Ch 18: Psychobiology

PSYCH 304

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Psychobiology

Definition: The attempt to explain psychological phenomena in terms of their biological foundations. Significance: It represents a recurring theme in history from Hippocrates to modern neuroscience.

Who introduced the term 'neuron' in 1891?

Wilhelm von Waldeyer.

Which two scientists shared the 1906 Nobel Prize for their work on the nervous system?

Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal.

How did Sir Charles Sherrington and Otto Loewi contribute to modern psychopharmacology?

They paved the way for the understanding of neurotransmission and neurotransmitters.

Karl Spencer Lashley — what problem was he trying to solve?

School / Movement: Physiological Psychology; Core Question: Is learning and memory localized in specific brain regions? Signature Contribution: Principles of mass action and equipotentiality; Why They Matter: He demonstrated that brain activity is more integrated and less localized than behaviorists assumed.

Karl Spencer Lashley — who did he influence, respond to, or oppose?

Built on: Shepard Ivory Franz and Watsonian behaviorism; Reacted against: The Pavlovian/Watsonian 'switchboard' conception of the brain; Influenced: Donald Hebb, Karl Pribram, and Frank Beach; Place in the timeline: Mid-20th century.

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: The Engram

Definition: The neurophysiological locus for memory and learning. Significance: Lashley's inability to find a specific engram led to the conclusion that memory is distributed throughout the cortex.

Lashley's principle of _ states that the loss of ability following cortical destruction depends more on the volume of tissue destroyed than its location.

Mass action

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Equipotentiality

Definition: The observation that any part of a functional area in the brain can perform the function associated with that area. Significance: It suggests that a function is only lost if the entire associated brain area is destroyed.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER? Lashley's failure to find the engram.

It discredited the mechanistic 'switchboard' model of the brain and promoted Gestalt-like views of the cortex as a unified whole.

Donald Olding Hebb — what problem was he trying to solve?

School / Movement: Psychobiology; Core Question: How do neural interconnections become organized by experience to represent thoughts? Signature Contribution: Concepts of cell assemblies and phase sequences; Why They Matter: He bridged the gap between neurophysiology and cognitive processes like imagery and thought.

Donald Olding Hebb — who did he influence, respond to, or oppose?

Built on: Karl Lashley and Gestalt psychology; Reacted against: Pavlovian associationism; Influenced: Artificial Intelligence (connectionism) and researchers like James Olds and Peter Milner; Place in the timeline: Mid-to-late 20th century.

According to Hebb, a _ is a complex package of neurons that fires in response to an environmental object.

Cell assembly

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Phase Sequence

Definition: A temporally integrated series of cell assembly activities. Significance: It provides a neurological basis for a stream of thought or a series of logical ideas.

What allows neurons that are initially separated to become associated in Hebb's theory?

Reverberating neural activity.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER? Hebb's Rule.

It posits that neurons active together become interconnected, serving as a foundational principle for modern connectionism and artificial intelligence.

COMPARE / CONTRAST: Childhood vs. Adult Learning (Hebb)

Childhood learning involves the slow buildup of cell assemblies and phase sequences, while adult learning involves the creative rearrangement of existing ones.

What brain structure did Hebb link to arousal theory and cognitive performance?

The reticular activating system (RAS).

Roger Wolcott Sperry — what problem was he trying to solve?

School / Movement: Cognitive Neuroscience; Core Question: How is information transferred between the two cerebral hemispheres? Signature Contribution: Split-brain research; Why They Matter: He discovered hemispheric specificity and the unique cognitive functions of the left and right brain.

Roger Wolcott Sperry — who did he influence, respond to, or oppose?

Built on: Karl Lashley and Paul Weiss; Reacted against: Earlier vague speculations about hemispheric function; Influenced: Michael Gazzaniga and Jerre Levy; Place in the timeline: Won the Nobel Prize in 1981.

PROBLEM $\rightarrow$ SOLUTION: Intractable, drug-resistant epilepsy.

Problem: Seizures spreading across the brain; Solution: Splitting the brain by ablating the corpus callosum to prevent seizure transfer.

Which two routes did Sperry identify for interhemispheric transfer in animals?

The corpus callosum and the optic chiasm.

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Split-brain preparation

Definition: A brain where the corpus callosum and optic chiasm have been ablated. Significance: It creates two separate brains that can learn and function independently within one organism.

What was Jerre Levy's primary conclusion regarding the 'popular myths' of right-brain/left-brain dominance?

Normal people have a single, integrated brain where both hemispheres contribute specialized abilities to a single mental life.

Regarding the mind-body problem, Roger Sperry was a(n) _, believing consciousness emerges from brain processes and then influences behavior.

Interactionist

Niko Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz — what problem were they trying to solve?

School / Movement: Ethology; Core Question: How do instincts and species-specific behaviors evolve and function? Signature Contribution: The four aims of ethology and the study of imprinting; Why They Matter: They challenged behaviorism by emphasizing the importance of innate biological behaviors.

List the 'four aims' of the ethological approach articulated by Niko Tinbergen.

Function, ontogeny, causation, and evolution.

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Ethology

Definition: The study of animal behavior in its natural habitat. Significance: It highlighted species-specific behaviors that were ignored by the laboratory-focused behaviorists.

Who was the first to document imprinting and species-specific behaviors in chickens?

Douglas Alexander Spalding.

What is the primary goal of the 'ethological attitude' regarding animal species?

To study a wide range of species and avoid the exclusive use of domesticated or laboratory animals.

Edward Osborne Wilson — what problem was he trying to solve?

School / Movement: Sociobiology; Core Question: How does biology interact with the environment to produce social behavior? Signature Contribution: The leash principle and the concept of biogrammar; Why They Matter: He applied evolutionary theory to complex social structures in humans and animals.

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Biogrammar

Definition: An inherited structure that predisposes humans to engage in certain social activities. Significance: It suggests that social behaviors like territory protection or mate selection have biological roots.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER? The Leash Principle.

It posits that while humans create culture, culture is held on a 'leash' by biology; if culture strays too far from survival needs, it will perish.

COMPARE / CONTRAST: Sociobiology vs. Evolutionary Psychology

Sociobiologists emphasize the goal of maximal gene propagation, while evolutionary psychologists focus on specific evolved mechanisms that solved ancestral problems.

David Buss refers to the idea that humans live merely to pass on genes as the _.

Sociobiological fallacy

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Environment of Evolutionary Adaptation (EEA)

Definition: The Pleistocene period (over 10,000 years ago) during which human mental mechanisms evolved. Significance: It is the context evolutionary psychologists use to explain modern human nature.

What is the term for a trait that evolved for one purpose but was later co-opted for a different, useful function?

Exaptation

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Spandrels

Definition: Unforeseen side effects of original biological adaptations. Significance: They explain complex traits, like music or language, that may not have been direct targets of natural selection.

Marian and Keller Breland — what problem were they trying to solve?

School / Movement: Applied Operant Conditioning; Core Question: Can any response be conditioned to any stimulus in any species? Signature Contribution: Discovery of instinctual drift; Why They Matter: They proved that innate behaviors eventually override learned ones, contradicting behaviorist assumptions.

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Instinctual drift

Definition: The tendency for learned behavior to be interfered with or replaced by instinctive behavior. Significance: it demonstrated the 'prepotency' of innate patterns over conditioned ones.

PROBLEM $\rightarrow$ SOLUTION: Behaviorists' neglect of biological constraints on learning.

Problem: Failure to account for species differences; Solution: The Brelands and Seligman showed that organisms are 'prepared' or 'contraprepared' to learn certain associations based on genetics.

According to Seligman, what determines how easily an association is learned?

The association's placement on the genetically determined preparedness continuum.

Thomas Bouchard — what problem was he trying to solve?

School / Movement: Behavioral Genetics; Core Question: To what extent are intelligence and personality determined by nature versus nurture? Signature Contribution: Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart; Why They Matter: He provided strong evidence for the high heritability of IQ and personality traits.

In behavioral genetics research, what does 'MZA' stand for?

Monozygotic (identical) twins reared apart.

Bouchard estimated the heritability of intelligence (IQ) to be approximately _.

$.70$ (or between $70\%$ and $80\%$)

WHY DOES THIS MATTER? Bouchard's findings on shared family environment.

The research suggested that shared family environment has practically no impact on personality traits, which are largely determined by genetics and nonshared experiences.

What surprising finding did Waller et al. report regarding religiosity?

Religious interests, attitudes, and values are strongly influenced by genetics (about $50\%$ heritability).

COMPARE / CONTRAST: Monozygotic vs. Dizygotic twins

Monozygotic twins share $100\%$ of their genes, whereas dizygotic twins share approximately $50\%$, the same as non-twin siblings.

According to genetic studies of personality, what percentage of variance is typically accounted for by genetics?

About $50\%$.

Who founded sociobiology and wrote 'The Whisperings Within'?

E. O. Wilson founded the discipline; David Barash wrote 'The Whisperings Within'.

What is the 'ethological attitude' regarding descriptive studies?

Ethologists insist on beginning research with descriptive studies before moving to experiments.

What concept refers to the idea that some associations are easier to establish because of a species' evolutionary history?

Preparedness.

Lashley's findings showed that the Pavlovians' and Watson's assumption of localization between sensory and motor centers was _.

Incorrect (or non-existent).

Which brain structure Projects information from one eye to the opposite side of the cortex?

The optic chiasm.

Sociobiologists avoid 'nothing-butism,' which is the claim that behavior is caused _.

Only by biological factors OR only by environmental factors.

Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin criticized evolutionary psychology for over-emphasizing _, the belief that every trait exists for a survival purpose.

Adaptationism

What did Hebb find regarding the intelligence of patients who lost substantial tissue from their frontal lobes?

He found little or no loss of intelligence, concluding that childhood experience develops the concepts that maturity-onset injury doesn't reverse.

The _ is the mass of fibers connecting the two halves of the cerebral cortex.

Corpus callosum

Bouchard found that shared family environment accounts for only about _ of the variance in personality.

$5\%$

Which Nobel Prize winner is most associated with the study of perception and communication in bees?

Karl von Frisch.

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Species-specific behavior

Definition: Behavior typical of all members of a species under certain environmental conditions. Significance: It is the primary focus of ethological research.

Lashley's 1929 address to the International Congress of Psychology promoted the acceptance of which psychological school?

Gestalt psychology.

What does Bouchard's 'heritability' measure indicate?

The extent to which variation on a trait within a population is attributable to genetics.

In Hebb's theory, thoughts are the neurological result of a _ firing.

Cell assembly

According to Barash, why are human females genetically predisposed to be selective in mate choice?

Because the female investment in reproduction (pregnancy, nursing) is substantially higher than the male investment.

Who shared the 1981 Nobel Prize with Roger Sperry?

David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel.

What did the Brelands observe pigs doing with wooden coins that demonstrated instinctual drift?

They began to 'root' the coins in the ground instead of placing them in the piggy bank.

Lashley's research on brain functioning and intelligence was summarized in his 1929 book titled _.

Brain Mechanisms and Intelligence

WHY DOES THIS MATTER? The study of 'split-brain' patients.

It provided a unique opportunity to study the independent cognitive and emotional characteristic ranges of each hemisphere.

What term did Hebb use for the neurological basis of a thought or idea?

Cell assembly.

In evolutionary psychology, what is the term for a trait that was adaptive in the past but may not be in the present?

An adaptation (subject to lag or environmental change).

Who influenced Roger Sperry's interest in neurosurgical techniques at the University of Chicago?

Paul Weiss.

The Brelands' work contradicted the behaviorist assumption of 'tabula rasa,' which means that animals come to learning with _.

No genetic predispositions (a blank slate).

Which psychologist studied sexual behavior and criticized the overreliance on the white lab rat in comparative psychology?

Frank Beach.

What is the primary difference in male vs. female strategies for gene perpetuation according to sociobiologists?

Males tend toward promiscuity (low cost), while females tend toward careful selection of mates with resources (high cost).

DEFINE + SIGNIFICANCE: Nonshared environmental experiences

Definition: Idiosyncratic experiences like peer groups or accidents that differ between siblings. Significance: They account for about $45\%$ of personality variance, far more than shared family environment.

What did Lashley conclude about the possibility of learning at the end of his search for the engram?

He jokingly remarked that 'learning is just not possible' because the memory trace was so elusive.

In Hebb's view, adult learning is better explained by _ concepts, while childhood learning is explained by associationistic principles.

Gestalt

Which Nobel Prize-winning ethologist is famous for the study of imprinting in geese?

Konrad Lorenz.

According to Hebb, what effect did an enriched sensory environment have on animals?

They became relatively better learners as adults.

What did Roger Sperry find happened when both the corpus callosum and optic chiasm were ablated before visual training?

Interhemispheric transfer was eliminated, and the animal could not recognize the task with the untrained eye.

Why did Lashley's collaboration with John Watson eventually end?

Lashley wanted to seek the neurophysiological bases of conditioned reflexes, but Watson did not.

The study of the relationship between the reticular activating system and performance is known as _ theory.

Arousal

Who identified reinforcement centers in the brain while working in Hebb's laboratory?

James Olds and Peter Milner.

Sociobiology is essentially the same as human _.

Evolutionary psychology

How did Lashley's PhD supervisor H. S. Jennings describe him?

An 'eminent psychologist with no earned degree in psychology'.

Lashley compared his frustration in searching for memory traces to the writings of which ancient Roman philosopher?

Cicero.

What term did Hebb use to describe the 'stream of thought' in neurological terms?

Phase sequence.

According to sociobiologists, what happens if a culture strays too far from the biological needs of its people?

Personalities dissolve, relationships disintegrate, and reproduction ceases.

What is the specific purpose of 'split-brain' tests developed by Sperry?

To study the function of each cerebral hemisphere independently of the other.