Psychology: Biological Basis Flashcards by Faith Soule

Electroencephalograph (EEG)

Records brain wave activity

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Phineas Gage

A rod went through his head. The injury didn’t kill him, caused major personality changes. This renewed the desire to study the brain.

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Computerized Tomography (CT)

Takes X-ray images of the brain

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Position Emission Tomography (PET)

Shows the brain’s activity by tracking radioactive glucose

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Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Takes a detailed images of the brains soft tissue by aligning spinning atoms in a magnetic field

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Hindbrain

Located where spinal chord goes into cranium.

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Medulla

Swelling at tip of the spinal chord. Controls involuntary action

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Cerebellum

Controls fine coordinated motor activity

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Pons

Bridge from brain stem to cortex. Carries sensory information to cortex.

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Midbrain

Takes incoming neuro information and channels it to cortex. Also involved in muscle tone and helps in sleep, wakefulness, and attention.

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Forebrain

Most complex part of brain. Separates humans from animals

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Convolutions

Folds in the brain. Memories stored within

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Occipital Lobe

Processes visual information

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Parietal Lobe

Processes information of pain, touch, and pressure

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Frontal Lobe

Largest part of the cortex. Involved in speech, future thought, and planning

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Reticular Formation

Regulates sleep and wakefulness

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Thalamus

Relay station for visual, auditory, and somatosensory information

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Hypothalamus

Controls drives such as hunger, thirst, etc.

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Amygdala

Emotions and emotion laden memories. Adds emotion to memory

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Hippocampus

Stores short term memories and takes them to long term

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Corpus callosum

Connects the hemispheres of the brain

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Septum

Rageful behavior

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Cortex

Surface layer of the brain. Separates humans from animals

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Motor Cortex

Controls voluntary movements.

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Sensory Cortex

Processes body sensations

Temporal Lobe

Interprets auditory information

Broca's Area

Controls ability to speak

Wernicke's Area

Spatial-visual tasks, facial recognition and creativity.

Left Hemisphere

Language, logic, and sequential tasks

Cerebrum

Largest part of the brain. Divided into two hemispheres

Limbic System

Primitive part of the brain.

Central NS

Consists of brain and spinal chord

Peripheral NS

Divided into Somatic & Automatic

Somatic NS

Skeletal muscles

Automatic NS

Glands and internal organs.

Sympathetic NS

Gets the body ready for action

Parasympathetic NS

Brings the body back to homeostasis or normal

Neuron

Basic unit of the nervous system.

Pupil

Opening in the eye, adjusts to amount of light.

Fovea

Point of clearest vision in the eye

Blind Spot

Point of the eye with no rods and cones

Retina

Point of transduction in the eye

Optic Nerve

Takes information to the brain to be interpreted.

Rods

Receptors for black & white vision

Cones

Receptors that perceive color.

Iris

Colored part of the eye that controls the size of the pupil.

Cornea

Transparent protective covering over the eye

Lens

Sends image to the retina.

Sound

Caused by vibrating objects that produce sound waves.

Pinna

External part of the ear, helps catch sound waves.

Auditory Canal

Takes sound from pinna to ear drum.

Tympanic membrane

Also called eardrum, vibrates when sound hits it.

Ossicles

Three bones in inner ear that transmit sound to the cochlea.

Cochlea

Area of transduction in ear.

Hair cells

By fluid movement trigger neural impulses

Auditory nerve

Takes information to the temporal lobe for interpretation.

Place theory

Differences in pitch result from stimulation of different areas of the cochlea.

Frequency theory

Differences in pitch are due to rate of impulses traveling up the auditory nerve.

Trichromatic theory

There are three types of cones: red, blue, & green. All colors are a combination of the three.

Opponent-Process theory

Colors are analyzed in opponent colors. The thalamus turns the colors in and off.

Smell

Only sense that doesn't undergo transduction

Set

What we come to expect from a stimulus

Closure

We fill in gaps in perception

Attention

Conscious focusing on a particular stimulus

Good figure

We always see the strongest stimulus first

Gestalts

Looks for patterns in perception

Gradient

Objects appear fuzzy in the distance

Disparity

Both eyes see slightly different stimuli

Depth perception

Awareness of three dimensions

Proximity

Tendency to group things on the basis of how close they are to each other

Figure and ground

We tend to see main objects first