Unit 2 Flashcards
Why is the evolution of psychological traits more controversial than biological traits?
Psychological traits are derived from unmeasurable data and from learning. Biological traits can be measured and observed using scientific method.
What field studies behavior and the mind using the principles of evolutionary theory?
Evolutionary psychology
Why is it that species do not necessarily evolve to fit their environment perfectly?
Because surviving well enough to reproduce is all that matters. Although it may not be the best design (penguin example) it just needs to work well enough to continue living.
What is evolution?
Cumulative changes in generations over time.
Three components necessary for evolution to occur:
Variation
Selection
Retention
Variation:
Individual members of species have unique features and differ from one another.
Selection:
Provides direction to process by favoring (and disfavoring) certain unique features.
Retention:
Favored features are retained through heredity and become more common in the species overall.
What role does natural selection play in evolution?
Organisms well adapted to their environment will produce more offspring than those less well adapted. Over time, those organisms possessing traits more favorable for survival will become more numerous than those not possions those traits.
What are genes?
The biological unit of heredity; discrete section of a chromosome responsible for transmission of traits.
What is a neuron?
A basic unit of nervous system. A cell in the nervous system specialized to receive, process, and/or transmit information to other cells.
What is a neurotransmitter?
Chemical messenger released from a neuron that crosses the synapse from one neuron to another stimulating the post synaptic neuron.
Neurotransmitters and mental disorders & abnormal behavior.
The many roles played by neurotransmitters make it difficult to pinpoint a simple cause and effect relation.
This may be a false debate because there could be outside contributing factors.
Cell body:
Called the soma and contains the nucleus of the cell and the cytoplasm that sustains its life.
Dendrites:
One of the branched fibers of neurons that receive incoming signals.
Axon:
The extended fiber of a neuron through which nerve impulses travel from the soma to the terminal buttons.
Axon terminal:
A bulb like structure at the branched ending of an axon that contains vesicles filled with neurotransmitters.
What are mirrored neurons?
Neurons that responds when an individual observes another individual performs a motor action.( Monkey see monkey do )
They may enable us to understand the intentions of others people’s behavior.
EEG
Electroencephalogram is an amplified tracing of the brain activity, and study the relationship between psychological activities and brain response.
fMRI
Functional magnetic resonance imaging detects magnetic changes in the flow of blood to cells in the brain; fMRI allows for more precise claims about both structure and function.
Used to learn about cognitive abilities, such as attention, perception, language processing, and memory.
Amygdala:
The part of the limbic system that controls emotion, aggression, and the formation of emotional memory.
Hypothalamus:
The brain structure that regulates motivated behavior (such as eating and drinking) and homeostasis.
Hippocampus:
The part of the limbic system that is involved in the acquisition of explicit memory.
Cerebrum:
The region of the brain that regulates higher cognitive and emotional functions.
