Psychology 2020A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter intro: Placenta, Neurotransmission, Reinforcement

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2020A/B
• Professor: Riley Hinson

Document Summary

Drug: chemical compound that may produce psychological, behavioural and physiological effects. *in this course we mainly focus on recreational drugs used for psychoactive effects. Psychoactive effects refer to alteration in cognitive, behavioural and motor processes. *note that steroids are primarily used for physiological effects, not psychoactive purposes. Drugs are separated into groups, however, most drugs produce effects that may reflective in different groups (ex. Mdma- low doses is a stimulant, but higher doses acts like a hallucinogen). *note: surveys on drugs very in methodologies so comparing two surveys is not always accurate. A drug may have several trade names: street name: derivatives of street names or refer to some physical aspect of the drug. Pharmokinetics: the branch of pharmacology concerned with the movement of drugs within the body. Drug is then metabolized, typically to an inactive form and then the metabolites are eliminated from the body.