Biological Psychology Paper
Biological Psychology Paper
Jacqueline Leday
PSY 340
August 24, 2010
Lisa M. Shores
Biological Psychology Paper
Biological Psychology can be defined as the study of the brain, and how the brain functions in relation to human behavior. The assumption that mind and brain are linked is the basis of understanding biological psychology. The two areas which are most relevant to Biological Psychology are Neuroanatomy (study of how parts of the brain are connected) and Neurophysiology (study of how neurons work). Laboratory animals such as rats and non-human primates are used in experiments to better understand human pathology which contribute to providing evidence for the field of study. Starting at the beginning with the theorists that made …show more content…
an impact on biological psychology will give a better understanding of this field.
Plato (429-348 B.C.) believed that the brain was the organ of reasoning.
His pupil Aristotle disagreed with him. Aristotle felt that the heart was the center of reasoning. The brain function was to cool the blood circulating in the body. Galen (130-200 A.D.) was one of the first writers to propose a theory which were based on the ventricles of the heart. He also believed that the heart was the crucial organ of the body because it provided substance (blood) to the brain. Others expanded on Galen ideas including Nemesius (Bishop of Ernesa) who foresaw that the lateral ventricles were the site for sensory and mental impression. The third ventricle produced the site of reason, and the fourth ventricle was the site for memory. This theory became to be the one of the most popular theories relating to the brain in written history. It has remained unchanged for approximately 1500 years (Wickens, …show more content…
2005).
Rene Descrates (1596-1650) known as the “Father of Psychology” was a french philosopher who believed that the mind and body were two separate entities. He believed that the body was composed of physical matter, and the mind (soul) was independent of the material world(non-physical). Descrates also suggested that the pineal gland was the site in which the mind and body interacted with each other. He also recogonized the concept of automatic reflex which occurs for example, when a part of the body quickly moves away when a hot source such as a fire comes in contact with it. Descrates proposed that digestion, respiration, sensory impression, emotion, and memory were reflexive. Descrates laid the foundation for modern philosophy and psychology today (Wickens, 2005).
The discovery of animal electricity was founded by a biologist named Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) .
He performed experiments at the University of Bologna involving electric charges on frogs. A charge was applied to the spinal cord to a frog, and caused the frog to produce muscular spasms. The charges could make frogs jump even if the legs were no longer attached to the frog. Galvani believed that he was seeing animal electricity, the life force within the muscle of a frog (Corrosion Doctors). Galvani showed that nervous energy was electrical, but a Italian Anatomist named Camillo Golgi discovered a new stain that could be used to truly observe the acutual nerve cell. By applying silver nitrate to the nerve cell, the cell would turn black enabling them to stand out and be observed clearly through a microscope . Thia method became indispensable for examining a wide variety of cells in the brain (Wickens,
2005).
Biological psychology as a field incorporates a unique forum for the interaction and colloboration of professionals in other areas of clinical and scientific study. Contributing to the advancement of biological psychology from a theoretical and empirical perspective, investigators trained in other areas such as neurophysiology, genetics, molecular biology, and psychiatry work together to study the structural and functional aspects of behavior across species. Investigators explore the developmental processes of biology and behavior across the life span, and utilize findings to formulate practical applications that promte human health (Sameuel T. Gontkovosky, 2001).
In summary, Biopsychological and mental processes are linked directly together. Mental events causes biological consequences, and biological events causes mental consequences. The biological approach looks at human behavior as a result of Genetics and Biology, not as a result of our environment. At first research in biology was extremely difficult. How can an individual study the mind and brain functions without actually seeing, touching, or testing the brain? The animals that were dissected in past experiments allowed us to witness the complexities of the brain. Today many Doctors, Psychologists, and Researchers work hard to help with mental disease, and it would be impossible to diagnosis without knowing the functions of the brain.
Corrosion Doctors. (n.d.) Retrieved from Corrosion Doctors.
Sameuel T. Gontkovosky. (2001) Biopsychological Psychology: An introduction to Behavioral.
Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience. In S. M. Mark Rosenzweig. Massachusettes: Sinauer Associates.
Wickens, A. (2005) Foundations of Biopsychology. Prentice-Hall.
Jacqueline Leday
PSY 340
August 24, 2010
Lisa M. Shores
Biological Psychology Paper
Biological Psychology can be defined as the study of the brain, and how the brain functions in relation to human behavior. The assumption that mind and brain are linked is the basis of understanding biological psychology. The two areas which are most relevant to Biological Psychology are Neuroanatomy (study of how parts of the brain are connected) and Neurophysiology (study of how neurons work). Laboratory animals such as rats and non-human primates are used in experiments to better understand human pathology which contribute to providing evidence for the field of study. Starting at the beginning with the theorists that made …show more content…
an impact on biological psychology will give a better understanding of this field.
Plato (429-348 B.C.) believed that the brain was the organ of reasoning.
His pupil Aristotle disagreed with him. Aristotle felt that the heart was the center of reasoning. The brain function was to cool the blood circulating in the body. Galen (130-200 A.D.) was one of the first writers to propose a theory which were based on the ventricles of the heart. He also believed that the heart was the crucial organ of the body because it provided substance (blood) to the brain. Others expanded on Galen ideas including Nemesius (Bishop of Ernesa) who foresaw that the lateral ventricles were the site for sensory and mental impression. The third ventricle produced the site of reason, and the fourth ventricle was the site for memory. This theory became to be the one of the most popular theories relating to the brain in written history. It has remained unchanged for approximately 1500 years (Wickens, …show more content…
2005).
Rene Descrates (1596-1650) known as the “Father of Psychology” was a french philosopher who believed that the mind and body were two separate entities. He believed that the body was composed of physical matter, and the mind (soul) was independent of the material world(non-physical). Descrates also suggested that the pineal gland was the site in which the mind and body interacted with each other. He also recogonized the concept of automatic reflex which occurs for example, when a part of the body quickly moves away when a hot source such as a fire comes in contact with it. Descrates proposed that digestion, respiration, sensory impression, emotion, and memory were reflexive. Descrates laid the foundation for modern philosophy and psychology today (Wickens, 2005).
The discovery of animal electricity was founded by a biologist named Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) .
He performed experiments at the University of Bologna involving electric charges on frogs. A charge was applied to the spinal cord to a frog, and caused the frog to produce muscular spasms. The charges could make frogs jump even if the legs were no longer attached to the frog. Galvani believed that he was seeing animal electricity, the life force within the muscle of a frog (Corrosion Doctors). Galvani showed that nervous energy was electrical, but a Italian Anatomist named Camillo Golgi discovered a new stain that could be used to truly observe the acutual nerve cell. By applying silver nitrate to the nerve cell, the cell would turn black enabling them to stand out and be observed clearly through a microscope . Thia method became indispensable for examining a wide variety of cells in the brain (Wickens,
2005).
Biological psychology as a field incorporates a unique forum for the interaction and colloboration of professionals in other areas of clinical and scientific study. Contributing to the advancement of biological psychology from a theoretical and empirical perspective, investigators trained in other areas such as neurophysiology, genetics, molecular biology, and psychiatry work together to study the structural and functional aspects of behavior across species. Investigators explore the developmental processes of biology and behavior across the life span, and utilize findings to formulate practical applications that promte human health (Sameuel T. Gontkovosky, 2001).
In summary, Biopsychological and mental processes are linked directly together. Mental events causes biological consequences, and biological events causes mental consequences. The biological approach looks at human behavior as a result of Genetics and Biology, not as a result of our environment. At first research in biology was extremely difficult. How can an individual study the mind and brain functions without actually seeing, touching, or testing the brain? The animals that were dissected in past experiments allowed us to witness the complexities of the brain. Today many Doctors, Psychologists, and Researchers work hard to help with mental disease, and it would be impossible to diagnosis without knowing the functions of the brain.
Corrosion Doctors. (n.d.) Retrieved from Corrosion Doctors.
Sameuel T. Gontkovosky. (2001) Biopsychological Psychology: An introduction to Behavioral.
Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience. In S. M. Mark Rosenzweig. Massachusettes: Sinauer Associates.
Wickens, A. (2005) Foundations of Biopsychology. Prentice-Hall.