Psychology Exam 3

Which statement characterizes hue?

Hue is commonly called color, which is determined by the wavelength of light reflecting off an object.

A neuron in your body is exposed to an excitatory message. What will likely happen?

Your neuron is more likely to generate an action potential.

Which major area of the brain deals with orienting a person toward or away from pleasurable or threatening stimuli?

midbrain

When the number of rods and cones in the retina are combined, there are over _____ million receptor cells and about _____ million ganglion cells to process their messages.

130 to 1

reflexes

A simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus

Which statement is NOT a characteristic of the spinal reflex? A. It over stimulates and damages the functioning of neurons in the brain's reward circuit. B. It involves a simple pathway of communication from sensory neurons through interneurons in the spinal cord back out through motor neurons. C. While the spinal reflex occurs, sensory neurons also send messages to the brain, letting it know what happened. D. It is an automatic response to a sensory stimulus.

A. It overstimulates and damages the functioning of neurons in the brain's reward circuit.

action potential

An electrical charge that travels down the axon

_____ is the partial or complete inability to articulate ideas or understand spoken or written language due to a brain injury or damage.

Aphasia

___ are nerve cells that carry and integrate information.

Neurons

frontal lobe

controls speaking and muscles movements, as well as making plans and judgment.

Carrying too many things in a grocery store leads to a jar of pickles being dropped on the floor. As the glass breaks, the fear response is activated, the _____ gland has pumped epinephrine through the bloodstream.

adrenal

Hypothalamus

also linked to emotions, governs some of the body maintenance activities and helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland.

sympathetic nervous system

arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations

The two main subdivisions of the peripheral nervous system are the somatic nervous system and the _____ nervous system.

autonomic

This part of the peripheral nervous system controls the self-regulated action of the internal organs and glands.

autonomic

Tyree is studying about neurons today because he knows they will be discussed in class tomorrow. He decides that the best way to remember the parts of the axon is to create a diagram. Tyree draws a picture of an axon, which resembles a tube-like structure extending from a cell body. At the end of the axon are branches that conclude with the:

axon terminals.

Running up and down the spine and branching throughout the body are neurons that provide connections between the:

brain and body.

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

parasympathetic nervous system

calms the body

glial cells

cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons

Hormones

chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that travel across the synapse and influence whether a neural impulse will be generated.

The _____ is a fluid-filled, snail-shaped organ of the inner ear lined with the basilar membrane.

cochlea

The most common type of traumatic brain injury is a(n) _____.

concussion

What connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain?

corpus callosum

Although phrenology has been dismissed as a pseudoscience, it did spur scientific interest in the possibility of:

cortical localization.

First used by South American Indians for hunting, _____ was briefly used in surgeries because of its acetylcholine-blocking properties.

curare

The correct order of the structures of the motor neuron is:

dendrites, cell body, axon, and terminal branches of the axon.

Smell occurs when molecules enter the nose, and taste occurs when molecules:

dissolve in saliva

Which neurotransmitter is associated with pleasure and plays a role in drug addiction?

dopamine

somatic nervous system

enables voluntary control of our skeletal muscles

agonists

excitatory

In a stressful situation, the sympathetic nervous system initiates the:

fight-or-flight response.

Taste and smell combine in the experience of:

flavor

After a recent blow to the head Rodrigo has trouble seeing the fine detail of objects or a scene. Rodrigo likely has experienced damage to a part of the retina called the:

fovea

Danita recently was in a car accident and afterward developed impairment in making ethical decisions and formulating values. She MOST likely suffered damage to the _____ lobe.

frontal

According to the _____ theory, the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that either blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain.

gate-control

The pons and medulla are positioned in the _____.

hindbrain

The endocrine system is a communication system that uses glands to convey messages by releasing _____ into the bloodstream.

hormones

Interneurons

internally communicate information between sensory input and motor outputs (billions)

The largest number of neurons within the brain and spinal cord are responsible for the central nervous system's complex internal communications and intervene between inputs and outputs. These are the _____.

interneurons

Serotonin

involved in promoting sleep

If an axon is wrapped in a myelin sheath, a signal would:

jump between breaks of the myelin sheath.

Two dimmer lights are turned on, but one isn't as strong as the other. The point at which Jennette can tell that one light is brighter than the other would be described as the:

just noticeable difference

Wernicke's area

language comprehension

Rather than forming a continuous coating of the axon, the myelin sheath occurs in segments that are separated by small gaps. The small gaps are called the:

nodes of Ranvier.

adrenal

secretes epinephrine ( adrenaline) and norepinephrine, which arouse the body in times of stress

The occipital lobe is to _____ as the temporal lobe is to _____.

seeing; hearing

Experiencing sudden pain is to _____ as recognizing that one is suffering a heart attack is to _____.

sensation; perception

The _____ nervous system is to voluntary bodily functions as the autonomic nervous system is to involuntary bodily functions.

somatic

The _____ nervous system is to voluntary bodily functions as the _____ nervous system is to involuntary bodily functions.

somatic; autonomic

Broca's area

speech production

The ability of the brain to change its structure as a result of us learning something is called:

structural plasticity.

When looking carefully at a picture of a country scene, one is able to detect fine visual details, especially those that are focused on the fovea. One reason for this visual acuity is that:

the fovea contains cones, which are specialized for seeing fine detail.

cerebral cortex

the interconnected fabric of neural cells that cover the EXterior of the brain and acts as the body's informations processing center.

threshold

the level of stimulation required to trigger an action potential

Researchers at State University study nociceptors (free nerve endings) and, in particular, the role played by A-delta fibers and C fibers. They are interested in:

the sensation and perception of pain

peripheral nervous system

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

_____ uses electromagnetic signals generated by the body in response to magnetic fields.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Amplitude corresponds to the _____ of a sound.

loudness

endocrine system

made up of a series of glands throughout the body that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

Damage to this area of the brain can be deadly, as this structure controls heart rate, respiration, and circulation.

medulla

The brainstem is made up of the:

medulla, pons, midbrain

Hippocampus

memory

Sound wave vibrations are transmitted by three tiny bones located in the:

middle ear

The chemicals that trigger taste sensations are flavor _____surfing on waves of saliva.

molecules

Most psychological processes involve:

multiple areas of the brain.

Pituitary

regulates growth and controls other glands. controlled by the hypothalamus

A battery that is NOT connected to anything is a good analogy for the _____ of a neuron.

resting potential

The _____ represents the electrical charge potential of a cell when it is not activated.

resting potential

Without one's bipolar cells, information from the _____ would not be collected and funneled to the ganglion cells and eventually to the brain.

rods and cones

Multiple _____ send combined messages to a bipolar cell, whereas a single _____ may link directly to a single bipolar cell.

rods; cones

Acetylcholine

used by nerves to communicate with muscles causes muscle contraction

The brain makes up _____ percent of the body's weight.

2

limbic system

A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.

All of these statements describe sensation EXCEPT: A. It is the process by which eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and other tissues receive and detect stimuli. B. Sensation and perception work closely together to provide the experience of the world around and inside you. C. It is the process by which receptors in sensory organs and the nervous system receive and detect stimuli. D. It explains how various factors influence the ability to detect weak signals in the environment.

D. It explains how various factors influence the ability to detect weak signals in the environment.

Which statement describes Weber's law?

Each of the five senses has its own constant ratio determining its difference thresholds.

When a sound wave reaches the ear, it sweeps down the auditory canal, a tunnel leading to a delicate membrane called the _____, which separates the outer ear from the middle ear.

Eardrum

The strength of a sound wave (i.e., the amplitude of the wave) determines its:

Loudness

A child touches his index finger to a hot pan. He pulls his finger away quickly, and a few seconds later begins to scream. Why is his screaming delayed in comparison to pulling away his finger?

The hand-withdrawal reflex involves only the spinal cord, but it takes time for the information about pain to reach the brain and produce an emotional response.

autonomic nervous system

a dual system that controls the gland and muscles of internal organs

Biological psychology is the scientific study of the _____ bases of behavior and _____ processes.

biological; mental

The area where the optic nerve leaves the retina is referred to as the:

blind spot

Antagonists are drugs that act to:

block the action of a neurotransmitter.

Neurotransmitter is to synaptic gap as hormone is to:

bloodsteam

reticular formation

connects the spinal cord to the thalamus and helps control arousal

medulla

controls heartbeat and breathing

motor cortex

controls voluntary movements

Francine has tried everything to relieve her back pain, from changing her sleeping positions to prescription pain relievers. She recently started acupuncture and has noticed that it relieves her symptoms. The positive effects of acupuncture are likely due to the release of:

endorphins

Terry is riding his bicycle across a crosswalk when a car races toward him. Realizing that the car is not going to stop, Terry hits his brakes just in time. His heart is racing and it takes him about 15 minutes to fully recover from the experience. His response demonstrates the importance of the hormones _____ and _____ in the nervous system.

epinephrine; norepinephrine

Agosto is a goaltender for his university's soccer team. His team is playing for the conference championship and he is very nervous. He notices that the pain in his right leg from a slight muscle pull has increased as he worries about the match. When the match begins and his team scores two goals in the first three minutes of the match, the pain seems to subside along with his anxiety about the match. Agosto's experience is BEST explained by the _____ plus his positive emotional state.

gate-control theory

aphasia

impairment in language ability

Research has shown that when repeatedly exposed to a specialized class of odors, a person becomes more sensitive to and able to discriminate among these odors. There is evidence that this is due to:

increased activation in the olfactory cortex.

Amygdala

influences fear, aggression and other emotions.

antagonists

inhibitory

One maintains balance through the detection of movement of the fluid in the _____ by _____.

inner ear; hair cells

Carol has multiple sclerosis (MS). She experiences muscle weakness, loss of coordination and speech, and visual disturbances that result from the slowdown or interruption of neural transmission. The cause of these symptoms probably involves the degeneration of her:

myelin sheath

Clarita fell off of a ladder and hit the back of her head, which caused partial blindness. She MOST likely suffered damage to her _____ lobe.

occipital

_____ play(s) a role in the activation of reproductive behavior of many species.

pheromones

Ten-year-old Leticia has grown three inches in the past year. Leticia has her _____ gland to thank for producing the growth hormone that triggered her jump in height.

pituitary

temporal lobe

processes auditory information

occipital lobe

processes visual information

Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter involved in:

producing muscle contractions, learning, and memory.

parietal lobe

recievs sensory input for touch and body position

Humans perceive the longest visible wavelengths as the color _____ and the shortest visible waves as _____.

red; Blue

During the first snowfall of the winter, Toni walks outside with her warm tea to admire the snowflakes coming down. The snow appears white because it:

reflects the wavelengths of visible light and absorbs none.

The somatic nervous system includes _____, which carry/carries messages from the body to the central nervous system.

sensory neurons

Cerebellum

the "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance

The minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus is referred to as:

the absolute threshold

Plasticity

the brain's ability to change and modify itself

Thalamus

the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem. routes sensory information to be processed in the appropriate part of the brain.

Pain conveyed by _____ is more like a dull ache, not necessarily in a specific region.

the slow pain system

Gaston is color-blind and cannot see red or green, yet he can see blue. Which theory of color vision can MOST easily explain this?

the trichromatic theory

The results of research on the benefits of mentally stimulating, intellectually challenging environments indicate that:

there is an association with enhanced cognitive functioning.

spinal cord

thick bundle of nerves that conveys signals between the brain and the body