Heredity & Environment
What two broad influences are considered in the nature versus nurture debate?
Genetics or heredity and Environment
Which lobe of the brain is primarily responsible for processing visual information?
Occipital Lobe
Which brain structure is especially important for forming new explicit memories?
Hippocampus
What two structures make up the central nervous system?
Brain and Spinal Cord
What is the minimum level of stimulation needed to trigger an action potential called?
Threshold
Which neurotransmitter is especially involved in reward, motivation, and pleasure?
Dopamine
Which process explains why inherited traits that improve survival or reproduction may become more common over generations?
Natural Selection
Which brain structure is especially important for balance and coordination of movement?
Cerebellum
You're watching a scary movie when something suddenly jumps onto the screen, startling you. Which brain structure is involved in processing your fear response?
Amygdala
After a stressful experience, someone's heart rate slows and digestion resumes. Which division is primarily responsible?
Parasympathetic
After neurotransmitters cross the synaptic cleft and bind to receptors, some are absorbed back into the sending neuron. What is this process called?
Reuptake
Which neurotransmitters act as the body's natural painkillers?
Endorphins
Approximately what percentage of DNA do fraternal twins share, and what percentage do identical twins share?
50% & 100%
After a brain injury, a person can understand what others say but struggles to produce fluent speech. Which area was most likely damaged?
Broca's
Which structure serves as a major sensory relay station, directing incoming information toward the cerebral cortex?
Thalamus
Which division of the peripheral nervous system controls voluntary skeletal muscle movement?
Somatic Nervous System
DAILY DOUBLE AYOOOOOOOYIPEEE
What structure insulates an axon and helps speed up neural impulses?
(if the choosing team gets it right, they get double points (600), if they get it wrong, other groups that get it correct will get full points (300))
Myelin Sheath
What is the brain's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter?
GABA
DAILY DOUBLE WOOOOOOOOO
What term describes an inherited tendency that increases someone's likelihood of developing a particular trait or condition?
(if the choosing team gets it right, they get double (800). If they get it wrong, other groups that get it correct will get full points (400))
Genetic Predisposition
After a brain injury, a person has difficulty controlling voluntary movements, such as moving their arms or legs. Which specific area of the brain was most likely damaged?
Motor Cortex
Which brain structure regulates hunger, thirst, body temperature, and other processes that maintain homeostasis?
Hypothalamus
What type of cells in the nervous system support, protect, and help maintain neurons?
Glial Cells
What principle states that once a neuron reaches its threshold, it fires an action potential at full strength, regardless of how much the threshold is exceeded?
All-or-nothing principle
Which hormone, also known as epinephrine, is released during the fight-or-flight response and increases heart rate and energy availability?
Adrenaline
What are the three main types of studies psychologists use to investigate the relative influences of heredity and environment?
Twin Studies
Adoption Studies
Family Studies
After an accident, a person becomes impulsive, struggles to plan, and has difficulty controlling their emotions. Which region is most likely damaged, AND what category of mental abilities has been affected?
prefrontal cortex &
Executive functioning
Which specific network in the brainstem helps regulate arousal, alertness, and wakefulness?
Reticular Activating System (RAS)
What are the three types of neurons involved in a reflex arc?
Sensory Neurons
Interneurons
Motor Neurons
During an action potential, what is the process called when positively charged sodium ions enter the neuron, making the inside more positively charged?
Depolarization
Which hormone increases hunger, and which hormone helps signal fullness?
Ghrelin &
Leptin