Final answer:
The instructor is describing the concept of modularity, explaining how specific brain regions, like Broca's area and Wernicke's area, serve specialized functions in speech production and comprehension, respectively.
Step-by-step explanation:
The psychology instructor is most likely describing the concept of modularity. This concept refers to the idea that certain areas of the brain are specialized for specific functions. For instance, Broca's area, located in the left frontal lobe, is essential for speech production. Damage to this area can cause expressive aphasia, leading to non-fluent, halted speech and loss of grammatical structure.
Conversely, the Wernicke's area, found in the posterior part of the left temporal lobe next to the auditory cortex, is crucial for language comprehension. Damage to this area results in receptive aphasia, where individuals struggle to understand language or recognize the content of their speech. The fusiform face area is another specialized region responsible for processing faces. These regions illustrate how the brain's complex functions are often isolated to particular areas, supporting the modularity theory in neuropsychology.