UNIT 6 CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

1. Explain how the case of Phineas Gage influenced the development of psychology.

His unique situation gave researchers an opportunity to study many new aspects of the brain,

including how it controls behavior.

2. Give examples of activities or processes that are controlled by the somatic nervous system.

The somatic nervous system is responsible for the activities under conscious control. It receives

information about the outside world through the five senses of touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing.

It also controls voluntary body movements and lets you do vital things like walk to class, wave at a

friend, take a seat, and chew gum. The somatic nervous system keeps you moving.

3. An elderly person suffered from a stroke that damaged part of his brain. He can speak easily,

but his sentences make no sense. Explain which area of his brain was most likely damaged.

The left hemisphere was mostly damaged

4. Assume that a PET scan was made of the brain of a person speaking and of the brain of a

person smelling a flower. Describe how you would expect the PET scan of each person’s

brain to look.

A PET scan of a person smelling a flower would show higher activity in the brain area responsible for

processing and identifying smells. On the other hand, a PET scan of a person speaking would show

higher activity in the Broca area and the temporal lobe.

5. Why is a home heating system a good model for the way that the thyroid gland is controlled

by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus? Describe how each system is controlled.

It is a good model because of the flow in the thyroid glands and the way they work are in many ways

similar.

Pituitary gland: which is located in the brain, is called the master gland of the endocrine system
because it secretes hormones that control the other endocrine glands.

Hypothalamus: An important source of information about the body is the hypothalamus, a tiny area
of the brain at the top of the brain stem. The hypothalamus monitors the body’s temperature,
chemical blood levels, and other indicators of its internal state. It also secretes chemical messengers,
or hormones, such as oxytocin which affects human emotions.

Thyroid gland: The thyroid gland is an endocrine gland in your neck. It makes two hormones that are
secreted into the blood: thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). These hormones are necessary for
all the cells in your body to work normally.