Table Of ContentSTUDY GUIDE
to accompany
Physiological Psychology
Brown/Wallace
Patricia M. Wallace
Clarion State College
ACADEMIC PRESS
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PREFACE
Physiological psychology is a challenging field, and students taking an
introductory course are likely to find the barrage of new terms and concepts
sometimes baffling. This study guide is designed to accompany and supplement
Physiological Psychology by Brown and Wallace; it should help you understand
and integrate the material in the book, and make it more interesting and
relevant. Whether your background is mainly in behavioral science, in
biology, or in neither field, this study guide will be an important and
valuable adjunct to the textbook.
The guide is arranged in chapters which correspond to the chapters in the
text. Each chapter in the study guide presents a listing of main points from
the text, study questions, objective questions, suggestions for projects and
demonstrations, and ideas for research topics.
MAIN POINTS
This section lists the main concepts from the text chapter in a concise and
organized fashion. It will serve as a reminder of the important points,
controversies and research findings. You should read the chapter first, and
then use this section as a refresher. Reading this list of main points
cannot serve as a substitute for reading the chapter, however.
STUDY QUESTIONS
These questions include short answer essays, identification and definition
of terms, fill-in-the-blank type questions, and graphics which you should
be able to label after reading the chapter. Your ability to answer these
questions is most indicative of your mastery of the chapter. If you cannot
answer a question, go back to the textbook and find the answer.
OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS
This section includes both multiple choice and matching questions. It will
provide you with rapid feedback concerning your grasp of the chapter
immediately after you have read it. However, objective questions cannot
give you the kind of in-depth review and practice you can obtain from
answering the study questions. If you can answer 90% of the objective
questions correctly, your mastery of the material in the chapter is quite
good. The answers to these questions are at the end of each chapter of
the study guide.
v
PROJECTS
This section describes projects and demonstrations which illustrate the
points in the chapter and which further your understanding of the material.
Some of the projects are appropriate for use in class, and others might be
used as out-of-class student projects. A number of the projects provide an
opportunity to obtain experience conducting experiments. Although none of
these projects require any special skills, students with knowledge of
experimentation and statistical analysis may want to embellish the projects
with further analysis and tests of significance.
IDEAS FOR RESEARCH TOPICS
I have found that my students often have great difficulty selecting a topic
for a research paper in physiological psychology (and other courses as well).
In general, they either choose a topic that is far too broad and are over
whelmed by the enormous amount of research literature available, or they
choose one that is too narrow or too little studied, and can find nothing on
the topic. This section should help alleviate that problem somewhat—it
lists several ideas for research topics for each chapter, and provides one
or more sources to help you begin your literature search of the field. The
sources include recent review articles, classic papers on the topic, chapters
in books, and occasionally entire books. These sources will provide an over
view of the research area, and also a valuable bibliography containing very
pertinent references.
Armed with the textbook and study guide, and a fair amount of motivation,
you should do well in the course and finish with a very respectable grade.
More important, you will have the satisfaction of broadening your under
standing of your own behavior and the behavior of others, an accomplishment
that will benefit and enrich you for many years to come.
PW
vi
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
MAIN POINTS
In this introductory chapter, we discussed three key philosophical issues
that have provided a framework for the science of physiological
psychology :
1. Mind-Body Problem. Early philosophers hypothesized that the mind
and the body (which includes the brain) were two separate elements. This
philosophy is well expressed by Descartes1 dualistic position. More
recently, many (perhaps most) scientists working on the brain have come
to the conclusion that the mind and body are not separate, and that
the tissue of the central nervous system and the brain in particular
underly "mind." Not all scientists agree with this viewpoint, and as
yet the issue has not been resolved.
2. Localization of Function. Early scientists supposed that the
different functions of the brain could be localized in discrete areas.
The extreme of this viewpoint was expressed by the phrenologists of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, who mapped more than 100 "traits"
on the surface of the skull. More modern theories of brain function
suggest that some brain areas are certainly more involved in certain
behaviors than others, but that a simple correlation of structure with
function is not possible. Instead, brain scientists emphasize the impor
tance of pathways and fiber systems and the integration between various
brain areas in the control of behavior.
3. Nature vs. Nurture. An everpresent controversy in the study of human
behavior deals with the relative importance of heredity in the control
of behavior, compared to the importance of environmental factors. At
various times in the history of psychology, scientists have stressed the
overpowering influence of heredity on our behavior, or the tremendous
impact of the environment. Recently it has become widely accepted that
our behavior is a product of both our heredity and our environment.
Although we cannot inherit a behavior, we can inherit genes which may
predispose us towards behaving in certain ways. But predisposition is
not predestination. For some behavioral traits, the predispositions we
inherit may be extremely vulnerable to modification by environmental
factors, while for others the predispositions may be less vulnerable.
1
Chapter One
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Discuss the two extreme positions which scientists have held with
regard to the mind-body problem. Cite the arguments used by scien
tists and philosophers to support their particular view.
2. Define what scientists mean by the phrase "localization of function."
Discuss how this concept evolved, and eventually culminated in the
extreme viewpoint of the phrenologists.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. The best description for the subject matter of physiological
psychology is:
a) the workings of the nervous system
b) the physiological bases of behavior
c) the interaction between heredity and environment
d) the relationship between the brain and the mind.
2. Descartes was one of the foremost proponents of:
a) phrenology
b) the dualistic position on the mind-body problem
c) the view that the mind and body are a single entity
d) the position that specific brain areas underlie specific
behavioral functions.
3. Wilder Penfield came to the conclusion that mind and brain are two
separate elements because:
a) of his work on animal intelligence
b) he was not able to localize specific functions within the brains
of his patients
c) of his studies on the effects of electrical stimulation of the
brain in human patients
d) the brain is not complex enough to account for the complexity
of mind.
4. Wilson suggests that because of its evolutionary roots, human nature
should be studied as a branch of :
a) the humanities
b) the social sciences
c) the arts
d) the natural sciences.
5. During the middle ages, scientists supposed that the most important
parts of the brain, and those which subserved specific behavioral
functions such as imagination and memory, were:
2
Introduction
a) in the cerebral cortex
b) in the brain's ventricles
e) in the frontal lobes
d) across the surface of the skull.
The phrenologists believed that:
a) specific mental and moral faculties were located in specific
places along the surface of the brain
b) mind and body are identical, and form a single entity
c) heredity plays a critical role in the control of human behavior
d) specific behavioral traits are subserved by fiber and pathway
systems in the brain rather than by discrete brain areas.
A person who makes the statement, "Man is innately aggressive," would
be emphasizing :
a) the importance of nature in human behavior
b) the importance of nurture in human behavior
c) the importance of localization of function in human behavior
d) the importance of individual differences in human behavior.
Waddington's analogy concerning the interaction between heredity and
environment suggests that:
a) traits which are mildly predisposed by genetic factors are not
modifiable by environmental factors
b) traits which roll down the "hill" in a deep channel are easily
modifiable by environmental factors
c) once a "ball" begins rolling down the hill, its track and ultimate
destination are predetermined by genetic factors
d) for some traits, the channels are shallow and it is not easy to
predict where the "ball" will land.
PROJECTS
The issues which were discussed in this chapter are, for the most part,
not yet resolved. If you ask your friends about these issues you will
probably find that they hold many conflicting views. Here are some
questions which you can try on your friends (who have not taken
physiological psychology) which will stimulate discussion.
1. Do you think some babies are just born with happier and calmer per
sonalities?
2. Can anyone be an "Einstein" if they just work hard enough?
3. Studies have often shown that on the average, men do better than
women at math. Do you think this might have any biological basis?
Some research has also shown that women do better than men in verbal
skills. Could this have any basis in biology?
3
Chapter One
4. Do you think animals possess a "mind"?
5. In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (also a movie
and play), MacMurphy's personality was lost after they performed a
frontal lobotomy. Mac's friend, the Chief, suffocated him with a
pillow rather than let him live in that condition. Do you think
that the Chief was committing murder in the usual sense of the word?
When a person loses the function of an arm, he or she is still the
same person. But when a person loses brain function, as Mac did
after the operation, is he still the same person?
IDEAS FOR RESEARCH TOPICS
1. Historical Development of Ideas about Brain Function
Source: Clarke, E., and Dewhurst, K. An illustrated history of
brain function. Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. Press, 1972.
2. The Viewpoints of Scientists in the Mind-Body Controversy
Sources: Penfield, W. The mystery of the mind. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton Univ. Press, 1975.
Sagan, C. The dragons of eden: speculations on the evolution of
human intelligence. N.Y.: Ballantine, 1977.
CHAPTER 1 ANSWERS
Multiple Choice
1. b
2. b
3. c
4. d
5. b
6. a
7. a
8. d
4
CHAPTER TWO
THE NEURON: AXONAL CONDUCTION
MAIN POINTS
1. The main function of the neurons of the nervous system is to
process information. The neuron uses two methods to code information:
a digital code and an analog code. Each neuron is involved into three
different types of information processing: 1) axonal conduction, 2)
synaptic transmission, and 3) integration at the axon hillock.
2. The main components of the neuron are the dendrites, the cell body
or soma, the axon, and the cell membrane. Dendrites often have complica
ted branching patterns, and contain many dendritic spines which function
in synaptic transmission. The cell body contains the nucleus, and
maintains the life of the neuron. The axon is the output end, and is
usually surrounded by a myelin sheath in vertebrates. At the end of the
axon are synaptic terminals, which contain synaptic vesicles. These
vesicles are filled with neurotransmitter substance, and function in
synaptic transmission.
3. The process of axonal conduction is the way that a neuron moves
information down the axon using a digital code. Each "dot" in the code
consists of a rapid change in the ionic balance between the intra-
and extracellular fluid. When the axon is at rest (when it is not
moving any information) the concentration of ions (mainly sodium,
potassium, chloride, and anions) is unequal inside and outside the cell
because of the osmotic and electrostatic forces acting across the
semipermeable cell membrane. The resting potential of a neuron is about
-70 mV because the inside of the cell contains more negative ions than
the outside.
4. At the axon hillock, the resting potential of the cell fluctuates
because of the influx of hyperpolarizations and depolarizations from all
over the cell body. If the potential at the axon hillock depolarizes
enough to reach the axon's threshold (around -55 mV), the axon hillock
will fire off an action potential, or "dot." When the threshold is
reached, the membrane at the axon hillock becomes very permeable to
sodium. These ions rush into the axon and produce a sudden change in
the potential, from -55 mV to about +50 mV. When the membrane potential
reaches its positive value, the membrane closes its doors to sodium
and becomes more permeable to potassium. Potassium ions leak out of the
cell, bringing the membrane potential quickly back to its resting level
and beyond, perhaps to -75 mV. During the sfrort period when the membrane
is slightly hyperpolarized because of the leakage of potassiu mions, the
cell is in its refractory period and it is more difficult to trigger
5
Chapter Two
another action potential at the axon hillock.
5. In unmyelinated axons, the action potential in the axon hillock's
membrane triggers another action potential right next to it, and the
action potential moves down the axon like a wave. In myelinated axons,
the action potential skips from node to node in a process called
saltatory conduction. The axon triggers action potentials in an
all-or-none fashion; no "medium size" action potentials travel down the
axon.
6. In order to maintain the resting potential and the unequal distri
bution of positive and negative ions across the cell membrane, the sodium-
potassium pump moves sodium ions to the outside and brings potassium
ions back in.
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Label the codes below as analog (A) or digital (D)
a) NoNoYesNoYesYesYesNoYesYes
b)
c)
2. List the three different kinds of information processing which are
accomplished by the neurons:
a)
b)
c)
3. On the diagram below (text page 11), show which kind of information
processing takes place at each location:
6
