You passed your AP Psychology exam in May.
Congratulations!!! You were also accepted to a
great college and are now living
on your own. Wow, life is good!! Since you don’t have to take
Psychology 101,
you have enrolled in an upper division psychology course that you think will be
very interesting. It is the first day of class and you are determined to do
well in the class and to make
a good impression on your professor.
Using the following parts of your brain, explain how each would be necessary or
useful for you to
attain your goal. In order to get full credit you MUST (1)
describe the general function (or functions)
of that part of the brain and (2)
apply it to the specific situation described above (15 points).
Remember, many areas have more than one function that may or may not be
applicable
to the situation.
a) Reticular Formation
e) Medulla
h) Frontal Lobes
b) Amygdala f) Cerebellum i) Occipital Lobes
c) Thalamus g) Hippocampus j) Parietal Lobes
d) Hypothalamus k) Temporal Lobes
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Structure
|
General Function
|
Application
|
|
Reticular formation |
Arousal, attention,
sleep, waking |
You need to be
alert in order to follow the lecture. It would also be rude to fall
asleep in the middle of the class
|
|
Amygdala |
Involved in fear
and aggression |
If overly
stimulated, you could easily lose your temper if you disagreed with your
professor. Or, you might become so fearful of failure that would bomb
all of your tests.
|
|
Thalamus |
The brain’s
switching station. It sends incoming sensory info to the correct areas
of the cortex that deal with seeing, hearing, tasting & touching.
|
Without your
thalamus, you couldn’t see what you were reading, couldn’t hear the
professor’s lecture, and couldn’t feel your pencil as you took notes. |
|
Hypothalamus |
It directs
activities such as eating and drinking and is also linked to emotions
(such as pleasure). |
Without your
hypothalamus, you would probably stop eating and DIE. You would also
find it difficult to find pleasure in your life in general.
|
|
Medulla |
Controls heartbeat
& breathing |
If overstimulated,
you’d experience rapid heartbeat & hyperventilation. If understimulated,
well, you might be dead.
|
|
Cerebellum |
Necessary for
coordinated movement and balance |
Without this, you
wouldn’t be able to write your notes and you would probably keep falling
out of your chair.
|
|
Hippocampus |
Involved in the
formation of new memories. |
You need it to
remember all the things you learn in class.
|
|
Frontal Lobes
|
Involved in
speaking (Broca’s Area), muscle movement (motor cortex), judgment &
planning (Association Areas) |
Without them, you
couldn’t ask questions or move any of your muscles to take notes. Also,
you wouldn’t have been able to plan and carry out a good essay. |
|
Occipital Lobe
|
Site of the visual
cortex. |
If not functioning,
you couldn’t see the chalkboard or your book.
|
|
Parietal Lobes
|
Location of the
sensory cortex. |
This area allows
you to “feel” the pencil in your hand as you take notes.
|
|
Temporal Lobes
|
Site of auditory
cortex and Wernicke’s Area. |
Without Wernicke’s
area you would not be able to understand what your professor was saying.
Without your auditory cortex, couldn’t hear the professor at all.
|