1.14.25 Flashcards
What is neuroscience?
The study of the brain and nervous system
What is behavioral neuroscience?
the scientific study of the biological bases of psychological processes and behavior
What did Aristotle and other early philosophers believe?
Aristotle and other early philosophers believed mental
capacities were properties of the heart and that the brain was a cooling system for hot blood from the heart
What did Hippocrates ascribe to?
-emotion
-perception
-thought to the functioning of the brain
What did Galen think of behavior? (i) What did he treat? (ii)
(i) proposed that behavior resulted from movement of animal spirits from the brain to the body
(ii) treated head injuries of gladiators
What is dualism?
the mind has an immaterial aspect that is distinct
from the material body and brain
What is Phrenology?
the belief that bumps on the skull reflect
enlargements of the brain regions responsible for certain behavioral faculties.
Believed they could feel the bumps and read a person’s character.
Explain what localization of function is.
different brain regions specialize in
specific behaviors
What proved localization of function?
Broca noted that damage to a a region on the left side of the brain (now known as Broca’s area) reliably impaired speech production
Progress in the 1900s
What did William James state?
sychological ideas like consciousness
are properties of the nervous system
Progress in the 1900s
What did Karl Lashley attempt?
to link a specific brain region to the
formation of long-term memory; started the idea that memory is not localized to one region of the brain
What did Donald Hebb state?
described how neuronal connections strengthen
as a consequence of experience
What are Hebbian synapses?
plastic (changeable) neuronal connections
What is Neuroplasticity?
the ability of the nervous system to change
in response to experience or the environment
Studies
What is Social Neuroscience?
the study of the biological bases of
social behavior and the effects of social circumstances on brain activity
Studies
What is evolutionary psychology?
the study of how natural selection
has shaped behavior in humans and nonhuman animals
What is Epigenetics?
the study of factors that affect gene expression
without making any changes in the sequence of the genes themselves.
What is a gene expression?
the turning on or off of specific genes. Factors like stress or neglect can lead to lasting inactivation of
certain genes throughout a lifetime
Studies
What is neuroeconomics?
the study of brain mechanisms at work
during economic decision making, like assessing relative value of choices and evaluating choices to make decisions
What does neuroeconomics combine?
-philosophy
-psychology
-economics
What is consciousness?
the state of awareness of one’s own
existence, thoughts, emotions, and experiences
Explain the steps to the scientific method
- Observation
- Hypothesis
- experiment
- data/collection analysis
- communication
What are the three main types of study design?
-Stomatic intervention
-Behavioral intervention
-Correlation
Study design
What is Somatic intervention?
finding relations between body
variables and behavioral variables that involves manipulating body structure or function and looking for changes in behavior
Study design
What is behavioral intervention?
finding relations between body
variables and behavioral variables that involves intervening in behavior and looking for changes in body structure or function
Study design
What is Correlation?
measuring how closely the body and behavior
measures are related or covary
In Somatic intervention, the physical alteration is the…
independent variable, or the manipulation
In Somatic intervention, the behavioral effect is the…
dependent variable, or outcome
In behavioral intervention, behavior is…
manipulated and changes in the body are observed
In behavioral intervention, the behavioral intervention is the…
independent variable
In behavioral intervention, the change in the body is the…
dependant variable
What are experiments within-subjects?
one group of subjects are observed before and after manipulation
What are experiments between-subjects?
meaning there are
two groups of subjects: one that receives the manipulation and one that does not
What is a control group?
The group that does not recieve the manipulation.
What does Correlational studies tell us?
if two variables are related to one another
What is Reductionism?
a method that breaks down a system into
smaller parts in order to understand it
What is levels of analysis?
the scope of an experimental approach; can range from social interaction down to the molecular level
