PSY 324 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Behavioral Neuroscience, Epigenetics, Twin
17 Apr 2016
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Chapter 1 the biological approach to behavior. Biological psychology is the study of physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behavior and experience. Physiological explanation relates a behavior to the activity of the brain and other organs. Deals with machinery of the body (e. g. chemical reactions) Ontogenetic explanation describes how behavior develops, by influences of genes, nutrition, experiences. E. g. ability to inhibit impulses is learned over time. Evolutionary explanation reconstructs the evolutionary history of a behavior. E. g. humans use tools because monkeys used tools in the past. Look over things from past that are useless now (e. g. goosebumps and appendix) Functional explanation why a behavior evolved as it did (e. g. for survival) E. g. a camouflaged appearance makes the animal less prone to predators. Genetics control facial expressions (e. g. comparing blind person vs. sighted person"s facial expressions) Sex-limited genes are present in both sexes on autosomal chromosomes, but active mainly in one sex. E. g. chest hair, breast size in women etc.
