BioPsychology Flashcards
Nervous system is made up of:
Central NS
- Brain
- Spinal cord
and peripheral NS
- Somatic + Automatic
Automatic contains sympathetic and parasympathetic
What is the Endocrine System?
It is made up of a series of glands which release hormones through the body via the blood and other bodily fluids which communicate messages to the organs of the body.
Brain structure
The frontal lobe: Cognitive skills
Temporal lobe: Processes sensory input
Spinal cord: Consists of nerves that carry incoming and outgoing messages to the brain.
Cerebellum: Relating to movement and receives info from sensory systems.
Occipital lobe: visual processing centre
Parietal lobe: Important for functioning and processing of sensory information.
What is the fight or flight response?
the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system work in a parallel when a stressor is perceived the hypothalamus will signal so the sympathetic part of the ANS changing it from its normal resting state.
Adrenaline is released which increases heart rate and once the threat has passed the parasympathetic nervous stem takes over again.
role of neurons
Neurons communicate signals to the body.
What are the three neurons
Sensory neuron -
Tells the rest of the brain about the external and internal environment by processing information from the senses. They carry messages from the PNS to the CNS.
Relay neuron -
Carry messages from one part of the CNS to the other they connect the motor and sensory neurons. This is multipolar.
Motor neuron -
Carry signals from the CNS which helps organs to functions. They have short dendrites and long axons.
Electric transmission
When a neuron is in a resting state the inside of the cell is negatively charged compared to the outside.
When neuron is activated 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 neuron.
A Scientific theory must be?
must be reliable and valid and empirically testable.
What is the scientific method?
Ask a question
State a hypothesis
Conduct an experiment
Analyse the results
Make a conclusion.
What did Wilhelm Wundt do?
In 1879 he opened the first laboratory in Leipzig he wanted to study the structure of the human mind, by breaking down behaviours into their basic elements hence the approach of structuralism.
What is introspection?
When participants are asked to reflect on their cognitive processes and describe them.
What was Wundt’s scientific approach to psychology?
Wundt’s scientific approach to psychology he believed there was a cause of all behaviour if behaviour is determined then it should be possible to predict how human beings would behave in different conditions.
Evaluation of Wundt’s scientific approach to psychology?
Behaviourists such as Watson questioned the scientific status of introspection as it produced subjective data.
Conscious thoughts are not mental processes that cannot be observed and measured.
What is Synaptic Transmission?
Is the process by which nerve impulses are carried across the synapse between one neuron and another. The nerve impulses are an electrical signal which is carried by chemicals called neurotransmitters.
Presynaptic nerve terminal
When the electrical impulse reaches the presynaptic terminal, it triggers the release of the neurotransmitter from the synaptic vesicle.
Postsynaptic receptor sites
Dendrites of the neuron – the chemical message is converted back into an electrical impulse and transmission continues.
Neurotransmitter
Chemicals that diffuse across the synapse to the next neuron in the chain
Excitatory potentials
make it more likely for the neuron to fire therefore one which is more likely to cause the post synaptic to fire.
Inhibitory potentials
make it less likely to fire an inhibitory synapse is one likely to stop the message at the post synaptic neuron.
What is summation?
This is the process that decides whether or not the action potential in the postsynaptic neuron is triggered.
So, action potential in the postsynaptic neuron is only triggered if the sum of the excitatory and inhibitory signals reaches the threshold.
Evolution
The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over successive generations.
