Psych/Soc Chapter 1 Flashcards
Franz Gall
Phrenology
Pierre Flourens
Ablation on animals, discovered specific function in specific regions of the brain
William James
Functionalism: studied how mental process help individuals adapt to their environments
John Dewey
Reflex arc and focus on studying an organism as a whole as it functions to adapt in its environment
Paul Broca
Examined behavioral deficits of people with brain damage, demonstrated that specific functional impairments would be linked to specific brain lesions.
Hermann Von Helmholz
Measured the speed of a nerve impulse to generate reaction time
Sir Charles Sherrington
Discovered synapses
Which division of the nervous system are cranial, spinal, optic and olfactory nerves classified as?
PNS
Which of the following is NOT a sympathetic nervous system effect?
A) Dilates pupils
B) Stimulates glucose production and release
C) Inhibits bladder contraction
D) Constricts bronchi
E) Secretion of Epi and NE
D) RELAXES bronchi not constrict
We want to get more air into lungs in “fight or flight”
What 5 regions of the brain are included in the forebrain?
1) Cerebral cortex
2) Basal ganglia
3) Limbic system
4) Thalamus
5) Hypothalamus
Which 2 structures make up the midbrain?
1) Superior colliculi
2) Inferior colliculi
Which 3 structures make up the hindbrain?
1) Cerebellum
2) Medulla Oblongata
3) Reticular formation
During embryonic development, which 2 divisions of the rhombencephalon (hindbrain) give rise to which structures?
1) Myelencephalon (medulla oblongata)
2) Metencephalon (pons and cerebellum)
Which structure of the hindbrain lies above the medulla and contains sensory and motor pathways between the cortex and medulla?
Pons
What is the function of the superior and inferior colliculi?
Superior colliculus: receives visual sensory input
Inferior colliculus: receives sensory info from the auditory system
The telencephalon and diencephalon are divisions of the forebrain (prosencephalon) that branch into which brain regions?
Telencephalon: cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, limbic sys
Diencephalon:
All sensory info is relayed to the thalamus EXCEPT which sense?
smell
Which structure of the brain coordinates muscle movements as it receives sensory info from the cortex and relays it to other regions of the brain and spinal cord via the extrapyramidal system?
Basal ganglia
What are 3 key structures of the limbic system with their main function?
Septal nuclei: pleasure center
Hippocampus: memory and learning processes
Amygdala: aggression, fear and anger
Which region of the frontal lobe initiates involuntary motor movements by sending neural impulses down the spinal cord and toward the muscles?
Primary motor cortex
Describe the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia?
Argues that delusions, hallucinations and agitation assoc with schizo arise from either too much dopamine or from an oversensitivity to dopamine in the brain
Parkinson’s disease
Loss of dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia causing disruptions of dopamine transmission leading to resting tremors and jerky movements as well as postural instability
How does glycine serve as a inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS?
Increases Cl- influx into the neuron to hyperpolarize the postsynaptic membrane (similar to the function of GABA)
What is the difference between neuromodulators/neuropeptides and neurotransmitters?
Neuromodulators are slow and have long term effects on the post-synaptic cell than NT’s
Which hormones are released from the anterior pituitary
FSH, LH, ACTH, TSH, PL, endorphins, GH
Which hormones are released directly from hypothalamic secretory cells into the posterior pituitary?
Oxytocin and vasopressin
What are the stages of pre-natal development of the nervous system?
1) Neurulation: ectoderm overlying the notochord begins to furrow, forming a neural groove surrounded by two neural folds
2) Neural crest cells migrate throughout the body to form disparate tissues including the dorsal root ganglia, melanocytes and calcitonin producing cells
3) Formation of Neural tube = remainder of furrow closes to form the CNS
4) Neural tube has 2 plates
- alar plate = differentiates into sensory neurons
- basal plate = differentiates into motor neurons
Rooting reflex
Automatic turning of the head in the direction of the stimulus that touches the cheek
Moro reflex (until 4 mo)
Infants react to abrupt movements by flinging out their arms and then slowly retracting their arms and crying
Babinski reflex
Causes the toes to spread apart automatically when the sole of the foot is stimulated
Grasping reflex (in adults what does this mean?)
Occurs when the infant closes his or her fingers around an object placed on his/her hand
In adults - indicates neurological disease that causes demyelination
What are the 2 main themes that dictate the stages of motor development in early childhood?
Gross motor development proceeds from head to toe and from core to periphery
Absolute threshold
Minimum of stimulus energy that is needed to activate a sensory system
Subliminal perception
Perception of a stimulus below a given threshold
Just noticible difference (JND)/ Difference Threshold
Minimum difference in magnitude between 2 stimuli before one can perceive this difference
What is the most important factor when determining or interpreting the JND?
Ratio between the change in stimulus and the original value (don’t care about the actual difference between the frequencies)
Weber’s Law
States that there is a constant ratio between the change in stimulus magnitude needed to produce a JND and the magnitude of the original stimulus
Signal Detection Theory
Focuses on the changes in our perception of the same stimuli depending on both internal (psych) and external (environmental) factors (i.e. how loud someone calls your name)
Response Bias
Refers to the tendency of subjects to systematically respond to a stimulus in a particular way due to nonsensory factors
Trace the pathway of visual input from the visual fields to the brain:
Optic nerves –> optic chiasm –> optic tract –> LGN of thalamus –> visual cortex in occipital lobe and superior colliculus
Parallel Processing
Ability to simultaneously analyze and combine info regarding color, shape and motion
Which structures of the ear detect linear acceleration?
Utricle and Saccule (Vestibule)
Which structures of the ear detect rotational acceleration?
Semicircular canals
List the structures in an auditory pathway from where sound enters the pinna to the auditory projection areas in the brain
External auditory canal –> tympanic membrane –> middle ear (ossicles) –> oval window –> perilymph cochlea –> basilar membrane –> hair cells semicircular canals –> vestibulochochear nerve –> brainstem–> medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) –> auditory cortex in the temporal lobe for sound processing –> superior olive which localizes the sound and the inferior colliculus which is involved in the startle reflex
How does the organization of the cochlea indicate the pitch of an incoming sound?
The basilar membrane is tonotopically organized: high-pitched sounds cause vibrations at the base of the cochlea whereas, low-pitched sounds cause vibrations at the apex of the cochlea
Bottom up (data driven) processing
refers to object recognition by parallel processing and feature detection
Top-down processing
Driven by memories and expectations that allow the brain to recognize the whole object and then recognize the components based on these expectations
5 Gestalt principles
Law of proximity Law of similarity Law of continuation Subjective contours Closure
Law of proximity
Objects close to one another will be perceived as a unit
Law of similarity
Objects that are similar seem to be grouped together
Law of continuation
Elements that appear to continue along the same pathway tend to be grouped together
Subjective contours
Perceiving contours and shapes that are not actually present in the stimulus
Closure
when a space is defined by a contour (even if it is unfinished) it will still be perceived as a complete figure
