PSYB57H3 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Pineal Gland, Epiphenomenalism, Diffusion Mri
Document Summary
The history of the modular brain dates back to gall and spurzheim. Promoted phrenology (different psychological functions are located in the brain) 3 premises remain relevant (1) the brain is the sole organ of the mind (2) character and intellect are innately determined (3) there are individual differences in character/intellect in people, and these differences are located in the brain. Gall and spurzheim believed that the more developed a function was, the larger the structure would be that controlled that function. His studies of ablation on rats show that even if there were lesions in certain parts of the brain, it was irrelevant, which disproved phrenology. His experiments showed that limited brain damage would not greatly affect a rat"s ability to navigate simple mazes. However, greater brain damage and more complex mazes would have an affect on the rat"s ability. Law of mass action (learning/memory depends on the total mass of brain tissue remaining)
