PSYC*2410 Chapter 1: Biopsychology as a Neuroscience Flashcards
What is neuroscience?
The scientific study of the nervous system
What are neurons?
Cells of the nervous system
What does “creative thinking” refer to?
Thinking in productive, unconventional ways
Where does much of what biopsychologists learn about the functioning of a healthy brain come from?
From studying dysfunctional brains
What do many of the discoveries of biopsychologists have relevance in?
Treating brain dysfunction
What does the evolutionary perspective of biopsychology focus on?
The environmental pressures that likely lead to the evolution of the characteristics of current species
What approach is especially important for the evolutionary perspective of biopsychology?
The comparative approach
What is the comparative approach?
A scientific approach that tries to understand biological phenomena by comparing them in different species
What is neuroplasticity?
The notion that the brain continuously grows and changes in response to an individual’s environment and experiences
What is arguably the single most influential discovery in modern neuroscience?
Neuroplasticity
What are epigenetics?
The study of all mechanisms of inheritance other than the genetic code and its expression
What is biopsychology?
The scientific study of the biology of behaviour
Who published “the organization of behaviour” in 1949, playing a key role in the emergence of biopsychology?
Donald Hebb
What did Donald Hebb’s book provide the first comprehensive theory of?
How complex psychological phenomena might be produced by brain activity
Donald Hebb is best described as using what type of approach?
An eclectic approach
What are the six disciplines of neuroscience relevant to biopsychology?
- Neuroanatomy
- Neurochemistry
- Neuroendocrinology
- Neuropathology
- Neuropharmacology
- Neurophysiology
What are the three major dimensions along which biopsychological research may vary?
- Human or nonhuman subjects
- Experimental or nonexperimental
- pure or applied
Human brains tend to differ from nonhuman brains more in terms of _________ than _________.
Quantity, Quality
Why might it be beneficial that the behaviour of nonhuman subjects is often simpler than human subjects?
The simpler the behaviour, the more likely it is to reveal fundamental brain-behaviour interactions
What are “the three R’s” emphasized by nonhuman animal ethics committees, and what do they mean?
- Reduction (reduce the number of animals used)
- Refinement (refine research studies and/or the treatment of animals to reduce suffering)
- Replacement (replace animal subjects with alternate techniques)
What are experiments used to study?
Causation
What is a between-subjects experimental design?
A different group of subjects is tested under each experimental condition
What is a within-subjects experimental design?
The same subjects are tested under each experimental condition
What is an independent variable?
The variable that changes between experimental conditions and is arranged by the researcher
What is a dependent variable?
The variable measured by the researcher to assess the effect of the independent variable
What is a confounded variable?
An unintended difference between experimental conditions that may have affected the dependent variable
What are quasi experimental studies?
Studies of groups of subjects who have been exposed to the conditions of interest in the real world (the independent variable is naturally occurring)
When are quasi experimental studies used?
When controlled experiments are not possible
What are quasi experimental studies able to demonstrate?
Correlation
What are case studies?
Studies that focus on a single subject, or very small number of subjects
What is the major problem with all case studies?
Their lack of generalizability
What is pure research?
Research motivated primarily by the researcher’s desire to acquire knowledge
What is applied research?
Research that is intended to bring about some direct benefit to humankind
What is translational research?
Research that aims to translate the findings of pure research into useful applications for humankind
What is the Coolidge effect?
The fact that a copulating male who becomes incapable of continuing to copulate with one sex partner can often recommence copulating with a new sex partner
What are the six major divisions of biopsychology?
- Physiological psychology
- Psychopharmacology
- Neuropsychology
- Psychophysiology
- Cognitive neuroscience
- Comparative psychology
What is the youngest division of biopsychology?
Cognitive neuroscience
What is physiological psychology?
The division of biopsychology that studies the neural mechanisms of behaviour through direct manipulation of the brains of nonhuman animal subjects in controlled experiments
Does physiological psychology have a tradition of pure or applied research?
Pure
What is psychopharmacology?
The division of biopsychology that studies the effects of drugs on the brain and behaviour
Does psychopharmacological research tend to be pure or applied?
Applied (ex. developing therapeutic drugs)
What is neuropsychology?
The division of biopsychology that studies the psychological effects of brain damage in human patients
What kinds of research methods are used in neuropsychology?
Case studies and quasi experimental studies of patients with brain dysfunction
What is psychophysiology?
The division of biopsychology that studies the relation between physiological activity and psychological processes in human subjects by noninvasive methods
What is an electroencephalogram?
A measure of the gross electrical activity of the brain, commonly recorded through scalp electrodes
What is cognitive neuroscience?
The division of biopsychology that focuses on the use of functional brain imaging to study the neural mechanisms of human cognition
What is functional brain imaging?
Recording images of the activity of living human brains
What is comparative psychology?
The division of biopsychology that studies the evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness of behaviour
What is ethnological research?
The study of an animal’s behaviour in its natural habitat
What are converging operations?
The use of several research approaches to solve a single problem
What is Korsacoff’s syndrome largely caused by?
Brain damage associated with a thymine (vitamin B1) deficiency
What is scientific inference?
The logical process by which observable events are used to infer the properties of unobservable events
What is Morgan’s canon?
The rule that the simplest possible interpretation of a behavioural observation should be given precedence
In Case 1 of Chapter 1, what did Jose Delgado claim to have discovered?
The caudate taming centre and that its stimulation could eliminate aggressive behaviour
What is a prefrontal lobotomy?
A surgical procedure in which the connections between the prefrontal lobes and the rest of the brain are cut
What is a leucotome?
A surgical device used in psychosurgery to cut out a core of brain tissue
What were Dr. Egas Moniz’s claims about lobotomies based on?
A report that two chimpanzees who frequently became upset when they made errors did not do so following the creation of a large bilateral lesion of their prefrontal lobes
What is a bilateral lesion?
Damage to both sides of the brain
What is psychosurgery?
Any brain surgery performed for the treatment of a psychological problem
What is a transorbital lobotomy?
A prefrontal lobotomy performed with an instrument inserted through the eye socket
