Unit 6 - Chapter 18 - Psychobiology

Question 1

Define psychobiology.

Answer 1

attempt to explain psychological phenomena in terms of their biological foundations.

Question 2

Briefly describe Karl Lashley’s notion of (a) mass action and equipotentiality

Answer 2

mass action
- loss of ability following destruction in the cortex is related to the amount of destruction

equipotentiality
- within a functional area of the brain, any tissue within that area can perform its associated function.

Question 3

Briefly describe Karl Lashley’s search for the engram

Answer 3

engram: neurophysiological locus of memory and learning.

• work showed that localization likely does not exist.

Question 4

Briefly describe the life and work of Donald Hebb (1904–1985), including his notion of cell assemblies and phase sequences.

Answer 4

cell assembly
- formed when various neurons stimulated by an object become neurologically interrelated.
- cause ideas of events.

phase sequences
- systems of interrelated cell assemblies.
- lead to stream of thought.

Question 5

What was the overall impact of Hebb’s research?

Answer 5

• Hebbs rule (cell assembly) instrumental in development of AI.
• arousal theory led to discovery of reinforcement centers in the brain.

Question 6

Briefly describe the life and work of Roger Sperry (1913–1994), including his research on split brains.

Answer 6

research showed two routes by which info is transferred from one side of cerebral cortex to other;

1) corpus callosum

2) optic chiasm.

Question 7

What is the split-brain preparation and what was the overall impact of Sperry’s work?

Answer 7

split-brain preparation
- brain that has had its corpus callosum and optic chiasm ablated.

impact
- split-brain could help epilepsy
- each hemisphere had its own characteristic
- left & right brain research became popular

Question 8

Define ethology.

Answer 8

study of species-specific behavior in an animal’s natural habitat.

Question 9

List the two ethologists and their interests as described in the text.

Answer 9

1) Lorenz
- study imprinting in geese.
- ethological approach to topics in social psych.

2) Tinbergen
- work with stickleback fish & herring gulls.
- four aims of ethology; 1) function, 2) ontogeny, 3) causation & 4) evolution of behaviour.

Question 10

What are five points of an “ethological attitude”?

Answer 10

1) study meaningful behaviors in animal’s natural existence.

2) begin with descriptive studies.

3) study a wide range of species.

4) compare similar behaviors in closely related species.

5) avoid exclusive use of domesticated/lab animals.

Question 11

Define sociobiology.

Answer 11

explains complex social behavior in terms of evolutionary theory.

• founded by E. Wilson

Question 12

What is a biogrammar and why is it important?

Answer 12

biogrammar
- inherited structure that predisposes organisms toward certain kinds of social activities.

importance
- structures social behaviour.

Question 13

What is the leash principle?

Answer 13

• humans create culture because doing so enhances survival.
• close relationship between culture and the satisfaction of biological needs.

Question 14

Define evolutionary psychology

Answer 14

studies the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

Question 15

What is the sociobiological fallacy?

Answer 15

contention that we live merely to pass copies of our genes onto the next generation.

Question 16

What are some of the criticisms of evolutionary theory?

Answer 16

• criticized for accepting adaptionsim

three faults of adaptionism;
1) other factors cause evolutionary change.

2) traits that were adaptive in the past are not necessarily adaptive in the present.

3) traits may function differently in the present.

Question 17

Describe the work of Keller and Marion Breland and what they found

Answer 17

K &M experiment
- used operant principles to teach animals tricks.

• found instinctual drift –> displacement of learned behaviour by instinctive behaviour.
• supported by preparedness continuum = degree of biological preparedness determines how easily an association is learned.

Question 18

Define behavioural genetics and briefly review the work of Thomas Bouchard.

Answer 18

behavioural genetics
- studies the genetic influence on cognition and behavior.

Bouchard found;
- intelligence is 70% heritable.
- shared family environment has little impact on personality, personality is mostly inherited.

Question 19

What does the term heritability mean and why is it important?

Answer 19

heritability: the extent to which variation on a trait is attributable to genetics.

importance
- can help predict IQ & other cognitive factors.