, preserve knowledge, and make life meaningful, embedding the self and shaping identity through group membership.

What is the difference between an egocentric self and a sociocentric self?

An egocentric self ('Me') is autonomous, distinct, and focused on personal desires, independence, and achievement (typically American). A sociocentric self ('We') is context-dependent and focused on belongingness, cooperation, harmony, and obligation (Japanese and Chinese frameworks).

What role does 'naming' play as a hinge between independent and interdependent identity?

Naming serves as a hinge establishing birthright, lineage, personhood, and membership in a kinship system or community.

What are the three stages of social transition in self-identity?

1. Separation: Detach from a former identity and leave the familiar.
2. Liminal: The old identity has ended, but the new one is not fully entered.
3. Incorporation: Rituals recognize and stabilize a new social identity.

What is the key difference between Dualism and Monism regarding the mind-body problem?

Dualism (proposed by René Descartes) asserts that mind and body are fundamentally different substances that interact. Monism treats mental states as inseparable from physical brain activity.

What are the three components of the Biopsychosocial Model?

Biological, psychological, and social factors continuously interacting to shape health and behavior.

What are the primary functions of the five main parts of a neuron?

1. Dendrites: Receive signals.
2. Soma: Integrates signals.
3. Axon: Carries the outgoing signal.
4. Myelin: Insulates and speeds transmission.
5. Terminal buttons: Release neurotransmitters.

What are the primary functions of Acetylcholine, Dopamine, Serotonin, GABA, and Glutamate?

Acetylcholine regulates voluntary movement, learning, and memory. Dopamine drives motivation and reward pursuit (central to addiction). Serotonin regulates mood, sleep, and appetite. GABA is the primary inhibitory signal (calms neural activity). Glutamate is the primary excitatory signal (central to learning and memory formation).

What are the five steps involved in a spinal reflex arc, such as touching a hot stove?

1. Heat (Hot stove)
2. Sensory input (Signal enters)
3. Spinal cord (Processes locally)
4. Motor output (Command leaves)
5. Withdrawal (Hand pulls away)

How do the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems differ in function?

The sympathetic nervous system drives mobilization ('fight-or-flight') by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, redirecting blood to muscles, and suppressing digestion. The parasympathetic nervous system drives recovery ('rest-and-digest') by slowing the heart, lowering blood pressure, and supporting digestion and energy conservation.

What are the main functions of the four brainstem structures: Medulla, Pons, Cerebellum, and Reticular Formation?

Medulla controls heartbeat and breathing. Pons functions in relay and coordination between brainstem, cerebellum, and higher structures. Cerebellum controls balance, coordination, smooth movement, and aspects of procedural memory. Reticular formation controls arousal, alertness, and sleep–wake transitions.

What are the functions of the three key structures of the Limbic System?

Amygdala processes rapid emotion and fear. Hippocampus forms new explicit memories. Hypothalamus regulates hunger and thirst, and controls the endocrine system via the pituitary gland.

What are the primary functional roles of the four lobes of the Cerebral Cortex?

Frontal Lobe handles executive planning, reasoning, motor control, and personality. Parietal Lobe handles somatosensory touch processing and spatial orientation. Temporal Lobe handles auditory processing and language comprehension (Wernicke's area). Occipital Lobe handles primary visual processing.