Chapter 1 - What is Biopsychology?

Question 1

Neurons

Answer 1

Cells of the nervous system that are specialized for the reception, conduction, and transmission of electrochemical signals

Question 2

Neuroscience

Answer 2

The scientific sutdy of the nervous system

Question 3

Thinking creatively

Answer 3

Thinking in productive, unconventional ways

Question 4

Clinical

Answer 4

Pertaining to illness or treatment

Question 5

Evolutionary perspective

Answer 5

The approach that focuses on the environmental pressures that likely led to the evolution of the characteristics (e.g. of brain and behavior) of current species

Question 6

Neuroplasticity

Answer 6

The notion that the brain is a “plastic” (changeable) organ that continuously grows and changes in response to an individual’s environment and experiences

Question 7

Epigenetics

Answer 7

The study of all mechanisms of inheritance other than the genetic code and its expression

Question 8

Consciousness

Answer 8

The perception or awareness of some aspect of one’s self or the world

Question 9

Biopsychology

Answer 9

The scientific study of the biology of behavior; a biological approach to the study of psychology

Question 10

Neuroanatomy

Answer 10

The study of the structure of the nervous system

Question 11

Neurochemistry

Answer 11

The study of the chemical bases of neural activity

Question 12

Neuroendocrinology

Answer 12

The study of the interactions between the nervous system and the endocrine system

Question 13

Neuropathology

Answer 13

The study of the nervous system disroders

Question 14

Neuropharmacology

Answer 14

The study of the effects of drugs on neural activity

Question 15

Neurophysiology

Answer 15

The study of the functions and activities of the nervous system

Question 16

Comparative approach

Answer 16

The study of biological processes by comparing different species - usually from the evolutionary perspective

Question 17

Between-subjects design

Answer 17

An experimental design in which a different group of subjects is tested under each condition

Question 18

Within-subjects design

Answer 18

An experimental design in which the same subjects are tested under each condition

Question 19

Independent variable

Answer 19

The difference between experimental conditions that is arranged by the experimenter; the thing you intentionally change or control

Question 20

Dependent variable

Answer 20

The variable measured by the experiementer to asses the effect of the independent variable; the thing you measure

Question 21

Confounded variable

Answer 21

An unintended difference between the conditions of an experiment that could have affected the dependent variable

Question 22

Coolidge effect

Answer 22

The fact that a copulating (sexually active) male who becomes incapable of continuing to copulate with one sex partner can often recommence copulating with a new sex partner

Question 23

Lordosis

Answer 23

The arched-back, rump-up, tail-to-the-side posture of female rodent sexual receptivity

Question 24

Quasiexperimental studies

Answer 24

Studies of groups of subjects who have been exposed to the conditions of interest in the real world; such studies have the appearance of experiments but are not true experiments because potential confounded variables have not been controlled for

Question 25

Case studies

Answer 25

Studies that focus on a single case, or subject

Question 26

Generalizability

Answer 26

The degree to which the results of a study can be applied to other individuals or situations

Question 27

Pure research

Answer 27

Research motivated primarily by the curiosity of the researcher and done solely for the purpose of acquiring knowledge

Question 28

Applied research

Answer 28

Research that is intended to bring about some direct benefit to humankind

Question 29

Translational research

Answer 29

Research designed to translate basic scientific discoveries into effective applications (e.g. into clinical treatments)

Question 30

Physiological pyschology

Answer 30

The division of biopsychology that studies the neural mechanisms of behavior through direct manipulation of the brains of nonhuman animal subjects in controlled experiments

Question 31

Pyschopharmacology

Answer 31

The division of biopsychology that studies the effects of drugs on the brain and behavior

Question 32

Neuropsychology

Answer 32

The division of biopsychology that studies the psychological effects of brain damage in humane patients

Question 33

Cerebral cortex

Answer 33

The layer of neural tissue covering the cerebral hemispheres of humans and other mammals

Question 34

Pyschophysiology

Answer 34

The division of biopsychology that studies the relation between physiological activity and psychological processes in human subjects by noninvasive methods

Question 35

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Answer 35

A measure of the gross electrical activity of the brain, commonly recorded through scalp electrodes

Question 36

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

Answer 36

The part of the peripheral nervous system that participates in the regulation of the body's internal environment

Question 37

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 37

A division of biopsychology that focuses on the use of functional brain imaging to study the neural mechanisms of human cognition

Question 38

Cognition

Answer 38

Higher intellectual processes such as thought, memory, attention, and complex perceptual processes

Question 39

Comparative psychology

Answer 39

The division of biopsychology that studies the evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness of behavior, often by using the comparative approach

Question 40

Ethological research

Answer 40

The study of animal behavior in its natural environment

Question 41

Converging operations

Answer 41

The use of several research approaches to solve a single problem

Question 42

Korsakoff's syndrome

Answer 42

A neuropsychological disorder that is common in alcoholics and whose primary symptoms include memory loss, sensory and motor dysfunctions, and, in its advanced stages, severe dementia

Question 43

Scientific inference

Answer 43

The logical process by which observable events are used to infer the properties of unobservable events

Question 44

Critical thinking

Answer 44

The process of recognizing the weakness of existing ideas and the evidence on which they are based

Question 45

Morgan's Canon

Answer 45

The rule that the simplest possible interpretation for a behavioral observation should be given precedence

Question 46

Prefrontal lobotomy

Answer 46

A surgical procedure in which the connections between the prefrontal lobes and the rest of the brain are cut, as a treatment for mental illness

Question 47

Prefrontal lobes

Answer 47

Areas of cortex, left and right, that are located at the very front of the brain - in the frontal lobes

Question 48

Leucotome

Answer 48

A surgical device used in psychosurgery to cut out a core of brain tissue

Question 49

Transorbital lobotomy

Answer 49

A prefrontal lobotomy performed with an instrument inserted through the eye socket

Question 50

Psychosurgery

Answer 50

Any brain surgery performed for the treatment of a psychological problem (e.g. prefrontal lobotomy)