Week 1 - Intro and Major Issues

Question 1

How does an evolutionary explanation differ from a functional one?

Answer 1

An evolutionary explanation states what evolved from what. A functional explanation states why something was advantageous and therefore favoured by natural selection

Question 2

What is biological psychology?

Answer 2

The study of the physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behaviour and experience.

Question 3

Who investigates how functioning of the brain and other organs influences behaviour?

Answer 3

Behavioural neuroscientist

Question 4

Who conducts behavioural tests to determine the abilities and disabilities of people with various kinds of brain damage, and changes in their condition over time?

Answer 4

Neuropsychologist

Question 5

Who measures heart rate, breathing rate, brain waves, and other body processes and how they vary from one person to another or one situation to another?

Answer 5

Psychophysiologist

Question 6

Who compares the behaviours of different species and tries to relate them to their way of life?

Answer 6

Comparative psychologist

Question 7

Who relates behaviours, especially social behaviours, including those of humans, to the functions they have serves and, therefore, the presumed selective pressures that caused them to evolve?

Answer 7

Evolutionary psychologist

Question 8

Who is employed by a hospital, clinic, private practice or college; helps people with emotional problems?

Answer 8

Clinical psychologist

Question 9

Who is employed by a hospital, clinic, private practice or college and helps people make educational, vocational and other decisions?

Answer 9

Counselling psychologist

Question 10

Who is mainly employed by the school system and identifies educational needs of school children, devises plans to meet the needs and then helps teachers implement it?

Answer 10

School psychologist

Question 11

Who treats people with brain damage or diseases of the brain?

Answer 11

Neurologist

Question 12

Who performs Brain Surgery?

Answer 12

Neurosurgeon

Question 13

Who provides exercise and other treatments to help people with muscle or nerve problems, pain or anything else that impairs movement?

Answer 13

Physiotherapist

Question 14

Who helps people improve their ability to perform functions of daily life, for example, after a stroke?

Answer 14

Occupational therapist

Question 15

Who helps people deal with personal and family problems?

Answer 15

Social Worker

Question 16

Describe reasons biological psychologists conduct much of their research on nonhuman animals

Answer 16

• Sometimes the mechanisms of behaviour are easier to study in a nonhuman species.
• We are curious about animals for their own sake
• We study animals to understand human evolution
• Certain procedures that might lead to important knowledge are illegal or unethical with humans

Question 17

What are the three R’s in the legal standards for animal research?

Answer 17

• Reduction (of animal numbers)
• Replacement (using computer models or other substitutes where possible instead of animals)
• Refinement (modifying the procedures to reduce pain and discomfort)

Question 18

How does the “minimalist” position differ to the “abolitionist” position?

Answer 18

A minimalist wishes to limit animal research to studies with little discomfort and much potential value. An abolitionist wishes to eliminate all animal research regardless of how the animals are treated or how much value the research might produce.

Question 19

What is meant by “monism”?
A) The idea that all forms of life evolved from a single ancestor
B) The idea that conscious and unconscious motivations combine to produce behaviour
C) The idea that the mind is made of the same substance as the rest of the universe
D) The idea that the mind is one type of substance as matter is another

Answer 19

C) The idea that the mind is made of the same substance as the rest of the universe

Question 20

What is “dualism”?

Answer 20

The idea that minds are of one type of substance and matter is another

Question 21

An ontogenetic explanation focuses on which of the following?
A) How a behaviour develops
B) The brain mechanisms that produce a behaviour
C) The conscious experience that accompanies a behaviour
D) The procedures that measure a behaviour

Answer 21

A) How a behaviour develops

Question 22

Of the following, what is an example of an evolutionary explanation?
A) People evolved a fear of snakes because many snakes are dangerous
B) Humans have a (tiny) tailbone because our ancient monkey-like ancestors had a tail
C) People evolved an ability to recognise faces because that ability is essential for cooperative social behaviours
D) People evolved a tendency to form long-term male-female bonds because human infants benefit from the help of two parents during their long period of dependence

Answer 22

B) Humans have a (tiny) tailbone because our ancient monkey-like ancestors had a tail

Question 23

Of the following, what is a reason favouring the use of animals in biological psychology research aimed at solving human problems?
A) Nonhuman animals engage in all the same behaviours as humans
B) One human differs from another, but nonhumans are nearly the same as one another
C) The nervous system of nonhuman animals resembles that of humans in many ways
D) Researchers can study nonhuman animals without any legal restraints

Answer 23

C) The nervous system of nonhuman animals resembles that of humans in many ways

Question 24

What does a “minimalist” favour with regards to animal research?
A) All research should have a minimum of at least 10 animals per group
B) A minimum of three people should review each research proposal
C) Interference with animal research should be held to a minimum
D) Animal research is permissible but should be held to a minimum

Answer 24

D) Animal research is permissible but should be held to a minimum

Question 25

What is the mind-body or mind-brain problem?

Answer 25

It tries to explain the relationship between the mental experience and brain activity