Describe meditation, and suggest evidence that supports the idea that meditation can help people achieve a relaxed state.
What will be an ideal response?
Students' answers may vary.
The answer should contain the following information:
Meditation is a learned technique for refocusing attention that brings about an altered state of consciousness. Meditation typically consists of the repetition of a mantra-a sound, word, or syllable. In some forms of meditation, the focus is on a picture, flame, or specific part of the body. Regardless of the nature of the particular initial stimulus, the key to the procedure is to concentrate on it so thoroughly that the meditator becomes unaware of any outside stimulation and reaches a different state of consciousness.
After meditation, people report feeling thoroughly relaxed. They often relate that they have gained new insights into themselves and the problems they are facing. The long-term practice of meditation may even improve health because of the biological changes it produces. For example, during meditation, oxygen usage decreases, heart rate and blood pressure decline, and brain-wave patterns change.
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Otto Loewi collected the fluid around a frog's heart and injected it onto another frog's heart. What did he demonstrate? a. Some synapses operate by releasing chemicals
b. Synapses control complex emotional responses. c. Synapses can be either excitatory or inhibitory. d. Synapses in the periphery use the same neurotransmitters that the brain uses.
The average of a series of item characteristic curves is known as
a. the average characteristic curve. b. the standard error of the item characteristic. c. a test characteristic curve. d. the variance ratio curve.
A student wants to know whether people who believe in an afterlife cope better with stressful life events than those who do not. Which of the following methods of answering this question does NOT rely on empirical data about this relationship? a. asking a member of the clergy whether people who believe in an afterlife cope better with stressful life events
b. interviewing several people about their beliefs about an afterlife and their reactions to stressful events in their lives. c. administering a questionnaire to several people that measures their coping skills and their beliefs about an afterlife. d. comparing the reactions to a stressful situation of people who do and do not believe in an afterlife.
Which part of a neuron carries signals away from the cell body?
a. axon c. end bulb b. cell body d. dendrites