Unit 1 - Introduction & Neuroscience and Biological Foundations Flashcards
Socio-cultural paradigm
behavior is a result of our environment and culture
Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic paradigm
behavior is a result of childhood and drive to fulfill unconscious desires (Freud)
Cognitive paradigm
behavior is a result of mental processes, thoughts, beliefs, perceptions
Humanistic paradigm
behavior is a result of effects to fulfill needs in the best way we can
Behavioral paradigm
behavior is a result of rewards; we stop acting in ways that are punished
Biological paradigm
behavior is a result of brain structure, body chemistry, hormones, genetics
Evolutionary paradigm
behavior is a result of natural selection and adaption
4 lobes of the brain
frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe
Frontal lobe
includes: prefrontal cortex (personality/emotion and higher brain function), medial prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex (strong connections to limbic system), motor cortex (voluntary movements), broca’s area (smooth and fluent speech)
function: higher cognitive function including planning, personalities, memory storage, complex decision making, language
Temporal lobe
includes: amygdala (fear response and processing emotions), primary auditory cortex (processes auditory info), auditory association area (identifies auditory info from ears), Wernicke’s area (language comprehension)
function: perception, face recognition, object recognition, memory acquisition, understanding language, and emotional reactions
Parietal lobe
includes: somatosensory cortex (sensory processing and integration)
function: integrates info from senses to create picture of the world
Occipital lobe
includes: primary visual cortex (receives and processes info from optic nerves), visual association cortex (identifies visual info from eyes)
function: vision
Limbic system
includes: thalamus (relay station for incoming sensory info), hypothalamus (the 4 F’s), hippocampus (forms long-term memories), amygdala (fear response and processing emotions), cingulate cortex (emotional/cognitive processing)
function: emotions, motivation, memory, learning
Association areas
neurons in cortex that make connections between sensory info and stored memories/images/knowledge
Spatial neglect
people who have a damaged right hemisphere and ignore everything in left visual field
Roger Sperry
pioneer in field of hemisphere specialization; proved that left and right hemispheres specialize in different functions and activities
Left hemisphere
language, speech, handwriting, math, sense of time and rhythm, thought requiring analysis
Right hemisphere
perception, visualization, spatial perception, recognition of patterns/faces/emotions/melodies, expression of emotions, comprehends simple language BUT doesn’t produce speech
ADHD
developmental disorder involving behavioral and cognitive aspects of inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity (cortical and subcortical areas involved –> prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum, corpus callosum)
Connectivity in brain
pons (bridge between cerebrum and cerebellum, balance, motor control, posture), corpus callosum (connects left and right hemispheres), thalamus (relay station for incoming sensory info)
movement in brain
cerebellum, motor cortex
basic body functions in brain
medulla (regulates life-sustaining functions), hypothalamus
sensory in brain
reticular formation (allows people to ignore constant unchanging info and become alert to changes in info), parietal lobe
Brain stem
includes: medulla, pons, reticular formation
emotions in brain
limbic system
speech in brain
Broca’s area
auditory in brain
temporal lobe
vision in brain
occipital lobe
Scientific method
- description - observing/noting everything down
- explanation - trying to understand findings + creating theory
- prediction - determining what will happen in the future
- control - modification of behavior
Gustav Fechner
credited for performing first scientific experiments that formed a basis for psychological experimentation
Wilhelm Wundt
objective introspection - process of objectively examining and measuring one’s own thoughts and mental activities
William James
functionalism - how people work, play, and adapt to their surroundings
Max Wertheimer
gestalt - studying sensation and perception with focus on whole patterns
Sigmund Freud
psychoanalysis - unconscious/unaware mind in which people repress urges and desires (thought repressed urges/desires created nervous disorders)
John B. Watson
behaviorism - human behavior can be understood by examining the relationship between events in the environment and observable behavior
Carl Rogers
humanistic - humans are free agents capable of controlling their own lives, making their own choices, setting goals and working to achieve them (humans are inherently good)
Edward Titchener
structuralism - everything can be broken down into individual emotions and sensations
Margaret F. Washburn
first woman to receive a PhD in psychology
Mary Whiton Calkins
earliest research in human memory and psychology of self; never earned PhD because she was a woman
G. Stanley Hall
founder and first president of the American Psychological Association
Industrial/organizational psychology
application of psychological concepts to businesses, organizations, and industry
Ivan Pavlov
proved that a reflex could occur in response to a formerly unrelated stimulus (Pavlov’s dogs)
Mary Cover Jones
early pioneer of behavior therapy
Operant conditioning
created by B.F. Skinner; behavioral responses followed by pleasurable consequences are strengthened/reinforced
Nervous system
network of cells that carries info throughout the body
Santiago Ramon y Cajal
first theorized that nervous system was made up of individual cells
Neuron
cell in nervous system that receives/sends messages throughout the system
Glial cells
supports neurons (structurally, giving nutrients…)
Schwan cells
generates fatty layer of myelin for PNS; myelin can serve as tunnel if nerve cell is damaged, and can repair/reconnect neuron
Oligodendrocytes
generates fatty layer of myelin for CNS
Tracts
myelin-coated axons in CNS
Nerves
myelin-coated axons in PNS
Myelin sheath
insulates and protects neuron; allows electrical signal to be sent faster
Sodium potassium pump
salty banana
Resting potential
when sodium potassium pump is at rest
Action potential
neural impulse that carries info along the axon of a neuron; the action potential is generated when positively charged ions move in and out through the channels in the axon membrane
Toilet metaphor
all or nothing
threshold
refractory period
Major neurotransmitters
acetylcholine (ACh) - excitatory; stimulates muscle contractions
dopamine (DA) - excitatory or inhibitory; pleasure
serotonin - excitatory or inhibitory; associated with sleep, mood, anxiety, appetite
glutamate - excitatory; learning and memory
gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) - inhibitory
endorphins - inhibitory; lessens pain by inhibiting pain signal
epinephrine - excitatory; adrenaline
norepinephrine (NE) - excitatory; stress hormone
Threshold of excitation
threshold to reach in order for message to fire throughout neuron (majority rules - if enough excitatory neurotransmitters over inhibitory neurotransmitters)
Antagonist
blocks/reduces effects of neurotransmitter
Agonist
mimics/enhances effects of neurotransmitter
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
includes all nerves and neurons not in brain and spinal cord; made up of somatic nervous system (controls voluntary muscles; made up of sensory and motor pathways) and autonomic nervous system (controls involuntary muscles, organs, and glands; middle of spinal cord is sympathetic - fight or flight; top and bottom of spinal cord is parasympathetic - eat, drink, rest)
3 types of neurons
afferent/sensory (messages from senses to spinal cord); efferent/motor (messages from spinal cord to muscles and glands); interneurons (connects afferent neurons to motor neurons)
Afferent neurons Access the spinal cord, Efferent neurons Exit
Neuroplasticity
ability to constantly change both structure and function of cells in brain in response to experience or trauma
Endocrine glands
controlled by pituitary gland; secrete chemicals/hormones directly into bloodstream unlike salivary or sweat glands which secrete chemicals/hormones into body’s tissues
Positron emission tomography (PET)
lets researchers see what areas of the brain are most active during certain tasks; PET scan measures how much of a certain chemical parts of the brain are using (more chemical = more activity)
