Biological Psychology
Introduction
Biological psychology is a field which attempts to establish the relationship between the anatomical physiology of an individual and its effect on their behavior. The field was established as away of identifying the link between level of perception and understanding to their genetic make up. Biological psychology is an interdisciplinary area which touches on behavioral neuroscience, evolutionary psychology and neurobiology. Quite a number of biological psychologists are credited for making the field more relevant to behavioral aspects of individuals. These scientists include Pavlov and Bandura who studied personality traits of various animals. One of the assumptions of biopsychology is that an individual’s personality is affected by their anatomical and physiological components.
Discussion
Biological psychology
Biological psychology is a branch of biology which attempts to integrate the effect of an individual’s anatomical and genetic make up on their personality traits. The study is not limited to human beings only as other animals portray similar behavioral components when exposed to similar physiological situations (Kalat, 2009). Biological psychology tends to establish the linking of nerves, neurotransmitters and other mandatory life processes in the overall normal in addition to abnormal behavior of animals. Most of the experiments in biological psychology are carried out using animals which possess similar nervous systems such as rats and mice (Kalat, 2009).
Historical development of biological psychology
The first event in the field of biology psychology was done in 1073 when a Persian psychologist identified that he could treat emotional problems after developing a system which changed the pulse rate of the inner feelings. Further discovery in the field established that increased humidity in the cranium led to emergence of different moods. The breathing rate of an individual also contributed to the changes of moods such that happiness is brought by increased breathing and reduced breathing leads to high levels of irritation. This is attributed to high level of moisture in the brain makes the brain loose control over the ability to make rational decisions hence mental disturbances arise (Breedlove, Rosenzweig and Watson, 2007).In the 19th century, a philosopher by the name Rene Descartes established that the pineal gland in the brain is strategically located such that it binds the body and mind hence disruption of normal flow of hormones affected personality. Hence more studies in the field were largely physiological especially after scientists such as Charles Bell and William Harvey established that the only data which can be reliable is obtained from living organisms (Carlson, 2007).The year 1914 saw Knight Dunlap publish his book; An Outline of Psychobiology, which created a very close link between the mental composition of individuals and their physiological components. This was the starting point of modern neuroscience. Discovery of conditioning as having a greater impact on an individual’s behavioral aspect was established by Pavlov who identified the environment as having a substantial impact on the overall behavioral aspect of an individual as it provides an appropriate stimulus which triggers the genetic component to initiate a certain behavior (Breedlove, 2007).Influential theorists associated with biological psychologyOne of the influential theorists associated with biological psychology is Bandura who established the behavioral cognitive theory.
He studied observational learning and discovered that the ability of an animal to perceive new ideas is influenced by the rate at which the external and internal stimuli interact (Friedman and Kreibig, 2010).The other theorist was Pavlov who carried out extensive research using dogs to establish the effect of external stimuli in modifying the behavior of animals. The behaviorist theory was based on classical conditioning of the dogs (Friedman, 2010).The psychoanalysis theorist Freud identified behavior as being a factor of the individual’s ego, super ego and self-defence. Hence the physical condition presented to the individual played a big role in determining the resultant behavioral pattern (Carlson, 2007).The relationship between biological psychology and other fields in psychology and neuroscienceThe relationship between biological psychology and neuroscience in addition to psychology is important as a way of creating a better understanding of mental processes and behaviors portrayed by animals. Various categories of mental activities such as perception, motivated behavior memory and biological rhythms are all based on the biology of the owner (Breedlove, 2007).For a researcher to understand ways of controlling movement in an individual they have to identify the anatomical components of the individual.
After careful analysis of the biology the behavior is traced until the connection between the two dimensions of living things is established. The essence of incorporating neuroscience in the field is to enable researchers create links between the various traits and the status of ones nervous system. The nervous system has great impacts on the psychological traits which influence personality. Neuroscience also identifies the various disorders caused by various disturbances of anatomical components of the nervous system (Carlson, 2007).Assumptions of a biopsychological approachA major assumption underlying biopsychological approach is that there is a very close relationship between the biology and the psychological component of an individual. This assumption further implies that for any personality trait observed in an individual, the genetic make up has significantly contributed to its occurrence (Breedlove, 2007).The other assumption is that the effect of the nervous system on behavior is equally different from that of the psychological dimension. This makes the psychological part of an individual quite different from the neural portion although all of them are present in the same locality (Friedman, 2010)
Conclusion
Biological psychology is a critical field in psychology and medicine due to its capabilities to expound more on personality as well as why individuals behave in a certain way. The study also helps in understanding instances at which a behavioral component is driven by the genetic constitution of the individual. Hence more research should be conducted in the area as a way of generating more information on the effects of physiology on certain day-to-day activities.
References
Breedlove, M.C., Rosenzweig, M.and Watson, N. V. (2007). Biological Psychology: An Introduction to Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience. 5th ed.
Sinauer Associates
Carlson, Neil (2007). Physiology of Behavior (9th Ed.). Allyn and Bacon. pp. 11–14
Friedman, B and Kreibig, S, (2010), The biopsychology of emotion: Current theoretical and empirical perspectives Volume 84, Issue 3, Pages 381-588
Kalat, J.W. (2009), Biological psychology. 10th ed. Cengage learning.
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