Preview

Psy 340 Week One Worksheet

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
518 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Psy 340 Week One Worksheet
University of Phoenix Material

Biological Psychology Worksheet

Answer the following questions in short-essay format. Be prepared to discuss your answers.

1. What is biological psychology? Biopsychology is the study of the biology of behavior. To make this more simply understood it is the psychology between the body and the brain. A good example of this is how the nervous system affects the way our body controls or reacts to certain things.

2. What is the historical development of biological psychology? The study of the biology of behavior has a long history, but biopsychology did not develop into a major neuroscientific discipline until the 20th century. Although it is not possible to specify the exact date of biopsychology’s birth, the publication of The Organization of Behavior in 1949 by D. O. Hebb played a key role in its emergence (Pinel, 2009).

3. Name one to three important theorists associated with biological psychology. Rene Descartes was a brilliant thinker, philosopher, scientist, physiologist, and early psychologist whose theory of mind-body connection has become an integral part of modern medicine (Goodwin, 2008). His dualist view, asserted the mind was ethereal and autonomous in relation to the physical and strictly material body, and to account for their interaction, he proposed the pineal gland was where the intersection of the two transpired (Goodwin, 2008). He theorized the mechanistic, reflexive nature of certain human behaviors, although his one caveat was that reasoning and thoughts were unique properties of the human soul (Wickens, 2005). Descartes 's work laid some of the fundamental parameters for modern thought in psychology, encouraged further research on the localization of brain function, and promoted further experimental research of the nervous system (Goodwin, 2008).

4. Describe the relationship between biological psychology and other fields in psychology



References: Goodwin, C.J. (2008). A History of Modern Psychology (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Pinel, J. P. J. (2009). Biopsychology (7th ed.). Wickens, A. (2005). Foundations of Biopsychology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice- Hall.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Psy-240 Week 2 Assignment

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Inside the womb we start out as an egg, but one of the first major structures that begin to form is the brain. The brain itself is a complex structure that leaves much to be learned from it. It controls a person’s entire body function and movements whether it be walking, talking, or even going to the bathroom. What most people do not know is that there are five major structures of the brain. The first of the five is the myelencephalon ( the Medulla). The Myelencephalon (or medulla) is the posterior portion of the brain stem. Not surprisingly then, the medulla is composed largely of tracts carrying signals between the rest of the brain and the body. An interesting part of the myelencephalon from a psychological perspective is the reticular formation. It is a complex network of about 100 tiny nuclei that occupies the central core of the brain stem from the posterior boundary of the myelencephalon to the anterior boundary of the midbrain. It is so named because of its netlike appearance (reticulum means "little net"). Sometimes the reticular formation is referred to as the reticular activating system because parts of it seem to play a role in arousal. The various nuclei of the reticular formation are involved in a variety of functions, however — including sleep, attention (definitely important for language), movement, the maintenance of muscle tone, and various cardiac, circulatory, and respiratory reflexes. Accordingly, referring to this collection of nuclei as a system can be misleading. Generally, the myelencephalon does not play an important role in language production or comprehension.…

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pathogen/disease Genetic flaw (chromosomal abnormality v. genetic mutation) Diathesis-stress model Explain and give an example of each pathway to mental illness…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    1. Differentiate between sensation and perception. Explain the importance of separating these concepts. The differences between sensation and perception is that sensation is the elementary elements that, according to structuralist, combine to create perception. Whereas, perception is the conscious sensory experience (Goldstein, 2014). This student has always looked at sensations as those things in a persons’s environment that one can see, hear, smell, touch, taste, and feel. On the other hand perception is how a person’s brain will interpret what is seen, heard, smelt, felt, or touched.…

    • 756 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Psy 315 Week 4 Test Paper

    • 2152 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Consider the following research title: “cooperation among nursery school children: the role of teachers age”. In this study the IV is…

    • 2152 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    7. __N___ People are unique, values are important, and overall the goal is to find fulfillment. Individual experiences assist with confronting and understanding the negative world.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    After Elisabeth presses Descartes to make a light on the mind-body participation, he inevitably responds. Descartes' response is reluctant and in addition opens up further issues, His responses are twofold. Firstly, he battles that a reaction to this issue presupposes a clarification of the union between the brain and the body (Atherton, 1994). Also, he guarantees that the question itself come from a false presupposition that two substances with finish diverse natures can't follow up on each other (Atherton, 1994); and imply there is an inconsistency in considering brain and body as both two particular substances and as joined together (Mattern 1978). As demonstrated by Descartes' points of view, the psyche and the body are two unmistakable sorts of substances. The body is spatially expanded and unequipped for feeling or thought. The brain, of course, is unextended and fit for thought and…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Descartes Mind and Body

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Descartes has a very distinct thought when thinking about the mind, and how it relates to the body, or more specifically then brain. He seems to want to explain that the mind in itself is independent from the body. A body is merely a physical entity that could be proven to be true scientifically and also can be proven through the senses. Such things are not possible with the meta-physical mind because it is independent of the body. Building on his previous premises, Descartes finally proves whether material things exist or not and determines whether his mind and body are separate from each other or not. In Meditation Six, Descartes lays the foundation for dualism which has become one of the most important arguments in philosophy.…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Descartes Dualism

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Bibliography: Binder, MD, Hirokawa, N & Windhorst, U 2009, Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin. Bloom, P 2007, Lecture 2 Foundations: This is Your Brain, Transcript, Yale University, Connecticut. Calef, S 2005, Dualism and Mind, Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, viewed 12th April 2013, . Koksvik, O 2006, In Defense of Interactionism, Monash University, Melbourne, viewed 11th April 2013, . Lisa Shapiro (ed.) The Correspondence Between Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia and Rene Descartes, (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007) 61-67. Lloyd, M 2013, Week 3 Descartes I, PowerPoint slides, University of Queensland, Brisbane. Lloyd, M 2013, Week 4 Descartes II, PowerPoint slides, University of Queensland, Brisbane. McLeod, S 2007, Mind Body Debate, viewed 13th April 2013, . Rene Descartes, The Passions of the Soul, trans. John Conttingham, Robert Stoothoff & Dougald Murdoch (Cambridge: CUP, 1985), 340. Temple, C 2002, Meditations on First Philosophy, Philosophy Index, viewed 14th April 2013, .…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although completely different, Descartes argued that mind and body substances were able to causally interact (Hoffman, 1986). So, for example, if John were to place his hand on a hot stove (a material event involving material objects such as the hot stove and John’s hand), a mental event of feeling pain would occur. This would be followed by another mental event, the desire to take his hand off the hot stove, leading to the material event of taking his hand off the hot stove. According to Descartes, signals were passed between John’s brain and mind through the pineal gland- a mass of tissue at the centre of the brain where the mind-body interaction takes place (Descartes, 1649). The conclusion follows that while separate, mind and body affect…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Biological psychology is defined as being “the study of the brain and how it causes or relates to behaviour” (Wickens, 2005, p. 3); it is often referred to as biopsychology or psychobiology. The past of biological psychology has been a colorful and descriptive past, thanks to the many theorists and scientists in the field.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Descartes made many contributions to psychology. Firstly, he endeavored mechanistic explanations of behavior and bodily functions. Secondly, his knowledge of reflexive behavior led to the idea of stimulus-response and behaviorism. Thirdly, he focused on the brain and came to the conclusion it is an important mediator of behavior. Descartes brought attention to the mind-body relationship and was able explain and clarify the mind-body relationship for others. Next, he studied the bodies of animals and how they operate as a means to understand how human bodies function. His studies on the bodies of animals eventually inspired animal research and led to physiological and comparative psychology. In addition, he led the way for the scientific study…

    • 142 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Biological psychologists study behavior by researching and studying how behavior and experiences relate to individual as genes and physiology. Biological psychology also investigates questions of how the brain and connected to consciousness. This branch of psychology stresses the goal of relating biology to the issue of psychology. This is called by many different words such as psychobiology, biopsychology, physiological psychology or behavioral neuroscience. Brain functioning is the main focus for biological psychology. Studying the brain, biological psychologists attempt to find the best ways to help with recovery after brain damage, or what specific part of the brain helps us learn language or is involved in storing memories. Also researchers study what biological factors make people more likely to be affected with psychological disorders.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Biological Psychology

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Psychology studies different areas of the mind and behavior, especially the link between biology and behavior. Biological psychology explores behavior through genetics, evolution and physiological, especially through the study of the nervous system. Biological psychology explores biology in an effort to understand behavior. It investigates how human brain connects to the consciousness. In order to understand biological psychology research has been done to gather background information on the history and the importance to how man understands the brain and how it functions. Biological psychologists are also known as behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists or biopsychologists.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    using techniques such as brain removal or areas of the brain being removed also called lesioning and stimulation which used either chemical or electrical stimulation. Historical figures which played a key role in the development of Biological Psychology ranged from a long time span from Aristole to Descartes. One of the first people to really start trying to dissect the brains functions and how it effected the individual was Aelius Galenus or Galen. Galen believed that the heart was the crucial organ of the body because it contained the vital spirit that gave the spark of life to the person. This vital spirit was also seen as providing the ‘substance’ of the mind, and it was transported to a large group of blood vessels at the base of the brain called the rete mirabile (‘wonderful net’). Here the vital spirit was mixed with air that had been inhaled through the nose, and transformed into animated spirit that was stored in the ventricles (Wickens, 2005). New light was not really shed on the subject since no opposing or serious imposing ideas where presented as alternatives until 1,500 years later by Descartes. Descartes presented dualism which separated the mind and body as two separate units working together Descartes’ work provided a great impetus for experimental research, and not least because some of his ideas could be tested. For example, as we have seen, Descartes believed that the…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Biological Psychology

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The brain is a complex organ that is composed of many even more complex systems. Several theorists and psychologists focus on these systems and the functions of the brain. Scientists are also among those who take an interest in the functions of the brain. Each group digs deeper into researching biological psychology because they are learning more about the history of the field, the theorists that have contributed to the understanding, and relationships to other areas of psychology. This paper will discuss biological psychology and its history along with the theorists that have helped uncover many mysteries of the brain. It will also discuss the relationship of biological psychology and other fields of psychology and the underlying assumptions of biological psychology.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics