What do all abused substances have in common? What are some inherited factors that might lead to an increased
vulnerability to substance abuse?
What will be an ideal response?
It would be expected that abused substances would share some common effects on the brain and there is
evidence of this. It appears that drugs such as alcohol, cocaine, and opium all act on a system in the brain that is
involved in pleasure. Thus, these drugs act on a system in the brain that normally serves to reward behaviors that
are beneficial. While psychoactive drugs may have similar effects in the brain of everyone, there is evidence that
those with a genetic predisposition for substance abuse may show an altered response to drugs. Males who are
genetically predisposed to develop alcoholism, for example, appear to feel greater stress reduction than others
when they drink alcohol and show other physiological differences in how they respond to alcohol. It is believed
that these differences can explain the observed role of genes in the development of substance use disorders.
Altered drug responsiveness, as well as personality traits, may be inherited and result in a greater risk of
substance abuse and dependence.
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Why is ANAM one of the most important developments in clinical neuropsychology?
a. ANAM takes eight hours to administer. b. ANAM is the first neurological test to measure psychological disorder. c. ANAM is an automated neuropsychological test. d. ANAM only requires a single task.
Because it is not always possible to conduct experiments, psychologists gather evidence and test hypotheses by using all of the following nonexperimental methods EXCEPT for the __________ method
a. clinical b. correlational c. naturalistic observation d. pseudopsychological
The storage capacity of long-term memory is best described as
a. a single item. b. about seven items. c. about seven volumes. d. limitless.
Describe the differences between antagonists and agonists.
What will be an ideal response?