1.1 Heredity
1.2 Nervous System
1.3 Neurons
1.4 The Brain
1.5 Sleep
Research Methods
100
The classic debate over whether our traits are shaped more by genes or experience.
What is nature vs. nurture?
100
The two main divisions of the nervous system.
What are the central and peripheral nervous systems?
100
The brief electrical charge that travels down an axon.
What is an action potential?
100
The oldest part of the brain that controls heartbeat and breathing.
What is the brainstem?
100
The biological clock that regulates our sleep-wake cycle.
What is the circadian rhythm?
100
A testable prediction based on a theory and research.
What is a hypothesis?
200
Studies comparing identical and fraternal twins to study heredity and environment.
What are twin studies?
200
The system that controls voluntary muscle movement.
What is the somatic nervous system?
200
The space between neurons where neurotransmitters cross.
What is the synapse?
200
The lobe responsible for reasoning, decision-making, and personality.
What is the frontal lobe?
200
The sleep disorder marked by sudden attacks of overwhelming sleepiness.
What is narcolepsy?
200
The principle requiring participants to be told the true purpose of a study after it ends.
What is debriefing?
300
The principle that certain traits are passed on because they help an organism survive and reproduce.
What is natural selection?
300
The division that activates the “fight or flight” response.
What is the sympathetic nervous system?
300
Drugs that block neurotransmitter receptor sites.
What are antagonists?
300
The part of the limbic system involved in forming new memories.
What is the hippocampus?
300
This phase of sleep is when the brain is least active.
What is NREM 3?
300
A research method that examines one individual or group in depth.
What is a case study?
400
This controversial and discredited movement sought to “improve” the human population by controlling breeding for desirable traits.
What is eugenics?
400
The division that calms the body after stress.
What is the parasympathetic nervous system?
400
The process of neurotransmitters being reabsorbed after firing.
What is reuptake?
400
The “little brain” that coordinates balance and movement.
What is the cerebellum?
400
Vivid experiences that occur as a person falls asleep. They can involve visual, auditory, or physical sensations, and can be quite intense and realistic.
What are hypnagogic sensations?
400
The variable that is measured in an experiment.
What is the dependent variable?
500
The study of how the environment can affect gene expression without changing DNA.
What is epigenetics?
500
The part of the nervous system that controls glands and internal organs.
What is the autonomic nervous system?
500
These neurons connect the sensory and motor neurons.
What are interneurons?
500
The brain’s ability to reorganize after injury or experience.
What is plasticity / neuroplasticity?
500
Also known as sleepwalking, this disorder causes individuals to move or walk around during deep NREM sleep.
What is somnambulism?
500
The standard deviation of this Bell Curve is ____.
What is 3?
600
This psychological approach explains behavior in terms of natural selection and how adaptive traits promote survival.
What is the evolutionary perspective?
600
The chemical messengers of the endocrine system that interact with the nervous system such as Ghrelin and Adrenaline.
What are hormones?
600
An oversupply of this transmitter can lead to migraines.
What is Glutamate?
600
The structure that connects the two hemispheres of the brain.
What is the corpus callosum?
600
This theory suggests dreams are the brain’s way of making sense of random neural activity
What is the activation-synthesis theory?
600
The committee that reviews psychological research for ethical concerns before it’s conducted.
What is the Institutional Review Board (IRB)?
700
This term describes the proportion of variation among individuals that can be attributed to genes.
What is heritability?
700
This disease is caused by a deterioration of the myelin sheath and causes the failure of the central nervous system to communicate with the peripheral nervous system.
What is Multiple Sclerosis?
700
Once a dendrite is triggered, ion channels open and ions flood in toward the soma/cell body. These ions have a _______________ charge.
What is postive?
700
The area of the brain that controls language production.
What is Broca’s area?
700
The theory that sleep helps strengthen and store memories.
What is the consolidation theory?
700
A numerical measure that describes the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables.
What is a correlation coefficient?