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Module 1.3b

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images © Daniel DeSlover/ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Stock Photo Lives lost to opioids Actor Angus

Cloud and musician Juice WRLD are
among those who have died of opioid
overdoses.

®
AP Science Practice Check Your Understanding
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.
Examine the Concept Apply the Concept
▶ Which category of psychoactive drugs is known to calm ▶ Explain how alcohol’s effects can be influenced by our
neural activity and slow body functions? expectations.
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Answers to the Examine the Concept questions can be found in Appendix C at the end of the book.

Stimulants
What ar

What ar

stimulants,
and what ar
fects?
e their ef
e

e
stimulants,
e
1.3-7
1.3-7 What are stimulants, and what are their effects?

What ar
PRACTICE

Stimulants excite neural activity and speed up body functions. Pupils dilate, heart and
breathing rates increase, and blood sugar levels rise, reducing appetite. Energy and self-
confidence also rise. Argumentation (SP 4)
Stimulants include caffeine, nicotine, and the more powerful cocaine, amphetamines,
methamphetamine (also known as “speed”), and Ecstasy. People may use stimulants to feel (Out of class) While caffeine may
alert, lose weight, or boost mood or athletic performance. Some students resort to stronger not be dangerous in and of itself,
stimulant drugs in hopes of boosting their academic performance, despite these drugs offer- the products that contain caffeine
ing little or no benefit ( Ilieva et al., 2015 ; Teter et al., 2018 ). Stimulants can be addictive, as
many know from the fatigue, headaches, irritability, and depression that result from missing (coffee, sodas) are not considered
their usual caffeine dose ( Silverman et al., 1992 ). A mild dose typically lasts 3 or 4 hours, healthful products. Have students
so — if taken in the evening — a stimulant may impair sleep.
research the negative effects and
Nicotine health benefits of caffeinated prod-
Tobacco products deliver highly addictive nicotine. Imagine that cigarettes and vaping were ucts. Ask them to draw a conclu-
harmless — except, once in every 25,000 packs, an occasional innocent-looking one was stimulants drugs that excite sion based on their research, citing
filled with dynamite instead of tobacco. Not such a bad risk of having your head blown off. neural activity and speed up
But with 250 million packs a day consumed worldwide, we could expect more than 10,000 body functions. the scientifically derived evidence
gruesome daily deaths — surely enough to have cigarettes banned everywhere. 1 that supports their claim.
1 This analogy, adapted here with world-based numbers, was suggested by mathematician Sam Saunders, as
reported by K. C. Cole (1998).
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