Chapter 1 (Intro to Brain & Behavior)

Question 1

Galen

Answer 1

Greco-Roman physician (“Father of Medicine”) whose experiences with head traumas in gladiators led him to propose that behavior results from “animal spirits” from the brain through nerves in the body.

Question 2

Leonardo da Vinci

Answer 2

Produced detailed anatomical drawings of the human brain during the Renaissance

Question 3

Descartes

Answer 3

Looked at the brain as a system, yet still believed in dualism

Question 4

dualism

Answer 4

The notion, promoted by René Descartes, that the mind has an immaterial aspect that is distinct from the material body and brain

Question 5

phrenology

Answer 5

The blief that bumps on the skull reflect enlargements of brain regions responsible for certain behavior faculties.

Question 6

localization of function

Answer 6

The concept that different brain regions specialize in specific behaviors.

Question 7

Karl Lashley (1890-1958)

Answer 7

Started one of the first biological psych research programs, the “search for the engram.” (“engram” = long-term memory). He gave us the idea that memory is not localized to only one region of the brain.

Question 8

Donald O. Hebb (1904-1985)

Answer 8

Hebbian synapse, a type of plastic connection between neurons

Question 9

Ontogeny

Answer 9

The process by which an individual changes in the course of its lifetime–that is, grows up and grows old.

Question 10

neuron

Answer 10

Also called nerve cell. The basic unit of the nervous system.

Question 11

neural plasticity

Answer 11

The ability of the nervous system to change in response to experience or the environment.

Question 12

adult neurogenesis

Answer 12

The creation of new neurons in the brain of an adult.

Question 13

social neuroscience

Answer 13

A field of study that uses the tools of neuroscience to discover the biological bases of social behavior, and the effects of social circumstances on brain activity.

Question 14

evolutionary psychology

Answer 14

A filed of study devoted to asking how natural selection has shaped behavior in humans and other animals.

Question 15

epigenetics

Answer 15

The study of factors that affect gene expression without making any changes in the nucleotide sequence of the genes themselves.

Question 16

gene expression

Answer 16

The turning on or off of specific genes.

Question 17

neuroeconomics

Answer 17

The study of brain mechanisms at work during economic decision-making.

Question 18

consciousness

Answer 18

The state of awareness of one’s own existence, thoughts, emotions, and experiences.

Question 19

somatic intervention

Answer 19

An approach to finding relations between body variables and behavioral variables that involves manipulating body structure or function and looking for resultant changes in behavior.

Question 20

independent variable

Answer 20

The fact that is manipulated by an experimenter

Question 21

dependent variable

Answer 21

The factor that an experimenter easures to monitor a change in response to changes in an independent variable.

Question 22

control group

Answer 22

A group of research subjects that are identical to n experimental (or test) group ;in every way except that they do not receive the experimental treatment or manipulation. The experimental group is then compared to the control group to assess the effect of the treatment.

Question 23

within-subjects experiment

Answer 23

An experiment in which the same set of subjects is compared before and after an experimental manipulation. The subjects thus serve as their own controls.

Question 24

between-subjects experiment

Answer 24

An experiment in which a group of experimental subjects is compared with a control group of individuals who have been treated identically in every way except that they haven’t received the experimental manipulation.

Question 25

behavioral intervention

Answer 25

An approach to finding relations between body variables and behavioral variables that involves intervening in the behavior of an organism and looking for resultant changes in body structure or function.

Question 26

correlation

Answer 26

The covariation of two measures

Question 27

reductionism

Answer 27

THe scientific strategy of breaking a system down into increasingly smaller parts in order to understand it.

Question 28

levels of analysis

Answer 28

The scope of experimental approaches. A scientist may try to understand behavior by monitoring molecules, nerve cells, brain regions, or social environments, or using some combination of these levels of analysis.