PS101 Chapter 3: Chapter 3- The Brain
Document Summary
Biological psychology: an interdisciplinary field of study combining the methods and theories of psychology with those of biology, physiology, biochemistry, and the neurosciences. Reciprocity of biology and experience: athletes as well as fans of a winning team tend to experience a rise in testosterone. It is not a one-way street, experiences in the environment affect our brain and vice versa. Reductionism: biological psychology believes that any/all behaviours/thoughts can be reduced to simpler terms such as communications between neurons. Electroencephalography (eeg: sensors placed on the scalp measure electrical activity in the brain, event-related potentials; difference in brain activity b/w brain at rest/active. Mri: uses magnets, scans & builds a 2-d or 3-d image, very clear image, distinguishes among different body tissues, need to avoid all metal objects, measures brain structure. Ct scan: x-ray type images, may require dye, lots of images, layer them on top of each other gives a cross-section, measures brain structures.
