Exploring Psychology Chapter 2

Why are association areas important?

Association areas are involved in higher mental functions—interpreting, integrating, and acting on information processed in other areas.

How are the nervous and endocrine systems alike, and how do they differ?

Both of these communication systems produce chemical molecules that act on the body's receptors to influence our behavior and emotions. The endocrine system, which secretes hormones into the bloodstream, delivers its messages much more slowly than the speedy nervous system, and the effects of the endocrine system's messages tend to linger much longer than those of the nervous system.

Why is the pituitary gland called the "master gland"?

Responding to signals from the hypothalamus, the pituitary releases hormones that trigger other endocrine glands to secrete hormones, which in turn influence our brain and our behavior.

What bodily changes does your autonomic nervous system (ANS) direct before and after you give an important speech?

Responding to this challenge, your ANS' sympathetic division will arouse you. It accelerates your heartbeat, raises your blood pressure and blood sugar, slows your digestion, and cools you with perspiration. After you give the speech, your ANS' parasympathetic division will reverse these effects.

How does our nervous system allow us to experience the difference between a slap and a tap on the back?

Stronger stimuli (the slap) cause more neurons to fire and to fire more frequently than happens with weaker stimuli (the tap).

Which area of the human brain is most similar to that of less complex animals? Which part of the human brain distinguishes us most from less complex animals?

The brainstem; the cerebral cortex

Electrical stimulation of a cat's amygdala provokes angry reactions, suggesting the amygdala's role in aggression. Which ANS division is activated by such stimulation?

The sympathetic nervous system

When the mother's egg and the father's sperm unite, each contributes 23 _________

chromosomes

When a neuron fires an action potential, the information travels through the axon, the dendrites, and the axon's terminal branches, but not in that order. Place these three structures in the correct order.

dendrites, axon, axon's terminal branches

Put the following cell structures in order from smallest to largest: nucleus, gene, chromosome.

gene, chromosome, nucleus

Our brain's ___________ cortex registers and processes body touch and movement sensations. The _________ cortex controls our voluntary movements.

sensory; motor

Nerves from the left side of the brain are mostly linked to the ___________ side of the body, and vice versa.

right