Abstract
The study of biopsychology seeks to describe the physiological mechanisms of the body that mediate our movement and mental activity. Biopsychology focuses on biological basis of behavior (i.e., how brain and other biological processes affect psychological behaviors). Biopsychology is also known as biological psychology or psychobiology. Biopsychology is the application of the principles of biology to the study of mental processes and behavior that is the study of psychology in terms of bodily mechanisms.
TopChapter Outline
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The origins of biopsychology
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Nature and scope of biological psychology
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Mind-body interactions
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Biopsychological research methods
TopScope Of Biopsychology
Biopsychology is one of many contributors to neuroscience and adds the dimensions of behavior and behavioral research. The six primary divisions within biopsychology have three basic research dimensions. According to Pinel these may include human or nonhuman subjects, formal experiments or nonexperiments, and can be pure or applied.
There are six major divisions that demonstrate the diversity of biopsychology. Each one specifies a distinct area, yet seldom do they stand alone. In most situations a synergistic and harmonious blending of various combinations of these divisions is what delivers the most accurate insight into a specific situation.
The six divisions are:
Key Terms in this Chapter
Biological Techniques: Biological techniques are methods or procedures that are used to study living things. They include experimental and computational methods, approaches, protocols, and tools for biological research.
Mind-Body Relationship: Typically, humans are characterized as having both a mind (nonphysical) and body/brain (physical). This is known as dualism. Dualism is the view that the mind and body both exist as separate entities. Descartes/Cartesian dualism argues that there is a two-way interaction between mental and physical substances
Behavioral Neuroscience: Also known as biological psychology, biopsychology, or psychobiology, is the application of the principles of biology to the study of physiological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms of behavior in humans and other animals.
Biopsychology: Is a branch of psychology that analyzes how the brain, neurotransmitters, and other aspects of our biology influence our behaviors, thoughts, and feelings
Physiological Psychology: Physiological psychology is a subdivision of behavioral neuroscience (biological psychology ) that studies the neural mechanisms of perception and behavior through direct manipulation of the brains of nonhuman animal subjects in controlled experiments.
Biological Psychology: Is concerned primarily with the relationship between psychological processes and the underlying physiological events or, in other words, the mind-body phenomenon.