Neuron my Level
Explain the All-or-None principle.
The principle that nerves will either fire a complete action potential at maximum strength or not at all.
What is the idea that each side of the brain has its own specific functions?
Hemispheric Specialization or Brain Lateralization
What is our body's natural 24-hour clock that coordinates our physical, mental, and behavioral processes?
Circadian Rhythm
What is the brain's ability to focus on a single conversation while filtering out background / competing noise (unless specifically drawn to that competing stimuli)?
The cocktail party effect
What is the biopsychosocial approach in psychology?
An integrated framework that refers to the biological (genetic), psychological (emotions, behaviors, thoughts), and social-cultural (family dynamics, community, cultural / ethnic background) factors that explain health and human behavior.
Which part of the neuron is the fatty, protective covering that speeds up electrical transmission and neural impulses.
Myelin Sheath
What are the two specific parts of the body that make up the Central Nervous System (CNS)?
The Brain and Spinal Cord
Explain the concept of priming.
The cognitive phenomenon that exposure to one stimulus influences how the individual / group will respond to that stimulus, with or without conscious awareness.
What is the vestibular sense responsible for?
Vestibular sense helps with body orientation, balance, motion detection, & position.
What is the purpose of studying identical twins in psychology?
To examine the overall roles of genes vs environment (nature vs nurture). Studies that separate genetically identical twins at birth can utilize their genes as the control group while their environment (family dynamic, communities, society) can serve as the experimental group.
What is the difference between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters?
Excitatory: excite the next cell into firing
Inhibitory: inhibit the next cell from firing
Name 4 (out of 7 listed in your textbook) of the ways the brain has been studied.
Accidents, Lesions, Electroencephalograms (EEGs), Computerized Axial Tomography (CAT / CT) Scans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scans, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scans, and Functional MRI (fMRI) Scans
What are the 5 levels of consciousness listed in your textbook?
Conscious level, Nonconscious level, Preconscious level, Subconscious level, & Unconscious level
List the 4 steps of the vision process.
1. Gathering light (visible light & wavelength)
2. Light enters the eye (through the cornea & is focused)
3. Transduction (translation of incoming stimuli into neural signals)
4. Sensation to Perception in the visual cortex (occipital lobe)
Explain the difference between agonist and antagonist drugs.
Agonists: drugs that fit onto receptor sites & mimic the function of neurotransmitters (substitution).
Antagonists: drugs that block the receptor sites & prevent the correct neurotransmitters from causing a reaction (prevention).
Match these definitions with their appropriate neuron type:
Motor neurons
Sensory neurons
Interneurons
Explain what Broca's Area and Wernicke's Area are responsible for.
Broca's Area: language expression (the part of the frontal lobe responsible for controlling muscles needed to speak).
Wernicke's Area: language comprehension (the part of the temporal lobe responsible for linguistic processing & our ability to understand written and spoken speech).
Name 3 necessary functions of NREM 3 sleep.
Tissue and muscle repairs, the release of growth hormones, strengthening immune defenses, energy restoration, memory consolidation, and metabolic regulation.
List & describe the theories of color vision.
Trichromatic theory: we have 3 cones in our retina & each cone detects a different primary color of light (red, blue, or green).
Opponent-Process Theory: States that sensory receptors are arranged in the retina cone in pairs: red/green, yellow/blue, & black/white.
Based off the information from your textbook, name the 4 types of psychoactive drugs & provide an example of each type.
Stimulants (caffeine, cocaine, amphetamine, nicotine); Depressants (alcohol, barbiturates, tranquilizers); Hallucinogens (LSD, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, marajuana); & Opiates (morphine, heroin, methadone, codeine, fentanyl)
Name at least 4 neurotransmitters, their function in the body, & what problems arise with an excess or deficit of them.
Dopamine: motor movement & alertness; lack is associated with Parkinson's & too much is associated with schizophrenia
Serotonin: mood control; lack is associated with clinical depression
Norepinephrine: alertness & arousal; lack is associated with depression
Glutamate: excitatory neurotransmitters, involved in memory; triggers migraines &/or seizures
GABA: important inhibitory transmitter; internalizes when having seizures & can cause sleep problems
Endorphins: pain control; involved in addictions
Substance P: pain perception; lack is associated with lack in pain perception
Acetylcholine: motor movement; lack is associated with Alzheimers, also myasthenia gravis (muscle weakness).
Name this missing part of the brain & its primary functions.
Cerebellum: coordinates voluntary muscle movements, balance & posture, and fine-tune motor activity.
(Latin for 'little brain', contains over 50% of neurons in the brain; looks like a scaled-down, miniature version of the main brain, the cerebrum)
Name the 3 theories of dream analysis & explain them.
Activation-Synthesis Theory: dreams as a biological phenomena; no meaning beyond being purely physiological.
Information-Processing Theory: dreams as a way to process events; more stress experienced during the day, more REM sleep required, increase of the number & intensity of dreams experienced while asleep.
Consolidation Theory: dreams as a way to help us encode events and information within our short-term memory to be stored in our long-term memory.
List all of the senses mentioned in your textbook & the categories they fit under.
Energy Senses: Vision, Hearing, Touch
Chemical Senses: Gustation (taste), Olfaction (smell)
Body Position Senses: Kinesthetic & Vestibular
Correctly identify & spell your AP Psych Instructor's (my) first & last name.
Caitlyn Kanemitsu