BioPsychCh1

Study of physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behavior and experience

Receives information/transmits it to other cells by conducting chemical impulses

Cell in nervous system does not conduct impulses across large distances

Relates behavior to the activity of the brain and other organs.

Ex: Chemical reactions that enable hormones to influence brain activity

How a structure or behavior develops

Describes why a structure or behavior evolved as it did

Ex: Genetic drift

Question of how the mind is related to the brain

The view that everything that exists is material or physical.

The view that only the mind really exists and that the physical world could not exist unless some mind wee aware of it.

The view that mental processes and brain processes are the same things, described in different terms

I alone exist, ot I alone am conscious

Concerns why/how any kind of brain activity is associated with consciousness

Belief the universe consists of only one substance

• Evidence
• Brain simulation
• Brain damage
• Consciousness

Units of heredity that maintain their structural identity from one generation to another.

Strands of genes

Identical pairs of genes on two chromosomes

Unmatched pair of genes is hetero

Gene either shows strong effect in homozygous or heterozygous condition

All other chromosomes are autosomal chromosomes and their genes are known as autosomal genes

Distinct from the sex-linked genes, sex-limited genes are present in both sexes, generally on autosomal chromosomes, but active mainly in one sex

"From one egg"

"From same egg"

Variation in some characteristic depend largely on genetic differences, then it has high heritability

Tendency for small genetic influences to change the environment in a way that magnifies change

Genetic inability to metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine

How genes change over generations

Individuals are chosen with desired traits so that they become parents of the next generation

If certain abilities are execised, those strong points will be passed along to offspring. There is not truth to this. It's bullshit. Thanks for including it in the textbook.

The number of copies of one's genes that endure in later generations

Deals with how behaviors have evolved, especially in social behaviors

• 1) Underlyin mechanisms of behavior are similar across species and sometimes easier to study in a nonhuman species.
• 2) We are interested in animals for their own sake
• 3) What we learn about animals sheds light on human evolution
• 4) Certain experiments cannot use humans because of legal/ethical restrictions

Tolerate animal research under certain conditions - some are okay and others are not

No room for compromise - It's never okay to use animals seeing as they have the same rights as humans

Brain activity and mental processes are the same but different. So the mind is acually brain activity.

Difference between states of consciousness and identifying structure/function relationships

WHY does brain activity produce consciousness? What is the purpose of consciousness?

All other genes except for sex-linked genes

Genes on sex chromosomes

within a species, individuals vary in physical/behavioral characteristics

Offspring inherit characteristics from their parents

Characteristics which enhance survival from their parents

* Evolution requires variation *

• - Underlying mechanisms of behavior are similar across species
• - For their own sake
• - Sheds light on evolution
• - Unethical to use people