Biopsychology Flashcards
What is Biopsychology?
The scientific study of the biology of behaviour and mental processes
What is nature? (nature vs nuture)
Genes/ how we were born
What is nurture? (nature vs nurture)
Environment, experiences, and surroundings
What is Behavioural Genetics?
The study of the relative effects of heredity and the environment on behaviour and mental processes
What is the most important building block of our biological inheritance?
Genes
What is polygenetic characteristics?
Controlled by multiple genes, also affected by environment and social factors
What is a genotype?
Your actual genetic material
What is a phenotype?
Expressed and triggered by the environmet
What is Heritiability?
The percentage of variation in population attributes to genetic factors rather than differences in the environment
What is Evolutionary Psychology?
The branch that studies the application of the principles of evolution to explain behaviour and mental processes
What is Natural Selection?
A particular genetic trait gives a reproductive advantage
What is a neuron?
Tiny informations processing system
What is a nerve?
A group of neurons
What is the basic building block of the nervous system?
The neuron
What cell takes care of the neurons?
The glial cells (the parent cells)
What are the dendrites?
The branching fibers that receive impulses and conveys impulses to the body (Antennae)
What are Terminal Buttons?
Form junctions with other cells to release neurotransmitters
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemical Messengers
What is the endocrine system?
Network of glands located throughout the body that make and secrete hormones into the blood stream
What is a hormone?
A chemical messenger that produces bodily changes, or maintain function
Which system are the neurotransmitters?
Nervous System
Which system are hormones?
Endocrine system
What is the nervous system?
Information received from the outside world and passed along the entire body
What are the 2 parts of the Nervous System?
Central Nervous System, and Peripheral Nervous System
