2. Definition
• Scientific study of the biology of behaviour
(Dewsbury, 1991).
• Also called psychobiology, behavioural biology,
behavioural neuroscience.
3. Origins of biopsychology
• Major developments in 20th century.
• The organization of behaviour- D.O. Hebb (1949).
• Discredited that psychological functioning is too
complex to have its roots in the physiology and
chemistry of the brain.
4. Relation to neuroscience?
• Biopsychologists are neuroscientists who bring to their research a
knowledge of behavior and of the methods of behavioral research.
• The ultimate purpose of the nervous system is to produce and
control behavior (Grillner & Dickinson, 2002).
• Is an integrative discipline.
• Shares a relationship with the following neurosciences:
– Neuroanatomy. The study of the structure of the nervous system
– Neurochemistry. The study of the chemical bases of neural activity
– Neuroendocrinology. The study of interactions between the nervous
system and the endocrine system
– Neuropathology. The study of nervous system disorders
– Neuropharmacology. The study of the effects of drugs on neural
activity
– Neurophysiology. The study of the functions and activities of the
nervous system
5. Research approaches in biopsychology
• Three major approaches-
– Human and nonhuman subjects
– Formal experiments and nonexperimental studies
– Pure and applied research
• Human and nonhuman subjects- Mice, rats, cats, dogs and
primates studied the most.
– Human subject advantages-
• Can follow instructions
• Can report subjective experiences
• Cheaper
• They are human, thus their brains shed light on evolutionary
continuity.
– Nonhuman subject advantages-
• Simpler brains. Therefore, revelation of fundamental brain-behaviour
interactions.
• Comparison of different brain structures, their presence and absence.
• Ethical liberations
6. • Experiments and Non-experiments-
– Experiments used to study causation.
– Between-subjects (a different group of subjects is tested
under each condition)and within-subject designs (same
group of subjects under each condition).
– Independent variable- Difference between the conditions
– Dependent variable- The variable measured by the
experimenter to assess the effect of the independent
variable
– Confounded variable- Unintended difference
– Eg. Coolidge effect
• Quasi-experimental studies- studies of groups of subjects who
have been exposed to the conditions of interest in the real
world.
• Case studies- Studies that focus on a single case or subject.
Low generalizability
7. • Pure and Applied research-
– Pure research- motivated primarily by the
curiosity of the researcher
– Applied research- intended to bring about some
direct benefit to humankind.
– Translational research- aims to translate the
findings of pure research into useful applications
for humankind.
– Pure research more prone to political regulation.
8. Divisions of Biopsychology
• Physiological psychology- studies the neural mechanisms of
behavior through the direct manipulation and recording of the brain
in controlled experiments—surgical and electrical methods are
most common. Animals.
• Psychopharmacology- focuses on the manipulation of neural
activity and behavior with drugs.
• Neuropsychology- study of the psychological effects of brain
damage in human patients. Case studies and quasi-experimental
studies.
• Psychophysiology- studies the relation between physiological
activity and psychological processes in human subjects. Noninvasive
physiological recording.
• Cognitive neuroscience- Cognitive neuroscientists study the neural
bases of cognition, a term that generally refers to higher intellectual
processes such as thought, memory, attention, and complex
perceptual processes. Uses functional brain imaging.
• Comparative psychology- study of the evolution, genetics, and
adaptiveness of behavior, largely through the use of the
comparative method.
9. How do biopsychologists conduct work?
• Converging operations- Strength of one approach
compensates for the weakness of others. the
convergence of neuropsychological case studies (case
studies of Korsakoff patients), quasiexperiments with
human participants (comparisons of alcoholics with
people who do not drink alcohol), and controlled
experiments on laboratory animals (comparison of
thiamine-deficient and control rats).
• Scientific inference- Scientists carefully measure key
events they can observe and then use these measures as
a basis for logically inferring the nature of events they
cannot observe.
10. • Critical thinking in biopsychology-
– The first step in creative thinking is spotting the
weaknesses of existing ideas and the evidence on
which they are based—the process by which these
weaknesses are recognized is called critical
thinking.
– The first step in judging the validity of any
scientific claim is to determine whether the claim
and the research on which it is based were
published in a reputable scientific journal.
11. Understanding human consciousness: A physiological approach
• To think and be aware of our own existence
• Proof of consciousness?
• Split brains-
– The corpus callosum is a large bundle of nerve fibres that
connect corresponding parts of one side of the brain with the
those of the other. Is cut to reduce the severity of epilepsy
(known as split-brain operation).
– The two cerebral hemispheres act independently after the
operation. The sensory mechanisms, memories and motor
systems can not exchange information.
– Left hemisphere controls speech. People who converse with a
person with split-brain operation is talking to only one side of
the brain. Right hemisphere can not read so the person keeps
putting the book down.
– One exception to crossed representation is olfactory system.
– The effects of cutting the corpus callosum reinforce the
conclusion that we become conscious of something only if
information about it is able to reach the parts of the brain
responsible for it.
12. The nature of physiological psychology
• The goals of research- Scientific explanation takes two forms-
Generalization and reduction.
– Generalization- Explaining particular instances of
behaviour as examples of general laws deduced from
experiments.
– Reduction- Explaining complex phenomena in terms of
simpler ones.
– Physiological psychologists combine the two. We must
understand psychologically why a behaviour occurs before
moving to understanding its physiology.
13. • Biological roots of physiological psychology-
– Greeks, Egyptians, Indians and Chinese believed heart to
be the center of thoughts and emotions.
– Views of Aristotle, Galen, Descartes on importance of brain
in controlling our senses. Descartes spoke about reflexes
that are not controlled by us voluntarily. Was a dualist.
– Work of Johannes Muller- Doctrine of specific nerve
energies. Used experimental ablation to prove it.
– Paul Broca used experimental ablation. Broca’s
area/region- connected to our ability to speak.
– Luigi Galvani, Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzig- Electrical
impulses and how our muscles respond to it. Contributed
to the understanding of primary motor cortex.
– Hermann Von Helmholtz- Speed of conduction through
nerves
