Approaches (including biopsychology)

Question 1

Define nervous system.

Answer 1

The nervous system consists of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

Question 2

Define central nervous system.

Answer 2

The CNS consists of the brain and the spinal cord and is the origin of all complex commands and decisions.

Question 3

Define peripheral nervous system.

Answer 3

The PNS sends information to the CNS from the outside world , and transmits messages from the CNS to muscles to glands in the body.

Question 4

Define somatic nervous system.

Answer 4

The somatic nervous system transmits information from receptor cells in the sense organs to the CNS. It also receives information from the CNS that directs muscles to act.

Question 5

Define autonomic nervous system.

Answer 5

The autonomic nervous system transmits information to and from internal bodily organs. It is ‘autonomic’ as the system operates involuntarily, it has two main divisions: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

Question 6

Explain how the human nervous system is structured.

Answer 6

The human nervous system splits into the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system.
The peripheral nervous system splits into the autonomic nervous system and the somatic nervous system.
The central nervous system splits into the brain and the spinal cord.
The autonomic nervous system splits into the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

Question 7

What is the nervous system?

Answer 7

A specialised network of cells in the human body, it is our primary internal communication system.

Question 8

What are the two main functions of the nervous system?

Answer 8

• To collect, process and respond to information in the environment.
• To co-ordinate the working of different organs and cells in the body.

Question 9

What are the sub-systems the human nervous system is divided into?

Answer 9

The central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

Question 10

What is the CNS made up of?

Answer 10

The brain and spinal cord.

Question 11

What is the brain?

Answer 11

The brain is the centre of all conscious awareness. The brain’s outer layer (the cerebral cortex) is highly developed in humans and is what distinguishes our higher mental functions from those of animals. The brain is divided into two hemispheres.

Question 12

What is the spinal cord?

Answer 12

The spinal cord is an extension of the brain. It is responsible for reflex actions.

Question 13

What does the CNS do?

Answer 13

It passes messages to and from the brain and connects nerves to the PNS.

Question 14

What does the PNS do?

Answer 14

The PNS transmits messages, via millions of neurons (nerve cells), to and from the CNS.

Question 15

How is the PNS sub-divided?

Answer 15

It is sub-divided into the autonomic nervous system and the somatic nervous system.

Question 16

What does the autonomic nervous system do?

Answer 16

It governs vital functions in the body like breathing, heart rate, digestion, sexual arousal and stress responses.

Question 17

What does the somatic nervous system do?

Answer 17

It controls muscle movement and receives information from sensory receptors.

Question 18

Define endocrine system.

Answer 18

One of the body’s major information systems that instructs glands to release hormones directly into the bloodstream. These hormones are carried towards target organs in the body.

Question 19

Define gland.

Answer 19

An organ in the body that synthesises substances such as hormones.

Question 20

Define hormones.

Answer 20

Chemical substances that circulate in the bloodstream and only affect target organs. They are produced in large quantities but disappear quickly. They are very powerful.

Question 21

Define fight or flight response.

Answer 21

The way an animal responds when stressed. The body becomes physiologically aroused in readiness to fight an aggressor or to flee.

Question 22

Define adrenaline.

Answer 22

A hormone produced by the adrenal glands which is part of the human body’s immediate stress response system. Adrenaline has a strong effect on the cells of the cardiovascular system - stimulating the heart rate, contracting blood vessels and dilating air passages.

Question 23

What are the main endocrine glands in the human body?

Answer 23

Hypothalamus gland
Pituitary gland
Thyroid gland
Parathyroid gland
Adrenal gland
Pancreas 
Ovaries (female)
Testes (male)

Question 24

Who does the endocrine system work alongside?

Answer 24

The endocrine system works alongside the nervous system to control vital functions in the body. The endocrine system acts much more slowly than the nervous system but has widespread powerful effects.

Question 25

What do glands produce?

Answer 25

Glands, like the thyroid gland, produce hormones.

Question 26

What do hormones do?

Answer 26

Hormones are secreted into the bloodstream and affect any cell in the body that has a receptor for that particular hormone.
Most hormones affect cells in several organs or throughout the entire body, leading to many diverse and powerful responses.

Question 27

What does the thyroid gland produce?

Answer 27

The thyroid gland produces the hormone thyroxine. This hormone affects cells in the heart (increases heart rate). It also affects cells throughout the body increasing metabolic rates (the chemical processes taking place in the cells), this is turn affects growth rates.

Question 28

What is the major endocrine gland?

Answer 28

The major endocrine gland is the pituitary gland, located in the brain. It is often called the ‘master gland’ because it controls the release of hormones from all the other endocrine glands in the body.

Question 29

What sub-division works with the endocrine system in a stressful event?

Answer 29

Often the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system work in parallel with one another, for instance during a stressful event.

Question 30

Explain the process behind fight or flight.

Explain the process that happens when a stressor is perceived.

Answer 30

When a stressor is perceived the first thing that happens is a part of the brain called the hypothalamus triggers activity in the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. The ANS changes from its normal resting state (the parasympathetic state) to the physiologically aroused, sympathetic state.
The stress hormone adrenaline is released from the adrenal medulla (a part of the adrenal gland) into the bloodstream. Adrenaline triggers physiological arousal necessary for the fight or flight response. All of this happens in an instant as soon as the threat is detected and is an automatic reaction in the body.
Once the threat has passed, the parasympathetic nervous system returns the body to its resting state.
The parasympathetic branch of the ANS works in opposition to the sympathetic nervous system, it acts as a brake and reduces the activities of the body that were increased by the actions of the sympathetic branch.
(This is sometimes called the rest and digest response).

Question 31

Give some biological changes associated with the sympathetic state.

Answer 31

(Preparing body for fight or flight)
Increased heart rate
Increased breathing rate
Dilating pupils
Inhibiting digestion
Inhibiting saliva production
Contracting rectum

Question 32

Give some biological changes associated with the parasympathetic state.

Answer 32

(Calming and relaxing body back to normal state)
Decreasing heart rate
Decreasing breathing rate
Constricting pupils
Stimulating digestion
Stimulating saliva production
Relaxing rectum

Question 33

Define neuron.

Answer 33

The basic building blocks of the nervous system, neurons are nerve cells that process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals.

Question 34

Define sensory neuron.

Answer 34

The sensory neurons carry messages from the PNS to the CNS.

They have long dendrites and short axons.

Question 35

Define relay neuron.

Answer 35

The relay neurons connect the sensory neurons to the motor or other relay neurons.
They have short dendrites and short axons.

Question 36

Define motor neuron.

Answer 36

The motor neurons connect the CNS to effectors such as muscles and glands.
They have short dendrites and long axons.

Question 37

What do neurons do?

How many are there in the nervous system?

Answer 37

There are 100 billion neurons (nerve cells) in the human nervous system, 80% of which are located in the brain. By transmitting signals electrically and chemically, these neurons provide the nervous system with its primary means of communication.

Question 38

How many types of neurons are there? Name them.

Answer 38

3 types
Motor neurons
Sensory neurons
Relay neurons

Question 39

How big are neurons?

Answer 39

Neurons vary in size from less than a millimetre to up to a metre long, but they all share the same basic structure.

Question 40

What does the cell body of a neuron do?

Answer 40

The cell body, or soma, includes a nucleus which contains the genetic material of the cell.

Question 41

What do the dendrites on a neuron do?

Answer 41

Dendrites are branch-like structures that protrude from the cell body. They carry nerve impulses from neighbouring neurons towards the cell body.

Question 42

What do axons on a neuron do?

Answer 42

The axon carries the impulses away from the cell body down the length of the neuron.

Question 43

What are axons covered in?

What does it do?

Answer 43

Axons are covered in a fatty layer of myelin sheath that protects the axon and speeds up electrical transmission of the impulse.

Question 44

How is the myelin sheath separated?

Answer 44

If the myelin sheath was continuous then it would slow down the electrical transmission of the impulse it was carrying. So, the myelin sheath is segmented by gaps called nodes of Ranvier.

Question 45

What does the nodes of Ranvier do?

Answer 45

The nodes of Ranvier speed up the transmission of the impulse by forcing it to ‘jump’ across the gaps along the axon.

Question 46

What are terminal buttons?

Where are they located?

Answer 46

Terminal buttons are located at the end of the axon, they communicate with the next neuron in the chain across a gap known as the synapse.

Question 47

Explain electric transmission, the firing of a neuron.

Answer 47

When a neuron is in a resting state the inside of the cell is negatively charged compared to the outside. When a neuron is activated by a stimulus, the inside of the cell becomes positively charged for a split second causing an action potential to occur. This creates an electrical impulse that travels down the axon towards the end of the neuron.

Question 48

Define synaptic transmission.

Answer 48

The process by which neighbouring neurons communicate with each other by sending chemical messages across the gap (the synapse) that separate them.

Question 49

Define neurotransmitter.

Answer 49

Brain chemicals released from synaptic vesicles that relay signals across the synapse from one neuron to another. Neurotransmitters can be broadly divided into those that perform an excitatory function and those that perform an inhibitory function.

Question 50

Define excitation.

Answer 50

When a neurotransmitter (e.g. adrenaline) increases the positive charge of the postsynaptic neuron. This increases the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse.

Question 51

Define inhibition.

Answer 51

When a neurotransmitter (e.g. serotonin) increases the negative charge of the postsynaptic neuron. This decreases the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse.

Question 52

How do neurons communicate with each other?

Answer 52

Neurons communicate with each other within groups known as neural networks.

Question 53

What is the synapse.

Answer 53

Each neuron is separated from the next by a tiny gap called the synapse.

Question 54

How are signals transmitted in neurons?

Answer 54

Signals within neurons are transmitted electrically.

Signals between neurons are transmitted chemically across the synapse.

Question 55

How does chemical transmission work?

Answer 55

When the electrical impulse reaches the end of the neuron (the presynaptic terminal) it triggers the release of neurotransmitter from tiny sacs called synaptic vesicles.

Question 56

Draw and label synaptic transmission.

Answer 56

Check answer using book.

Question 57

What are neurotransmitters?

Answer 57

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that diffuse across the synapse to the next neuron in the chain.

Question 58

Explain how neurotransmitters work.

Answer 58

Once the neurotransmitter crosses the gap, it is taken up by the postsynaptic receptor site (the dendrites of the next neuron). Here, the chemical message is converted back into an electrical impulse and the process of transmission begins again in this other neuron.

Question 59

Where have neurotransmitters been located?

Answer 59

Several dozen types have been identified in the brain, as well as in the spinal cord and some glands.

Question 60

Describe the specialist functions of neurotransmitters.

Answer 60

Each neurotransmitter has its own specific molecular structure that fits perfectly into a post-synaptic receptor site, similar to a lock and key.
Another specialist function is that acetylcholine (ACh) is found at each point where a motor neuron meets a muscle, and upon its release, it will cause muscles to contract.

Question 61

What effect do neurotransmitters have on neighbouring neurons?

Answer 61

Either an:
Excitatory effect - increases positive charge, more likely to fire.
OR
Inhibitory effect - increases negative charge, less likely to fire.

Question 62

What is summation?

How does it work?

Answer 62

Whether a postsynaptic neuron fires or not is decided by the process of summation.
The excitatory and inhibitory influences are summed: if the net effect on the postsynaptic neuron is inhibitory then the postsynaptic neuron is less likely to fire.
If the net effect is excitatory it is more likely to fire - and momentarily the inside of the postsynaptic neuron becomes positively charged.
Once the electrical impulse is created it travels down the neuron.
Therefore, the action potential of the postsynaptic neuron is only triggered if the sum of the excitatory and inhibitory signals at any one time reaches the threshold.

Question 63

Define action potential.

Answer 63

An action potential occurs when a neuron transmits an electrical charge down its axon. Action potential itself it the change in electric potential that spreads along the axon of a neuron during transmission.

Question 64

Define psychology.

Answer 64

The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those functions affecting behaviour in a given context.

Question 65

Define science.

Answer 65

A means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation. The aim is to discover general laws.

Question 66

Define introspection.

Answer 66

The first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations.

Question 67

What is the timeline for psychology’s early roots?

Answer 67

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650)
John Locke (1632 - 1704)
Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

Question 68

What did Rene Descartes suggest in 1596 - 1650?

Answer 68

Descartes, a French philosopher, suggested that the mind and body are independent from each other - a philosophical stance that came to be known as Cartesian dualism. Although this view has since been challenged, it suggested that the mind could be an object of study in its own right.
Descartes demonstrated his own existence with the famous quote ‘I think therefore I am’.

Question 69

What did John Locke propose in 1632 - 1704?

Answer 69

Locke proposed empiricism, the idea that all experience can be obtained through the senses, and that human beings inherit neither knowledge nor instincts. This view would later form the basis of the behaviourist approach that the world can be understood by investigating external events that are observed and measured.