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16 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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an automatic, stereotyped movement produced as the direct result of a stimulus
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reflex
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the two symmetrical halves of the brain that constitute the major part of the brain
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cerebral hemispheres
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a characteristic of an organism that permits it to produce more than the average number of offspring of its species
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selective advantage
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the principle that the best way to understand a biological phenomenon (a behavior or a physiological structure) is to try to understand its useful functions for the organism
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functionalism
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type of scientific explanation; a phenomenon is described in terms of the more elementary processes that underlie it
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reduction
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a change in the genetic information contained in the chromosomes of sperms or eggs, which can be passed on to an organism's offspring; provides genetic variability
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mutation
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a gradual change in the physiology of plant and animal species- generally producing more complex organisms- as a result of natural selection
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evolution
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a large bundle of nerve fibers that connect one side of the brain with those of the other
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corpus callosum
(kor pus ka low sum) |
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the research method in which the function of a part of the brain is inferred by observing the behaviors an animal can no longer perform after that part is damaged
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experimental ablation
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type of scientific explanation; a general conclusion based on many observations of similar phenomena
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generalization
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a mathematical or physical analogy for a physiological process
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model
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the process by which inherited traits that confer a selective advantage (increase an animal's likelihood to live and reproduce) become more prevalent in the population
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natural selection
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a scientist who studies the physiology of behavior, primarily by performing physiological and behavioral experiments with laboratory animals
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physiological psychologist
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Muller's conclusion that because all nerve fibers carry the same type of message, sensory information must be specified by the particular nerve fibers that are active
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doctrine of specific nerve energies
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brain surgery that is occasionaly performed to treat a form of epilepsy; the surgeon cuts the corpus collosum, which connects the two hemispheres of the brain
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split-brain operation
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a slowing of the process of maturation, allowing more time for growth; an important factor in the development of large brains
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neoteny
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