Overview
Although we heavily rely on vision, we have other senses to inform us too. We are highly sensitive to sounds. We can tell the difference between a real sound and one that is recorded with thousands of samples per second. It’s hard to fool our ears.
Other senses include touch, pain, acceleration, head movements and itch. We also can detect molecules in liquids (taste) and air (smell). Some memories are easily activated by smell alone.
Pay particular attention to how senses don’t rely on a single neuron but use patterns of firing.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
- Compare and contrast the mechanical and chemical senses
- Explain how sound is processed in the temporal lobe
- Describe the properties of touch receptors.
- Compare and contrast itch and pain.
Readings
- Kalat C6
- Temporal Lobe
- Parietal Lobe
Slides
Videos
Ethics Paper
This should be a short term paper (5-10 pages, typed, APA format).
The goal is to help you analyze and critically evaluate the ethics of animal research. Compare and contrast the arguments for and against the issue. Make it so balanced that your view is not revealed until the last section. The paper should have six sections: the issue, pro arguments, anti arguments, precautions and laws, your personal views and references. Five citations from quality sources are required. Here are three you can use if you wish:
- Appendix B of Kalat’s Biological Psychology
- American Physiological Society’s guidelines (http://www.the-aps.org/mm/Publications/Info-For-Authors/Animal-and-Human-Research (Links to an external site.))
- Deborah Smith’s “Five Principles of Research Ethics” in The Monitor (http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx?item=3 (Links to an external site.)).
Review
In preparation for the exam, this is an opportunity to consolidate your knowledge and let your imagination fly. Find a way to summarize the knowledge you’ve gained. You can make a drawing, mind map, term cluster, storyboard, song, slide presentation, flash cards and anything else you can upload. You will be graded on presentation quality (professional looking, not hand written) and thoroughness, not correctness.
Study Aids
Key Terms
- across-fiber pattern principle
- adaptation
- amplitude
- capsaicin
- cochlea
- conductive deafness (middle-ear deafness)
- cross-adaptation
- dermatome
- endorphins
- frequency
- frequency theory
- gate theory
- hair cells
- labeled-line principle
- nerve deafness (inner-ear deafness)
- nucleus of the tractus solitarius (NTS)
- olfaction
- olfactory cells
- opioid mechanisms
- oval window
- Pacinian corpuscle
- papillae
- periaqueductal gray area
- pheromones
- pinna
- pitch
- place theory
- placebo
- primary auditory cortex (area A1)
- semicircular canals
- somatosensory system
- suertasters
- synesthesia
- taste buds
- timbre
- tinnitus
- tympanic membrane
- volley principle
- vomeronasal organ (VNO)