Chapter 1

17

dualism

The belief that the body is physical but the mind (or soul) is not.

monism

The belief that the world consists only of matter and energy and the mind is part of it.

blindsight

The ability of a person who cannot see objects in his or her blind field to accurately reach for them while remaining unconscious of perceiving them; caused by damage to the "mammalian" visual system of the brain.

corpus callosum

The largest commissure of the brain, interconnecting the areas of neocortex on each side of the brain.

split-brain operation

Brain surgery occasionally performed to treat a form of epilepsy; surgeon cuts the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemispheres of the brain.

cerebral hemispheres

The two symmetrical halves of the brain; constitute the major part of the brain.

generalization

Type of scientific explanation; a general conclusion based on many observations of similar phenomena.

reduction

Type of scientific explanation; a phenomenon is described in terms of the more elementary processes that underlie it.

reflex

An automatic, stereotyped movement produced as the direct result of a stimulus.

model

A mathematical or physical analogy for a physiological process; for example, computers have been used as models for various functions of the brain.

doctrine of specific nerve energies

Müller'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.

experimental ablation

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.

functionalism

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.

natural selection

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.

mutation

A change in the genetic information contained in the chromosomes of gametes, which can be passed on to an organism's offspring; provides genetic variability.

selective advantage

A characteristic of an organism that permits it to produce more than the average number of offspring of its species.

physiological psychologist

A scientist who studies the physiology of behavior, primarily by performing physiological and behavioral experiments with laboratory animals.