PSYC 2410 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Psychophysiology, Autonomic Nervous System, Physiological Psychology
27 Jun 2018
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What is Biopsychology?
Despite its disagreeable external appearance, the human brain is an amazingly intricate network
of neurons (cells that receive and transmit electrochemical signals)
Neuroscience may prove to be the brain's ultimate challenge: Does the brain have the capacity
to understand something as complex as itself?
Biopsychology is the scientific study of the biology of behaviour - it denotes a biological
approach to the study of psychology rather than a psychological approach to the study of biology
The study of the biology of behaviour has a long history, however biopsychology did not develop
into a major discipline until the 20th century
Bio-psychologists are neuroscientists who bring to their research a knowledge of behaviour and
of the methods of behavioural research. It is their behavioural orientation and expertise that make
their contribution to neuroscience unique
Biopsychology is an integrative discipline. Bio-psychologists draw together knowledge from the
other neuroscientific disciplines and apply it to the study of behaviour
What Types of Research Characterize the Biopsychological Approach?
Biopsychological research can involve either human or nonhuman subjects, it can take the form
of either formal experiments or nonexperimental studies, and it can be either pure or applied
Both human and nonhuman animals are the subject of biopsychological research
oAdvantages to human subjects:
Can follow instructions
Can report their subjective experiences
Cages are easier to clean
Cheaper
Human brains (brains of humans differ from the brains of other mammals
primarily in their overall size and the extent of their cortical development)
oAdvantages to nonhuman subjects:
Brains and behaviour are simpler (study of nonhuman species are more likely to
reveal fundamental brain-behaviour interactions)
Insights frequently arise from the comparative approach, the study of biological
processes by comparing diff species
It is possible to conduct research on laboratory animals that, for ethical reasons,
is not possible with human participants (few ethical constraints on the study of
laboratory species than on the study of humans)
Biopsychological research involves both experiments and nonexperimental studies. Two
common types of nonexperimental studies are quasi-experimental studies and case studies
oThe experiment is the method used by scientists to study causation - to find out what
causes what
Usually, a different group of subjects is tested under each condition (between
subjects design), but sometimes it is possible to test the same group of subjects under
each condition (within-subjects design)
oeth-experimental studies are studies of groups of subjects who have been exposed to
the conditions of interest in the real world
These studies have the appearance of experiments, but they are not true
experiments because potential confounded variables have not been controlled
oStudies that focus on a single case or subject are called case studies - because they focus
on a single case, they often provide a more in-depth picture than that provided by an
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Document Summary
Despite its disagreeable external appearance, the human brain is an amazingly intricate network of neurons (cells that receive and transmit electrochemical signals) Biopsychology is the scientific study of the biology of behaviour - it denotes a biological approach to the study of psychology rather than a psychological approach to the study of biology. The study of the biology of behaviour has a long history, however biopsychology did not develop into a major discipline until the 20th century. Bio-psychologists are neuroscientists who bring to their research a knowledge of behaviour and of the methods of behavioural research. It is their behavioural orientation and expertise that make their contribution to neuroscience unique. Bio-psychologists draw together knowledge from the other neuroscientific disciplines and apply it to the study of behaviour. Biopsychological research can involve either human or nonhuman subjects, it can take the form of either formal experiments or nonexperimental studies, and it can be either pure or applied.
