Unit 3 - Biological Approach to Behavior Flashcards
Cause
a person or thing that gives rise to an action
to make something happen
Holistically
a methodogical position that attempts to gain understanding of the whole in all its complexity
Reductionist
an attempt to explain a complex phenomenon by its constituent parts
reducing the whole to its parts
Product of Brain Structure
behavior may be the product of brain structure
Localization of Function
the belief that every behavior has a specific part of the brain and is associated with a certain brain area
The Nervous System
a highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from the different parts of the body
Neurons
a cell that fires electric signals called “action potentials” across a neural network in the nervous system
The Brain
an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system
Cortex
the layer of neurons with a folded surface covering the brain on the outside
associated with higher-order functions
Frontal Lobes
associated with the reasoning, planning, thinking and decision making, voluntary action, complex emotions, etc
Parietal Lobe
associated with movement, orientation, perception, and recognition
Occipital Lobe
associated with visual processing
Temporal Lobes
associated with processing auditory information, memory, and speech
Left and Right Hemispheres
two halves of the cerebrum
left –> verbal, analytical and orderly functions
right –> visual, intuitive, and creative functions
Corpus Callosum
a structure of neurons that connect the two hemispheres of the brain
Limbic System
an evolutionarily older subcortical structure
the “emotional brain”
Thalamus
all the nerves in the sensory organs reach the thalamus
part of the limbic system
Hypothalamus
“below” the thalamus and is involved in such functions as emotions, thirst, and hunger
part of the limbic system
Amygdala
involved in memory, emotion, and fear
part of the limbic system
Hippocampus
important for such functions as learning, memory, transferring short-term memory to a more permanent store, and spatial orientation
part of the limbic system
Brain Stem
regulates basic vital processes such as breathing and heartbeat
connects to the spinal cord
Neurogenesis
the production of new nerve cells
Migration
along with the production of new cells, at 9 weeks of age, neurons start to migrate to their “correct” positions
Differentation
the development of connections between neurons
synapses
Pruning
the elimination of neural connections as well as some neurons themselves
What experiment was created by
Werker and Tees
1992
a research study that looked at the ability infants had to discriminate between phonemes between English and Hindi
What contributions to brain developmet were made by
Kolb and Fantie
1989
summarized some observations that have invloved participants’ performance on the World Fluency Test
