MIDTERM Flashcards

Question

What is the gustatory system and what is its stimuli?

Answer 1

sensory system for taste - The stimuli for taste are just chemicals that dissolve in our saliva - Gustatory receptors are clusters of taste cells found in the **taste buds** - mostly in our tongue, have some in the back of our throat as well - have 8000-10,000 taste buds - when we taste sth this stimulates the taste buds and this sends a signal to our brain → our thalamus → then we see extension to our frontal lobe, all taking part in this experience of taste. - different taste buds are spread reasonably evenly throughout the tongue

Answer 2

- **Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami (savoury)** - we have receptors for different tastes - taste is also about the texture of food → effects our sensory experiences - eg onions, mushrooms

Answer 3

Sense of smell. - Stimuli are chemical substances - Receptors are **olfactory cilia (hair) to olfactory bulb to other parts of the brain** - our receptor for smell are these long cells the project through the lining of the nasal cavity → this passes signals to the olfactory bulb located just below the frontal lobe → from here, smell information goes to other brain areas. - Interpreting smell seems to happen in different parts of the brain, so sth like pleasant vs unpleasant smell happens in the prefrontal cortex - distinguishing smells → not great at it - SMELLS AND MEMORY → interaction with the hippocampus

Answer 4

- Olfactory information enters the frontal lobe, amygdala, hippocampus, and other forebrain structures almost directly. - This anatomy indicates that smell has a close relationship with areas involved in emotional and social behaviour as well as memory. - Groups of ORNs sensitive to the same odourant send their axons from the olfactory epithelium into the **olfactory bulb** - *a brain structure located above the nasal cavity beneath the frontal lobes.* - Humans possess about 250 different ORN types that permit us to discriminate up to one trillion (!) odours through the unique patterns of neural activity each odour evokes. - The output of the final stage of olfactory bulb processing is in the axons that form the olfactory nerve. - The olfactory bulb sends outputs to various centres in the brain, including the parts that are responsible for controlling basic drives, emotions, and memories. - The relationship between smell and emotion explains why smells can have immediate, strongly positive or negative effects on us.

Answer 5

- chemically sensitive organ also called the vomeronasal organ - in a way, snakes taste the air with their forked tongues, air particles collect on the tongue, but they’re processed by the Jacobson’s organ. - So once inside the Jacobson’s organ, different chemicals evoke different electrical signals that are relayed to the brain. - this organ in a chemical sense can help snakes in finding mates as well as gather information about their prey - like a super sense - Mammals (cats, dogs, primates) have this structure but in humans this structure is not functional, but vestigial.

Answer 6

- Specific facial movement in response to some sort of inhaled compound going to the Jacobson’s organ. - Helps to facilitate the transfer of chemical scents like pheromones from the organ to the olfactory bulb.

Answer 7

Sense of touch! - touch is perceived through our skin - one of our first senses to develop - aka Haptic sense - Temperature, pressure, pain - anything that makes contact with out skin provides tactile stimulation and gives us this experience of touch - haptic receptors for temperature and pressure are sensory neurons that reach the skin’s outer layer - their long axons enter into our nervous system by way of spinal or cranial nerves - meaning, spinal nerves travel from the rest of the body into the spinal cord and then to the brain → this is where cranial nerves will connect directly to the brain - for sensing sth like temperature, there seem to be receptors for warm and receptors for cold - very intense stimuli can trigger both eg. if you’ve ever felt really cold water → it burns, it’s so cold - dual stimulation can cause false wetness → eg. psilocybin mushrooms → sometimes you can feel this false wetness but you’re not actual wet - some receptors for pressure are nerve fibres at the bases of hair follicles that respond to movement of the hair - we also have receptors for light fast pressure, light slow pressure, stretching pressure and steady pressure.

Answer 8

- *the active exploration of the environment by touching and grasping objects with our hands.* - We use sensory receptors in our muscles, tendons, and joints as well as a variety of receptors in our skin to get a feel for the world around us.

Answer 9

- Touch begins with the transduction of skin sensations into neural signals. - Receptors located under the skin’s surface enable us to sense pain, pressure, texture, pattern or vibration against the skin. - Each receptor has a **tactile receptive field** - *a small patch of skin that relates information about pain, pressure, texture, patterns or vibration to a receptor.* - These specialized cells work together to provide a rich tactile experience when you explore an object by feeling it or attempting to grasp it. - In addition, *thermoreceptors*, nerve fibres that sense cold and warmth, respond when your skin temperature changes. - Signals to hypothalamus — parietal lobe (primary somatsensory cortex) - in terms of transduction, touch signals travel to the thalamus → which sends it to the parietal lobe → the primary somatosensory cortex - here we have large amounts of corticol tissue devoted to sensitive body parts like our lips and face.

Answer 10

- Pain receptors all over the body; serve as a warning system - In general most experiences of pain result from when damage to the skin activates haptic receptors - nerve fibres that sense pain information are thinner compared to those for temperature and pressure - Sensation of pain is generated by the brain - Phantom limb pain → where a person who has a limb amputated can feel phantom pain → pain in the limb that is no longer there - the pain the person experiences is real but the pain occurs because of painful sensations near the sight of the limb that was removed - or even a touch to the cheek can do this - brain is misinterpreting the neural activity but u still feel pain

Answer 11

- Fast Fibres: Myelinated; sharp, immediate pain - faster neural communication - eg. touching a hot pan the moment u touch the pan - Slow Fibres: Non-Myelinated; chronic, dull pain - steady pain - information goes more slowly - eg. after touching a hot pan - Function: avoid danger, alert to internal issues - Massaging newborn babies enhances their development

Answer 12

half of our cerebral cortex is dedicated to vision

Answer 13

- The stimulus is **light** - Measured in **nanometers (one billionth of a metre)** - our visual system is sensitive only to wavelengths extending to about 700 nanometres (red) to about 400 nanometres (blue violet) - but in addition to the portion of light humans perceive there is the electromagnetic spectrum that includes x-rays, Tv, radio signals, or infarered and ultraviolet rays - > we can’t see

Answer 14

- channel light to the neural tissue that receives it (retina) - they house that tissue

Answer 15

- Pain-withdrawal reflex is coordinated by the spinal cord. - But neural signals for pain — such as wrenching your elbow as you brace yourself to keep from falling — travel to two distinct areas in the brain and evoke two distinct psychological experiences. - One pain pathway sends signals to the somatosensory cortex, identifying where the pain is occurring and what sort of pain it is (sharp, burning or dull). - The second pain pathway sends signals to the motivational and emotional centres of the brain, such as the hypothalamus and amygdala, as well as to the frontal lobe. - This is the aspect of pain that is unpleasant and motivates us to escape from, or relieve, the pain.

Answer 16

- occurs when *sensory information from internal and external areas converges on the same nerve cells in the spinal cord.* - One common example is a heart attack: Victims often feel pain radiating from the left arm rather than from inside the chest.

Answer 17

- *signals arriving from pain receptors in the body can be stopped, or gated, by interneurons in the spinal cord via feedback from the skin or from the brain.* - eg. pain can be gated by the skin receptors by rubbing the affected area. - Rubbing your stubbed toe activates neurons that “close the gate” to stop pain signals from travelling to the brain. - Pain can also be gated from the brain, which can modulate the activity of pain-transmission neurons. - Key concept: perception is a two-way street.

Answer 18

- Light that reaches the eyes passes first through a clear, smooth outer tissue called the *cornea*, which bends the light wave and sends it through the *pupil*, a hole in the coloured part of the eye. - This coloured part is the *iris*, which is a translucent, doughnut-shaped muscle that controls the size of the pupil and hence the amount of light that can enter the eye. - Immediately behind the iris, muscles inside the eye control the shape of the *lens* to bend the light again and focus it onto the **retina** - *a layer of light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eyeball.* - The retina is the interface between the world of light outside the body and the world of vision inside the central nervous system. - Two types of *photoreceptor* *cells* in the retina contain light-sensitive proteins that absorb light and transduce it into electrical signals. - The photoreceptor cells (rods and cones) form the innermost layer, beneath a layer of transparent neurons called the bipolar and retinal ganglion cells. - The *bipolar* *cells* collect electrical signals from the rods and cones and transmit them to the outermost layer of the retina, where neurons called *retinal* *ganglion* *cells* (*RGCs*) organize the signals and send them to the brain. - The Optic Nerve Carries Neural Impulses to the Brain

Answer 19

1. Light enters through the **cornea** → - cornea is the eye’s thick, transparent outer layer - cornea focuses light which enters our lens 2. Behind the pupil is the elastic **lens** - lens is behind our pupil - lens is elastic structure that become thinner to focus distant objects and thicker to focus on nearby objects - lens is bent inward and focused to form an image on the retina (inner thin surface of our eye) - when we are looking at sth the lens reverses the image from left to right and top to bottom → does this when the image is projected on to the retina 3. **Retina** — multilayered tissue at rear - has sensory receptors that transduce light into neural signals going into the optic nerve into the brain → into the occipital lobe and other involved parts of brain - brain reconstructs the visual input into the image that we perceive - **Optic nerve to brain**

Answer 20

1. The visual process begins with the generation of electrical signals by our sensory receptors in the retina 2. These receptors, the rods and cones, contain what is called photopigments → protein molecules that become unstable and split apart when they are exposed to light 3. This decomposition alters the membrane potential of the photoreceptor and triggers action potentials in downstream neurons 4. So, when light is transduced by the cones and rods, other cells in the middle layers of the retina, the bipolar cells, perform a series of v fancy computations. - the outputs from these cells converge on the retinol ganglion cells 5. Ganglion cells are the first neurons in the visual pathway with axons → is neat bc they are the first neurons to generate action potentials. 6. The ganglion cells send their signals along their axons from inside of the eye to the thalamus 7. The axons are in this bundle, the optic nerve - The area where your optic nerve exits, your retina, has no rods or cones → where you have a blindspot 8. - Now going down the optic nerve, we are at the optic chaism. - where half of the axons in the optic nerve are crossing - bc when you use your left eye, that information is corresponding to your right hemisphere and vice versa - the information then goes to the thalamus and travels to our primary visual cortex in our occipital lobe → pathway from the retina to this part of our brain carries all the information that we consciously experience as sight - then goes to ventral or dorsal pathways

Answer 21

- this pathway is primarily involved in object recognition and identification - processes detailed information about the shape, colour and identity of objects in the visual field - The what pathway travels from the primary visual cortex through areas in the temporal lobe - helps us recognize faces, objects and scenes contributing to our understanding of WHAT we are looking at - what pathway focusing on RECOGNITION

Answer 22

- involved in spatial awareness and guiding actions based on visual information - it processes information about the location, motion and spatial relationship of objects in the environment - the where travels from the primary visual cortex through areas in the parietal lobe - helps us determine where objects are relative to ourselves and each other - guiding actions like reaching, grasping and navigation - where pathway focusing on SPATIAL PROCESSING and ACTION GUIDANCE

Answer 23

- Colour does not exist in the physical world - it is a product of our visual system - an object appears to be a particular colour because of the wavelength of light it reflects - colour is perceived by wavelength - colour is the result of our visual system interpreting these wavelengths → it is a product of our perception

Answer 24

- colour vision is based on activity on three types of cone cells in the retina. - that are sensitive to different wavelengths - one type of cone is most sensitive to short wavelengths (blue to violet) - another cone is most sensitive to medium wavelengths (yellow to green light) - a third type of cone is most sensitive to long wavelengths (red and orange light) - These three types of cones are called SML “small medium long” cones - just like mixing different amounts of SML can create a wide range of colours, the brain combines the input from the 3 types of cones to produce the full spectrum of colours that we can see - eg. yellow is just the activation of the M and L cone

Answer 25

- mostly talking about partial blindness for certain colours - Typically people are missing pigments sensitive to either medium or long wavelengths related to red green colour blindness - people could also be missing short wave photo pigments → results in blue yellow colour blindness - Tests for colour blindness usually contain sets of colour dots depending on the type of blindness a person wouldn’t be able to se certain numbers embedded in the circles.

Answer 26

- colour perception is controlled by three opposing pairs of colours: red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white - Not all aspects of colour vision can be explained by responses of 3 types of cones in the retina - we know some people with red green colour blindness can still see yellow - and most people have trouble visualizing colour mixtures: eg. a reddish green or blueish yellow - can do a red-ish yellow or blue-ish green - eg. if you play with after images → if you stare at a green image you see a red after image - or if you start with sth red and look away you see a green after image - what’s happening is your receptors become fatigued but your other receptors are not fatigued so the after image appears in the not fatigued wavelength - Theory proposes that our visual system interprets colour through 3 pairs of opposing colours; red vs green, blue vs yellow, black vs white - each pairs of colours work in opposition to one another: when one colour in the pair is stimulated, the other is suppressed. - so when red is activated, green is inhibited - this opposition explains why we can’t see colours like a reddish green or blueish yellow bc the colours in each pair cancel each other out - so it also explains that after image → if you stare at the red image for a while, when you look at a white surface you’ll see a green after image. - Bc the red receptors become fatigued and the green receptors and relatively more active when you look away.

Answer 27

- Opponent-process theory explains how our brain processes these signals to create a full range of colour experiences. - opponent-process theory suggests that colour vision is based on the brain’s interpretation of opposing colour pairs, helping to explain some aspects of colour perception that the trichromatic theory alone cannot.

Answer 28

- opponent-process theory - according to this theory, staring at one colour causes receptor fatigue and looking elsewhere can lead unfatigued receptors for the opposing colour to produce an after image

Answer 29

- Psychologists from the German school of Gestalt Psychology set out to discover how we organize our world, how we organize the separate parts of perception into a unified and meaningful and equal whole. - “Gestalt” also loosely translated to pattern, shape, or form - Early proponents of top-down processing - saying that whole we perceive is greater than the sum of their parts - Humans have basic tendencies to actively organize what they see - For human perception, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Answer 30

- Gestalt theoriests emphasized the importance of figure-ground relations - Ambiguous figure-ground relationships - We tend to organize stimuli into a central or foreground figure and a background. - In vision, the central figure is usually in front of or on top of what we perceive as the background. - we distinguish between figure and ground in order to simplify our world around us - we divide the scenery into objects and background and we determine that a collection of lines, shapes and colours and what compose/what make up a figure of object and that influences our perception of those cues as we gain experience. - its just how we start to understand what is what.

Answer 31

- Law of similarity - 16 unrelated dots or two triangles formed by different sized dots - if you see two triangles, then your perception obey the law of similarity - states that when parts of a configuration are perceived as similar they will be perceived as belonging together - we tend to group figures according to how closely they resemble each other: shape, colour or orientation - so two separate triangles - Law of proximity - says that elements that are near one another are likely to be perceived as part of the same configuration - so for proximity → most ppl see a few set of lines rather than six separate lines - the closer figures are together the more likely we are to group them together as part of the same object. - Law of closure - states that people tend to close an open edge of a figure or fill in parts of an incomplete image - so even tho the image is not complete, we see it as a full circle - we complete figures that have gaps - and sometimes we can see shapes, contours, cues to depth that aren’t really there bc of this - Law of continuity - people link individual elements together so that they form a continuous line or pattern that makes sense - eg end of a goes to b and not a goes to c or a goes to d bc of that continuous line - we want to group together edges or contours that are smooth and continuous as opposed to sharp

Answer 32

- *Continuity:* Edges or contours that have the same orientation have what Gestalt psychologists called *good* *continuation,* and we tend to group them together perceptually. - we perceive two crossing lines instead of two V shapes. - *Common fate:* Elements of a visual image that move together are perceived as parts of a single moving object. - Eg. the series of flashing lights in the road sign are perceived as a moving arrowhead.

Answer 33

- Perceptual constancies are what allow us to recognize familiar stimuli that we know under varying conditions - if not we’d have to rediscover what sth is every time it reappeared under a different condition. - eg. how you can recognize a song even if its sung, played in a different octave. As long as the relation among the notes are maintained you can recognize it.

Answer 34

- Shape constancy - allows us to recognize people and other objects from many different angles - eg. understand that your friends face is still the same whether you look at their profile or them straight on - eg a door at different opening stages → know what it is supposed to look like even if you’re looking at it from different angles - Size constancy - the perception that the size of an object remains relatively constant even tho the image on our retina changes in size with variations in distance. - eg. if sb who is 6 feet tall is standing in front of you and they are standing 2 feet away; then they move to standing like 10ft away from you you understand that they didn’t themselves get smaller → you understand that they just moved away - you understand that the perception is that they’re smaller, not that they actually got smaller - Brightness constancy - the relative brightness of objects remains the same under different conditions of illumination - eg. full light and shade - this constancy occurs bc the ratio of light intensity between an object and its surroundings usually is constant. The actual brightness of the light that illuminates the object does not matter as long as the same light intensity illuminates both an object and its surroundings. - this may affect the perceived colour of objects - eg, you understand the colour of your jacket may look different in full sunlight vs shade but you know that that colour hasn’t actually changed

Answer 35

Face blindness! - Inability to recognize faces despite normal object recognition - Can identify a face as a face, but not whose face or its orientation (upside down or not) - May be congenital (genetic component) or result from brain damage. - can be present from birth - or resulted from damage of the what stream or the temporal lobe which is extremely important for perceiving faces - rely on a person’s voice

Answer 36

- **Binocular Depth Cues** - From both eyes together, present only in viewing the 3D world - cues for how far away sth is - **Monocular Depth Cues** - From each eye alone, provide depth inference in 2D images

Answer 37

- **Binocular Disparity (Retinal Disparity)**: Each eye sees a slight different view; the brain uses the difference to compute distances (stereoscopic visions) - caused by the distance between 2 eyes - bc each eye has a slightly different view of the world and the brain has access to 2 different but overlapping retinal images - the brain uses the disparity between these images to compute distance to nearby objects - so the ability to determine an object’s depth is based on that object’s perception to two eyes; to each eye. - called stereoscopic vision - **Convergence**: Eye muscles turn inward to focus on close objects; the brain uses the degree of convergence to determine distance. - another binocular depth cue - refers to the way that the eye muscles turn inward when we view nearby objects - to focus both eyes on a close object, means that the eyes have to converge more than if an object is a far away one. - then the brain knows how much the eyes are converging from feedback from eye muscles and uses this information to understand distance. - Note: Binocular cues are typically only useful for objects that are close - As objects get farther away, there is going to be little binocular disparity and there isn’t a lot of convergence or eyes moving inward

Answer 38

- Relative size — far-off objects project a smaller retinal image than close objects do, if far-off objects and close objects are the same physical size - Texture gradient — as a uniformly textured surface recedes, its texture continuously becomes denser - Occlusion — a near object occludes an object that is farther away - Linear perspective — seemingly parallel lines appear to converge in the distance

Answer 39

- objects that are closer appear to move faster than the objects that are farther away - most depth cues use our knowledge about how depth changes perceptual features to help determine how far away something is. - another monocular depth cue focuses on motion → so motion parallax - so motion can provide cues about how far away sth is - eg. you’re in a car → looking out a window → notice how street sides on the side of the road appear to move qucikly past you, while the trees in the distance seem to move more slowly as you past them and buildings farther away from the trees move even more slowly → things that are really really far like the moon don’t move at all

Answer 40

- Specialized cells that make up the **nervous system into neural networks** - cells that receive, integrate and transmit information in our bodies - Function: communication

Answer 41

- Cell body (soma) - Structures that keep the cell alive (contains neuron’s nucleus) - Dendrites - “Branches” from cell body, receive signals - branch-like fibres - specialized receiving units that provide input from neighbouring neurons and then send them to the cell body - receive signals and send them to the cell body, detect changes in information from neighbouring neurons - in the cell body, the information from the dendrites is combined and processed - Axon - Conducts electrical impulses **away** from soma to the next neuron - Once all the information from the neighbouring neuron is integrated, an electrical impulse travels along the axon - long structure that comes out from the other side of the cell body - Axon branches out at its end to form a number of axon terminals → more branch-like fibres and through these axons can communicate with dendrites from other neurons - this is what makes it possible for a single neuron to pass messages to many neurons - Our neurons are connected axon to dendrite.

Answer 42

1. Generate electricity - Create nerve impulses 2. Release chemicals (that allow neurons to communicate with other neurons) - Communicate with other cells - neurons send messages through electricity and they send messages by releasing chemicals.

Answer 43

1. Cell is **at rest** with electrical resting potential - has this distribution due to distribution of positively and negatively charged chemicals or ions inside and outside the neuron - nothing is happening 2. Cell is stimulated and electrical charges (ions) flow across cell membrane - Reverses charge of resting potential → - → Produces **action potential**, or neural impulse - Now that we are at an action potential, the nerve is firing, it’s communicating, impulsing to the next neuron 3. Restore original distribution of ions, cell at rest again - Is now capable of being activated again - resting potential and action potential → all we’re really seeing here is this shift of ions and electrical charge

Answer 44

1. Cell is **at rest** with electrical resting potential. - Like other cells, neurons have a protective membrane and some substances can pass through and some can’t. → this passageway is called the ion channel - this difference of what’s inside and outside of the neuron is what allows a nerve impulse to happen → a nerve firing → done by an exchange of ions - the two types of ions that contribute to the resting potential and the nerve firing are potassium and sodium ions - at the stage “resting potential”, outside the cell are positively charged sodium ions, the Na+. - Inside the neuron are large negatively charged protein molecules A- and positively charged potassium ions, K+ - These positive charges on the outside and the negative charged proteins on the inside are what make up the resting potential. - specifically, it’s an internal difference of about -70mV (electrical current) → inside and outside the neuron

Answer 45

1. Cell is stimulated and electrical charges (ions) flow across cell membrane (**depolarization**) - If the neuron is electrically stimulated, an action potential occurs - a neuron receives a pulse from a nearby neuron through its dendrites, this then affects polarization - an action potential is a sudden reversal in the neuron membrane voltage, during which the membrane voltage changes from -70mV to +40mV - this shift from negative to positive is called depolarization: a movement of sodium and potassium ions across the cell membrane - in the resting state the button-looking things (ion channels) were closed → but when the neuron is stimulated, the sodium channels open and the positively charged sodium ions are attracted by the negative proteins inside and enter the axon, creating the state of depolarization. - when it comes to electrical charges, opposites attract - when the neuron is firing, the sodium channels open, and the sodium ions rush into the cell, causing the neuron to become more positive than the outside. - Once the change in voltage reaches -55 mV (threshold usually), as it’s going up we’re going to see that change to positive 40mV - now the interior is positive in relation to the outside, creating the action potential - NOTES: potassium channels still closed.

Answer 46

1. Restore distribution of ions, cell at rest again - A fraction of a second later, the potassium channels open to allow potassium ions inside of the cell to flow out of the cell; sodium channels start to close → no more sodium flowing in, but potassium continues to exit the cell so we end up with a potential again. - Cell closes the sodium channel and positively charged potassium ions flow out of their channels, restoring the original resting potential. - Eventually the excess sodium flows out and the escaped potassium ions are recovered. - As this is happening, it’s like a chain-reaction, we see the action potential going down the cell down the axon like a row of dominoes. - Following the passing along the axon, there is a recovery period as the original distribution of ions is restored - During this absolute refractory period, the membrane is not excitable and cannot generate another action potential

Answer 47

the neuron cannot be stimulated - however, after this another action potential can follow.

Answer 48

- Action potential occur at a uniform and maximal intensity, or they don’t occur at all. - Stronger signals **DO NOT** causes stronger action potentials - Creates **MORE** action potentials - can increase amount, but not the strength - like pushing the button on a camera → you have to push it hard enough to make it happen, if you push harder it’s not going to make the camera take a better pictures - the negative potential inside the axon has to be changed from -70mV to -50mV before the action potential will be triggered (threshold) - If it doesn’t it is called a Graded Potential - The action potential is all or none: Electric stimulation below the threshold fails to produce an action potential, whereas electric stimulation at or above the threshold always produces the action potential and always at the same strength.

Answer 49

- Part of neuron. - A fatty, whitish insulation layer derived from **glial cells** during development (what we’re talking about when we talk about white matter) - axons that transmit information throughout the brain and spinal cord are covered by a myelin sheath - eg. plastic insulation around a wire - Insulates neurons

Answer 50

- Places where the myelin is either extremely thin or absent - causes the sausage-like appearance in the axon - allows conduction to skip ahead - The current seems to “jump” quickly from node to node. - This process is called *saltatory conduction* and it helps speed the flow of information down the axon. - If the neuron does not have these two structures (myelin sheath and nodes of ranvier), then the action potential just travels down the axon like the fuse on a bomb - If the axon is myelinated then the electrical conduction can actually skip from node to node → fewer action potentials will be needed and can go faster. - Tend to be found in more higher animals, more complex animals - Disease characterized by damage to the myelin coding: MS → person’s own immune system attacks the myelin sheath → disrupts the timing of nerve impulses, which is why you see jerky movements, uncoordinated movements (and in the final stages) paralysis.

Answer 51

MS → person’s own immune system attacks the myelin sheath → disrupts the timing of nerve impulses, which is why you see jerky movements, uncoordinated movements (and in the final stages) paralysis.

Answer 52

- Holds neurons in place - and surround the neurons - manufacture and transport neurons - Make and move nutrients - Form the **myelin sheath** - Remove toxins (absorb toxins and waste materials that could damage neurons → protect brain from toxins) - Blood-brain barrier - prevents many substances like toxins from entering the body and are covered by glial cells → look like cells

Answer 53

Synapses! - Synapses are functional connections between neurons and their targets - The action potential still has to go from one cell to another - Nerve impulses have to go from one neuron to another - The neurons communicate through a synapse. - cells do not make physical contact, they instead communicate across a gap called the **synaptic cleft.** - is what the small circle between the neurons is showing. - this cleft exists between the axon terminal of one neuron to the dendrites of the next neuron → kind of like a conga line of neurons

Answer 54

- 2 basic functions: 1. Generate electricity - Create nerve impulses 2. Release chemicals - Communicate with other cells - the synapse is important here in terms of how the chemical gets released - **Neurotransmitters:** Chemical substances that carry messages across the synapse to either excite other neurons, or inhibit firing. - are the chemicals that neurons release and these are how neurons communicate with each other

Answer 55

- 2 basic functions: 1. Generate electricity - Create nerve impulses 2. Release chemicals - Communicate with other cells - the synapse is important here in terms of how the chemical gets released - **Neurotransmitters:** Chemical substances that carry messages across the synapse to either excite other neurons, or inhibit firing. - are the chemicals that neurons release and these are how neurons communicate with each other

Answer 56

1. Synthesis — make them in the neuron - here the chemical molecules are formed inside the neuron 2. Storage — held in **synaptic vesicles** - within the axon terminal (still in the neuron that is sending the signal) - when the action potential comes down the axon, the vesicles move to the surface of the axon terminal 3. Release — into synaptic space - they release the neurotransmitters into the fluid-filled space between the axon of the ascending neuron and the membrane of the receiving neuron. - molecules of the neurotransmitter then cross the synaptic space → then binding 4. Binding — attach to **receptor sites** - cross the synaptic space and bind to receptor sites in the receiving neuron’s membrane - these receptor sites have a specifically shaped surface that fits a specific transmitter molecule - lock and key situation - once the neurotransmitter binds to the receptor, then it will activate or inhibit the neuron until it is deactivated. - The binding of a neurotransmitter molecule to the receptor site produces a chemical reaction that can have one of those two effects on the post synaptic neuron: either making it more or less likely that the post-synaptic neuron will generate an action potential 5. Deactivation — stop the neurotransmitter signal - can happen in 2 ways: - 1 → a chemical just comes and breaks them down - 2 → or there’s reuptake → where the transmitters are reabsorbed into the presynaptic axon terminal. - now that the receptor is empty, the postsynaptic neuron returns to its resting state and the process can begin again. acronym: Students Study Very Boring Details

Answer 57

- Promote the generation of action potentials in the post-synaptic neuron: **depolarization** - stimulating the inflow of sodium - neurotransmitters that create depolarization are called excitatory transmitters - >cause cell to fire

Answer 58

- Regulate neural activity by reducing the likelihood that the post-synaptic neuron will generate an action potential: **hyperpolarization** - will make the membrane potential even more negative → less likely that the neuron will reach its action potential - Inhibition is important bc it allows for the fine-tuning of neural activity and also helps prevent uncoordinated firings. - If all our neurons were firing → seizure

Answer 59

- Naturally occurring chemicals in the body - Promote or inhibit neural activity by affecting membrane potential of the neuron - Influence electrical state of neurons (depolarization or hyperpolarization) - Functionality: directly influence the electrical state of the neuron → depolarization or hyperpolarization

Answer 60

- Substances that module receptor activity - Agonists: Enhance neurotransmitter effects (activate receptors) - can mimic and excitatory or inhibitory neurotransmitter depending on their receptor targets - Antagonists: Inhibit neurotransmitter effects (block receptors) - can block either excitatory or inhibitory neurotransmitters, preventing their action. - Functionality: influence the activity of the receptors, thereby effecting the overall function of the neurotransmitter (either enhancing or inhibiting its effects) - Can be natural or synthetic

Answer 61

- Mimic excitatory or inhibitory neurotransmitters 1. Increasing neurotransmitter production/release - Introducing a substance that helps produce the neurotransmitters → so increasing the amounts of neurotransmitter made and released by the presynaptic neuron 2. Blocking reuptake, keeping neurotransmitter in synapse longer - blocking the receptors on the presynaptic neuron that trigger the reuptake of the neurotransmitter → keeps the neurotransmitter in the synapse longer 3. Mimicking neurotransmitter action on postsynaptic neuron - activating the receptor or increasing the impact of the neurotransmitter - → “ag” → helps the post synaptic neuron fire “AGain and AGain”

Answer 62

- Block excitatory or inhibitory neurotransmitters 1. Reducing neurotransmitter production/release - introducing a substance that reduces the amount of neurotransmitter made and then released into the synapse 2. Facilitating neurotransmitter breakdown - introducing a substance that facilitates the destruction or breaking down of the neurotransmitter → reducing the time it is in the synapse 3. Blocking postsynaptic receptors - preventing the neurotransmitter from activating them. - “antagonist” → “anti” -. against the neurotransmitter, reduces actions of the neurotransmitter

Answer 63

Between the synapses, the orderis dendrites → cell body → axon → axon terminal buttons

Answer 64

- **Glutamate** (glutamic acid) - Excitatory - there is enhancement of action potentials - Expressed in whole brain - Control of behaviours - Especially learning and memory - glutamate plays a specifically important role in synaptic plasticity which is the ability of synapses to strengthen or weaken over time in response to activity → underlies learning, memory formation and adaption to new experiences - mediating of behaviours

Answer 65

- **GABA** (gamma-aminobutyric acid) - Inhibitory - Inhibition of action potentials, reduces the ability of neurons, contrasting with excitatory neurotransmitters like glutamate - bc its inhibitory, if sb has an anxiety disorder, we’d treat them with benzodiazipine, which enhances GABA activity, more control of anxiety - eg. alcohol → makes the brain sensitive to GABA → symptoms of intoxication → reflect the progressive inhibition of brain function with increasing GABA induced inhibition - Expressed in whole brain - Control of behaviours - Especially anxiety and motor control (coordination) - Overall, its proper functioning is essential for normal neurological and physiological processes.

Answer 66

- **Acetylcholine** (ACh) - most well-understood neurotransmitter - Excitatory - think of drugs that block ACh → these drugs can prevent muscle activation that results in muscle paralysis → eg. BOTULISM → food poisoning from improperly canned food → the toxins formed by the botulia bacteria blocks the release of ACh in the axon terminal and results in potentially fatal paralysis of the muscles including those of the respiratory system - opposite: bite of black widow spider → venom produces a load of ACh resulting in violent muscle contractions, convulsions and even death - Function at synapses involved in muscle movement and memory - muscle activation - also involved in learning, sleeping and dreaming - memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease - degenerative brain disorder that involves profound memory impairment that effects between 5 and 10% of all ppl over 65 yrs - reductions in ACh weaken or deactivate neural circuitry that stores memory so under production of ACh is thought to be an important factor in Alzheimers disease - drugs that treat Alzheimers work by inhibiting enzymes that breakdown the ACh in that synaptic cleft

Answer 67

BOTULISM and ALZHEIMERS Function at synapses involved in muscle movement and memory - muscle activation - also involved in learning, sleeping and dreaming - memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease - degenerative brain disorder that involves profound memory impairment that effects between 5 and 10% of all ppl over 65 yrs - reductions in ACh weaken or deactivate neural circuitry that stores memory so under production of ACh is thought to be an important factor in Alzheimers disease - drugs that treat Alzheimers work by inhibiting enzymes that breakdown the ACh in that synaptic cleft

Answer 68

- Excitatory and inhibitory - think arousal, vigilance, attention - Involved in learning, memory, wakefulness, eating - plays a role in fight-or-flight response: enhancing our alertness and readiness to response to stressful situations - also influences processes such as blood pressure regulation ,heart rate and digestion → arousal - helps prepare the body for action in response to perceived threats or stressors by increasing heart rate, blood flow to muscles, and alertness - abnormalities in norepinephrine signaling have have been implicated in various neurological psychiatric disorders: see below

Answer 69

- Undersupply of norepinephrine: Depression, ADHD - SNRIs (selective-norephinrephrine reuptake inhibitors), stimulants → increase norepinephrine levels to improve neurotransmission and alleviate symptoms of depression, ADHD - Oversupply of epinephrine: Anxiety, PTSD, panic disorders - Beta-blockers, alpha-2 adrenergic agonist → reduce the effects of norepinephrine on the boy’s physiological responses, helping to manage symptoms of anxiety disorders

Answer 70

- Inhibitory - “happy chemical” - Functions at various sites - Mood, eating, sleep, arousal - serotonin plays a crucial role in various physiological processes → associated with mood regulation and emotional well-being - Depression - abnormal sensitivity of Serotonin bc Serotonin is involved in eating, mood, sexual behaviour - anti-depressant drugs increase serotonin in several ways: - eg. PROZAC (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor/SSRI) work by blocking the reuptake of serotonin from the synaptic space. → allows the serotonin molecules to remain active and then exert their mood altering effect - also makes the SSRIs agonists - other drugs can work by prolonging serotonin activity at the synapse and they do this by inhibiting the activity of enzymes that break down the serotonin.

Answer 71

- Excitatory and inhibitory - similar to norepinephrine - Functions at various sties - Voluntary movement, learning, motivation, pleasures - Depression, Parkinson’s disease, Schizophrenia - Undersupply can be a cause of depression and parkinson’s disease - in Parkinson’s one specific group of Dopamine producing neurons degenerates and dies. As dopamine is lost in the effective brain area, there is a loss of voluntary motoer control. - Symptoms of Parkinson’s can be treated with L-dopa drug → increases the amount of Dopamine in the brain; agonist - ppl with Parkinson’s who take dopamine agonists increase the function of their dopamine and at times may experience some psychotic symptoms similar to schizophrenia like hallucinations - Anti-psychotic drugs attach to Dopamine receptors and block Dopamine from having its effects → blockage of Dopamine is effective in treating symptoms of schizophrenia → has led to the theory that schizophrenia is due to an oversupply, overactiivty of dopamine system → so antagonist - people with schizophrenia taking dopamine antagonists may eventually start to experience involuntary muscle movements - There are also ties to dopamine with motivating and rewarding properties of drug abuse - ppl who take drugs → see an association there with dopamine

Answer 72

An action potential occurs -> the neuron fires an electrical signal along the axon.

Answer 73

- Postmortem studies - can help investigate the overall structure of the brain and as well as take a look at any malformations and provide insight into how malformations influence behaviour - Studying live (best) - Genetic manipulation - Surgical techniques - eg. lesions studies - Brain imaging - (EEG, CT, PET, MRI, etc) - Immunohistochemistry SENK (IEG)

Answer 74

- Postmortem technique (often done in animals can be done with humans) - great way to look at cells in the brain - Using birds in communication - use it to answer questions about what birds listen to and how this is reflected in the brain. - Looking at ZENK → immediate early gene (IEG) are genes that are rapidly transcribed in responses to cellular stimuli → when we see more IEGs in imaging (more of these black dots) then the more the animal cares in a sense - The more its paying attention to some sort of stimuli that is presented to an animal - Would put a bird in a sound-proof chamber and play stimuli, 30 mins after the stimuli has played an finished, you sacrifice the bird bc this is when activation has peaked in the brain. → sacrifice the bird, prefuse it (get all the blood out of it) and replace it with formeldehyde so the brain is clear and you can see the brain clearly. → remove the brain, slice it thinly and use chemical to stain the cells you are using for and mount the pieces of brain to a slide and use a software program that will literally count the cells for you → more cells = more activation - A and B in coloured images showing more activation than C - black and white: more activation in B in terms of these black dots → more black dots good in that there is more attention happening.

Answer 75

- Brain — behaviour relations - Measure verbal and non-verbal behaviours - that are known to be affected by different types of brain damage - used in clinical evaluations of people who may have suffered brain damage through accidents or disease - Trail Making test - randomly scattered set of numbers and letters - timed test where participants must connect the number of letters or the numbers and letters consecutively with a continuous line/a trail → would go A→1→B→2→ C→ 3 - people with certain types of brain damage would have trouble alternating between the numbers and letters bc they can’t retain a plan in their memory for long enough

Answer 76

- Where a researcher produces brain damage through lesions (holes) under carefully controlled conditions - lesions created through cold or heat or with chemicals - today more likely to find sb who already has lesions and study them - Some methods include: - Lesioning the brain - eg. epilepsy - Removing/disconnecting the brain - eg. prefrontal lobotomy - Disconnect frontal lobe and thalamus - Chemical stimulation - typically produces opposite effects to destroying neurons → you can stimulate a specific region of the brain with mild electric currents or by chemicals that excite the neurons - electrodes can be permanently implanted so the region of interest can be stimulated repeatedly - some electrodes are so tiny they can stimulate individual neurons → can charge the neuron and see what happens as an effect and it shows you kind of what that neuron is responsible for - tiny tube is inserted into the brain so a small amount of chemical can be delivered to the area to be studied - can be done while patient is awake - for both of these, can be done when the patient is awake → most of theses types of studies are performed on animals: rats and mice; primates in the past; birds good for studying communication and language

Answer 77

- EEG (electroencephalography) - PET scan (positron emission tomography) - MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

Answer 78

- Measures changes in electrical activity in the brain. It is a non-invasive test that measures electrical activity in the brain. - one of the most commonly used diagnostic tools in neurology and clinical neurophysiology - provides valuable information about BRAIN FUNCTIONING and can help diagnose lots of neurological disorders - electrodes are attached to the scalp using a conductive gel or past and these electrodes are what detect electrical signals that are generated by neurons in the form of brain waves. - the electrodes are typically placed in specific locations on the scalp according to a system, which maps out standardized positions for electrode placement relative to specific areas of the brain. - An EEG then amplifies the electrical signals detected by the electrodes and records them as brain wave patterns on a computer or paper chart. These patterns are displayed as waveforms that represent the activity of groups of neurons firing together. - The readings provide insights into the brain wave patterns that are associated with different states of consciousness, cognitive functioning, or neurological disorders - DOWNSIDE: EEGS record all brain activity so they can be v noisy or imprecise to isolate specific responses - is more about when the brain responds

Answer 79

- After injecting a pretty much harmless radioactive substance into your bloodstream, a PET scan enables a researcher to find the most active brain areas by tagging different brain chemicals with a radioactive tracer - then the increased tracer in brain activity regions leads to these areas emitting more radiation that can be detected outside of the body. - specifically, the tracer emits positively charged particles called positrons, when these positrons meet electrons inside your body, they produce gamma rays. - so a PET scanner detects these gamma rays and creates a 3D image of where the tracer is concentrated in your body - Allows for visualization of physiological processes in the brain (and body) via radioactive tracers - helps doctors see how well your organs and your tissues are working - powerful techniques that can provide valuable insight into metabolism ,function and disease processes in the body, making them pretty important for clinical diagnosis, research, as well as drug development. - Positron meets electrons meets gamma rays - DOWNSIDE: injection of the radioactive material

Answer 80

- A type of medical scan that uses strong magnets and radio waves to take pictures inside your body - a powerful magnetic field is used to disrupt the magnetic forces around the body - shifts the orientation of polarized ions and during this process, energy is released from the tissue inside the body in a form that can be measured by detectors on the MRI scanner. - Bc different types of tissue release energy differently, researchers can adjust the MRI scanner to measure specific tissue or substances in the body - eg. MRI can be used to measure the anatomy of the brain bc myelinated axons and cell bodies have different magnetic properties - eg. you lie down in a big machine that has a powerful magnet, this magnet creates a strong magnetic filed around your body, radio waves are sent into your body which temporarily change the alignment of the inside of your tissues. - when the radio waves are turned off, these atoms emit signals as they return to their normal alignment. - a computer than collects these signals and turns them into detailed images of the inside of your body. - Creates detailed images of organs - DOWNSIDE: have to stay still during the scan to get clear images and some ppl with metal implants or devices may not be able to have an MRI due to safety concerns with the magnetic field

Answer 81

- A type of brain imaging that shows which parts of the brain are active when you perform tasks or think about something. - Makes use of the brain’s blood flow to map the brain - scanner is programmed to detect blood flow indirectly by assessing changes in the blood’s oxygen levels within the brain - Measures changes in blood flow and oxygen levels in the blood/brain. - provides insights into brain activity and connectivity during various tasks or rest → similar idea in that it uses magnets and radio waves then a specific area of your brain becomes active. → like when you move a hand or think about a problem it needs more oxygenated blood → so blood flow to that area increases to deliver more oxygen - the fMRI machines detects those changes in blood flow and oxygen level → a computer then creates colour-coded maps that shoe which parts of your brains are active during different tasks or conditions - need to stay still or minimize unnecessary movement depending on what’s being measured. - with imaging techniques → think about experimental or control groups → when using these techniques the participant performs an experimental task that differs from the control task in one way which reflects the particular function of interest. - eg. response to birdsong → the researchers then compare the experimental and control images to examine differences in things like blood flow or IEG activation and therefore brain activity

Answer 82

- EEGs provide information on WHEN a brain responses occurs - fMRI and PET provide information on where a response occurs

Answer 83

- Throughout our lives our brain change → the circuitry of our brain is reworked and updated as as we mature the brain develops in a specific pattern - the brain is adaptable - connections form between brain structures when growing neurons are directed by certain chemicals that tell them where to go and where not togo - the major connections are established by these chemical messengers and more deatiled connections are established by experience - learned these things through animal studies where we induced biological changes in animals - eg. cats → researchers were interested in studying the brain and brain development → sewed cats eyes shut at birth → done in order to not allow any sort of visual input - found that the visual centre of the brain failed to develop properly - when the eyes were opened a few weeks later, the cat did not see normally even with functional eyes - When done with adult cats the researchers found that the adult cats did not lose their sight - CONCLUSION: during brain development ongoing activity in our visual pathways with the brain and eyes is needed to refine our brain centre for vision and for function - Researchers raised rat pups in different lab environments - one group in a deprived area: had minimal comfort and no social interaction - other group: enriched environment with social contact and enrichment - researchers found: enhanced group developed bigger, heavier brains, suggesting that experience was important for development and good development.

Answer 84

- reorganization of the brain! - - born with only half their brain - when she was 27 → doctors found she was missing left half of brain - Without left half of her brain, Mack showed deficiencies in skills associated with the left half: language and motor action for the right side of her body - BUT doctors noticed that Mack only had minimal impact to speech → while she did have some difficulty moving the right side of her body, nothing that stopped her from living an independent life, working a job, paying bills and doing chores. - found the right half of her brain was able to carry out functions that were usually carried over the other half - Over time, it seemed like her brain was able to reorganize itself - Know that brain plasticity can decrease with age, but even in old age the brain can grow new connections among neurons and grow new neurons. - this production of new neurons is called neurogenesis - environment matters in this process → research on rats, shrews, and marmots have found that stressful experiences can interfere with neurogenesis during development in adulthood - even sth like being a more dominant animal in a group of hierarchical animals leads to greater increases in new neurons → so social environment and stress can influence our brain’s plasticity

Answer 85

- Type of brain injury that occurs when an external force causes damage to the brain → due to a bump, a blow, a jolt to the head or. a penetrating injury like a gunshot wound - can range from mild to more severe - 1.7 millions a year → majority are mild - may have emotional problems to begin with that will get better over time - recovery occurs for the rest of their lives - can use rehabilitative medicine

Answer 86

a type of brain plasticity that involves the production of new neurons.

Answer 87

- Similar to other vertebrates, the most recently built structures are built on top structures from the destined evolutionary paths - The structures at the core of the brain are our most physiological functions

Answer 88

- **Forebrain** - what u think of most when you think brain - Highly developed, numerous functions - **Midbrain** - lies just above the hindbrain - reflex actions and voluntary movements - **Hindbrain** - lowest, most primitive level of the brain - Vital functions and coordinating movements - Our brain does it all

Answer 89

- Brainstem - Medulla - Pons - Cerebellum -> Includes brain stem and spinal cord at bottom

Answer 90

- first structure encountered after leaving the spinal cord - is well-developed at birth - Controls heart activity and largely controls breathing, swallowing, and digestions - vital body functioning - bc of your medulla these functions can occur randomly → don’t need to make your heart beat your body just does it - damage to the medulla usually leads to death or at best you would go on life-support - high levels of intoxication can suppress your medulla → can result in death by heart or respiratory failure - All sensory and motor nerve tracts ascent from the spinal cord and descend from the brain - medulla is a two-way highway for these tracks that comes up from the spinal cord and descend from the brain: tracks are crossed → left side of brain receives sensory input and extends motor control to the right side of our body; right side of our brain serves the left side of the body

Answer 91

- “bridge” - Relay station for signals of the nervous system - it serves as this bridge carrying nerve impulses between higher and lower levels of the nervous system - Regulates sleep and dreaming - Controls muscles and glands in face and neck - contains motor neurons that control these - pons also help to control vital functioning, especially respiration and damage here can also lead to death

Answer 92

- Controls bodily coordination, balance, and muscle tone - regulates complex, rapid changing movements that require very exquisite timing. - reflexive, automatic and rapid movements, involuntary movement - eg. competitive dancer, diver or cats → very well-developed cerebellum, being very graceful - eg. you’re coming back from a party and you’re going home, driving and you’re intoxicated → get pulled over → cop gets you to do a test to walk a straight line, touch index finger to nose → hard bc alcohol suppresses your cerebellum which is in charge of muscular coordination - Involved in procedural memory - Motor skills - specific motor movements are initiated in higher brain centres but their timing and coordination is dependent on the cerebellum - certain types of learning and memory - damage to cerebellum will result in severe motor disturbances, characterized by jerky and uncoordinated movements - as well as an inability to perform habitual movements like walking - recent research suggests cerebellum is involved in cognitive processing and emotional control - may also be involved in social behaviour and in motivation → but still being figured out how this works - THINK of medulla and pons as your built in life support systems and cerebellum as your motor coordination centre.

Answer 93

- Contains clusters of sensory and motor neurons as well as many sensory and motor fibre tracks that connect higher and lower portions of the nervous system - Sensory portion of the midbrain contains important relay centres for our visual and auditory systems - Here, nerve impulses from the eyes and ears are organized and then sent to four brain structures that are involved in auditory and visual perception. - so from sensation → perception - also contains motor neurons that control eye movements - eg. when you see movement out of the corner of your eye, your midbrain activity causes your eyes to swing towards the source of movement so you can identify it - Reticular formation - Superior colliculi and Inferior colliculi - Grey matter - Red nucleus - Substantia nigra - Ventral region → important for coordination

Answer 94

- Superior Colliculi - Involved in vision (especially visual reflexes) - on top of the inferior - Inferior Colliculi - Involved in hearing → largest nucleus for each vision and hearing

Answer 95

- Finger-like structure that extends from the hindbrain to the lower portions of the forebrain - **Involved in regulation of consciousness** - think of it as like a Sentry → guard that watches over others → it alerts higher centres of the brain that messages are coming and either blocks those messages or allows them to go forward. - Conscious awareness and control - **Regulates sleep, wakefulness and attention** - in a series of experiments form late 1940s → found that electrical stimulation of different portions of the reticular formation can produce instant sleep in an awake cat and sudden wakefulness in a sleeping cat - damage to this area can result in a permanent sleep → coma - attention is an active process in which only important or meaningful stimuli gets through our consciousness → thus, other inputs need to be toned down or completely blocked out or we’d be overwhelmed by stimulation.

Answer 96

- ascending part → which sends input to higher regions of the brain to alert it - communicates to higher centres in the brain and prepares them to receive input form our sense organs - this stimulation is necessary for conscious awareness, even if impulses reach the appropriate part of the brain, without the reticular formation nothing would happen. → it’s like the brain isn’t awake enough to notice the impulses, the information that is being recieved. - some anesthetics act thus way → deactivating neurons in the ascending reticular formation → produces a state of unconsciousness; this way, sensory impulses that would normally be experiencing pain, never register pain in the sensory areas of the brain involved in pain reception. - descending part → higher brain centres can either admit or block out sensory input through - acts as this kind of gate through which some inputs are admitted and others and blocked out - eg. if you can focus on the lecture at home while ppl walk down the hallway or your pet is in the room, then the reticular formation is doing its job - Extends into hindbrain and lower forebrain - Bit complex in its anatomy - while it is primarily associated with the midbrain, it does extend through the pons and medulla oblongata (part of the brain stem → parts of the forebrain)

Answer 97

- Where you see the most differences between animal brains and our brains (mostly regarding size and complexity) - Consists of two large cerebral hemispheres: a left side and a right side. - each wrap around the brain stem - The outer portion of the forebrain has a thin covering and there are a number of important structures buried in the central regions of the hemisphere - Thalamus - Hypothalamus - Basal ganglia - Limbic system

Answer 98

- Above the midbrain - Like a relay station - it is like a switchboard that organizes input from sense organs and routes them to important areas of the brain - new research is showing that the thalamus is more than just a relay centre → it can also filter information - filters information that is passed to higher brain regions - Visual, auditory, and body senses - eg. balance and equilibrium - in each case, nerve tracks from the sensory receptors like the eyes and ears and sent to specific areas of the thalamus. - inside the thalamus, they synapse with neurons that send the messages on their way to the higher brain regions that create our perceptions - overall in charge of brain sensory input - Looks like 2 small footballs - One within each cerebral hemisphere - sense of smell does not send information to the thalamus

Answer 99

- Consists of tiny groups of neuron cell bodies that lie at the base of the brain and above the roof of mouth - Regulates basic biological drives - including sexual behaviour, temperature regulation ,eating drinking ,aggression and expression of emotion - damage to hypothalamus would obstruct all of these behaviours - eg. case of man w/destruction to his hypothalamus resulted in a complete loss of sexual behaviour while damage to another portion of the hypothalamus produced an overwhelming urge to eat that resulted in obesity. - Endocrine system - body’s collection of hormone-producing glands through its connection - with the pituitary gland the hypothalamus directly controls many hormonal secretions that regulate that sexual development and behaviour - metabolism or reactions to stress

Answer 100

- **Basal Ganglia (voluntary)** - Collections of neurons crucial to motor function - crucial for voluntary motor control - eg. reaching out for sth in front of you like a mug → means basal ganglia is working - eg Parkinson’s disease → in Parkinson’s the neurons that supply dopamine to the basil ganglia are what degenerate and die → when dopamine is lost in basal ganglia, doesn’t function properly and voluntary movement is lost → starts with small tremors of the hands and head but as the basal ganglia loses more and more dopamine, the tremors become shaking → slow, jerky movements → then need help performing the movements → eventually total parylsis - surrounds and envelops the thalamus in a group of about 5 distinct structures - further into the brain is our more older, reflective brain

Answer 101

- Overall helps to coordinate behaviours that are needed to satisfy motivational and emotional urges that arise from the hypothalamus - also involved in memory - organizes many distinct activities in animals and humans - goal-directed sequences → if certain parts of your limbic system were injured then you’d be unable to carry out these organized sequences of actions needed to satisfy your needs - eg. a small distraction would cause you to forget what you set out to do INCLUDES; - Hippocampus - Amygdala - Pleasure centre? and Nucleus accumbens

Answer 102

- Forming and retrieving memories - damage can result in severe memory impairment for recent events and the inability to transfer information from short-term memory to long-term memory - think: hippocampus-memory - relationship between hippocampus size and use → correlational tho - eg. London taxi drivers had a larger hippocampus compared to other drivers → but is it that person with a larger region is more likely to drive a taxi? or what?

Answer 103

- Emotions (Esp. aggression and fear) - organizes our emotional response patterns, specifically those related to aggression and fear - electrically stimulating certain areas of the amygdala causes animals to snarl and assume aggression postures - and stimulation of other areas causes fearful inabilities to respond aggressively even in self-defense - key part of a larger control system for emotional regulation that involves other brain regions - also involved in evaluating facial expressions and their emotional significance. - part of a system that automatically detects visual attention to the eyes when evaluating facial expressions and activation is especially strong in response to those fearful expressions. - can produce emotional responses without our higher brain centres knowing we are emotionally aroused - may provide an explanation for unconscious emotional responses

Answer 104

1953 → two researchers were conducting a study looking at the effects of electrical stimulation of the reticular formation in rats. One of the electrodes they were inserting missed and were instead implanted into the hypothalamus. - Researchers noticed that whenever this rat was stimulated, it repeated whatever it had just done. → rat was responding as if it had just been rewarded for that behaviour. → is why it performs the behaviour again - other animals with similarly planted electrodes also learned and performed behaviours in order to receive that electrical reward. - some rats would do this over and over until they died from exhaustion. - humans who have had electrodes implanted in their brains have reported experiencing pleasure when electrically stimulated in these same brain regions. - one patient was reported to have proposed marriage to the experimenter while being stimulated. - so maybe discovery that neural events have an important role in motivation and has suggested that the hypothalamus was the brain structure critical for motivation and reward. - electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus activates neurons within the brain region and also activate axons which are going from neuron cell bodies in the mid-brain to a limbic structure called the nucleus accumbens - is the activation of axons going to the nucleus accumbens that is important for reward and motivation. - another researcher showed that the reward value of electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus can be amplified or diminished by drugs that enhance or block dopamine actions within the nucleus accumbens.

Answer 105

- Reward and motivation - linked to rewarded and motivating effects of drugs of abuse → cocaine, amphetamines, nicotine, opiates and alcohol all stimulate the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens of the limbic system - other researchers have found that naturally occurring rewards like food and sexual behaviours also lead to the release of dopamine from axon terminals in the nucleus accumbens - Dopamine is important - Cues for pleasure - even cues for the arrival of drugs and food have similar effects → just hearing about it increases dopamine and increases pleasure

Answer 106

Thalamus -> bc almost all sensory info goes to the thalamus before being sent to relevant regions.

Answer 107

- Cerebral cortex is not essential for physical survival - BUT it is essential for what we would call human quality of living - progression from more primitive to more advanced mammals is marked by a dramatic increase in proportion of cortical tissues - In humans, the cortex constitutes for 80% of our brain tissue - Wrinkled like a watered up piece of paper → so a great amount of tissue can be squished into a lot of space - Corpus collosum → bridge that connects the two hemispheres → is how the two halves of our brains communicate

Answer 108

- Hemispheres are divided into 4 lobes: - Frontal - Parietal - Occipital - Temporal

Answer 109

- Almost exclusively dedicated to vision - think occipital → optometry/vision - within the occipital lobe, we have the primary visual cortex, this is the major destination for visual information - this info is typically organized in a way that preserves the the spatial relationships of what we see → means the image that is relayed from the eye is projected onto the primary visual cortex - eg. if you see two objects near each other, then the image will activate 2 neurons that are near each other - Secondary visual area - Processes other attributes of the image like its colour, form, its motion

Answer 110

- These lobes are involved in TOUCH - Where we can observe that body brain interaction - The left hemisphere is receiving info from the right side of the body and vice versa → this information is then directed to the primary somatosensory cortex and this cortex groups nearby sensations - eg. sensations from the fingertips and near sensations from the palms. - this means that covering the primary somatosensory area is a distorted representation of the entire body called the somatosensory homunculus - it appears as distorted bc more corticol tissue is devoted to areas with more sensitive areas like our hands and face

Answer 111

- Based on brain maps by Wilder Penfield who created them as he examined patients who were ongoing surgery for epilepsy - Penfield developed a technique where he performed brain surgeries while patients were awake → this way patients could talk and respond to him during surgery - He used small electrical currents to stimulate to different parts of the brain and asked patients what they felt - He found the stimulating certain areas of the brain made patients feel sensations in specific parts of their body → how he made the map of the body of the surface of the cortex, the somatosensory cortex and that’s the somatosensory homunculus → shows specific parts of body are represented in specific parts of the brain - Penfield’s work helps doctors understand how different parts of the brain control sensations in the body and the amount of brain tissue devoted to each sensory experience - His technique improved brain surgery, especially for people with epilepsy

Answer 112

- There are other parts of the parietal lobe that are involved with attention - A stroke or damage to the right parietal region can result in “hemineglect” - People with hemineglect fail to pay attention to anything on their left side, even though their eyes are working just fine - eg. if they sue a mirror to shave, they will only shave the right side of their face - or if they’re putting on makeup, they will only apply it to the right side of the face - if you hold sth up to them, they will only see the right side - and if you ask them to draw something, they will only draw the right half

Answer 113

- Think “tempo” think “sound” - It’s all about audition - Holds the primary auditory cortex → brain region responsible for hearing

Answer 114

- This lobe is essential for planning and movement - The primary motor cortex - this cortex include neurons that directly project to the spinal cord and move the body’s muscles - The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and vice versa - Rest of the frontal lobe consists of what’s called the prefrontal lobe - this occupies about 30% of the brain (larger in humans than animals) - its the organization of our prefrontal cortex, they way different regions within the cortex are connected that makes this difference - parts of this area are responsible for directing and maintaining attention - so keeping ideas in mind while being distracted - responsible for developing and acting on plans - Responsible for “human life” → things like understanding what other ppl are thinking, behaving, acting according to cultural norms, being able to consider our own existence - Where we say our sense of self is, our empathy and understanding of life.

Answer 115

- condition that occurs where the corpus collusum (bundle of nerves connecting the two hemispheres of the brain) is severed or damaged usually as a treatment for epilepsy. - prevents the two hemispheres from communicating with each other - leads to difficulty in coordinating tasks that require both sides of the body and conflicting actions or perceptions depending on which hemisphere is processing that info. - Eg. a person with split brain syndrome might be verbally unable to identify an object place din their left hand, since the right hemisphere processes this sensory information/sensory input and the left hemisphere is responsible for speech and can’t access this information - demonstrates that the two hemispheres have specialized and independent capabilities

Answer 116

- Involved in language comprehension - in temporal lobe - named after Wernicke who discovered that damage to this region lead ppl unable to understand written or verbal speech

Answer 117

- Involved in normal speech production - in frontal lobe - neural circuits in and around Broca’s area are important for the ability to perform the sequences of fine motor movements needed to speak and are involved in abilities to use grammar and find the correct word to use - discovered by Paul Broca who found that damage to this frontal area left patients with the ability to comprehend speech but not express themselves in words or sentences .

Answer 118

- **Gene**: basic unit of **heredity** (all biological processes by which particular characteristics are transmitted from parent to their offspring) - How *stuff* is passed on from parent to offspring. - If you **inherit** something, you usually receive it from an ancestor.

Answer 119

- a person’s **genetic makeup** - genetic constitution of the organism determined ay conception - eg. different types of alleles from brown or blonde hair - eg. lactose intolerance: the presence of alleles for lactase persistence of lactase non-persistence

Answer 120

- The **observable** characteristics due to the genetic makeup - the observable characteristics that are produced by that genetic endowment. - observable characteristics that result from both genetic and environment influences - eg. eye colour → genotype → the combination of allials you inherit from your parents and it’s also phenotype, the actual eye colour you observe (brown or blue eyes) - phenotype is the actual visual hair colour visible: black, brown, blonde, red - phenotype of lactose intolerance: whether a person can digest lactose in adulthood or is lactose intolerant

Answer 121

- trait influenced by many genes - some traits are determined by one gene each - when a population displays a range of variability for certain characteristics like height or intelligence, the characteristic is what we call polygenic → influenced by many genes as well as the environment - eg. height → if you took two identical twins and raised one in the mountains of the Andes and raised one in New York, the one raised in the mountains will probably be shorter → bc of the environment → the air is thinner up there, so ppl tend to be smaller - nutrition can also change height too - environment can effect phenotype → we inherit our height and skin colour but things like good nutrition can lead to increased height and sufficient sunlight can change skin colour. - skin colour is determined by several genes that control the production and distribution of melanin, pigment responsible for skin colour but then the interaction of these genes results in a wide range of skin tones that can be be further influenced by environmental conditions like sun exposure (change in phenotype) - or eye colour → the genes involved are multiple, including those that control the amount and type of pigment in our irises → the influences is that there are variations in these genes that result in different eye colour like: blue, green, brown, hazel.

Answer 122

- Union of two cells: the egg from one person and the sperm from another - Like other cells in the body, the egg and sperm carry within them materials of heredity in the form of chromosomes (tightly coiled molecules of DNA) and the DNA portions of the chromosomes carry the hereditary blueprints also known as our genes. - In humans every cell in the body except one type has 46 chromosomes, sex cells only have 23 → at conception, the 23 chromosomes from the egg combined with the 23 chromosomes from the sperm form a new cell, a zygote, which contains the complete 46 chromosomes. - The genes within each chromosomes also occurs in pairs so that the offspring receieves one of each gene pair from each parent - Genes effect our body’s development and functioning through one general mechanism: the genes code for the production of proteins.

Answer 123

- Genotype and phenotype are not identical → bc some genes are dominant and some are recessive - If a gene in a pair received from the parents is **dominant**, the characteristic it controls will be displayed - If a gene in a pair is **recessive**, the characteristic will not show up unless the partner gene is also recessive - eg. brown eyes and dark hair are dominant over blue eyes and light hair → child will only have blue eyes if both individuals have contributed genes for blue eyes - even if their traits remain hidden however recessive genes can be passed on to the offspring - If you **inherited** a recessive allele (alternative form of the gene that can produce different characteristics) from Person 1, you have a modified version of the gene: **white hair** - If you **inherited** a recessive allele from Person 2, you have a modified version of the gene: **white hair**

Answer 124

- Epigenetics means “on top of genetics” - Lasting changes in **gene expression/function** during development that are not caused by the genes themselves. - caused by external or environmental factors without a change to the gene itself. - Looks at how environment affects genetic expression so no alteration to DNA but alteration to gene expression - epigenetics completely change our understanding of environment gene interactions - External factors do affect our genes - Eg. specific patterns of maternal behaviour, nutritional intake, drug use, stress and more - works through a number of chemical mechanisms that lead to lasting changes and how specific genes function without alternating the DNA sequences. - Stress is a big factor - Many rodent studies have found that stressed mothers are more likely to raise stressed pups - Generally what is happening is that there is an activation or silencing of specific genes or altering how the gene os expressed thus changing the gene product. - Stress a big risk factor for the development of psychiatric disorders and epigenetic studies are helping to explain how stress, especially in early life can have lasting impacts on mental health - or things like smoking and drinking seem to have lasting effects on not just yourself. → eg a woman who smokes while pregnant induces epigenetic changes in three generations at once: herself → the unborn daughter and her daughter’s reproductive cells

Answer 125

- Another way gene expression can be modified - Research that provides really precise control over when a neuron fires - By controlling when a neuron fires, we can better understand the relationship between neural firing and behaviour. - eg. maybe turning off one set of neurons leads to anxiety in a rat and turning off another set of neurons reduces cocaine use in addicted mice.

Answer 126

- Alter a specific gene so it cannot function - Developed in 2007 - Specific genes are “knocked out” → made inactive via removal from the genome - if that specific gene is important to a specific function, the knocking out of the gene should interfere with that specific function. - gene modification research is focused on processes like learning, memory, emotion and motivation - eg studies where researchers have created anxious mice, hyperactive mice, mice that can learn and mice that cannot; mice that grooms themselves excessively and some that fail to take care of their offspring - produced by gene knock out - other studies have shown that knocking out specific genes had led mice to forget other mice that they have previously encountered - knock out mice failed to investigate new mice that were placed in the cage; while mice normally would investigate the rice - led to multiple impairments in social recognition - Problems: - Few behaviours linked to single genes - Multiple genes and systems can be involved

Answer 127

- The study of how **genetic and environmental** components lead to changes in behaviour - CRISPR - way to edit genes → uses an enzyme to edit genes and other organisms quickly, efficiently and with more precision than previously available procedures - can delete genes, add genes and its become a gene editing tool of choice - great care is needed in interpreting the outcomes of crisper studies and the other methods mentioned - very little behaviour is controlled by a single gene → so we can see the results after genetic editing in one gene, but does not mean it’s the only gene that’s responsible - manipulating a single gene could disrupt a wide range of functions - some ethical issues: how and when should these techniques be used? just for disease? what about eugenics? social and environmental consequences of using genetic engineering to extend the lives of humans? - growing with the previous technique

Answer 128

- Monozygotic and dizygotic twins share differing amounts of genetic material - in order to determine the genetic basis of specific traits - mono → identical → from one zygote → same chromosomes and same genes - di → two separate twins, as related as any other pair of siblings - Hard to tell environmental effects from genetic effects (same environment) - Some studies compare monozygotic twins who were raised together with those who were raised apart - Twins are usually raised in the same familial environment so we can compare similarity in traits or disorders of identical and fraternal twins assuming that if the identical twins are far more similar to each other than the fraternal twins then a genetic factor is likely to be involved. - Of course, it is always possible that bc identical twins are more similar to each other in appearance than fraternal twins that they might be treated more alike, and therefore share a more similar environment than non-win siblings - There is also evidence that twins raised apart are more likely alike bc maybe twins raised together have parents who support their individuality → so there is other things at play possible - To rule out this environment explanation for greater psychological similarity, behaviour geneticists have developed a elegant research method - sth where they are able to find and compare sets of identical and fraternal twins who were separated v early in life and raised in very different environments - this design permits a better basis for evaluating the respective contribution of genes and the environment

Answer 129

- If we consider the genetic argument that intelligence is 100% by genes if this were the case, any two individuals share the exact same genes would have identical test scores and that is NOT the case. - can observe that the correlations between the test scores of identical twins are higher than any other correlations - Identical twins separated early in life → reared apart are of special interest bc they have identical genes but experience different environments - the correlation for identical twins reared apart is nearly as high as it is for identical twins reared together. (0.75) - correlation for identical twins reared apart is also higher than that for fraternal twins raised together (0.57) - IQs of adopted children correlate as highly with their biological parents IQ as with the IQs of the adoptive parents who reared them - 0.20 biological - and 0.19 adopted - There is a pattern: the more genes people have in common, the more similar they are in IQ → DOES suggest genes play a significant role in intelligence but is not the whole picture - Identical twins reared together is higher than identical twins raised apart - the same is true for other types of siblings raised together and raised apart - these findings rule out an entirely genetic explanation - so one’s genotype is important in determining intelligence test scores, but probably accounts for 50 - 70% of the variation IQ in the US. - In reality, genes account for 50 - 70% - Environment contributes to intelligence → should ask how heredity and environment interact to affect intelligence

Answer 130

the study of the how the environment changes genetic expression in a way that might be passed along to offspring.

Answer 131

- Involved with concept of polygenetics - Range of possibilities that genetic code allows - the upper and lower limits that genetic code allows → means that an individual inherits a range for potential intelligence that has upper and lower limits - Inherit range for potential expression - Environmental effects determine where personal falls within these genetically determined limits - so everyone has a range for intellectual potential that is influenced by genetic inheritance and opportunities in our environment - We do know that studies of IQ gains associated with environmental enrichment and adoption programs suggest that the ranges can be as large as 15 to 20 points on an IQ scale

Answer 132

- → suggests that individual differences in personality can be accounted for by variation along 5 personality dimensions or traits known as the Big Five → personality based on these five dimensions - Extraversion - Introversion - was argued to affect differences in brain arousal - more extraverted = more brain arousal - Agreeeableness - someone who is very cooperative/helpful, good natured vs sb who is uncooperative/antagonistic/suspicious - Conscientiousness - being responsible, goal-directed, dependable vs. undependable, careless, irresponsible - Neuroticism - sb who worries a lot, who’s anxious, emotional unstable vs. sb who is well-adjusted, secure, calm - Openness - openness to experience: being very imaginative, being v artistic and sensitive vs sb who is unreflective and doesn’t really have any intellectual curiosity

Answer 133

- One of the best known studies looking at personality in genes - Assessed more than 400 pairs of twins and included identical twins raised together, identical twins raised apart, fraternal twins raised together, and fraternal twins raised apart - were tested on these 14 personality traits - Genetic factors accounted for 39 to 58% of the variation among ppl in personality trait scores - The degree of resemblance did not differ much whether the twin pair were reared together or apart, showing that general features of the family environment such as emotional climate and degree of affluence accounted for little to no variation in any of the traits - but the absence of important factors of family environment does not mean that that experience does not matter. - The individual’s unique experiences, like school experiences, social interactions and individual learning experiences was an important factor and accounted for 36-56% of variation in individual personality traits - Even within the same family, individual children have different experiences while growing up → it is this collection of unique experiences that helps to shape personality.

Answer 134

Unlike dizygotic twins, monozygotic twins have the same genes. Therefore, if each pair of twins grow up together then the greater the trait similarity in monozygotic twins than in dizygotic twins is likely due to genes

Answer 135

- One individual helps another and gains some advantage - eg. when you and your friends work together on a project, you all benefit from one another’s efforts and expertise - as a species developed the behavioural repertoire that supported cooperation, groups of individuals became capable of accomplishing more than any individual could accomplish alone. - social animals benefit from cooperation in many activities from finding food to dealing with predators to protecting their home and carrying for young.

Answer 136

- One individual helps another but there are costs involved - eg. a bird → when a bird emits a call to warn that there is a predator nearby, the warning helps other members of the flock but also gives a cue to the predator of where that bird is, puts that bird at a greater danger for being eaten. - eg. squirrels → brown squirrels have sounded predator alarms to warn others of their colony were indeed at greater risk. - predators like coyotes stalked them and killed alarm callers at afar higher rate than non-callers - by engaging in altruism, individuals decrease the likelihood that they are going to survive

Answer 137

- Arose to increase likelihood of relative surviving - many animals evolved living in small groups in which there was some degree of genetic relatedness across many group members so in showing altruism, one individual may perish, but if this increases the likelihood that genetically related individuals survive then the genes that support altruism will be selected for and spread through more and more members of the species across generation - predicts that we should direct more acts of altruism towards relatives than non relatives - is evidence that supports the contention that altruism is more likely to be shown towards kin - If true, we should see: - **Positive** relationship between acts of altruism and degree of relatedness. - as degree of genetic relatedness decreased from 0.5 to 0.25 to less than 0.25, there was a steep decrease in altruism → especially from 0.5 to 0.25 - Offers an explanation of why we are more likely to act altruistically towards genetically related individuals and why the likelihood of altruism decreases in this orderly way as genetic relatedness decreases

Answer 138

- Contributes to long-term cooperation - argues that altruism is in essence long-term cooperation - one individual will help another but that assistance will be reciprocated at some time in the future - If true, we should see: - Individuals should remember who has and has not helped in the past - and should help those who helped them - they should not help those who failed to reciprocate their help in the past - is need for a relatively stable social group and that transient members are unlikely to be present to offer assistance at some later date - Does not require relatedness - eg. like helping your roommate move in, or if you’ve gone out of your way to drive a friend after work → is expected that they may do that for you in the future - has been observed in other social primates like bonobos - gossip like a public account of who is not reliable for reciprocating - Offers explanation as to why we also offer assistance to and request assistance from non-kin - Altruism does not always occur - so one of the challenges in studying altruism is to identify which environmental factors increase and decrease the likelihood that we’re going to engage in acts of altruism

Answer 139

1. **Observation and Experimentation:** Empiricists believe that knowledge comes primarily from sensory experience and that observations and experiments are crucial in gathering data. 2. **Reproducibility**: Empirical evidence should be reproducible by different observers under similar conditions, ensuring that the findings are not subjective or biased. 3. **Verification**: Empirical claims must be testable and subject to verification or falsification through further observation and experimentation. 4. **Is anything missing or biased?** - Acheiving perfect objectivity can be hard → bc we’re humans → does not occur in a vacuum → eg. political funding, social context of questioner can effect how information is perceived. - communities to which ppl belong can influence how the evidence is interpreted too. - Interpretations may be influenced by subjective judgement and even the tools and methods used to analyze data can lead to biases and effect objectivity of results

Answer 140

- a theory that states that knowledge involves using evidence from the senses as a basis for conclusions - “experience” “experiment” - not on intuition, casual observations or what other ppl say - is knowledge based on experience - Empiricism is a philosophical approach that emphasis the role of sensory experience and evidence gathered from the senses in the formation of knowledge that we know is supposed to be objective.

Answer 141

- After viewing a behaviour, propose an explanation that makes sense in that (particular) context → propose an explanation that fits that behaviour - “I knew-it-all-along phenomenon” - Cognitive - people tend to distort or even misremember their earlier predictions about an event, it may be easier to recall an event that is consistent with their current knowledge. - Metacognitive - when we can easily understand how or why an event happened the event can seem like it was easily foreseeable. - Motivational - people like to think the world is a predictable place so believing an outcome was inevitable can be comforting. → when all three of these things occur readily in a situation, hindsight bias is more likely to occur.

Answer 142

- Identify: a question - eg with the bystander effect - Form: a hypothesis and gather information - what is our specific prediction? - Test: test hypothesis by conducting research - Analyze: analyze the data - what can we conclude? - Build: build a body of knowledge - build theory (formal statements)

Answer 143

1. Identify a question and what we want to learn about - Bystander effect 2. Form a hypothesis and gather info - What is our specific question: a diffusion of responsibility that caused the bystander effect → hypothesis: if multiple bystanders are present then a diffusion of responsibility will decrease each bystander’s likelihood of intervening. 3. Test the hypothesis by conducting research - Create an emergency in a controlled setting in the lab → we control the number of bystanders and measure how quickly each participant helps a victim. → we create a controlled environment where the victim needs help and we see how our manipulations impact people helping. 4. Analyze the data - What can we conclude after we do our statistics? - Maybe the data reveals that helping decreases as the perceived number of bystanders increases, which supports our hypothesis. - In the case that your hypothesis is not supported, you will revise your hypothesis or procedures and retest. 5. Build a body of knowledge - We’re not always proving things, answering questions → usually once you complete a study you’re just left with more questions but then that’s how a theory starts to form.

Answer 144

- A.K.A Gaussian distribution, bell-curve - Symmetrical - Central peak - mean of our data (average) - Tails off to both ends that are equal - means 50% of scores of our data are above the mean and 50% of scores or data are below the mean - means, in a normal distribution, the mean = median = mode - Lots of measures approximate the normal curve: - height - grades - IQ scores - lifespan - reaction times - blood pressure

Answer 145

- Skewness → measure of the asymmetry of the probability distribution of a real value random variable above its mean. - Skewed distribution is just when the data points cluster more towards one side of the scale than the other, creating a curve that is not symmetrical and the right and left side of the distribution are shaped differently from each other. - Positively skewed - tail is skewed to the right → positively skewed - Negatively skewed - tail is skewed to the left → negatively skewed - Skewness can happen for different reasons: - some variables have inherent limits that prevent values from exceeding a certain point: eg. income distributions → often have a positive skewed/right skewed shape bc income cannot be negatively and high incomes are less common. - instruments can have lower or upper limits, causing data to cluster near those limits: eg. test scores is they have a max or minimum possible score - extreme values → outliers can skew the distribution by pulling the mean in their direction → so a single very high or very low value can distort the distribution, especially if we have a very small pool of individual that we scored or gathered data from.

Answer 146

How much measurements differ from one another

Answer 147

Value of the largest measurement in a frequency distribution minus the smallest 20 IQ scores, High is 150, Low is 70. 150-70 = 80 (the range)

Answer 148

- Describes the average difference between the measurements in a frequency distribution and the mean of that distribution. - the amount of variation between scores → how spread out are the scores? - is measuring how far away each value is on average from the mean.

Answer 149

- Any characteristic that can vary - eg. height, hair, eye colour, income, socioeconomic status - that researchers can manipulate, measure or both - eg. age that sb starts vaping, number of times they vape in a period of time

Answer 150

- Defines a variable in terms of specific procedures used to produce or measure it. - how you measure your variable, including how you record data. - extremely important to research in that the operational definition qualifies and quantifies variables. - this way the variable is understood objectively - eg. anxiety → could be defined in dictionary terms as a state of being uneasy, apprehensive or worried → an observational definition of the term would include observation measures bc a state of uneasy apprehensive, worried is not objective - bc uneasy is going to be different from person to person. - we want sth we can objectively measure: sweating palms (sweat gland activity), increased heart rate (heart rate recordings), dilated pupils and other observable physiological signs - or could be a self reporting → scale → specify the amount of each measure necessary to be anxiety → how fast does your heart need to beat to say this is anxiety - vaping → define vaping use - sleep → define what is sleep quality → assessed using an index → eg. Pitsburg Sleep Quality Index - operationalized the specific tool that’s used the psqi and the criteria used to categorize it (5 or greater score)

Answer 151

- **Reliability.** Always produce the same score when measuring the same thing. - if findings from research are replicated consistently then they are reliable - findings can be reproduced - the stability and consistency of a measurement over time - eg. a 50.001 kg rock should weigh the same each time you measure it. - **Validity**. Must be conceptually related to the property of study. - the measurement must be conceptually related to the property of study - the extent to which a test measure what it claims to measure - eg. sth that is high validity would be smiles a measure being related to happiness → smiles are related to happiness - the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure - low validity → eye blinks as a measure related to happiness, a property of study that’s low validity → not much connection there, not sth used to measure happiness. - Eg. an example where the variable is critical thinking skills - compares students scores on a test with their performance in analyzing complex texts and making reasoned arguments in class discussions - consistent high performance on the test correlates with positively with strong analytical abilities and effective argumentation, supporting the validity of the test in measuring critical thinking skills. → test aligns with observable behaviour and the outcomes that are associated with critical thinking. → the test scores effectively predict the students abilities to analyze texts and engage in their reasoned arguments, confirming that the test accurately measured the construct of critical thinking skills.

Answer 152

- seeks to explain how an individual behaves, esp. in natural environments - involves observing behaviour to describe that behaviour - limitation: cannot achieve explanation → we are describing a particular scenario, there is no comparison, there’s no manipulation or extraneous factors that are controlled for. - Goal here is to describe life and behaviour. - Some examples include case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys

Answer 153

- descriptive research method that involves intensive examination of an “atypical” person. - Goal here is to describe the person who fits whatever it is we’re looking at so its an intensive observation recording and description of a person or persons - to describe the events and experiences that led up to or results from the feature of the person being studied.

Answer 154

- Measures of overt behaviour: - Observers record observable behaviour - requires an operation definition of the behaviour you’re looking for. - eg. if you’re doing an experiment on learning, we can measure the errors a person makes while performing a task - Observers must be trained to consistently code their behaviour. - in order to record different categories of behaviour so that the measures are reliable or consistent in their observations - using that operational definition to say if the behaviour happened or didn’t happen. - then mark down if it happened (and don’t mark down anything if it didn’t happen) - important that everyone doing the coding agrees on what counts and what doesn’t count - organizing behaviour data - I**ssues with measures of overt behaviour**: - Just like the desirability bias self-report measures, participants can change their behaviour when being observed.

Answer 155

- Aspects of an observational setting that make people behave as they think they should. - experimental artifact where participants form an interpretation of the experiment’s purpose and subconsciously change their behaviour to fit that interpretation. - eg. a new relaxation technique → unintentionally the researcher’s expectations may make ppl behave more relaxed than they normally would. - To get around these issues: - unobstructive measures: record behaviour in a way that keeps participants unaware that certain responses are being measured. - eg if we ask ppl to perform a task that assess mood, like rating emotional pictures, then they might not figure out what you’re measuring and looking for. - Works well in large classes or when hidden from participants - can use pshyiological measures → brain scans, skin and sweat activity

Answer 156

- Observing people/animals in their natural environment (passive observer) - Example: Jane Goodall observing chimpanzees in the wild - Does not permit clear causal conclusions - eg standing on a corner and recording how many people stop their cars at a stop sign - Advantages: - Provides a rich description of behaviour - Can avoid demand characteristics - bc either participants don’t know they’re being watch or they don’t care or become habituated to the researcher’s presence. → bc this occurs a research can wait until this happens to start data collection. - **Limits to naturalistic observation:** - Usually, experimenter cannot inform a person that they are being observed - cannot ask a participant to perform a task or ask how they’re feeling, etc. → bc demand characteristics are possible if the person knows they are being observed - Requires long periods of observation to get a single measure of a desired behaviour

Answer 157

the entire set of individuals about whom we wish to draw a conclusion

Answer 158

a subset of individuals drawn from a population (of interest) - an draw our sample by pulling names from a hat, picking every third person on the street - in order to obtain a representative sample (one that accurately reflects the important characteristics of a pop) you should use random sampling. - A sample that reflects the important characteristics of the population - eg. a sample of 80% male students would not be representative of a psychology department where only 25% of students were male - need to use random sample

Answer 159

- Looking for an association between two (or more) **measured** variables. - involves measuring variables, NOT manipulating variables - eg is money related to happiness? - 3 components: 1. researcher measures one variable, X (eg. ppl’s birth order) 2. researcher measures a second variable, Y (maybe personality trait) 3. researcher determines whether X and Y are related - **Keep in mind: Correlation does not equal causation!!**

Answer 160

- related to correlational research. - is it that better social relationships cause greater happiness or is it that being a happier person makes it easier to form better social relationships. - We don’t know the direction bc of correlation - could be another variable at play - (c) reminds us that two variables may be related to one another only because they are both causally related to a **third variable.** - no causal links between social relationships and happiness

Answer 161

- **(r)**: describes the relationship between two variables. - Ranges from -1.0 to +1.0 - Sign indicates direction - Absolute value indicates strength - eg. .8 stronger than .2

Answer 162

- An **increase** in one variable relates to an **increase** in the other. - The more cats I have, the happier I feel - 0 < r which is greater than or equal to +1.0 - variables are changing in the same direction - as x decreases, y decreases - ef. positive correlation between smoking and lung cancer.

Answer 163

- An **increase** in one variable relates to a **decrease** in the other. - The more work I have, the less happy I am. - -1.0 is greater than or equal to r < 0 - as x is increasing y is decreasing or x decreasing y increasing - eg. as the number of daylight hours decreases the number of symptoms of depression increases - -0.8 is stronger than -0.2 - eg. the more regularly someone exercises, the less likely they are to develop heart disease.

Answer 164

- There is no relationship - The two variables are not correlated with one another - r = 0. - as x scores increase or decrease, scores on y do not change in any sort of orderly fashion.

Answer 165

1. Manipulation of one variable 2. Measuring changes in another variable 3. While holding all other factors constant (control for other variables, cofounds) - Three main characteristics: 1. manipulate sone or more variables - eg. by creating 2 conditions: eg. a variable called traffic noise and we could randomly assign half of our subjects to a high noise condition and half to a low noise condition 2. measuring whether this manipulation influences another variable - eg. measure if birds are still able to communicate with each other or measure kids opinions 3. researcher attempts to control extraneous factors that might inlfuence the outcome of the experiment - eg. restrict time of day, distance of noise - for the kids, control time of day, media exposure and prior knowledge

Answer 166

Researchers systematically vary what participants are exposed to (independent variable, IV) using random assignment to minimize bias

Answer 167

- The experimental group receives the treatment (eg. peer influence on vaping opinions), while the control group experiences all other aspects equally except the treatment (eg. answering vaping questions alone) - compare experimental group with the control group (the group that experiences everything except the treatment)

Answer 168

Comparing experimental and control groups allows researchers to isolate the effects of the IV, establishing a baseline for what naturally occurs (control) versus what changes with the treatment (experimental)

Answer 169

- Each group in the experiment is composed of a different set of participants - but for this to work, both groups must be equal

Answer 170

- Each participant is exposed to all the conditions of an independent variable. - eg. high noise group would also participate in the low noise condition and vice versa - can show us if one group differs from another based on these individuals

Answer 171

- Between groups (or between subjects) design - Repeated measures (or within subjects) design

Answer 172

- Guiding principles for more ethical use of animals in testing 1. **Replacement**: methods which avoid or replace the use of animals in research - eg. use a simpler model species: like a one-cell organism vs a primate or using AI to create neural networks that will behave similarly to an animal. - eg. during COVID - trying to find sth that has a lower potential for pain perception - could use past data → pull the results of a bunch of studies to look at a way to answer your research question. 2. **Reduction**: use of methods that enable researchers to obtain comparable levels of information from fewer animals, or to obtain more information from the same number of animals. - reducing the number of animals used in a study to the lowest possible number - eg. using 5 birds instead of 20 → if you can use those 5 you have to use those 5. - eg labs sharing studies or results or samples 3. **Refinement:** use of methods that alleviate or minimize potential pain, suffering or distress, and enhance animal welfare for the animals used. - eg. how you have to use anesthesia bc animals can absolutely feel pain - mostly applies to husbandry (animal care) but also experimental features for minimizing pain and distress - also welfare of animals in their colony rooms → where they live when they’re not in a study - eg. providing them with water, food, natural activities (eg. birds given nesting material and places to hide → privacy screens) - good for animal and study since pain and distress can lead to abnormal results

Answer 173

- We like making connections (our brain is really good at making connections that aren’t there) - Virgin Mary Toast - eg. people stating they can see faces and objects like the Virgin Mary on a grilled cheese. - Eg. Stereotypes → we can fall into these traps of thinking like this. - We ignore information (especially if this information does not support our beliefs) - Fox News or nothing - When we hear about things that do connect with our beliefs, we’re more likely to think what we hear is true. - if it’s sth that contradicts what we think then we tend to look for flaws. - We take mental shortcuts - Availability Heuristic - things that come most easily to our mind tend to guide our thinking. - eg. child abduction → bc these types of news stories are so common, it can be easy for parents to overestimate the chances of this happening and ignore more immediate threats of maybe bicycle accidents or drownings.

Answer 174

- psychological research suggests we are not good at evaluating ourselves accurately. In fact, we frequently overestimate our abilities. - Are you as good as things as you think you are? - Knowing how confident we are and how our skills stack up against other people’s is more than a self-esteem boost. It helps us figure out when we can forge ahead on our own decisions and instincts and when we need, instead, to seek out advice. - explains why more than 100 studies have shown that people display illusory superiority (we judge ourselves as better than others to a degree that violates the laws of math) - Eg. 88% of drivers described themselves as having above average driving skills. - On average, ppl tend to rate themselves better than most in disciplines ranging from health, leadership skills, ethics, and beyond. - those with the least skills are most likely to overrate their skills to the greatest extent. - we are all most vulnerable to this illusion. - ppl lacking knowledge and skill in particular areas suffer a double curse → 1st, they make mistakes and reach poor decisions. 2nd those same knowledge gaps also prevent them from catching their errors. → poor performers lack the expertise needed to recognize how badly they’re doing. - ppl usually do admit their deficits once they can spot them.

Answer 175

- **Basic vs. Applied Science**: Distinction helps maintain the perceived purity of basic science and emphasizes unexpected practical applications (eg. breakthroughs and cancer treatment that can stem from diverse scientific fields → from basic research). - Basic science aims to understand the principles of the universe; just knowledge for knowledge’s sake. - Applied science uses this knowledge for practical reason: developing new technologies/treatments, medical advancements. - Distinction not always clear cut: eg. Cold War → advanced basic science but also political and technological motivations. → most research occupies more of this Middle Ground, blending these kinds of theoretical and practical parts.

Answer 176

- Belief that the mind is a spiritual entity that is not governed by the same rules as the physical body. - (Eg. Ancient Egypt → mind viewed as part of the body. - During embalming/involving procedures, the brain was just thrown away. - 1500 Leonardo Devinci dissecting (through vivisection a lot of bodies) and he used these bodies to create anatomical understandings of humans and he started to link our brains anatomy with physiological function.) - **Rene Descartes** (1596-1650) - The mind and body interact via the **pineal gland (in brain)** - He placed the mind in the brain and believed the mind is a spiritual, non-material entity, keeping with religious beliefs at the time. - Would say the body was just this machine that relied on reflex like our imagination was just something that came from our body’s functioning, but sth more deliberate was controlled by our rational minds and that rational mind was divine from God and separate from the body. - → Most psychologists today reject this: the pineal gland today, we know receives information about light-dark cycles in our environment and this helps to regulate our production and secretion of melatonin. - Melatonin → hormone that regulates ours sleep-wake cycle. - In other cultures penial gland also known as “third eye” → your metaphysical connection between the physical and spiritual worlds. - Penial gland also produces DMT → hallucinogenic drug → what floods your body when you die.

Answer 177

Belief that no amount of studying the physical body can provide information about the non-physical mind.

Answer 178

- Belief that the mind and body are one. - Mind is not a separate spiritual entity. - To a monist, mental events correspond to physical events in the brain. → supported by Thomas Hobbes (english philosopher) - **Thomas Hobbes** (1588-1679) - Mental events are a product of physical events. - That is, thoughts come from physical events in our bodies → our brains were creating these thoughts and therefore it wasn’t some separate unknown entity. - important for psychology bc it gave us the idea that our mind could be studied by looking at physical processes. - Those physical processes events that were causing mental events that were creating our thoughts. → we could look into our minds through our behaviour. - Polar opposite to dualism bc for monists, the mind can absolutely be measured using physical processes within the brain. - So we can measure the mind through everything we experience. → the mind is not spiritual and can be measured.

Answer 179

- View that all concepts originate from experience. - All ideas and knowledge are gained empirically - through the senses. - Believed observation is more valid than is pure reason, because reason is fraught with the potential error. - has carried over to modern science, where many methods are rooted in empirical observation. - scientists actually getting out and making observations, doing science. - **John Locke** (1632 - 1704) - Philosophy should focus on the capabilities and extent of the human mind. - Instead of purely reasoning to understand the human mind, he wanted to focus on observing the mind in a more scientific matter and also look at these capabilities and the extent of our mind, how much can the human mind remember. - trying to observe the extent of what the mind is.

Answer 180

- **Wilhelm Wundt** (1832-1920) - Established the first experimental psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany - this is where we started to see psychology as an actual field. → a place where we are not only observing ppl and their behaviours, but they’re also actually experimenting here → manipulating behaviours to have a better understanding of them. - Structuralists: Study the mind in terms of its basic elements - wanted to break consciousness and mental processes down into their structural components → breaking everything down into basic building blocks → what pieces come together to allow us to think the thoughts we think - Use **introspection** - looking into yourself and describing your own experiences. - sit and focus on the sensation you’re experiencing. → would break those down into their basic elements to try and understand consciousness. - Was criticized bc it was too subjective: relied too much on reasoning, introspection instead of experimentation and observation.

Answer 181

- 2nd school after Structuralism - Held the idea the psychology should study the function of consciousness, rather than its structure. - they ask what the mind *does* - eg. a hand → would explain hand movements by studying how the tendons operate - Study of the function of consciousness, not structure. - Influenced by Darwin’s evolutionary theory. - which stressed the importance of adaptation in helping organisms survive and reproduce in their environment. - **William James** (1842 - 1910) - Helped widen the scope of psychology to biological and mental processes, and overt behaviour. - both! Using behaviour to study our biological and mental processes, our body and our mind. - some consider him founder of psych - 1875 → gave his first lecture in psych - feminist → supported women going into male-dominated sciences - trained Mary Whiton Calkins (the first woman to set up a psychological lab and first women president of the American psychological association) - was also progressive politically for the times - more interest in philosophy than vs physiological - **core idea that has stuck around by James:** mind is more complex than its elements, and since it is so complex, it cannot be broken down. - stream of consciousness → person’s continuous ever-changing thoughts that come and go. → for him, stream of consciousness is the product of interacting and dynamic stimuli coming from both inside of our heads and outside of heads. - said that trying to understand pyschology in terms of these individual elements just doesn’t work: it’s like trying to understand a house by studying each of its bricks individually → what’s more important is that the bricks together form a house and the house has a function. - So the mind’s elements matter less than the mind’s usefulness to people. - Moved psych along, but again didn’t stay long → played in part in cognitive pysch and evolutionary psych,

Answer 182

- Searches for the causes of behaviour within our (the inner workings of our) **personality** - Emphasizes the role of **unconscious** processes - **Sigmund Freud** (1856-1939) developed the most influential psychodynamic theory: - **Psychoanalysis:** - Investigation of internal and mostly unconscious psychological forces - he also loved cocaine (lol) he would use it as a medicine for himself and others. - recent papers: Freud didn’t actually believe that cocaine was a medicine, he just really wanted to say it was so he could fuel his own habit. - worked as a physician when he was young and saw patients with different symptoms: blindness, paralysis, phobias - → these symptoms seemed to not be connected to any sort of bodily malfunction or disease. - Freud believed that the route here must be psychological and that if the symptoms are psychological and the patients are not aware of this, then Freud reasoned that the causes are hidden from our awareness → unconscious. - Proposed that humans are born with powerful sexual and aggressive drives and that these desires are punished in childhood so we learn to fear them and as we get older, they make us anxious and this anxiety leads to defense mechanisms - psychological techniques that help us cope with anxiety. - Eg. repression - protect ourselves by keeping unacceptable impulses feelings, and memories in our subconscious. - Our behaviour depends on unconscious conflict between our defenses and our impulses. → a struggle between conflicting dynamic forces (psychodynamic) - not considered accurate today, but did lay foundation for how we think about the mind and therapy. - modern psychodynamic theories today continue to explore how the unconscious and conscious aspects of personality, who we are, influence our behaviour. - But focus more on early relationships and life - Psychodynamic is a large part of personality psych disorders and psychotherapy today. - Was the idea that dreams lie in our unconscious mind.

Answer 183

- Focuses on role of **external environmental factors** in determining behaviour. - Our behaviour is jointly determined by habits learned from previous life experiences, stimuli and immediate environment - Rooted in British empiricism - **John Locke** (1632 - 1704) - Early empiricist and stated that the human mind begins in a state of tabula rasa. - *Tabula rasa* - Latin for ‘blank slate’ → a blank slate tablet for which experiences will be written. - so human nature is shaped purely by our environment - **Ivan Pavlov** (1849 - 1936) - Learning can occur when events are associated with each other - Found that dogs automatically learned to salivate to the sound of a new stimulus if that tone was paired with food - tone-food-tone-food-tone-food → eventually the dogs would salivate to the tone alone in the absence of food - **Edward Thorndike** (1874-1949) - Law of Effect - organisms learn through the consequences of their actions - Responses followed by satisfying consequences become more likely to reoccur. - Those followed by unsatisfying consequences become less likely to occur.

Answer 184

- **Behaviourism**: - School of thought that emphasizes environmental control of behaviour through learning - leader was John. B Watson - Same basic principles of learning apply to all organisms - **John B. Watson** (1878-1958) - Proper subject matter of psychology was observable behaviour, not unobservable inner consciousness. - Humans were the products of their learning experiences, their environments. - Opposed “mentalism” from earlier schools - **B.F. Skinner** (1904-1990) - “No account of what is happening inside the human body, no matter how complete, will explain the origins of human behaviour.” - didn’t deny that ppl had thoughts and feelings - research based on using rats and pigeons in labs to examine how behaviour is influenced by reward and punishment.

Answer 185

- Emphasizes free will, personal growth, and attempting to find meaning in one’s existence. - reject the psychodynamic view that humans are controlled by unconscious forces and rejected the behaviourist view of humans being reactors of their environment - **Abraham Maslow** (1908-1970) - **Self-actualization** as a driving force - Each of us is working towards self-actualization - Us reaching our full potential - emphasized personal choice, responsibility, growth and positive links of self worth. - **Positive psychology movement** - Emphasizes the study of human strengths, fulfillment, and optimal living. - focuses on how we can nurture what is best within ourselves and society to create a happy and fulfilling life - strengths that enable humans and communities to thrive. - The meaning of our existence relies squarely in our own hands → very positive, very feel-good stuff.

Answer 186

- Looks at **nature of the mind** and how mental processes influence behaviour - Humans are information-processors who actions are governed by thought. - took pure look at cognitive processes, mental processes → consciousness, memory, language (things that are happening mentally, internally) - **Gestalt psychology**: - school of thought within the cognitive perspective - how the mind organizes elements of experiences into a unified or whole perception. - “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” → Gestalt roughly translates into “whole” - argued that perceptions are organized so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. - eg. the three faces → the three ovals surrounding the faces seem to be of different sizes, but they are identical. - but for most ppl the one with the more stretched out features make the oval appear longer and the scrunched up face make it appear shorter → the whole is greater than the sum of its parts → make the same whole.

Answer 187

- **Cognitive Revolution** (1960s-1970s) - Period of growing interest in mental processes (language, memory, perception, intelligence) - **Language learning**: - **Behaviourists** - language is acquired through basic principles of learning - **Linguists** - humans are biologically “preprogrammed” to acquire language and that children come to understand language as a set of “mental rules” - In the end, psychologists decided that language is too complex to be explained by behavioural and instead needed to be examined from a cognitive perspective.

Answer 188

- **Cognitive psychology:** - Focuses on the study of mental processes - Studying reasoning, decision making, problem solving, formation of perceptions, and production and understanding of language. - attention and consciousness - increasingly study how unconscious processes influence behaviour

Answer 189

- Looks at how the **social environment** and **cultural learning** influence our behaviour, thoughts and feelings. - Heavy overlap - Behaviourism - environmental influences - Cognition - in terms of social cognition: how people form impressions of one another, how attitudes form and change and how our expectations effect our behaviour - Biology - Eg. Social pain → a pain that occurs when people reject or ostracize us. - seems to light up the same brain circuits that we see with physical pain. - **Social:** - How the presence of other people influences your behaviour, thoughts and feelings. - presence can include actual physical presence (eg. when you’re in a group) - implied presence → eg you’re getting read to go out and you’re aware that people will most likely evaluate how you look so there’s the regular presence but also the implied presence → so how it will influence your thoughts, behaviours and feelings - **Culture:** - Enduring values, beliefs, behaviours, traditions passed on. - shared by large groups of people - all cultural groups develop their own social norms, which are rules that specify what behaviour is acceptable and expected from members of that group. - eg. like how when we enter an elevator we all look the same way, and it would be odd if we didn’t. - eg. in some cultures a woman should never engage in sports, especially aggressive sports.

Answer 190

- **Cultural Psychology** looks at the transmission of culture, psychological similarities and differences among people from diverse cultures. - sometimes also called Cross-Cultural Psychology. - eg. individualism (European and North American cultures) vs collectivism (Asian, African, South American cultures).

Answer 191

- Looks at how brain (processes) and other bodily functions regulate behaviour. - Brain, genes and evolution. - Brain in this aspect refers to sth like behavioural neuroscience which examines brain processes and other physiological functions that underlie our behaviour; sensory experiences or even emotion and thoughts. - eg. cognitive neuroscience → looks specifically at neuroscience and cognition and this field of psychology makes use of modern brain imaging techniques to show activity in specific brain areas as people experience emotions or perceive stimuli or perform different tasks. **The Biological Perspective** - **Behaviour Genetics:** - The study of how behavioural tendencies are influenced by **genetic factors** - eg. animals → animals can be bred for physical traits like how dog breeds are bred → pugs are bred for their adorable smushed-up face that doesn’t allow them to breathe that well. - used to be for purpose → dig a hole - eg twins → identical twins have identical genetic makeups and we see similar behavioural traits even when twins are raised in different environments - **Evolutionary Psychology:** - Try to explain how **evolution** shaped modern human behaviour

Answer 192

- Try to explain how **evolution** shaped modern human behaviour - Natural selection is based on the idea of certain inherited traits providing a selective advantage. - Evolutionary pyschologists stress how human mental abilities and behavioural tendencies evolved along with a changing body. - so as our body evolved so did our mind. → as we developed new abilities like walking upright and tool use, we also began living in social groups and helping each other was important for evolutionary fitness of entire groups → then other certain abilities developed: language, problem-solving bc these would be important for survival. - also physical aspect: having a more symmetrical face would make sb more attractive bc it indicates being more physically fit and a better partner for passing on genes.

Answer 193

1. Psychology as a Field - Numerous sub-fields within Psychology - Clinical psychology - Cognitive psychology - Biopsychology/neuroscience - Developmental psychology - Industrial-organizational psychology - Personality psychology - Social psychology - Health psychology - Comparative psychology - Fields delineate specialized areas of study, while perspectives provide that theoretical framework that can be applied across various fields to understand human behaviour from different angles.

Answer 194

- Study and treatment of psych disorders - those who practice or do research clinical psych work in clinic, hospital, private practice - Practicing and research - Can focus on treatment as well as research - Someone in this field might wonder if there are underlying psychological or biological causes across different psych disorders; or they might explore what are the most effective ways to treat a personality disorder; maybe they’re interested in if mindfulness meditation can reduce distress associated with anxiety.

Answer 195

- **Study of mental processes** - Consciousness - Attention - Memory - Decision-making - Problem solving - Language (Psycholinguistics → its own category) - especially from a model that views the mind as an information processor. - Aims to understand the basic skills and processes that are the foundations of the mind (see above) - Looking at those processes that are internal and all the processes going on in the mind - Eg. studying why multitasking is harder for most than working on one task then the other. - eg. study how damage to one brain region can alter perception of blue vs red, but not impact perception of motion. - could study why some people learn more quickly.

Answer 196

- **Focuses on the biological unpinning of behaviour** - Processing, genes, hormones - Evolutionary psychology - how evolution had shaped today’s psychological capabilities, like our ability for thinking and language; and our behavioural tendencies like aggression and altruism. - Someone in this field might be interested in what are the genetic factors that contribute to a psych disorders like schizophrenia or depression, how does brain structure and function change with age, or following a traumatic brain injury. - Or may be interested in why neural mechanisms underlie the formation and retrieval of long-term memory.

Answer 197

- Examines physical, psychological, and social development across the lifespan. - How organisms grow and develop from prenatal periods, infancy, early childhood, adolescence, adulthood to old age. - For example: - Emotions and infants - Parenting styles - how different ones affect childhood - Mental abilities - change from childhood to adulthood. - eg. why is it easier for children to learn a new language vs adults - eg. in what ways is risk taking functional for adolescents as they seek or work to establish new social groups.

Answer 198

- Focuses on processes like: - Learning - Sensory systems - hearing, visions - Perception - Motivational states - Many, many subfields. - Most research in this field involves lab experiments, often in non-human animals - via experiment → typically controlled experiments to understand human behavioural processes - Goals: to gather empirical evidence that can be used to develop theories about how the mind works and operates under different conditions - Eg. how does sleep deprivation effect cognitive performance and decision-making? → would devise an experiment to ask that - Eg. what are the mechanisms underlying Placebo effects and pain management? - eg. how does exposure to different types of media influence mood and emotional regulation in adolescents?

Answer 199

- People behaviour in the workplace, studying: - Leadership - Teamwork - Job satisfaction - Work motivation - Performance - Specific - Explores how psychological processes work in the workplace. - Applicable, pragmatic - Blends social psych, cultural psych. - I/O psychologist would develop tests to help employers identify the best job applicants - they could design system that companies use to evaluate employee performance - what are ways organizations can increase employee motivation? - how critical feedback can be provided to works that will result in a behavioural change. - Huge increase in this field in terms of leadership **Lilian (Moller) Gilbreth** - American psychologist and industrial engineer who made significant contributions in both fields: known for her pioneering work in industrial organization and ergonomics - focused on workplace efficiency, humans factors engineering and time motion studies. - developed methods to improve worker productivity and efficiency through scientific management principles. - Proponent for women in the workforce → contributed to advancements in household management and pysch, emphasizing the importance of applying scientific principles to improve everyday life. - “Mother of Modern Management”

Answer 200

- Focuses on the study of personality - Study core personality traits - and how different traits relate to one another and how they influence our behaviour - also develop tests for measuring personality. - Traits and behaviour = ? - Personality tests

Answer 201

- Examines thoughts, feelings and behaviour in the social world. - the world of other people - How people influence one another or in groups? - how ppl behave in groups - How people form impressions and attitudes? - Study social relationships involving attraction and love or prejudice and discrimination - Helping, agression, cults. - ppl’s beliefs, attitudes, actions - Social personality psychology - studying everyday thoughts, feelings, and behaviours and factors that give rise to them. - work together to find what situations and predistortions cause behaviour. - eg. how do ppl understand and explain other ppl’s behaviours? - eg. what are the causes of stereotyping and prejudice? What is their effect on victims? - does personality remain stable along the lifespan? If not, in what ways does personality change as ppl age and why?

Answer 202

- Pivotal cases in social pych → understanding and addressing the psychological effects of segregation, prejudice and discrimination and the societal factors that contribute to these issues - First time that psychological evidence had been used in a supreme court case. - Doll test - Clearly demonstrated that separate was not equal, not good, and an injustice. - A series of studies that Clarkes did to try to determine racial awareness in young children with the implication being that in a segregated society, if children are aware of race and the differences in race and how different racial groups are treated, it would impact how they felt about themselves. - What they did was they showed young children black and white dolls and they would ask the children to show me the doll that’s nice, the best, that looks like them. - More often than not, the black children showed the nice doll was the nice doll, the best doll was the white one - When they got to the doll that looks like them, that was when the children would pause, look troubled - bc they had said in many cases the black doll was the bad one, they now had to show the doll that looked like them → difficult for them → some black children would choose the white doll bc they couldn’t embrace the black doll after saying it was bad, not nice.

Answer 203

- Health psychology examines how psychological, social and biological factors interact to influence health illness. - eg. stress, loneliness and impulsivity can powerfully influence a range of health disorders and in some cases lead to death - in contrast, optimism, social support and conscientiousness can promote healthy behaviours. - focuses on how behaviours, attitudes and emotions impact physical wellbeing as well how biological factors - Health psychologists work to understand and enhance health, aimed at promoting health behaviours, preventing illness, managing chronic conditions and improving quality of life. - eg. Sb studying health psychology would be interested in how strong friendships can help protect us from the harmful impacts of stress. - Eg. looking at whether memory training helps people resist addictions - Eg. how and when experiencing discrimination increases the likelihood of heart disease.

Answer 204

- Scientific study of the behaviour and mental processes of non-human animals. - psychology of animals - Can be problematic due to naming: hard to define? - Many names - Comparative psych - Ethology - Animal behaviour + cognition - Animal psychology - Eg. interested in how different species of primate demonstrates social learning, cultural transmission - Eg. what are the cognitive mechanisms behind tool use in various animal species. - Eg. how does environmental enrichment effect cognitive development in domesticated vs. wild animals

Answer 205

1. Psychology is empirical - means that we acquire knowledge through observation → so as a science, psychology is based on observing the environment around us and trying to make conclusions to answer questions. 2. Psychology is theoretically diverse - lots of theories and lots of ideas about how things work - theories link different ideas and observations together in a way that is trying to explain the world around us 3. Psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context - means that psychology does not exist in a vacuum → is effected by things that happened in the past historically and socially - things that are going on now in society can influence psychology - trends, social issues and values in society are going to effect psychology and in turn, psychology can effect trends and values. 4. Behaviour is shaped by cultural heritage - culture → our shared beliefs, customs and more can start effecting how we behave and why. - cultural norms, eg its not okay to cry in some emotions → influence behave 5. Behaviour is influenced by both heredity and environment - genetics and environment influence behaviour - eg. nature and nurture - is usually a bit of both - learned aspects and genes control behaviour 6. People’s experience of the world is highly subjective.