Psychology Flashcards
What is the brain involved in?
The brain is involved in almost everything we think, feel, and do, including processing information and maintaining vital functions
Functions include breathing, heart beating, temperature regulation, digestion, water balance, and responding to stimuli.
What is the cerebral cortex responsible for?
The cerebral cortex processes complex sensory information, initiates voluntary movements, manages language, symbolic thinking, and regulates emotion
It includes areas for sensory processing, motor initiation, and complex integration functions.
How thick is the cerebral cortex?
The cerebral cortex is only a few millimeters thick
If flattened, it would cover about four pages of a textbook.
What are the three broad categories of cerebral cortex areas?
- Sensory areas
- Motor areas
- Association areas
What are the cerebral hemispheres?
The cerebral hemispheres are two almost-symmetrical brain areas referred to as the left and right hemispheres.
What is hemispheric specialisation?
Hemispheric specialisation refers to the idea that one hemisphere has specialised functions or exerts greater control over particular functions.
What difficulties arise from damage to the left hemisphere?
Damage to the left hemisphere often results in difficulties with language-related activities such as understanding speech and talking fluently.
What difficulties arise from damage to the right hemisphere?
Damage to the right hemisphere often results in difficulties with visual and spatial abilities.
What functions does the right hemisphere specialise in?
- Spatial and visual thinking
- Recognising faces, patterns, and tunes
- Appreciating music and artworks
- Creative thinking
- Daydreaming
- Recognising emotions from facial cues
What are the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?
- Frontal lobe
- Parietal lobe
- Occipital lobe
- Temporal lobe
What are the functions of the frontal lobe?
- Planning
- Estimates
- Attention
- Decisions
- Controlling and expressing emotions
- Movement
- Language
What are the primary functions of the parietal lobe?
- Body senses
- Spatial reasoning
- Attention
What functions are associated with the temporal lobe?
- Memory
- Sounds
- Emotional memories
- Language
- Facial recognition
What is the primary visual cortex?
The primary visual cortex is located at the back of each occipital lobe and is the major destination for visual information from the eyes.
What activities activate the occipital lobe?
- Processing visual information
- Selecting, organising, and integrating visual information
What is the Stroop effect?
The Stroop effect illustrates the mental effort required for tasks and shows that many cognitive tasks are done automatically.
Fill in the blank: The _______ lobe is involved in planning and decision-making.
frontal
True or False: Both hemispheres have identical functions.
False
