100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
Biological psychology Condensed Notes $6.68   Add to cart

Class notes

Biological psychology Condensed Notes

 35 views  0 purchase
  • Course
  • Institution
  • Book

Condensed notes for AQA A-Level psychology biological psychology topic, which includes essay plans and key facts needed for the exam

Preview 2 out of 7  pages

  • August 27, 2020
  • 7
  • 2020/2021
  • Class notes
  • Unknown
  • All classes
avatar-seller
Biopsychology notes

The nervous system
1. Central: receives info from the senses and controls the body’s responses
2. Peripheral: messages to and from CNS (sensory neurones)
a) Autonomic nervous system: involuntary
i) Sympathetic: fight or flight
ii) Parasympathetic: rest and relax (after emergency)
b) Somatic: voluntary (receives info from CNS to control muscles and glands)

The endocrine system
Where hormones are secreted from different glands into the blood and transported to
target cells Its regulated by a feedback loop to maintain stable concentrations of hormones.
 Pituitary gland
i) Anterior ACTH (stimulates adrenal gland to produce cortisol)
ii) Posterior Oxytocin (uterine contractions and mother infant bonding)
 Adrenal glands
i) Adrenal cortex Cortisol (stress, quick burst of energy lower pain sensitivity,
lowered immunity impaired cognitive)
ii) Adrenal medulla Noradrenaline/Adrenaline fight or flight, increasing blood flow
to the brain, muscles and heart rate)


Synaptic transmission
 AP travels down axon
 Terminal releases
neurotransmitters
 Diffuse across synapse to
receptors
 chemical to electrical
transmission
Excitatory: increases formation of AP
dopamine
Inhibitory: decreases formation of AP
serotonin

Sensory: receptors to CNS
Relay: connection
Motor: CNS to effectors

, Fight or flight
When an individual is faced with a threat amygdala is immobilised associates sensory with
emotional sends stressing signal to hypothalamus

 Response to acute stress: sympathetic nervous system prepares for fight or flight
sends signal to adrenal medulla to secrete adrenaline (increase BP and breathing)
parasympathetic dampens after fight or flight is over.
 Response to Chronic ongoing stress: hypothalamus releases CRH, which causes
pituitary to secrete ACTH stimulates adrenal glands to stimulate cortisol

P cannot be generalised to both genders
E Shelley Taylor 2000 females also befriend
E beta bias towards women and low population validity
L decreases effectiveness of theory as can’t be applied to everyone idiographic approach

P fight or flight is useful in defending against a stressor that requires energetic behavioural
response not modern day
E increased BP due to prolonged stress lead to damage blood vessels then heart disease
E no longer an adaptive advantage modern human
L so fight or flight in modern life can have more implications then positives

Localisation of function
The localisation theory suggests that different parts of the brain are responsible for different
actions, behaviours and processes.


 Motor cortex: movement
 Central sulcus: separates motor
and sensory
 Somatosensory cortex: processes
sensory info such as touch
 Parietal lobe: comprehension of
language
 Broca’s lobe: speech damage to
this area results in Broca’s
aphasia difficulty forming
sentences and understanding
sentences (broca research)
 Temporal lobe: hearing
 Occipital lobe: primary vision
 Wernicke’s area: comprehension of speech damage leads to Wernicke’s aphasia use
of nonsensical words (research by Wernicke)
 Cerebellum: coordination
 Brainstem: swallowing, breathing involuntary function
 Temporal lobe: intellectual and emotional function
 Frontal lobe: judgement foresight and voluntary insight

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller annabelwarner1. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for $6.68. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

83637 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now

Start selling
$6.68
  • (0)
  Add to cart