First brain experiments
What is phrenology?
The relationship between the skulls surface features and a person’s personality and behavioural characteristics
What two aspects are involved in the Central Nervous system?
The brain and spinal cord
List the four lobes of the brain
Frontal lobe
Parietal lobe
Occipital lobe
Temporal lobe
What is an independent variable?
The variable in a study that can be manipulated or changed.
Explain dualism.
The mind and body are two things that interact with each other. The body is physical, the mind is non-physical.
What is brain ablation?
To remove or destroy a part of the brain
What are the two aspects of the Autonomic nervous system?
Parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) and Sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight)
Where is Broca's area located in the brain and what is it's function?
Frontal lobe; speech production
What are extraneous variables?
Is a CT scan for structural or functional purposes?
Structural
Explain EBS
Electrical brain stimulation. ESB is administered by passing an electrical current through an electrode implanted in the brain
What acts as an insulation layer that allows electrical impulses to transmit quickly along neurons?
Myelin sheath
Where is Wernicke's area located in the brain and what is it's function?
Temporal lobe; speech comprehension
What is a matched groups design?
Different participants in two different conditions / groups, but you match them according to certain variables, such as age, personality, gender, IQ
What is the role of dendrites in a neuron?
Information collectors, receives inputs/communication from neighboring neurons
What was the main conclusions drawn from the split brain experiment?
Left hemisphere of the brain was responsible for language understanding and articulation, while the right hemisphere could recognize a word, but could not articulate it.
What are the three types of neurons?
Sensory neurons, Motor neurons and interneurons
Where is the primary visual cortex located and what is its function?
Occipital lobe; receives and processes visual information
What is a positive of an independent measures design? (Two groups that have not been matched according to IQ, age etc.)
Can be cheaper or less time consuming.
Name two functions of the left brain hemisphere
Verbal functions
Analytical functions
Receives sensations from the right side of body
What is the split brain experiment hypothesis?
It is expected that when brain hemispheres are split they will each function separately as two different brains and will not acknowledge the existence of the other hemisphere.
The division of the nervous system that automatically returns bodily systems back to a state of calm after heightened activity is the ___________ nervous system.
Parasympathetic
Which psychological case study helped determine that personality and problem solving / planning were associated with the frontal lobe?
The Phineas Gage case study
What is the difference between sample and population?
Sample is the subset of a population (the group you are conducting the experiment on) whereas the population is the whole set of people you are aiming to generalize your results too.
What is the function of the midbrain?
Motor movement, particularly movements of the eye, and in auditory and visual processing.