Biological Psychology - Lecture 1

Question 1

What is biological psychology?

Answer 1

Biological psychology is the relationship between brain and thought/behaviour

Question 2

Why study the brain?

Answer 2

The brain underlies thought/behaviour therefore, understanding the brain helps us to understand thought/behaviour

Question 3

(1) Thinking = brain processes

Answer 3

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

• mechanistic reflexes allow sensations to cause action
• but brain allows flexibility and reason
• Brain function underlies all thought and behaviour*

Question 4

(2) It’s all about dealing with information

Answer 4

The brain needs to:

• transmit information and,
• process information
• information is sent via electrical signals (movement of charged particles) and chemical signals

Question 5

(3) Changes in wiring or brain chemicals lead to changes in how we think and behave

Answer 5

e.g. Phineas Gage, Dopamine

Question 6

(4) Brain functions are (relatively) localised

Answer 6

• Brodmann’s areas (1909) refer to 52 regions of the cerebral cortex that were identified
• Patient HM; medial temporal lobectomy; anterograde amnesia
• Dr Wilder Penfield (1891-1976): cortical stimulation

Question 7

(5) There are parallel system within the brain…

and most of them function without consciousness

Answer 7

e.g. Parallel motor (movement) systems, competition between actions - mistakes, regrets, etc.

Question 8

Common sense versus biological psychology

Answer 8

Common sense tells us that:
- we act according to our “will”
- we perceive the world as it is
Biological psychology tells us that:
- there are multiple, sometimes conflicting, routes to action;
- most of these processes are unconscious
we often do not know why we do things
- what perceive is influenced by various factors, including other visual input and expectation;
- conscious perception is only one function of vision