brain and neuropsychology Flashcards
What is the cerebrum?
Largest part of the brain where higher processing happens
What is the frontal lobe?
Area at the front of the brain responsible for decision-making and impulse control
What is the temporal lobe?
Area on the side of the brain that controls hearing and memory
What is the occipital lobe?
Area at the back of the brain that controls vision
What is the parietal lobe?
Area at the top of the brain that plays an important role in perception and sensations of touch
What is a cerebellum?
Area of brain near the brainstem that controls motor movements
What is the right side of the brain control?
The left side of the body
What does the left side of the brain control?
The right side of the body
What is the corpus callosum?
Sick bundle of nerve fibre connecting the two hemispheres of the brain so they can communicate with each other
What does it mean by asymmetric function?
The left and right side of the brain control different stuff
What is controlled by the left hemisphere?
Speech, logical thinking
What is the Broca’s area?
Part of the left hemisphere that controls speech production
What does the right hemisphere control?
Spatial awareness and creativity
What is spatial awareness?
Ability to negotiate space and navigate through the environment
Females were better at what skills?
Language
Males were better at what skills?
Spatial
Do men show dominance for one hemisphere?
Yes
Do females use both sides of the brain?
Yes
What are strengths of lateralisation as an explanation of sex differences between males and females?
Male and female brains may work differently because of how the roles of different areas of the cortex are organised
What are weaknesses and lateralisation does an explanation of sex differences between males and females?
A study published suggested that there is no strong evidence that female use both hemispheres for a language tasks
What is a neuron?
A nerve cell that transmits information
What is dopamine?
Boys role in attention and learning non-of dopamine can make it difficult to concentrate on tasks
What is GABA?
Plays a role in calming us down when we feel stressed
How are messages passed throughout the nervous system from one neuron to the next?
Synapses are tiny gaps between neurons that allow chemical messages to pass between them. An electric impulses triggered inside the cell body of a neuron the neuron then passes a small impulse along the acts towards the end of the nerve fibre.
What is axon?
Long structure that connects the cell body of a neuron to the terminal button at the end of the cell
What are receptors?
Special sites and neurons that are designed to absorb neurotransmitter molecules
What is a visual agnosia?
An inability to recognise things that can’ be seen
What is prosopagnosia?
Face blindness or an inability to recognise faces
What is the prefrontal cortex?
The area of the brain cortex is the very front of the frontal lobe immediately behind the forehead
What is agnosia?
An inability to interpret sensations and thus to recognise things
What are symptoms of visual agnosia?
Not be able to recognise the colour of an object, recognise an object, or recognise places they are familiar with
What is the fusiform face area?
Helps in face recognition
What are symptoms of prospagnosia?
Can’t Identify faces
What is the impact of damage to the prefrontal cortex?
They can become more aggressive
What was the aim of Sperry’s study?
- cognitive functions that are linked to each hemisphere in the brain
What was about participants of Sperry’s study?
11 patients that all had a cut corpus callosum
- 9 had surgery recently
- 2 had surgery had surgery long time ago and an excellent recovery
What was the procedure of Sperry’s study?
- used a piece of apparatus that allowed testing of the right and left halves of the visual field separately conducting of 6 tasks by pointing to or picking up objects to identify them
What was about key findings of Sperry’s study?
- left visual field was processed by right hemisphere
- right visual field was processed by left hemisphere
- patients could name an object if they held it in their right hand
- patients left hand could point to correct answers for basic calculations
What was conclusions of Sperry’s study?
- left hemisphere dominant in processing language
- right hemisphere dominant in solve simple calculations, spatial skills
What was about participants of Damasio et al’s study?
- based on Phineas Gage
What was the aim of Damasio et al’s study?
- identify location of brain damage using 3D imaging
What was the procedure of Damasio et al’s study?
- used 3D images to represent Phineas brain
- guessed where the iron rod could enter (20 points in total)
What was the key findings of Damasio et al’s study?
- pre frontal cortex damaged
- caused a change in personality
What was strengths of Damasio et al’s study?
- more valid because able to use modern day technology to investigate data from 1848
- make predictions about what changes to behaviour we might expect if someone suffers from brain damage
What were weaknesses of Damasio et al’s study?
- information may be inaccurate (150 years ago) / may not be reliable
- not generalisable as study is unique to Gage
What were strengths of Sperry’s study?
- gathered lots of info / improving reliability
What were weakness of Sperry’s study?
- not generalisable / sample of 11 too small
What is post mortem
Examination of body after death
What is an EEG (electroencephalograph)
Method of measuring brain activity using electrodes placed on the scalp
What is an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
A method of studying the brain using electromagnets
What is a PET (positron emission tomography)
Imagery showing the amount of energy being used throughout the brain
What are situational factors affecting conformity?
- size of the majority
- unanimity of the majority
- task difficulty
What is the size of majority and how it effects conformity in situational factors
If there are more people in a group, you are more likely to conform
What was Asch’s study?
Experimental presented the group with a card displaying three lines of different lengths labelled a, B and C. They were then shown with the single line on it and asked to say which of the three lines resembled. The confederate lied and picked a line that was nothing like the line on the card. So the participant picked the wrong one
What is the unanimity of majority and how it effects conformity in situational factors
If there is a disagreement in the group, you will choose own desicion
What is the task difficulty and how it effects conformity in situational factors
If the task is hard, we are more likely to look for the right answer
What are personality factors affecting conformity?
- locus of control
What is locus of control?
Extent to which we believe we have control over our behaviour
How does internal locus of control affect personality in conformity
If we feel we can control our own behaviour, we are said to have internal locus of control
Less likely to be convinced by others
How does external locus of control affect personality in conformity
If we feel do not have control over our behaviour we are said to have a external locus of control
More likely to be convinced by others
What is blind obedience
When we comply with the orders of an authority figure without question
What was Milgram’s shock experiment
Participants watched as Mr. Wallace was strapped to a chair and electrode to a placed on his arm in order to give him a shock. Each participant was asked to give and remember word pairs that were read out to him. The shocks were not real, but the participant believe they were.
Participants could hear Mr. Wallace protesting for the electric shocks to stop, but Mr Williams gave them instructions to continue.
What are situational factors affecting obedience to an authority figure?
- proximity of the victim
- proximity of the authority figure
- authority figure
- legitimacy of the context
- personal responsibility
What percentage of participants went to the highest shock in Milgram’s shock?
65%
What was the highest amount volts in Milgram’s shock experiment
450 volts
How does proximity of the victim affect obedience to an authority figure?
If victim is far away, you are more likely to obey the authority figure
How does proximity of the authority figure affect obedience to an authority figure?
The closer the authority figure, the more likely you are to obey
How does authority figure affect obedience to an authority figure?
If an authority looks more legitimate (i.e wearing a lab coat in glasses), we are more likely to obey
How does personal responsibility affect obedience to an authority figure?
When asked to work with others, we are more likely to obey as we feel we are not doing the thing asked
What percentage reached 450 volts in Milgram’s shock experiment ?
10%
What is momentum of compliance?
When we start something, we feel the need to continue
What are personality factors affecting personality?
- authoritarian personality
How does authoritarian personality affect obedience in personality factors?
More likely to follow orders as they tend to be respectful of authority
What is prosocial behaviour?
Behaviour that is seen as helpful, kind, co-operative and peaceful
What is antisocial behaviour?
Behaviour that is unhelpful, destructive and aggressive
