Nature vs. Nurture Debate

Nature vs. Nurture

• Debate regarding the influence of genetics (nature) and environment (nurture) on behavior.

Nature

• Inherited characteristics influencing personality, physical and intellectual growth, and social interactions.

Nurture

• Environment.

Evolutionary Perspective

• How natural selection favors traits that ensure gene survival.

Eugenics

• Study of human hereditary traits and methods to improve them.

Twin Studies

• Studies comparing identical twins raised apart reveal similarities.
• Critics suggest such similarities might exist between strangers.
• Similarities between fraternal twins are less pronounced than between identical twins.

Adoption Studies

• Examine similarities between adopted children and biological/adoptive parents to assess hereditary influence.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

• Brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System

• Sensory and motor neurons connecting the CNS to the body.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

• Regulates glands and internal organs.
• Sympathetic division arouses; parasympathetic division calms.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

• Calms the body, conserving energy.

Sympathetic Nervous System

• Arouses the body, mobilizing energy during stress.

Sensory Neurons

• Carry sensory information from receptors to the brain and spinal cord.

Motor Neurons

• Carry instructions from the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands.

Interneurons

• Communicate within the brain and spinal cord, connecting sensory and motor neurons.

Reflex Arc

• Direct sensory-motor connection enabling a rapid response without conscious thought.

Glial Cells

• Support, nourish, and protect neurons.

All-or-None Principle

• A nerve impulse fires completely or not at all.

Threshold

• Level of stimulation needed to trigger a neural impulse.

Depolarization

• Inside of the neuron becomes more positive due to sodium rushing in.

Action Potential

• Brief electrical charge traveling down an axon.

Resting Potential

• Difference in electrical charge between the inside and outside of a neuron’s membrane.

Refractory Period

• Period of inactivity after a neuron fires.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

• Myelin sheath damage disrupting nerve impulse conduction.

Myasthenia Gravis

• Autoimmune disease weakening voluntary muscles affecting neuromuscular junctions.

Dopamine

• Neurotransmitter affecting movement, attention, learning, and pleasure/reward systems.

Serotonin

• Neurotransmitter regulating hunger, sleep, arousal, and mood.

Glutamate

• Major excitatory neurotransmitter involved in memory.

Norepinephrine

• Neurotransmitter involved in arousal, learning, and mood regulation.

Endorphins

• Natural opioid-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure.

Substance P

• Neurotransmitter involved in pain transmission to the brain.

Acetylcholine

• Neurotransmitter enabling learning, memory, and muscle contractions.

Agonist

• Molecule stimulating a response by binding to a receptor site.

Antagonist

• Molecule blocking a neurotransmitter's function.

Stimulants

• Drugs increasing neural activity and speeding up body functions (e.g., caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine).

Depressants

• Drugs decreasing neural activity and slowing body functions (e.g., alcohol, barbiturates, opiates).

Hallucinogens

• Drugs distorting perceptions and evoking sensory experiences without sensory input (e.g., LSD).

Opioids

• Drugs similar to morphine in action.

Tolerance

• Diminishing effect of a drug requiring increasing doses for the same effect.

Addiction

• Compulsive drug use despite harmful consequences.

Withdrawal

• Discomfort following cessation of addictive drug use.

Brainstem

• Oldest part of the brain, controlling automatic survival functions.

Reticular Activating System

• Involved in attention, sleep, and arousal.

Cerebellum

• Coordinates fine motor skills.

Limbic System

• Neural system associated with emotions and drives.

Split-Brain Research

• Study of patients with severed corpus callosum.
• Demonstrates specialization of right and left brain hemispheres showing how messages are sent to one side of the brain.

Corpus Callosum

• Band of neural fibers connecting the brain hemispheres.

Hemispheric Dominance

• One hemisphere becoming more adept than the other.

Broca's Area

• Language production – frontal lobe, usually left hemisphere.

Wernicke's Area

• Language comprehension/reception – temporal lobe, usually left hemisphere.

Aphasia

• Language impairment due to left hemisphere damage (Broca's or Wernicke's area).

Visual Pathway

• Retina -> optic nerve -> optic chiasm -> optic tracts -> LGN (thalamus) -> visual radiations -> visual cortex.

Frontal Lobes

• Involved in speaking, muscle movements, planning, and judgments (motor cortex, prefrontal cortex).

Temporal Lobes

• Hearing and language comprehension (auditory cortex).

Occipital Lobes

• Visual processing.

Visual Cortex

• Visual processing areas in the occipital and temporal lobes.

Neuroplasticity

• Brain's ability to change structure and function due to experience or trauma.

EEG

• Amplified recording of brain waves measured by electrodes on the scalp.

fMRI

• Technique revealing blood flow (brain activity) using MRI scans.

PET

• Visual display of brain activity detecting radioactive glucose uptake.

Lesioning

• Destroying a part of the brain.

Circadian Rhythm

• Biological rhythm occurring on a 24-hour cycle.

EEG Patterns

• Alpha, beta, theta, and delta waves characterize periodic rhythms of brain activity.

Stage 1 Sleep

• Light sleep with alpha waves, consistent with a relaxed state of wakefulness.

Stage 2 Sleep

• Deeper than stage 1 with slower, more regular wave patterns, including sleep spindles.

Stage 3/4 Sleep

• Deep sleep (stage 3) with low-frequency, high-amplitude delta waves.

Hypnogogic Sensations

• Experiences between wakefulness and sleep, varying from awareness of presence to fear or feeling of falling.

REM Sleep

• Vivid dreams typically occur; increases as the night progresses, while stage 4 sleep decreases.

Paradoxical Sleep

• REM sleep.

REM Deprivation

• After sleep deprivation, the system attempts to enter dream sleep more frequently.

REM Rebound

• REM sleep increases following REM sleep deprivation.

Activation-Synthesis Theory

• Dreams reflect random brain activity (pons) interpreted by the forebrain.

Consolidation Theory

• Sleep strengthens neural circuits formed during wakefulness.

Sleep Restoration Theory

• Sleep conserves energy and lengthens lifespan.

Memory Consolidation Theory

• Mind replays events to strengthen memories; practicing for upcoming events.

Insomnia

• Recurring problems falling or staying asleep.

Narcolepsy

• Uncontrollable sleep attacks, often lapsing into REM sleep.

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

• Neurological disorder where individuals act out their dreams during REM sleep.

Sleep Apnea

• Temporary breathing cessations during sleep, causing repeated awakenings.

Somnambulism

• Sleepwalking.

Transduction

• Converting one form of energy (stimulus) into another (neural impulse).

Absolute Threshold

• Minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time.

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

• Minimum difference detectable between two stimuli of different intensities.

Weber's Law

• Stimuli must differ by a constant percentage, not a constant amount, to be perceived as different.

Synesthesia

• Describing one sensation in terms of another (e.g., a loud color).

Lens

• Transparent structure in the eye focused on objects at varying distances.

Retina

• Light-sensitive inner surface of the eye containing rods and cones.

Rods

• Retinal receptors detecting black, white, and gray for peripheral and low-light vision.

Cones

• Retinal receptors detecting fine detail and color in bright light.

Blind Spot

• Point where the optic nerve leaves the eye, lacking receptor cells.

Fovea

• Central focal point in the retina with concentrated cones.

Ganglion

• Collection of nerve cell bodies in the peripheral nervous system.

Accommodation

• Lens adjustment to focus on objects at different distances.

Nearsightedness

• Nearby objects seen clearly; distant objects focused in front of the retina.

Farsightedness

• Faraway objects seen clearly; nearby objects focused behind the retina.

Dark Adaptation

• Eyes' increasing sensitivity to light in low-light conditions.

Trichromatic Theory

• Color vision theory proposing three types of cones: red, green, and blue.

Opponent-Process Theory

• Color vision theory proposing opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white) enabling color vision.