The Biological Approach
This psychological approach tries to understand human cognition and behavior by looking at how they're affected by biological factors.
What is the biological approach to understanding human behavior?
What is a Neuron?
The process of neurons sending signals to each other.
What is Neurotransmission?
A chemical messenger that is secreted from the endocrine glands and transported through the bloodstream.
What is a Hormone?
Psychologists use these to explain how a behavior helps an individual to pass on their genes by helping them survive, procreate, and/or produce health offspring.
What are evolutionary explanations of behavior?
Wedekind used research method to investigate the possibility of human pheromones.
What is an experiment?
These are used to study the relationships between the brain and behavior, e.g. fMRI, MRI, PET, EEG, etc.
What are technological techniques used to study the brain?
The space between two neurons where neurotransmitters are fired.
What is a Synapse?
A neurotransmitter that binds to receptor sites and increases the chances of the post-synaptic neuron firing, aka sending a signal.
What is an excitatory neurotransmitter?
A chemical messenger that is release by one animal and that has an effect on a different animal of the same species.
What is a Pheromone?
A sequence of DNA that when expressed may have an effect on behavior.
What is a Gene?
This research method allows researchers to study an individual (often with an interesting psychological characteristic that makes them unique) in an extremely in-depth way.
What is a Case Study?
A term used to describe how different parts of the brain perform different functions.
What is Localization of Brain Function?
A chemical messenger that sends messages along neural pathways.
What is a Neurotransmitter?
A neurotransmitter that binds to receptor sites and reduces the chances of the post-synaptic neuron firing, aka sending a signal.
What is an inhibitory neurotransmitter?
A physiological reaction that occurs in response to perceived harm or threat to survival which is triggered by the sympathetic nervous system producing a hormonal cascade that results in the secretion of glucocorticoids.
What is the Fight-or-Flight response?
A study that uses MZ and DZ siblings and compares their behavior to measure heritability.
What is a Twin Study?
This was a major ethical concern in the study of HM.
What is informed consent?
The brain's ability to change as a result of experience.
What is Neuroplasticity?
A series of connected neurons that allows the processing and transmitting of information responsible for specific tasks.
What is a Neural Network?
A chemical that amplifies the effect of a neurotransmitter by binding to the receptor sites of that neurotransmitter and activating them.
What is an Agonist?
A stress hormone that is secreted by the adrenal cortex and is responsible for the breakdown of glucose in the fight-or-flight response.
What is cortisol?
A branch of genetics that focuses on gene expression, that is, how environmental factors may activate genes.
What is epigenetics?
This is when researchers use multiple methods to increase the validity of their findings by eliminating the possibility that the methodology chosen influenced the results.
What is Method Triangulation?
A study that attempts to find a correlation between two variables by testing a sample and then carrying out longitudinal research to determine if and when certain health affects appear later in life.
This happens when we lose synaptic connections because we do not use them.
What is Neural or Synaptic Pruning?
A chemical that reduces the effect of a neurotransmitter by binding to and blocking the receptor sites of that neurotransmitter.
What is an antagonist?
Secreted by the pituitary gland, this hormone plays a role in social recognition, pair bonding, and maternal attachment
What is Oxytocin?
What is genetic vulnerability?
Iatrogenic effects and self-fulfilling prophecies in genetics research would fall under the umbrella of this ethical consideration.
What is undue harm?