Exam 1 will cover material from the text and lecture. All of the material in your textbook and from lecture is
important and the more you know the better off you are. That said, here's a guide of the topics I will be
addressing on the exam because I think they are key points to learn from each chapter/lecture.
Chapter 1: Drug Use: An Overview
Seven questions to ask when talking about drug use ("the drug problem")
Four principles of psychoactive drugs (e.g., define history, expectations, set & setting)
Components of a dose response curve (e.g., threshold)
Correlation (negative and positive); Protective and risk factors; Antecedents
Regarding Fig. 1.4 of the 14th edition (at end of lecture for Ch. 1), The greater the dependence on a drug, the
more the individual factors are weighted while the societal, community, and family factors become less
influential.
Define: illicit, psychoactive drug, deviant drug use, drug misuse, drug abuse, drug dependence, dose response
curve
Chapter 2: Drug Use as a Social Problem
List costs of drug use to society
Three factors that influenced a shift from laissez-faire governing approach to drug use to a more controlled
approach (toxicity, dependence, crime)
Define and give examples of acute, chronic, behavior, and physiological toxicity (Table 2.1 from 14th edition of
text is helpful)
According to DSM-IV-TR, what are major differences in diagnostic criteria for substance abuse and substance
dependence?
Name 2 drugs with high or very high dependence potential, and 2 with low dependence potential.
How do positive and negative reinforcement maintain drug use?
Define: Tolerance, Physical dependence, &Psychological dependence
Chapter 3: Drug Products and Their Regulations
Three "issues leading to legislation"
1906 Pure Food and Drug Act
Harrison Act of 1914
18th & 21st Amendments
1937 Marijuana Tax Act
Narcotic Control Act of 1956
Drug Abuse Control Amendments of 1965
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention & Control Act of 1970
Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 & 1988
Process of marketing new drug (preclinical, clinical - 3 phases)
Two primary criteria for categorizing drugs into Schedules I - V (medical use? potential for abuse?)
FDA regulates purity, safety, effectiveness.
Chapter 4: The Nervous System
Components of the nervous system (CNS and PNS and their subcomponents)
Name 2 functions of each lobe of the brain.
Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic functions
Basic structure and function of a neuron (cell body/soma, dendrites, axon, myelin sheath, presynaptic terminals)
Two important functions of glial cells (myelin and blood brain barrier)
Name 7 neurotransmitters commonly affected by psychoactive drugs
Symptoms of hyper and hypoactivity of dopamine
Lifecycle of a neurotransmitter
Define: action potential, neurotransmitter, agonist, antagonist, reuptake, degradation
