PS263 Study Guide - Coronal Plane, Cranial Nerves, Grey Matter
Document Summary
Introduction to biopsychology the biological approach to behaviour. A physiological explanation relates a behavior to the activity of the brain and other organs. It deals with the machinery of the body for example, the chemical reactions that enable hormones to influence brain activity and the routes by which brain activity controls muscle contractions. An ontogenetic explanation describes how a structure or behavior develops, including the influences of genes, nutrition, experiences, and their interactions. For example, the ability to inhibit impulses develops gradually from infancy through the teenage years, reflecting gradual maturation of the frontal parts of the brain. An evolutionary explanation reconstructs the evolutionary history of a structure or behavior. For example, frightened people get goose bumps erections of the hairs, especially on their arms and shoulders. Goose bumps are useless to humans because our shoulder and arm hairs are so short. In most other mammals, however, hair erection makes a frightened animal look larger and more intimidating (figure 1. 3).
