Overview of Psychophysiology

Based on slides from Bruce Friedman @ Virginia Tech

Revised by Ben Allen on 8/24/2022

What is psychophysiology?
What is psychochology?
What is physiology?
What is neuroscience?
Breakout rooms
 Psychology: the scientific study of the mind, behavior,
and cognition

Physiology:
The study of one or more biological mechanisms of all
organisms and the examination of their physical
properties.

Neuroscience: a multidisciplinary scientific study that

analyzes the structure and function of the nervous system
of an organism
 Psychophysiology & Neuroscience
Definitions & Distinctions
Neuroscience
scientific study of the nervous system

Neuropharmacology Biopsychologists are neuroscientists

Neuroanatomy who bring knowledge of
Neurophysiology behavioral research and methods
Neurochemistry
Neuroendocrinology Physiological Psychology
Neuropathology Psychophysiology
Psychopharmacology
Comparative Psychology
Neuropsychology
(Pinel, 2010) Cognitive Neuroscience
 Psychology & Psychophysiology
“Psychology and its intersecting disciplines: Psychology and the
Neurosciences” (Koch & Leary, 1992)

Psychology
Neuroscience
scientific study of behavior

Biopsychology (Biological Psychology)

biological approach to psychology
Behavioral Neuroscience

Psychophysiology
specific approach to
Cognitive/Affective/
biopsychology
Social/
Clinical/Developmental/etc.
Neuroscience
study of the neural basis of
cognition, etc.
Koch, S., & Leary, D. E. (1992). [Introduction to] A Century of Psychology as Science.
American Psychological Association.
Neuroeconomics
 Psychophysiology defined
○ “…any research in which the dependent variable is a
physiological measure and the independent variable is
a behavioral one” (Stern, 1964)
 Psychophysiology defined
○ “…study of the interrelationships between
physiological & psychological aspects of behavior”
(Sternbach, 1966)
○
 Psychophysiology defined
○ “…study of psychological processes in the intact
organisms as a whole by unobtrusively measured
physiological processes…” (Furedy, 1983)
 Psychophysiology defined
○ “…theoretical & empirical relationships among bodily
processes & psychological factors” (Ackles, Jennings,
& Coles, 1985)
 Psychophysiology defined
○ “...study of social, psychological, and behavioral
phenomena as related to & revealed through
physiological principles and events” (Cacioppo
&Tassinary, 1990)
 Psychophysiology defined
○ “...study of brain-behavior relationships in the
framework of peripheral & central processes”
(Hugdahl, 1995)
 Sexual Psychophysiology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVA0NQkI9QQ
● Neuroscience journals: examples--
○ Annual Review of Neuroscience
○ Neuron
● Psychophysiology journals: examples--
○ Psychophysiology
○ Biological Psychology
How to find psychophysiological articles
Gross, J. J. (2002). Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology, 39, 281-291.
Gross, J. J. (2002). Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology, 39, 281-291.
Schwartz, G. E. (1981). A Systems Analysis of Psychobiology and Behavior Therapy: Implications for Behavioral Medicine. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 159-184.
Schwartz, G. E. (1981). A Systems Analysis of Psychobiology and Behavior Therapy: Implications for Behavioral Medicine. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 159-184.
Skinner’s old nemesis, Noam Chomsky, was fond of saying,

“Psychology is no more the science of behavior

than physics is the science of meter reading.”

The whole point of psychology is to use behavioral evidence

to learn something about mental structures and processes.

J. F. Kihlstrom, personal communication, October 16, 1995

Miller, G. A. (1996). How we think about cognition, emotion, and biology in psychopathology. Psychophysiology, 33(6), 615-628.
 How does the APA define "psychology"?

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. The

discipline embraces all aspects of the human experience —
from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations,
from child development to care for the aged. In every
conceivable setting from scientific research centers to
mental healthcare services, "the understanding of behavior"
is the enterprise of psychologists.
https://www.apa.org/support/about-apa?item=7
 Ch. 1: Psychophysiology
● Psychophysiology is a subject of study & an approach
■ Theoretical & methodological aspects
■ Mental events and bodily processes
■ Organism as unified whole; "mind” "body"
distinction for understanding & study
■ No disembodied psychological phenomena
■ Monism: mind & body are functionally unified;
organism viewed at multiple bio-behavioral levels
 Methodology
● Assumptions underlying methods
○ Human subjects & noninvasive measures
○ Basic & applied contexts
● Basic research
○ Window into covert psychophysiological activity
(inaccessible by self-report or direct observation):
■ Subtle emotion via facial EMG
■ HR changes & attention
■ EOG reveals dreaming during REM
■ ERP responses to novel stimuli
 Applied psychophysiology
● Clinical Diagnosis & treatment assessment
○ Anxiety assoc. w/ poor SC habituation, low HR
variability (low specificity)
○ More important in basic research on
psychopathology
○ Biofeedback: direct application of
psychophysiological measures in treatment
■ EEG neurofeedback for autism spectrum
disorders
● Polygraphy: “lie detection”
● Psychophysiology and Marketing:
http://www.sandsresearch.com/
 Long past
● Plato: philosophical approach to the mind-body relationship
○ Parallels in eastern approaches (e.g., “chi”)
■ Empirical approach: Erasistratos, Galen, Ibn Sina
○ The birth of electrophysiology
■ Galvani: muscles produce an electrical potential
■ Charcot, Fere: changes in skin resistance assoc./w
“hysteria”
■ Jung: skin resistance changes & the word association
task
○ Instrumentation:
■ Einthoven: String galvanometer & the ECG
■ Berger: EEG
■ Contemporary: PC-based psychophysiology
 Short history
● 1950s
○ Pioneering psychophysiologists meet informally,
lead by R.C. Davis
■ Al Ax publishes newsletter for group (1955)
● 1960: Society for Psychophysiological Research
organized
○ 1st president: Chester Darrow
■ 1961: 1st annual meeting (New York)
■ 1964: 1st issue of Psychophysiology
■ 2010: 50th Anniversary meeting (Portland, OR)
■ 2022: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
https://sprweb.org/page/2022_Annual_Meeting
 Biobreak (5 minutes)
Return at 12:26