PS102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Lamellar Corpuscle, Vestibular System, The Big Questions
Tactile Senses
● Skin is largest organ in body (skin can be donated)
○ Contains variety of receptor structures
Meissner corpuscle: touch, hairless areas (lips, palms)
Pacinian corpuscle: deep, heavy pressure, vibration
Ruffini’s corpuscles: deep, heavy pressure, joint movement
Merkel’s disks: light, moderate pressure
Free nerve endings: surface, touch, pressure, pain, temperature
→ know functions, won’t need to label picture
Sense of Touch
● Receptors send messages to brain
● Thalamus and somatic-sensory cortex
○ Sensory homunculus → hands and face would be bigger because we use them
more
● Pain
○ Gate control theory
■ Fast and slow pathways
■ Block
■ Spine - now brain (distract brain with something else - may not be able to
read pain message)
Other Senses
● Kinesthetic sense - information from tendons, muscles, and joints about
○ Position of body parts in relation to each other
○ Movement of the entire body and/or its parts
● Vestibular sense - detects movement
○ Provides information about body’s orientation in space
○ Receptors in vestibular apparatus of inner ear
Developmental Psychology
Examines changes in biological, physical, psychological, and behavioural processes as we age
The Big Questions
● Critical and sensitive periods
○ Critical period = age where experiences must occur
○ Sensitive periods = optimal age range
● Nature and nurture
○ Is it the environment or heredity?
● Continuity vs discontinuity
○ Gradual or stages?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Skin is largest organ in body (skin can be donated) Free nerve endings: surface, touch, pressure, pain, temperature. Know functions, won"t need to label picture. Sensory homunculus hands and face would be bigger because we use them more. Spine - now brain (distract brain with something else - may not be able to read pain message) Kinesthetic sense - information from tendons, muscles, and joints about. Position of body parts in relation to each other. Movement of the entire body and/or its parts. Provides information about body"s orientation in space. Receptors in vestibular apparatus of inner ear. Examines changes in biological, physical, psychological, and behavioural processes as we age. Critical period = age where experiences must occur. A) no change - remains constant (flat line) B) continuous - gradual change (curve going up) C) stages - discontinuous changes (stairs up) D) inverted u shape - emerges early, peaks, diminishes with age.
