Topic 1 Conceptual & historical overview

Question 1

What are gyri & sulci?

Answer 1

gyri: folds of the cortex
sulci: creases between the folds

Question 2

Name the 4 lobes in the human brain

Answer 2

Frontal lobe
Parietal lobe
Occipital lobe
Temporal lobe

Question 3

What is the central nervous system comprised of?

Answer 3

brain (encased by the skull) + spinal cord (encased by the vertebrae)

Question 4

What is the peripheral nervous system comprised of?

Answer 4

SNS (somatic nervous system) + ANS (autonomic nervous system)

Question 5

What are perceptual constancies and why does the brain need to implement them? Use the example of size constancy in your answer.

Answer 5

perceptual constancies: the perceiving physical properties of an object typically do not change with changes in viewing conditions.
Example: cast an image onto the eyes. when object moved towards one’s eyes, the retina image becomes larger, but the brain perceives it as of constant size.

Question 6

What are perceptual constancies and why does the brain need to implement them? Use the example of size constancy in your answer.

Answer 6

Perceptual constancies: the perceiving physical properties of an object typically do not change with changes in viewing conditions.
If perceptual constancy did not exist, object would appear to change as your view of them changed.
Example: Object moving towards one’s eyes casts bigger image onto the retina, but tends to appear constant in perceived size (i.e. perception of an object’s size remains relatively constant).