Psychology 2036A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Classical Conditioning, Razor Strop, Cyclophosphamide

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2036A/B
• Professor: Doug Hazlewood

Document Summary

Our bodies are constantly assaulted by foreign threats: viruses, molds, fungi, pollen, bacteria, etc. But most of the time we"re healthy. Why: because we have an immune system. Part 1: what is the immune system: a complex biological system that detects and destroys threats to the body, types of immunity: Acquired immunity (from previous experience with illness, e. g. , measles); Artificial immunity (from vaccinations e. g. , for polio, smallpox, etc. : types of threat. Foreign substances that have invaded the body (e. g. , viruses, bacteria) called antigens. Cells that are not behaving normally (e. g. , cancerous cells; cells that have become infected with a foreign invader) Part 2: the immune system"s response to threats (nonspecific & specific: nonspecific immunity (immune system attacks anything that looks unusual) Key players: phagocytes (scavengers that engulf and digest antigens in blood/body fluids before they infect cells), natural killer (nk) cells: attack and destroy infected (and cancerous) cells, specific immunity: attacks specific threats that have been encountered before.