CHAPTER 1: BIOPSYCH AS A NEUROSCIENCE
 Human Brain
Texture: squishy and textured
Shape: walnut-shaped
Weight:1.3 kg
Structure: hunk of tissue
- An intricate network of neurons (cells that
receive and transmit electrochemical
signals)
 Neuroscience
- Scientific study of the nervous
system
1. Thinking Creatively About Biopsychology
 Base thinking on the evidence
presented.
 Also “think outside the box”
2. Clinical Implications
1. Study of diseased or damaged brains
lead to new knowledge
2. New knowledge leads to new
treatments.
3. Evolutionary Perspective
1. Consideration of environmental
pressures on human evolution
2. May use a comparative approach
4. Neuroplasticity
1. The brain is plastic (changeable). Not
static.
DEFINING BIOPSYCHOLOGY
- Scientific study of the biology of behavior – see
Dewsburry (1991)
- Also referred as psychobiology, behavioral
biology, or behavioral neuroscience.
- Preferred the term biopsychology because it
denotes a biological approach to the study of
psychology rather than psychological approach
to study oof biology.
ORIGINS OF BIOSPYCHOLOGY
Kinds of questions neuroscientists study:
1. How do we recognize a face of a
friend?
2. What roles does the brain play in
depression or anxiety?
3. How does the brain’s activity result
in consciousness?
A. Aristotle (384 -322 BC) – dualist
B. Hippocrates (460-370 BC) – monist
C. Descartes (17th century) – modified dualist
D. Galvani (17th century) – frog muscles
contact with electricity
E. Muller (19th century) – doctrine of specific
nerve energies; advocate of
experimentation
F. Flourens (19th century) - experimental
ablation
G. Broca (19th century) – aphasia
 The origin of Behavior by Donald Hebb
- Developed the first comprehensive theory of
how complex psychological phenomena, such
as perceptions, emotions, thoughts, and
memories, might be produced by brain activity.
- Based his theory on experiments involving both
humans and laboratory animals, on clinical case
studies, and on logical arguments developed
from his own insightful observations of daily
life.
HOW BIOPSYCHOLOGY IS RELATED TO THE OTHER
DISCIPLINES OF NEUROSCIENCE
 Neuroanatomy
 Neurochemistry
 Neuroendocrinology
 Neuropathology
 Neuropharmacology
 Neurophysiology
WHAT TYPES OF RESEARCH CHARACTERIZE THE
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH?
- Biopsychological research can involve either
human od nonhuman subjects, it can take the
form of either formal experiments or
nonexperimental studies, and it can either pure
or applied.
PURPPOSE OF HUMAN SUBJECTS RESEARCH
 Understand Disease
 Validate New Therapies
 Understand Physiological processes
 Study Human Behavior
 Evaluate Curricular Challenges
 Evaluate New Teaching Methods
ANIMALS ARE OFTENN USED IN MEDICAL REASEARCH
TO
 Investigate the progression of disease
 Test new drugs
 Test new surgeries
 Animals are also used in cosmetic
research to test for allergic reactions
and other potential side effects caused
by cosmetic products
COMPARATIVE APPROACH
- Study of biological processes by comparing
different species
EXPERIMENTS AND NONEXPERIMENTS
 Experiment
- method used by scientists to study causation,
that is to find out what causes what.
- has been almost single-handedly responsible for
the knowledge that is the basis for our modern
way of life.
o Independent Variable – what we
expect will influence dependent
variable
o Dependent variable – what happens as
a result of the independent variable
o Confounding Variable – affects the
relationship between the IV and DV.
 Nonexperiments
- Research that lacks manipulation of an IV,
random assignments of participants to
conditions or orders of conditions, or both.
 Quasi--experimental Studies –
studies group of subjects who have
been exposed too conditions on
interest in the real world.
 Case Studies – studies that focus
on a single case or subject.
 Generalizability – degree to which
their results can be applied to
other cases. Because human differ
from one another in both brain
function and behavior, it is
important to be skeptical of any
biopsychological theory based
entirely on a few case studies.
PURE AND APPLIED RESEARCH
 Pure Research
- Motivated primarily by the curiosity of the
researcher
- Done solely for the purpose of acquiring
knowledge
 Applied Research
- Intended to bring about some direct benefit
to humankind.
 Translational Research
- aims to translate the finding of pure
research into useful applications for
humankind.
DIVISIONS OF BIOPSYCHIOLOGY
1. Physiological Psychology - division of
biopsychology that studies the neural
mechanisms oof behavior through direct
manipulation and recording of the brain in
controlled experiments – surgical and electrical
methods are most common.
2. Psychopharmacology - similar to physiological
psychology except that it focuses on the
manipulation of neural activity and behavior
with drugs.
3. Neuropsychology – study of psychological
effects of brain damage in human patients.
- Deals almost exclusively with case studies
and quasi-experimental studies of patients
with brain damage resulting from disease,
accident, or neurosurgery.
4. Psychophysiology – studies the relation
between physiological activity and psychological
processes in human subjects.
- Psychophysiological recording procedures
are typically noninvasive means
physiological activity is recorded from the
surface of the body.
5. Cognitive Neuroscience – youngest division of
biopsychology
- study the neural bases of cognition, a term
that generally refers to higher intellectual
processes such as thought, memory,
attention, and complex perceptual
processes.
6. Comparative Psychology – deals generally with
biology of behavior, rather than specifically
with the neural mechanisms of behavior.
7. Ethnological Research – study of animal
behavior in its natural environment.