History/Methods
Someone who was an important figure on the University of Iowa campus; studied music psychology.
Carl Seashore
The Thompson study found that even identical twins had areas of no overlap in their brain scans. This demonstrates what idea?
That every brain is unique
Different functions are handled by different areas of the brain.
Localization
What kind of communication happens between neurons?
Chemical communication (due to transmitters)
The process of maintaining homeostasis for your body temperature is known as what?
Thermoregulation
Professor Lorraine is studying whether children are influenced more by the environment they grow up in or by their families' genetics; she concludes that they are more influenced by their environment. What pillar of psychology does this represent?
Philosophy (nurture)
What are the three major divisions of the brain and which is the evolutionarily oldest?
Forebrain, Midbrain, Hindbrain (oldest)
Name each of the lobes of the brain and point to their location on your head.
Temporal, parietal, occipital, temporal
You can either fire or not fire an action potential; there is no such thing as a half fire.
All or none principle
Fighting, flighting, feeing, mating*
Explain each of the characteristics of science.
1. Structured empiricism- rely on observations that are systematic and objective
2. Verification- replication to prove that it is not by chance
3. Testable hypotheses- can be tested
What are the main parts of the limbic system?
Amygdala, hippocampus, (hypothalamus)
Phineas Gage had damage to his frontal lobe due to a railroad accident. After the accident he had a whole new personality. He was now cranky, aggressive, and irresponsible. What function of the frontal lobe does his newfound problem demonstrate?
Regulating behavior
After neurotransmitters cross the synaptic gap they bind to a receptor on the receiving neuron. What kind of model can we use to depict this binding and what are some of the key neurotransmitters that do the binding?
Lock and key model; glutamate, GABA, dopamine, serotonin.
According to Rozin et al., what two things may contribute to the "toxic food environment" in which we live in today?
Portion size has grown and we have a unit bias (we eat the whole unit regardless of serving size).
What are the main movements of psychology? Name someone important in each movement and what the main idea is.
Structuralism- Wundt, introspection, studied broken down structures of the mind
Functionalism- James, opposed structuralism, flow of consciousness
Freud- unconscious
Behaviorism- observable behavior, Skinner, Watson, Pavlov
The Cognitive Evolution- 1950s, study hidden mental processes, computational theory mind
Tom found that in aging he has developed a disease in his brain. The symptoms of this disease has caused him to have problems with his motor coordination and maintaining his posture, among other things. What disease does he have and what part of his brain is affected?
Parkinson's disease in the Basal Ganglia
Jake is picked to participate in a psychology study at the university. He is asked to come in to get some brain scans of a specific area in his brain. They are interested in this area because Jake has been playing piano since he was 5 and they want to compare his brain to brains of non-piano players. What area of the brain might they be looking at and what relevance does his piano skill have?
Somatosensory cortex and playing piano is an experience that can affect the amount of cortex dedicated to his fingers (plasticity based on experience).
Explain the relationship between the neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA, and what affect they have on the neurons.
Glutamate is an excitatory neuron which depolarizes a neuron, making it more likely to fire an AP. It is involved in learning and plasticity. GABA is an inhibitory neuron which hyper-polarizes a neuron making it more difficult to fire. It is involved in regulating things like seizures and anxiety.
In the Dual Center Theory which area of the hypothalamus is seen as the "hunger center" and which is seen as the "satiety center"? What study was done to demonstrate this?
Hunger center is the lateral hypothalamus, while the satiety center is the ventromedial hypothalamus; the Fat Rat study.
Tanner is talking to his roommate and complaining about studying for elementary psychology. His roommate tells him that his friend never studied for the exam and passed with an A. Then Tanner talks to his TA and his TA tells him that the class is indeed easy and he should not study much. What cautionary points could apply to this story (explain at least 3)?
Anecdotes don't make a scientific point, bold claims aren't necessarily true, don't appeal to authority only, explore alternative explanations
Explain the story of Patient HM; what area did he have damage in, what were the behavioral outcomes, and what were the implications for psychology?
Had epilepsy, had his hippocampus removed, he couldn't make new episodic memories since the time of removal, but he could make procedural memories. Proving that more than one area of the brain is involved in memory formation.
Sherry recently had a stroke and had damage to brain, she finds that when her son is talking to her she hears jumbles of words but has difficulty logically putting them together and understanding what he is saying. What lobe and area of her brain was damaged, and what problem is she having?
Temporal lobe (Wernicke's area), comprehension aphasia
On the board, draw a graph of an action potential. Make sure to label graded potentials, hyper-polarization, depolarization, threshold (with mV), and resting potential (with mV).
...
Explain the use of the feedback model using the example given in class of a thermostat (include the term set point in your description).
The set point of the thermostat could be set at 72 degrees. The thermostat is constantly checking the air temperature, when the room gets too hot the AC kicks on to bring it back to set point. Then the thermostat continues to sample the air temperature and when it gets too cold, it shuts of the AC to bring it back down to the set point again.