PSYC 2410 Midterm: Midterm 1 (PSYC 2410)

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2410
• Professor: Cheryl Limebeer

Document Summary

Neurons: cells that receive and transmit electrochemical signals. Biopsychology: study of the biological basis of behavior. Became a distinct field in the 20th century. Is an integrative discipline, neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neuroendocrinology, neuropathology, neuropharmacology, neurophysiology. Neuroplasticity: the brain is a plastic organ, capable if changing in response to genetic programs/ experience. Research that characterizes biopsychological approach: human vs. nonhuman. Humans: follow instructions, report on subjective experience, cheaper, have a human brain. Nonhumans: simpler brains and more likely that brain behavior interactions will be revealed, insights from comparative research, fewer ethical restrictions: experiments vs. nonexperiments. Experiments: to determine how experimental manipulation effect behavior. Usually a different group of subjects in each treatment condition (between-subject design). Or same group is tested under all treatment conditions (within-subject design) Independent variables (manipulations that produce different treatment conditions) and dependent variable (what experiment measures) Confounded variables: unintended differences that can influence the dependent variable (can be difficult to eliminate and also makes experiments difficult to interpret).