Download Biological Psychology

Biological
Psychology
iological psychology (often shortened to biopsychology) can be defined as “the study
of behaviour and experience in terms of genetics, evolution, and physiology, especially
the physiology of the nervous system” (Kalat, 1998, p. 1). More generally, biological psychology involves using a biological approach to study psychology and to obtain an understanding of human (and animal) behaviour.
Within the field of biological psychology, we can identify several approaches.
According to Pinel (1997), there are five main approaches, and we will briefly consider
each one. First, there is physiological psychology. The key aspect of this approach is that
there is direct manipulation of the nervous system of non-human animals to observe the
effects of such manipulation on the neural mechanisms of behaviour. This direct manipulation can take various forms, including surgery, electrical stimulation, or the use of chemicals. Such manipulations are not always as informative as might be imagined. We can
consider an analogy with trying to discover the workings of a television set (something I
have never managed to do!). If we destroy the plug of the television set, the television set
will not work. However, it would be ludicrous to argue that the plug is the most important reason why we see clear coloured moving images on our television screens!
For obvious ethical reasons, most of the interventions discussed above simply cannot
be used with human participants. Note there is some controversy as to the relevance of
research on non-human species for an understanding of human functioning. In general
terms, we can only be confident that findings from non-human animals are applicable to
humans when there is clear supporting evidence from human research.
Second, there is psychopharmacology. Psychopharmacology resembles physiological
psychology, but is more specifically focused on the effects of various drugs on neural
activity and on behaviour. In general terms, research in psychopharmacology is more
applied than research in physiological psychology, with the emphasis being on the development of drugs having beneficial effects and minimal adverse side effects. In addition,
psychopharmacologists consider the damaging effects of various illegal drugs on the brain
and on behaviour. Other pharmacologists are more interested in basic research. They
argue that studying the effects of drugs sheds light on the detailed chemical processes
occurring in the brain.
Third, there is psychophysiology, which involves studying the relationship between
physiological activity on the one hand and psychological processes on the other hand. Most
psychophysiological research is carried out on humans. Psychophysiologists make use of a
wide range of measures, including heart rate, electrical conductance of the skin, pupil dilation, and the electroencephalogram (EEG; based on recordings of electrical brain activity
measured at the surface of the scalp). In the past 20 years, event-related potentials (ERPs)
have become one of the most popular EEG-based techniques for studying cognitive processes
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KEY TERMS
Biological psychology:
an approach to animal and
human psychology that
emphasises the role of biological
factors.
Physiological psychology:
an approach to biological
psychology in which neural
mechanisms of behaviour are
studied via surgical and other
interventions.
Psychopharmacology: an
approach to biological
psychology focusing on the
effects of drugs on neural activity
and on behaviour.
Psychophysiology: an approach
to biological psychology based
on the study of relationships
between physiological activity
and psychological processes in
human participants.
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