Chapter 6 (final)

Question 1

what is the split brain phenomenon

Answer 1

Once this is done, the two hemispheres are unable to share information across the cortex and several regions associated with perception are isolated from parts of the brain involved in language.

it is basically 2 separate…. things living in the same head but only one can talk and the other one is muted and can only express the feelings through actions

Question 2

Psychologists discuss two components of conscious experience what are they

Answer 2

conscious content

states of consciousness

Question 3

what is conscious content

Answer 3

which can be defined as the subjective experiences of your internal and external world. Your “sense-of-self” resides in your conscious content, as do your plans, dreams, and day-to-day perception of space and time

Question 4

what is states of consciousness

Answer 4

refers to different levels of arousal and attention. Interestingly, your experience of a particular state of consciousness is based on several unconscious and involuntary processes

Question 5

what is Attention

Answer 5

is the process of selecting information from the internal and external environments to prioritize for processing.

Question 6

what is passive attention

Answer 6

prioritized when bottom-up information from the external environment requires a response. For instance, when you hear a loud noise in a quiet room, it is very probable that you will immediately stop what you are doing and attend to the source of the noise

Question 7

what is Active attention,

Answer 7

by contrast, is when attention is directed by goals and top-down processing. When you search a cluttered table for your keys, you are using active attention

Question 8

what is Selective attention

Answer 8

occurs when you attend to one source of information while simultaneously ignoring other stimuli

Some features of the environment are necessarily more important and relevant than others and some elements are simply more noticeable based on their qualities. For instance, we are more likely to attend to a bright light in a dim scene or a loud noise in a quiet room

e.g listening to one conversation In a loud room

Question 9

what is stimulus salience

Answer 9

refers to the bottom-up qualities of a scene that influence how we direct attention. The color or brightness of an object or the loudness of a sound are low level features that may direct your attention, at least initially

Question 10

what is the cocktail party effect

Answer 10

Many people have had the experience of being in a loud room and hearing their name yelled out and turning to find the source. This so-called cocktail party effect illustrates yet another piece of the puzzle of selective attention. Even when some information is not part of conscious awareness, this does not mean it is not being processed.

Question 11

what is dichotic listening task

Answer 11

data from experiments on dichotic listening suggest that the process is not as simple as the brain just “blocking out” the information it doesn’t want. A second component of the dichotic listening task is that specific kinds of unattended information are processed and can later be recalled

Question 12

what is Divided attention

Answer 12

or multitasking, is when we simultaneously attend to two (or more) tasks at the same time—for instance, talking with a friend in the car about your class while driving.

Question 13

what is inattentional blindness

Answer 13

This occurs when we are engaged in one task and completely miss other information

Question 14

what is subliminal stimulus

Answer 14

is a sensory stimulus that is processed, but does not reach the threshold for conscious perception

Question 15

what is Subconscious processing

Answer 15

is information we are aware of, but not necessarily aware that it is influencing our behavior

Question 16

what is Subliminal processing

Answer 16

Subliminal processing by contrast is information we cannot consciously detect, even if we were looking for it. These types of messages include subvisual messages or messages that are presented too quickly for the visual system to perceive. Similarly, subaudible messages are played at a low volume, typically with a louder message played over it

Question 17

Melinda is waiting in line at the grocery store and sees a magazine ad for subliminal tapes that can help with weight loss. Based on what you know about the effectiveness of subliminal messaging, what should you advise Melinda to do?

Answer 17

Put the magazine down and pay for the groceries because subliminal messages don’t work particularly well

Question 18

what are Electroencephalograms (EEGs) used for

Answer 18

measure activity across the surface of the brain

Question 19

what are electrooculograms used for

Answer 19

are used to measure the movements of the eye as you sleep

Question 20

what are electromyograms used for

Answer 20

used to measure tension of the muscles of the jaw.

Question 21

While you are awake, there are two distinct, observable patterns to your brain activity what are they

Answer 21

The first brain wave pattern occurs when you are alert and engaged in events occurring around you. These beta waves are irregular, mostly low amplitude, waves that occur with a frequency of 13-30 Hz. The waves during beta are desynchronized and erratic. This desynchrony reflects the fact that many different neural circuits in the brain are actively processing information

Question 22

what is The second pattern that we observe while you are awake is

Answer 22

alpha activity.

Question 23

As you begin to transition from a relaxed state to the early stages of sleep, your brain activity reflects this and transitions from alpha waves to what

Answer 23

theta activity

Question 24

what is alpha activity

Answer 24

This brain pattern is observed when an individual is awake but relaxed

Question 25

what is theta activity

Answer 25

While in stage 1 sleep, you begin to move from a state of relaxation to early sleep and the firing rate across the cortex becomes more synchronized. Stage 1 is a very light stage of sleep; if startled or awoken, most people report that they were not even sleeping.

Question 26

The transition from stage 1 into stage 2 is best identified by the appearance of what

Answer 26

sleep spindles and K complexes

Question 27

what are seep spindles

Answer 27

are brief bursts of activity (12-14 Hz) that occur roughly 2-5 times a minute during stages 1-4 sleep

Question 28

Current work on dreams generally takes one of two perspectives what are they

Answer 28

The first is that the experience of dreaming really has no explicit or reliable meaning; rather, it is a consequence of the other processes that occur across the cortex during sleep
This model does account for the seemingly disorganized and bizarre occurrence of events we experience when we sleep—it doesn’t mean anything, and it is just the result of the brain as it sleeps. The processes of the higher brain try and interpret this disorganized lower brain activity and attribute meaning to it

or

The second perspective suggests that dreams do seem to have some meaning and perhaps an evolutionary purpose. One model suggests that the content of dreams have biological significance. In this evolutionary hypothesis of dreams

Question 29

what is the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)

Answer 29

It is also possible to chemically regulate the clock. Light signals from the eye split in the center of the brain at the optic chiasm. Directly above the chiasm is the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN). This structure is the location of your body’s “time keeper”. This structure sends signals to several regions of the brain, among them the pineal gland. In response to the light/dark cycle, the pineal gland secretes melatonin

Question 30

There are two broad categories of sleep disorders what are they

Answer 30

dissomnias

Parasomnias

Question 31

what are dissomnias

Answer 31

refer to problems with the quality of sleep

Question 32

what are Parasomnias

Answer 32

are disturbances that occur during sleep

Question 33

what is Insomnia

Answer 33

under the dissomnias category

sufferers “can’t turn their brain off”

Question 34

what is hypersomnia

Answer 34

under the dissomnias category

excessive sleepiness

Question 35

what is Narcolepsy

Answer 35

under the dissomnias category
rare genetic neurodegenerative disorder characterized by several symptoms, most notably a sudden and extreme need to sleep. These sleep attacks are uncontrollable and can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Upon waking, most people report that they feel alert and refreshed

Question 36

what is cataplexy

Answer 36

A second symptom of narcolepsy is known as cataplexy. During a cataplectic attack, scientists think that the paralysis typically experienced during REM sleep initiates at inappropriate times

Question 37

what is REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

Answer 37

under the parasomnias category
act out the contents of their dreams. In many ways, the symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder are the opposite of cataplexy. Rather than exhibiting paralysis outside of REM, these individuals move in response to the content of one’s dreams during REM.

Question 38

Another term for “childhood onset insomnia” is

Answer 38

idiopathic insomnia

Question 39

what do depressants do

Answer 39

Generally, depressants slow or depress the arousal of the central nervous system

Question 40

Alcohol influences a number of neurotransmitters such as

Answer 40

Glutamate is one of the primary excitatory neurotransmitters in the nervous system, and alcohol consumption inhibits the effectiveness of glutamate, especially in the hippocampus—an area associated with learning and memory

Alcohol also increases the effectiveness of GABA. You may remember from Chapter 3 that GABA is one of the main neurotransmitters implicated in relaxed states. The relaxing effects of alcohol are most easily attributed to its effects on these two neurotransmitters; however, consumption of alcohol also increases the dopaminergic system. Dopamine is often implicated in reward states in the brain, many drugs are reinforcing because of their effects on the production of dopamine

Question 41

what are barbiturates and benzodiazepine

Answer 41

A second group of depressants

Question 42

what are barbiturates and benzodiazepine used for

Answer 42

Both drugs have been prescribed to treat a variety of psychological disorders such as anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and epilepsy. They create a subjective sense of relaxation, most probably because they also act on the amount of GABA in the brain. In large doses, concentration becomes quite difficult and speech can become slurred. Barbiturates in particular can be quite addictive; with continued use, the body’s metabolism slows and patients develop a tolerance for the drug. Thus, the dosage must be increased to have the same effect; however, the lethal dose of barbiturates does not change, which makes continued use dangerous and potentially fatal. Due to the dangers of barbiturates, benzodiazepines (also known as anxiolytics) are more frequently prescribed; this class of drug includes Xanax, Valium, and Clonazepam

Question 43

what are stmulants

Answer 43

drugs that increase the activity of the nervous system

Question 44

what are Common stimulants

Answer 44

caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, and amphetamines

Question 45

Hallucinogens, also known as

Answer 45

psychedelic drugs

Question 46

what do psychedelic drugs do

Answer 46

directly influence the sensory systems and our interpretation of reality. As a group, these drugs cause distortions in our sense of time and space. Many users report incidences of synesthesia

Question 47

what is synesthesia

Answer 47

an experience where the senses seem to blend

Question 48

what is Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)

Answer 48

a synthetic drug that causes altered emotions and a sense of being in a “waking dream.” Most notably, LSD causes vivid sensory hallucinations, alterations in perceptions of time and space, and a blurring of perceptions between the senses; for instance, music may create sensations of colors. The drug itself acts as an agonist of serotonin, specifically serotonin receptors in the thalamus

Question 49

what is Mescaline

Answer 49

derived from the peyote cactus. It is most commonly associated with use in religious ceremonies in Native American culture. Although the effects of mescaline are similar to those of LSD, there are some effects that are unique to this drug. Color perception feels enhanced, repeating patterns appear in the visual field, and people often report that they feel out of their body. Other commonly reported effects are numbness, tension, anxiety, and intense nausea