Biological and
Physiological Psychology
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
⮚The study of the physiological,
evolutionary, and developmental
mechanisms of behavior and
experience.
⮚How does our mind relate to our
brain activity?
⮚How do genes perform in shaping
our behavior? (Nature or Nurture)
⮚What are the uses of animals in
research?
⮚Biopsychology, psychobiology,
physiological psychology and
behavioral neuroscience
⮚Not just a field but also a point of
view that holds what we think and
act as we do because of brain
mechanism & we evolve brain
mechanism through time.
⮚EMPHASIZES:
oPhysiology
oEvolution (Genetics)
oDevelopment
oBrain Functioning
Brain functioning on a microscopic level:
neurons and glia, the cells of the brain
Biological explanations of behavior fall into
four categories:
Physiological – Emphasis on brain and other
vital organs.
oDeals with machinery of the body
Evolutionary – Focuses upon the genetic
history of a behavior.
oReconstructs the evolutionary history
of a structure of behavior.
oExample: Frightened people get
goosebumps, animals when their furs
spike or spread out to emit behavior
(Fear, Power, Authority)
Ontogenetic – Describes the development
of a structure or behavior.
oRaises the influences of genes,
nutrition, experiences and their
interactions in molding the behavior.
oThe ability to inhibit impulse develops
gradually from infancy through
teenage years reflecting a gradual
maturation from the frontal parts of
the brain. (Brain
development/structure)
Functional – Describes why a structure or
behavior evolved as it did.
oGenetic Drift – A dominant male with
many offsprings spread all his genes
incl. neutral and harmful ones.
oThe larger the population, the less
powerful genetic drift is. (More
mixture of DNA
