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Copyright © 2009 Allyn & Bacon
What Is Biopsychology? “The scientific study of the biology of
behavior” Also called psychobiology,
behavioral biology, behavioral neuroscience
Psychology: the scientific study of behavior
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What Is Biopsychology? (continued)
Hebb (1949) proposed that psychological phenomena might be produced by brain activity
Biopsychology takes an eclectic approach based on experiments, case studies, observation, and inference
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Biopsychology and Other Disciplines of Neuroscience
Knowledge from other disciplines of neuroscience is applied to the study of behavior
Each discipline studies a different aspect of the nervous system that informs our understanding of what produces and controls behavior
Copyright © 2009 Allyn & Bacon
Other Disciplines of Neuroscience Neuroanatomy
Structure of the nervous system Neurochemistry
Chemical bases of neural activity Neuroendocrinology
Interactions between the nervous system and the endocrine system
Copyright © 2009 Allyn & Bacon
Other Disciplines of Neuroscience (continued)
Neuropathology Nervous system disorders
Neuropharmacology Effects of drugs on neural activity
Neurophysiology Functions and activities of the nervous
system
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Biopsychological Research: Three Major Dimensions Human and nonhuman
subjects Experiments and
nonexperiments Pure and applied research
Copyright © 2009 Allyn & Bacon
Human and Nonhuman Subjects While some questions about behavior
can only be addressed using human subjects, much can be learned from studying the brains of other species
Species differences are more quantitative than qualitative
Copyright © 2009 Allyn & Bacon
Human and Nonhuman Subjects (continued)
Why use nonhumans? Simpler brains makes it more likely that brain-behavior
interactions will be revealed Comparative approach – gain insight by making
comparisons with other species Fewer ethical restrictions than with humans
Why use humans? They can follow instructions They can report their introspections They’re cheaper
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Experiments and Nonexperiments Experiments involve the manipulation of
variables In nonexperiments, the researcher does
not control the variables of interest Quasiexperimental studies Case studies
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Case studies focus on a single individual, such as Jimmie G.
Usually more in-depth than other approaches, but may not be generalizable
Generalizability – the degree to which results can be applied to other cases
Experiments and Nonexperiments (continued)
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Divisions of Biopsychology Six major divisions
Physiological psychology Psychopharmacology Neuropsychology Psychophysiology Cognitive neuroscience Comparative psychology
Each has a different approach, but there is much overlap
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Divisions of Biopsychology (continued)
Physiological psychology Neural mechanisms of behavior Direct manipulation of the brain
Psychopharmacology Effects of drugs on the brain and
behavior Neuropsychology
Psychological effects of brain damage in humans
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Psychophysiology Relation between physiological activity and
psychological processes Example: visual tracking in schizophrenics
Divisions of Biopsychology (continued)
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Cognitive neuroscience – the neural bases of cognition Functional brain
imaging is the major method of cognitive neuroscience
Copyright © 2009 Allyn & Bacon
Comparative psychology Comparing different species to understand
evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness of behavior
Divisions of Biopsychology (continued)
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