Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is Biological Psychology?
Study of the biological bases of psychological processes and behavior. (behavioral neuroscience, brain and behavior, physiological psychology)
Dualism
The mind has an immaterial aspect that is distinct from the material body and brain. Promoted by Rene Descartes.
Phrenology
Pseudoscientific fad of early 1800s of the belief that bumps on the skull reflect enlargements of brain regions responsible for certain behavioral faculties. Specific behaviors/feelings/personality traits correspond to specific regions of the brain.
Localization of Function
Concept that different brain regions specialize in specific behaviors. Established from the idea of phrenology.
Ontogeny
Process by which an individual changes in the course of its lifetime.
Neurons/Neuroscience
Study of the nervous system, nerve cells
Neuroplasticity
Ability of the nervous system to change in response to experience or the environment. Brain physically changes or alters with new experiences/memories added.
Adult neurogenesis
Creation of new neurons in the brain of an adult.
Social neuroscience
Field of study that uses the tools of neuroscience to discover both the biological bases of social behavior and effects of social circumstances on brain activity.
Evolutionary psychology
Field of study devoted to asking how natural selection has shaped behavior in humans and other animals.
Epigenetics
Study of factors that affect gene expression without making any changes in the nucleotide sequence of the genes. Ex. rats with maternal neglect show higher reaction to stress.
Gene expression
turning on/off of specific genes without changing the structure. Part of epigenetics
Neuroeconomics
Study of brain mechanisms at work during economic decision making. Brain regions that are especially active when making decisions.
Consciousness
State of awareness of one’s own existence, thoughts, emotions, and experiences.
Why does biological psychology have a long past but only a short history?
The brain was not considered very important starting in the time of Pharos, when the mummification process would discard the brain. In the New/Old Testament, the brain is never mentioned. Aristotle (350 BCE) considered mental capacities are from the heart. Also thought the brain was a cooling system. Hippocrates (400 BCE) thought the brain to function emotion, perception and thought. Galen studied head injuries of gladiators to propose that behavior results from the movement of “animal spirits” from the brain through nerves to the body. Leonardo da Vinci showed neuroanatomical illustrations of nerves and brain structures. Rene Descartes explained behavior resembles a machine and the concept of dualism.
Describe the 4 major theoretical perspectives of modern biological psychologists.
Behavioral description-might describe behavior in terms of detailed acts or processes or in temrs of results or functions
Evolution-Darwin’s theory relative. Can evaluate the similarities among species due to ancestry and by looking at species specific differences.
Development- Ontogeny, looking at behavior development over the lifetime
Biological Mechanisms-Neurons behind behavior
Somatic Intervention
Alter the structure or function of the brain or body to see how the alteration changes behavior
Within-participant/between-participant
within=control group is the same group as tested
between=two different groups of individuals compared (one treated diff)
Behavioral intervention
Altering or control behavior of an organism to look for a resulting change in body structure or function
Correlation
Measures how closely changes in one variable are associated with changes in another variable
Causality
relation of cause and effect, manipulation specifically caused a result
Reductionism
Strategy of breaking a system down into smaller parts to understand
Levels of analysis
Scope of experimental approaches.
