Experiment Basics
A systematic and dynamic procedure of observing and measuring phenomena
What is the scientific method
Growth of new neurons
What is neurogenesis
A stimulus that has not been paired with the unconditioned stimulus and elicits no response
What is a neutral stimulus
The detection of physical stimuli and transmission of that information to the brain
What is sensation
Lobe where taste is perceived
What is the frontal lobe
A descriptive research method that involves the intensive examination of an unusual person or organization
What is a case study
During development, there are certain times when the brain is particularly sensitive to environmental stimuli
What are critical periods
The reappearance of a weakened conditioned response after a pause
What is spontaneous recovery
For humans, this is second to vision as a source of information about the world
What is audition/hearing
Lobe that contains the primary auditory cortex
What is the temporal lobe
Changes in behavior when people know someone is observing them
What is reactivity OR What is the Hawthorne effect
Affects the adult brain by resulting in greater neurogenesis, more connections per neuron, thicker cerebral cortex, better spatial memory, and increased learning ability
What is environmental enrichment
Primary purpose of play is to provide a means for young animals to practice their species-typical behaviors
What is Groo’s Theory
Part of the brain where location of objects are processed
What is the dorsal stream
Phineas Gage, a railroad worker, experienced a change in personality because of a tampering iron that went through this part of his brain.
What is the prefrontal cortex
The variable that is hypothesized to have some effect on another variable
What is an independent variable
Process by which repeated activation of synapses results in strengthening of those synapses
What is LTP
Learning to engage in a behavior or not, after seeing others being rewarded or punished for performing that action
What is vicarious learning
Transparent tissue that helps focus the light that passes through it
What is the cornea
Receives almost all incoming sensory information, organizes it, and relays it to the cortex
What is the thalamus
Board that reviews research proposals that use non-human animals
What is the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
Brain region that plays a role in stressful feelings like anxiety, irritability, and unease. Drugs make this area more sensitive, leading to anxiety.
What is the extended amygdala
Learning about a stimulus, such as sight or sound, in the external world in the absence of reward or punishment
What is nonassociative learning
Functions in dim light and detects black and white vision
What are rods
Nucleus in the thalamus involved in the visual pathway
What is the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (LGN)