Question

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Explain how the case of Phineas Gage influenced the development of psychology.
2. Give examples of activities or processes that are controlled by the somatic nervous system.
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.
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.
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.

Answer 1

The case of Phineas Gage influenced the development of psychology by linking brain function to behavior. The somatic nervous system controls voluntary movements and sensory information. Damage to the left frontal lobe's Broca's area can result in speech difficulties.

Step-by-step explanation:

1. The case of Phineas Gage was influential in the development of psychology because it provided evidence for the link between brain function and behavior. Gage's personality and behavior drastically changed after a traumatic brain injury, demonstrating that damage to specific areas of the brain can lead to changes in cognition and personality. This helped establish the field of neuropsychology.

2. The somatic nervous system controls voluntary movements and sensory information. Examples of activities controlled by the somatic nervous system include walking, talking, writing, and playing a musical instrument.

3. The area of the brain most likely damaged in the elderly person's case is the left hemisphere's frontal lobe, specifically the Broca's area. Damage to this area can result in a condition known as Broca's aphasia, where the person has difficulty producing coherent speech despite intact language comprehension.

4. In the PET scan of the person speaking, you would expect increased activity in the brain regions associated with language production, such as Broca's area. In the PET scan of the person smelling a flower, you would expect increased activity in the olfactory cortex and limbic system, which are involved in processing smell.

5. A home heating system is a good model for how the thyroid gland is controlled by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus because similar feedback mechanisms are involved. In both cases, a stimulus (temperature or hormone levels) is detected by sensors (thermostat or hypothalamus), which then send signals to the control center (furnace or pituitary gland). The control center activates effectors (heating system or thyroid gland) to maintain stability.

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