Test 1

Question 1

biological psychology

Answer 1

the study of the physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behavior and experience.

Question 2

physiological explanations

Answer 2

relates a behavior to the activity of the brain and other organs.

Question 3

ontogenetic explanation

Answer 3

describes how a structure or behavior develops, including the influences of genes, nutrition, experiences, and their interactions.

Question 4

evolutionary explanation

Answer 4

reconstructs the evolutionary history of a structure or behavior.

Question 5

functional explanation

Answer 5

describes why a structure or behavior evolved as it did.

Question 6

dualism

Answer 6

belief that mind and body are different kinds of substance that exist independently.

Question 7

monism

Answer 7

belief that the universe consists of only one kind of substance.

Question 8

mentalism

Answer 8

view that only the mind really exists and that the physical world could not exist unless some mind were aware of it.

Question 9

materialism

Answer 9

view that everything that exists is material or physical

Question 10

PKU (phenylketonuria)

Answer 10

a genetic inability to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine, lack of this amino acid impairs brain development leaving children mentally retarded, restless, and irritability.

Question 11

arguments for animal research

Answer 11

Underlying mechanisms of behavior are similar across species and it’s easier to study nonhuman species.
We’re interested in animals for their own sake.
What we learn about animals sheds light on human biology.
Some experiments cannot use human subjects because of legal or ethical restrictions

Question 12

artificial selection

Answer 12

process of selecting plants/animals for desired traits.

Question 13

natural selection

Answer 13

is the gradual process by which heritable biological traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of the effect of inherited traits on the differential reproductive success of organisms interacting with their environment.

Question 14

hard problem

Answer 14

the question of why and how any kind of brain activity is associated with consciousness.

Question 15

easy problem

Answer 15

pertain to many phenomena to which we apply the term consciousness

Question 16

How many neurons are found in the human body?

Answer 16

The human brain has estimably 100 billion neurons, and the number varies from person to person.

Question 17

action potential

Answer 17

messages sent by axons

Question 18

resting potential

Answer 18

the difference in voltage in a resting neuron

Question 19

role of myelin

Answer 19

To prevent degradation of the action potential over long distances
To speed up transmission of the action potential

Question 20

afferent pathway

Answer 20

brings information into a structure

Question 21

efferent pathway

Answer 21

carries information away from a structure

Question 22

excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP)

Answer 22

graded depolarization, results from the flow of sodium ions into the neuron. If an EPSP does not cause the cell to reach its threshold, the depolarization decays quickly.

Question 23

inhibitory postsynaptic potential (ISPS)

Answer 23

resembles ESPS, occurs when synaptic input selectively opens the gates for potassium ions to leave the cell (carrying a positive charge with them) or chloride ions to enter the cell (carrying a negative charge)

Question 24

acetylcholine

Answer 24

mostly excitatory

Question 25

Catecholamines

Answer 25

dopamine- excitatory and inhibitory
epinephrine- excitatory
norepinephrine- excitatory

Question 26

monoamines

Answer 26

non-acidic neurotransmitters containing an amine group

Question 27

ionotropic effect

Answer 27

refers to when a neurotransmitter attaches to receptors and immediately opens ion channels.

Question 28

metabotropic effects

Answer 28

occur when neurotransmitters attach to a receptor and initiates a sequence of slower and longer lasting metabolic reactions (hunger, fear, thirst, or anger)

Question 29

neuromodulators

Answer 29

neuropeptides, release requires repeated stimulation, released peptides trigger other neurons to release the same near peptide, diffuse widely and affect many neurons through metabotropic receptors

Question 30

reuptake

Answer 30

reabsorption of a neurotransmitter by the presynaptic terminal

Question 31

agonistic drug

Answer 31

a drug that mimics or increases the effects of a neurotransmitter

Question 32

antagonistic drug

Answer 32

a drug that blocks a neurotransmitter

Question 33

nicotine

Answer 33

excites acetylcholine receptors on neurons that release dopamine and thereby increases dopamine release.

Question 34

opiates

Answer 34

stimulate endorphin synapses, which inhibit neurons that inhibit release of dopamine. By inhibiting an inhibitor, opiates increase the release of dopamine.

Question 35

Cannabinoids (marijuana)

Answer 35

released by the postsynaptic neuron attach to receptors on presynaptic neurons, where they inhibit further release of both glutamate and GABA

Question 36

cocaine

Answer 36

interfere with reuptake of released dopamine

Question 37

Type I/Type A alcoholism

Answer 37

develop alcohol problems gradually, after age 25, and may or may not have relatives with alcohol abuse

Question 38

Type II/Type B alcoholism

Answer 38

have more rapid onset, usually before age 25. Most are men and most have close relatives with alcoholism