chapter 1 biopsychology as a neuroscience. copyright © 2009 allyn & bacon what is...

Chapter 1Biopsychology as a Neuroscience

Copyright © 2009 Allyn & Bacon

What Is Biopsychology? “The scientific study of the biology of

behavior” Also called psychobiology,

behavioral biology, behavioral neuroscience

Psychology: the scientific study of behavior

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What Is Biopsychology? (continued)

Hebb (1949) proposed that psychological phenomena might be produced by brain activity

Biopsychology takes an eclectic approach based on experiments, case studies, observation, and inference

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Biopsychology and Other Disciplines of Neuroscience

Knowledge from other disciplines of neuroscience is applied to the study of behavior

Each discipline studies a different aspect of the nervous system that informs our understanding of what produces and controls behavior


Other Disciplines of Neuroscience Neuroanatomy

Structure of the nervous system Neurochemistry

Chemical bases of neural activity Neuroendocrinology

Interactions between the nervous system and the endocrine system


Other Disciplines of Neuroscience (continued)

Neuropathology Nervous system disorders

Neuropharmacology Effects of drugs on neural activity

Neurophysiology Functions and activities of the nervous

system


Biopsychological Research: Three Major Dimensions Human and nonhuman

subjects Experiments and

nonexperiments Pure and applied research


Human and Nonhuman Subjects While some questions about behavior

can only be addressed using human subjects, much can be learned from studying the brains of other species

Species differences are more quantitative than qualitative


Human and Nonhuman Subjects (continued)

Why use nonhumans? Simpler brains makes it more likely that brain-behavior

interactions will be revealed Comparative approach – gain insight by making

comparisons with other species Fewer ethical restrictions than with humans

Why use humans? They can follow instructions They can report their introspections They’re cheaper


Experiments and Nonexperiments Experiments involve the manipulation of

variables In nonexperiments, the researcher does

not control the variables of interest Quasiexperimental studies Case studies


Case studies focus on a single individual, such as Jimmie G.

Usually more in-depth than other approaches, but may not be generalizable

Generalizability – the degree to which results can be applied to other cases

Experiments and Nonexperiments (continued)


Divisions of Biopsychology Six major divisions

Physiological psychology Psychopharmacology Neuropsychology Psychophysiology Cognitive neuroscience Comparative psychology

Each has a different approach, but there is much overlap


Divisions of Biopsychology (continued)

Physiological psychology Neural mechanisms of behavior Direct manipulation of the brain

Psychopharmacology Effects of drugs on the brain and

behavior Neuropsychology

Psychological effects of brain damage in humans


Psychophysiology Relation between physiological activity and

psychological processes Example: visual tracking in schizophrenics



Cognitive neuroscience – the neural bases of cognition Functional brain

imaging is the major method of cognitive neuroscience


Comparative psychology Comparing different species to understand

evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness of behavior



Scientific Inference The empirical method that

biopsychologists use to study the unobservable

Scientists measure what they can observe and use these measures as a basis for inferring what they can’t observe

chapter 1 biopsychology as a neuroscience. copyright © 2009 allyn & bacon what is...

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