Psych 1001 Final

What is the function of the forebrain?

receiving and processing sensory information, thinking, perceiving, producing and understanding language, and controlling motor function.

What are the parts of the forebrain

- thalamus
- basal ganglia
- hypothalamus
- limbic system
- hippocampus
- amygdala

what is the function of the thalamus

- sensory process relay station
- organizes input from senses and sends info to other parts of the brain

what is the function of the basal ganglia

involved in motor control

what is the function of the hypothalamus

- role in sex, temperature, eating, drinking, aggression, and expression of emotions
- connections with the endocrine system which controls hormonal secretions

what is the function of the limbic system

helps coordinate behaviours needed to satisfy motivational and emotional urges that arise in the hypothalamus

what is the function of the Hippocampus

involved in forming and retrieving memories

what is the function of the amygdala

organizes emotional response patterns

what are the differences between the right and left hemisphere

right - visual and spacial processing
left - reading, writing, and calculations

what is the function of the nucleus accumbens

mediates emotional and motivational processing

What divides the brain hemispheres and lobes

fissures

what divides the right and left hemispheres

corpus callosum

what are the parts of the cerebral cortex

- frontal lobe
- parietal lobe
- occipital lobe
- temporal lobe

what do each of the lobes do

frontal - speech and skeletal functions
parietal - governs body sensations
occipital - visual area
temporal - auditory system messages sent here

what area of the brain is involved in language comprehension, what lobe is it in

wernicke's area
temporal lobe

what is the function of the motor cortex

muscles involved in voluntary movement
each hemisphere governs different side of the body

what is the function of the sensory cortex

receives input from receptors. somatic sensory cortex receives input and produces sensations

what is the function of the association cortex

involved in highest level of mental functioning

what is the difference between a genotype and a phenotype

genotypes - genetic makeup of someone. appears at birth
phenotype - observable characteristics. can change over time

what is a chromosome

tightly coiled molecule of 46 DNA covered in protein

what do genes do

carry information about characteristics, potentials and limits

what are the parts of a gene. what do they do

zygotes - new cells made from 23 chromosomes from each parent
alleles - alternative forms of genes that product different characteristics

what are the types of genes. what do they do

dominant - will always show
recessive - only show if both parents have the recessive gene

polygenetic transmission

many genes combining for a displayed trait

epigenetics

genes may be dysfunctional without changes to them.
DNA methylation turns genes "off"

what is the function of genetic engineering. what are 2 examples and what do they do

to change genes to produce a specific result
recombinant DNA procedures - combine 2 organisms DNA
Knockout procedure - "knockout" specific functions of a gene

what is social darwinism. who created it.

“survival of the fittest”
Herbert Spencer

what is reaction range

a range of possibilities for a genetically influenced trait. environmental factors impact where someone falls in the range.

what is the evolutionary personality theory

- extraversion and emotional stability are helpful in attaining positions of dominance

what does the parental investment theory state

which ever parent puts in more time, effort and energy raising offspring will competed for

what is cooperation

x helps y, x gains some advantage in return

what is alturism

x helps y at a personal cost

what is kin selection theory

species help their own to increase chances of survival

what is the theory of reciprocal alturism

long term cooperation

what is the purpose of aggression in evolution

a way to protect mate, offspring, territory, or resources

what is the difference between sensation and perception

sensation - how we detect/identify stimuli from environment
perception - process of organizing stimulus input and giving it meaning

what is the absolute threshold

lowest intensity that a stimulus can be detected
decrease in absolute threshold = increase sensitivity

what is the difference theory

smallest difference between 2 stimuli that can be detected

what is signal detection theory

factors that influence sensory judgements
decision criterion - standard of certainty for people detecting stimulus

what is sensory adaptation

diminishing sensitivity to unchanging stimulus

how do we see an image

light enters through cornea
pupil dilates or constricts to control amount of light entering
size of pupil controlled by iris
the lens gets thinner to focus on distant object, and thicker for nearby objects
the retina reconfigures distorted images produced by the lens

if someone had myopia what would they see

blurry images for far away objects

why do people with myopia see that way

lens focuses on a visual image in front of the retina

if someone had hyperopia what would they see

trouble seeing nearby objects

why do people with hyperopia see that way

lens doesn't thicken enough and he image is focused on a point behind the retina

what are the types of photoreceptors

rods - black/white receptors
cones - colour receptors

which photoreceptors sees best in bright lighting

cones

what is the fovea

small area in the centre of the retina that only has cones

what does the optic nerve do

has both rods and cones and sends messages to the brain via bipolar cells

bipolar cells

have synaptic connections with rods and cones. form optic nerve

what is visual acuity

ability to see fine detail

when does visual acuity work best

when the image projects directly onto the fovea

what is visual transduction

rods and cones translate light waves that send nerve impulses through photopigments

what are the theories for how we see

trichromatic
opponent process
dual process

what does trichromatic theory state

3 types of colour receptors in retina
cones most sensitive to blue, green or red

what does the opponent-process theory state

each of the three cones respond to two different wavelengths

what does dual process theory state

certain ganglion cells in the retina and some neurons in the visual relay station and visual cortex, respond by altering rate of firing

what are the types of colour blindness

-dichromat - blind in 1 system
-monochromat - sensitive to only black/white system

what are feature detectors

from retina, optic nerve sends impulses to visual relay station in the thalamus. input is routed to cortex, (primarily visual in occipital lobe). groups of neurons within visual cortex are organize to receive and integrate sensory nerve impulses

what is the visual association cortex

info is analyzed and recombined by primary visual cortex

what is frequency

number of wave cycles per second related to pitch
the higher the frequency the higher the perceived pitch

if the frequency of a sound is very high, would the perceived pitch be low or high

high

what is amplitude

vertical size of sound waves

what is auditory transduction

tiny bones, membranes and liquid filled tubes designed to translate pressure waves into nerve impulses.

what are the audition theories

frequency theory
place theory
sound localization

what does frequency theory state. what is the problem with it

nerve impulses sent to brain match frequency of sound waves.

neurons cant produce high enough frequencies

what is place theory

specific point in cochlea where fluid waves peak and most strongly bends the hair cells serves as frequency coding cues

What is sound localization

the NS uses information concerning the time and the intensity differences arriving at ears to locate the source of the sound

what are the types of deafness. how are they caused and what happens

conduction deafness - caused by problems involving the mechanical system that transmits sound waves to cochlea
- can happen by punctured eardrum or loss of function in hair bones which reduces the ability to transmit vibrations

Nerve deafness - caused by damaged receptors within inner ear or damage to auditory nerve
- happens mostly to exposure to loud sounds

what do taste buds do

- chemical receptors concentrated on edges and back of tongue
- food that enters mouth chemically reacts with saliva producing a taste
- complex patterns of neural activity

what is body kinethesis

provides feedback about muscles and joints positions and movements

what is the vestibular sense

body orientation or equilibrium

what is bottom up processing

the system takes in individual elements of the stimulus then combines them into a unified perception

what is top down processing

sensory information is interpreted based on existing knowledge

what is shaddowing

we cannot attend completely to more than 1 stimulus but we can rapidly shift our focus

what is inattentional blindness

failure of unattended stimuli to register in consciousness

what are the gestalt principles

- similarity
- proximity
- closure
- continuity

what is a perceptual set

influence by expectations. a readiness to perceive stimuli in a particular way

what are 5 monocular cues

light/shadow
linear perspective
interposition
height in a horizontal plain
relative size

what are binocular cues

disparity - each eye sees something different
convergence - feedback from muscles to turn eyes inward to view a near object

what are the consciousness perspectives

Freuds psychodynamic
Cognitive

what does psychodynamic theory state

conscious - what we are currently aware of
preconscious - events currently outside of awareness but can be recalled
unconscious - events that cannot be brought to awareness under ordinary circumstances

what does the cognitive theory state (consciousness)

unconscious functions are a support service working with conscious thoughts
controlled processing - voluntary use of attention and conscious effort
automatic processing - facilitates multitasking. tasks preformed with little conscious effort

what is the circadian rhythm

- 24 hour biological clock
- regulated by suprachiasmatic nucleus in the hypothalamus. helps control pineal gland which secretes melatonin

what are the stages of sleep

stage 1 - lightest form. EEG would show slow alpha waves and patterns are irregular
stage 2 - muscles relax, heart rate slows. quick bursts of brain activity occur (sleep spindles)
stage 3 - delta waves appear
stage 4 - delta waves dominate. hard to wake up
REM - bursts of muscular activity. heart rate and arousal increase. dreams are vivid and realistic. body is paralyzed

what are the theories as to why we sleep

restoration model
evolutionary/circadian models

Explain Freud's psychoanalytic dream theory

wish fulfilment of unconscious desires
manifest content - surface level story
latent content - disguised meaning

what is the activation-sythnethis theory for dreaming

the cerebral cortex interprets activity by creating a dream that best fits the pattern of activation

what is the cognitive approach to dreaming

problem solving
cognitive process - dreams and wakeful thoughts are produced by the same mental system

what is an agonist

increases activity of a neurotransmitter

function of an antagonist

decreases activity of a neurotransmitter

compensatory response

opposite reaction to the effect of a drug

hypnosis theories

dissociation
social cognitive

what is the disassociation theory for hypnosis

division of consciousness
- main stream responds to commands but is blocked from awareness
- hidden observer is in the background but is aware of everything

what is the social cognitive theory for hypnosis

experiences are a result of expectations. accepting the role and responding

what is the purpose of classical conditioning

learning to associate 2 stimuli so that 1 stimuli produces a response that was previously associated with the other

extinction

when a conditioned response happens less frequently or never and happens when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without unconditioned stimulus

higher order conditioning

neural stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus after paired with an established conditioned stimulus

what is operant conditioning

behaviour influenced by consequences

positive reinforcement

behaviour occurs --> good stimulus appears --> repetition