Unit 1 Flashcards
What is biological psychology
study of physical, evolutionary, and developmental underpinnings of behavior
Biological psychology maintains a focus on the ______, and how the _____ governs behavior
brain, brain
The Four Approaches to Explaining Behavior (POEF)
- Physiological approach
- Ontogenetic approach
- Evolutionary approach
- Functional approach
Goal of Physiological Approach
Relate the behavior directly to physiology
Physiology
the branch of biology dealing with the functions and activities of living organisms and their parts, including all physical and chemical processes
Goal of Ontogenetic Approach
describe how the structure of a behavior develops
Largely a developmental approach, how has the behavior changes over the lifespan?
-genes
-experience, learning
-interactions between these factors
Goal of Evolutionary Approach
Reconstruct the evolutionary history of a behavior
Look at other species
-information about the origin informs us about the purpose
Goal of Functional Approach
determine why the behavior evolved as it did
-consider a behavior and try to figure out what the adaptive value is, why it was allowed to propagate, and how it contributes to fitness
Why do people _________?
All four approaches provide aspects of the answer to this question
The most complete approach accompanies answers from all four dimensions of “why”
Three Conventions of Biological Psychology
- We presume monism, rather than mind-body dualism
- We presume that other minds exist
- We are working on the hard problem
- We presume ________, rather than __________.
monism; mind-body dualism
- We presume that other _____ exist
minds
- We are working on the _____ _______.
hard problem
Mind-body dualism
the belief that the mind is somehow distinct from the body, or that minds are one type of substance and the rest of the world is something else
Four Variants of Monism
- Materialism (or physicalism)
- Mentalism (or idealism)
- Neutral monism
- Identity positionism
Variant of Monism: Materialism (or physicalism)
everything is physical, including “psychological” events
MATTER > Mind
Variant of Monism: Mentalism (or idealism)
everything is mental. There is a mind, and nothing physical exists unless one thinks it
Matter < MIND
Variant of Monism: Neutral monism
There is a 3rd substance from which mental and physical are both derived
> matter & mind
Variant of Monism: Identity positionism
mental and physical are actually the same thing, just spoken of differently. The mind is just brain activity (think waves and photons to describe light).
Solipism
the theory that one’s own mind is all that can be known to exist
Chalmers (1995) Hard Problem of Consciousness
The problem of explaining the relationship between physical phenomena (brain processes) and experience (seeing the color green, falling in love, feeling ennui)
Mind-body problem
how does the mind relate to brain activity?
Why are certain types of brain activity conscious?
Major neural structures
Soma
Dendrites
Axon
Myelin sheath
Terminal buttons
Three types of neurons
afferent neurons
interneurons/intrinsic neurons
efferent neurons
sensory neurons
motor neurons