PSYC 355 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Bulimia Nervosa, Object Permanence, Decision-Making

• School: Chico State University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 355
• Professor: Margaret Bierly

Document Summary

Relative size of infant brain to adult brain. Description of a neuron and communication across synapses. Process by which extra neurons & synaptic connections are eliminated in order to increase the efficiency of neuronal transmissions. Developmental course of brain development into adolescence/early adulthood. Neural fibers are coated with an insulating fatty sheath (myelin) that improves efficiency of message transfer between neurons. Explains greater attention spans & faster info. processing. Reorganization of neural circuitry of prefrontal cortex (involved in higher-order cognitive activity) Modification of brain size and structure due to environmental influences. More stimulating environments = increase in # of dendrites in a neuron. More dendrites = more synapses to other neurons, which = more info. can be sent through these synaptic connections. Differences in experience likely greater during early development. Specialization of each hemisphere; function of corpus callosum. Right & left hemisphere connected by corpus callosum (nerve fibers) But, contain a lot of cross-wiring between the two.