Unit 2: Biological Psychology

Question 1

What allows a nerve cell to transmit an electrical signal down the axon towards other cells?

Answer 1

Action Potential

Question 2

what part of the nervous system is responsible for control of the bodily functions not consciously directed (breathing, heartbeat, digestion)?

Answer 2

Autonomic Nervous System

Question 3

what is a cell that is specialized to transmit nerve impulses

Answer 3

Neuron

Question 4

what are the branched extensions of the nerve cell that collect the information communicated from other cells surrounding?

Answer 4

Dendrite

Question 5

what is the part of the nerve cell that impulses are conducted from

Answer 5

Axon

Question 6

What type of cell provides physical and chemical support to neurons (and manufactures most of the myelin sheath?

Answer 6

Glial cells

Question 7

what wraps around the nerve axon and insulates the electrical wiring for the neuron

Answer 7

myelin sheath

Question 8

what is the lowest point at which a stimulus will cause a response

Answer 8

threshold

Question 9

what is the term that refers to the period of time where the response to a second stimulus is significantly slowed because a first stimulus is still being processed

Answer 9

Refractory period

Question 10

What is the small gap between two neurons where nerve impulses are relayed between an axon and another cell’s dendrite

Answer 10

synapse

Question 11

what is the chemical messenger released from the neuron

Answer 11

neurotransmitter

Question 12

what part of the nervous system is the brain and spinal chord?

Answer 12

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Question 13

what part of the nervous system consist of the nerves that branch out from the brain and spinal chord?

Answer 13

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Question 14

what part of the nervous system is a component of the PNS and is associated with the voluntary control of the body movements?

Answer 14

Somatic Nervous System

Question 15

What nervous system network helps your body activate “fight-or-flight” response when danger is sensed?

Answer 15

Sympathetic Nervous System

Question 16

What nervous system network predominates in “rest and digest” conditions?

Answer 16

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Question 17

what is a neural pathway that controls a reflex?

Answer 17

reflex arc

Question 18

What is a regulatory substance produced in an organism and transported in tissue fluid to stimulate specific cells or tissues into action?

Answer 18

hormone

Question 19

What is the “master endocrine gland” that is attached to the base of the brain?

Answer 19

Pituitary Gland

Question 20

What is made up of organs (glands) and produce/release different hormones to comprise feedback loops?

Answer 20

Endocrine System

Question 21

What part of the brain makes up the lower part of the brainstem and comprises of the cerebellum, pons, and medulla oblongata

Answer 21

Hindbrain

Question 22

What part of the brain is the topmost part of the brainstem, and is the connection central between the brain and spinal chord

Answer 22

Midbrain

Question 23

what part of the brain is anterior and includes the cerebral hemispheres, the thalamus, and the hypothalumus

Answer 23

Forebrain

Question 24

What part of the brainstem links the medulla oblongata and the thalamus

Answer 24

Pons

Question 25

what part of the brain links the cardiovascular and respiratory system together and controls heart rate, blood pressure, etc

Answer 25

medulla

Question 26

what part of the brain is at the back of the skull in vertebrates and coordinates/regulate muscular activity

Answer 26

Cerebellum

Question 27

What is the pathway for neural fibers, controls simple reflexes, and is in the hindbrain?

Answer 27

Spinal Chord

Question 28

What network of brainstem nuclei and neurons serves as a major integration and relay center for many vital brain systems to coordinate functions necessary to survival?

Answer 28

Reticular formation

Question 29

What part of the brain involves our behavioral and emotional responses, especially when it comes to behaviors we need for survival?

Answer 29

The Limbic system

Question 30

What part of the brain is primarily associated with emotional processes?

Answer 30

amygdala

Question 31

what part of the brain produces hormones that control body temperature, heart rate, and hunger?

Answer 31

Hypothalamus

Question 32

what part of the brain has a major role in learning and memory and is embedded deep in the temporal lobe?

Answer 32

Hippocampus

Question 33

What is the part of the brain that consists of nerve fibers and joins the two hemispheres together?

Answer 33

corpus callosum

Question 34

What part of the brain relays messages between midbrain and the cerebral cortex

Answer 34

Thalamus

Question 35

what is the largest part of your brain and handles conscious thoughts and actions

Answer 35

Cerebrum

Question 36

what is the outer layer of the brain's surface (on top of the cerebrum) and is associated with memory, thinking, learning, reasoning, problem-solving, emotions, consciousness, and sensory functions?

Answer 36

Cerebral cortex

Question 37

What are the largest lobes in the brain and important for voluntary movements, expressive language, and for managing higher level executive functions

Answer 37

Frontal Lobes

Question 38

What Lobe is vital for sensory perception and integration, including managing taste, hearing, sight, touch, and smell; home to brain's primary somatic sensory cortex?

Answer 38

Parietal Lobes

Question 39

What Lobe is vital for visual processing, distance and depth perception, color determination, object and face recognition, and memory formation

Answer 39

Occipital lobe

Question 40

What lobes are most commonly associated with processing auditory information?

Answer 40

Temporal lobes (opposite side of the ear stimulated)

Question 41

what region of the frontal lobe is responsible for the control of voluntary movement?

Answer 41

Motor Cortex

Question 42

What region of the brain is responsible for receiving and processing sensory information from across the body, such as touch, temperature, and pain?

Answer 42

Somatosensory Cortex

Question 43

What is an area of the cerebral cortex that functions in linking and coordinating the sensory and motor areas?

Answer 43

Association area

Question 44

What is the study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics?

Answer 44

Genetics

Question 45

What are a structure of nucleic acids and protein found in the nucleus of most living cells?

Answer 45

Chromosomes

Question 46

What special type of studies are designed to measure the contribution of genetics as opposed to the environment?

Answer 46

Twin studies

Question 47

What results from the fertilization of a single egg by a single sperm, and then splits in two?

Answer 47

Monzygotic twins

Question 48

What results from the fertilization of two separate eggs with two different sperm during the same pregnancy?

Answer 48

Dizygotic twins

Question 49

What is the study of how your behavior and environment can changes that affect the way your genes work?

Answer 49

Epigenetics

Question 50

What is the branch of psychology that studies the mental adaptations of humans of a changing environment; differences in behavior, cognition, and brain structure?

Answer 50

Evolutionary psychology

Question 51

What is the feeling, or perception resulting from something that happens or comes into contact with the body?

Answer 51

Sensation

Question 52

What is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through senses?

Answer 52

Perception

Question 53

What type of processing involves perceiving things based on one's own prior experiences and knowledge?

Answer 53

Top-Down Processing

Question 54

What type of processing involves sensory analysis that begins at the entry level - what our senses can detect?

Answer 54

bottom-up processing

Question 55

What is the term for one form of energy converting into another?

Answer 55

Transduction

Question 56

What is the minimum amount of stimulation required for a stimulus to be detected?

Answer 56

Absolute Threshold

Question 57

What is the minimum amount of change it takes for a stimulus to be detected?

Answer 57

Difference Threshold or Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

Question 58

What explains that the subjective sensation is proportional to the background intensity (i.e. a noisy environment requires louder conversation tone)?

Answer 58

Weber's Law

Question 59

What kind of stimulus may be perceived and processed in the brain but does not elicit awareness of perception?

Answer 59

Subliminal stimulus

Question 60

What refers to the way our senses adjust to different stimuli? (i.e. turning the lights on when it's dark)?

Answer 60

Sensory Adaptation

Question 61

What refers to a predisposition to perceive things in a certain way?

Answer 61

perceptual set

Question 62

What is the conception of a common things to all members; a General mental concept?

Answer 62

schema

Question 63

What describes the influence of environmental factors on one's perception of a stimulus?

Answer 63

context effects

Question 64

Neurotransmitters are what type of messengers?

Answer 64

Chemical

Question 65

What is the term for the change in electrical charge due to positively charged ions flowing into the negatively charged axon?

Answer 65

Depolarization

Question 66

Why are hormones slower than neurotransmitters?

Answer 66

because they are transmitted through the blood

Question 67

What are the two parts of the nervous system and how are they different?

Answer 67

Central Nervous system and Peripheral Nervous system. CNS – brain and spinal cord PNS- everything else

Question 68

What are the two parts of the peripheral nervous system and what is the difference between them?

Answer 68

Somatic and Autonomic Somatic – voluntary movement of skeletal muscles Autonomic- involuntary movement of smooth muscles and glands of organs

Question 69

What are the two parts of the autonomic nervous system and what is the difference between them?

Answer 69

Sympathetic – fight or flight Parasympathetic – rest and digest

Question 70

What are the three types of neurons?

Answer 70

Motor neuron sensory neuron interneuoron

Question 71

What type of neuron carries outgoing information from the brain and spinal chord to the muscles and glands? Central > peripheral

Answer 71

Motor Neuron

Question 72

What type of neuron carries incoming information from the body's tissues and sensory receptors to the brain and spinal chord Peripheral > central

Answer 72

Sensory Neuron

Question 73

What type of neuron connects the incoming and outgoing messages (inside the central)?

Answer 73

Interneuron

Question 74

What does the endocrine system do?

Answer 74

Sends hormones

Question 75

What is the difference between hormones and neurotransmitters?

Answer 75

hormones- slower than neurotransmitters because they are transmitted through the blood Neurotransmitters- chemicals that make up the message itself, kind of like a language that neurons use to talk to each other.

Question 76

What does the pituitary gland do?

Answer 76

Endocrine’s system’s most influential gland and located in the brain—regulates growth and secretes lots of different hormones.

Question 77

What are the three main divisions of the brain?

Answer 77

Hindbrain Midbrain Forebrain

Question 78

Which of the three divisions of the brain were the first to develop and helps to regulate autonomic functions, relay sensory information, coordinate movement, and maintain balance and equilibrium?

Answer 78

Hindbrain

Question 79

which of the three divisions of the brain were the last to develop and processes sensory information, helps with reasoning, and problem solving, and regulates autonomic endocrine and motor functions?

Answer 79

Forebrain

Question 80

Which of the three divisions of the brain help regulate movement and process auditory and visual information?

Answer 80

Midbrain

Question 81

What are the main components of the hindbrain?

Answer 81

Pons medulla reticular formation cerebellum spinal cord

Question 82

What are the main components of the forebrain?

Answer 82

Corpus collosum thalamus limbic system cerebrum

Question 83

What are the main components of the limbic system?

Answer 83

Amygdala hypothalamus hippocampus pituitary

Question 84

What are the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?

Answer 84

Frontal lobe parietal lobe occipital lobe temporal lobe

Question 85

Where are the motor cortex and what do they do?

Answer 85

In the frontal lobe; controls motor output for opposite side

Question 86

Where are the somatosensory cortexes and what do they do?

Answer 86

In the parietal lobe; controls sensory input for the opposite side

Question 87

What are association areas and why are they important?

Answer 87

The rest of the cerebral cortex that is not motor/somatosensory. Make the connections for higher mental functioning like learning, personality, morality, planning, etc.

Question 88

Why is there a myth we only use 10% of our brain

Answer 88

Came from the way we started to understand the motor cortex and somatosensory cortex. These parts of the brain were the only areas with a physical reaction, but we use the rest of the for higher complex stuff.

Question 89

How many lobes in each part of the brain?

Answer 89

4 lobes each

Question 90

How is the focus of genetics different from the focus of evolutionary psychology?

Answer 90

Genetics focuses on what makes us different from one another. Evolutionary psychology focuses on what makes us like each other.

Question 91

Why are twin studies useful?

Answer 91

Foundational way of understanding genetics in terms of psychology. We can compare how genes and the environment impact someone’s behavior. Genes are not always active but can be influenced by environment as genes and experience can interact.

Question 92

What is the importance of the gene-environment interaction?

Answer 92

By studying gene-environment interaction, we can look at how genes impact the psychology because personality is determined more by genes than environment factors.

Question 93

What does it mean by genes are self-regulating?

Answer 93

Genes react based on the environment meaning they may not always be active.

Question 94

What is the basic idea of natural selection?

Answer 94

Organisms’ varied offspring compete for survival. Certain biological and behavioral variations increase organism’s reproductive and survival chances in their environment. Offspring that survive are more likely to pass their genes to ensuing generations. Thus, over time, population characteristics may change.