Chapter 1

Question 1

Define Biological Psychology.

Answer 1

Biological Psychology is the study of the physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behavior and experience.

Question 2

What is the view of the human brain from the top called?

Answer 2

A Dorsal View.

Question 3

What is the view of the human brain from the bottom called?

Answer 3

A Ventral View.

Question 4

At the microscopic level of the brain, what are the 2 kinds of cells found called?

Answer 4

The neurons and the glia.

Question 5

In contrast to common-sense explanations, biological explanations of behavior fall into what 4 categories?

Answer 5

Physiological, Ontogenetic, Evolutionary and Functional.

Question 6

Define what a Physiological Explanation is.

Answer 6

A physiological explanation relates a behavior to the activity of the brain and other organs. It deals with the machinery of the body – for example, the chemical reactions that enable hormones to influence brain activity and the routes by which brain activity controls muscle contractions.

Question 7

Define what an Ontogenetic Explanation is.

Answer 7

The term ontogenetic comes from the Greek roots meaning the origin (or genesis) of being. An ontogenetic explanation describes how a structure or behavior develops, including the influences of genes, nutrition, experiences, and their interactions. For example, the ability to inhibit impulses develops gradually from infancy through the teenage years, reflecting gradual maturation of the frontal parts of the brain.

Question 8

Define what an Evolutionary Explanation is.

Answer 8

An evolutionary explanation reconstructs the evolutionary history of a structure or behavior. For example, frightened people get “goose bumps” – erections of the hairs, especially on their arms and shoulders. Goose bumps are useless to humans because our shoulder and arm hairs are so short. In most other mammals, however, hair erection makes a frightened animal look larger and more intimidating. An evolutionary explanation of human goose bumps is that the behavior evolved in our remote ancestors and we inherited the mechanism.

Question 9

Define what a Functional Explanation is.

Answer 9

A functional explanation describes why a structure or behavior evolved as it did. Within a small, isolated population, a gene can spread by accident through a process called genetic drift. For example, a dominant male with many offspring spreads all his genes, including neutral and harmful ones. However, a gene that is prevalent in a large population presumably provided some advantage – at least in the past, though not necessarily today. A functional explanation identifies that advantage.

Question 10

How does an evolutionary explanation differ from a functional explanation?

Answer 10

An evolutionary explanation states what evolved from what. For example, humans evolved from earlier primates and therefore have certain features that we inherited from those ancestors, even if the features are not useful to us today. A functional explanation states why something was advantageous and therefore evolutionarily selected.

Question 11

Define dualism.

Answer 11

Dualism is the belief that mind and body are different kinds of substance that exist independently.

Question 12

What is the name of the french philosopher who defended dualism?

Answer 12

Rene Descartes

Question 13

What is the main reason nearly all scientists and philosophers reject the idea of dualism?

Answer 13

Dualism contradicts the law of conservation of matter and energy. According to that law, the only way to influence matter and energy, including that of your body, is to act on it with other matter and energy.

Question 14

Define the alternative to dualism, monism.

Answer 14

Monism is the belief that the universe consists of only one kind of substance.

Question 15

What are the 3 categories of monism called?

Answer 15

Materialism, Mentalism, and Identity Position.

Question 16

Define the monism category: Materialism.

Answer 16

The view that everything that exists is material, or physical. According to one version of this view (“eliminative materialism”), mental events don’t exist at all, and any folk psychology based on minds and mental activity is fundamentally mistaken. However, most of us find it difficult to believe that our minds are figments of our imagination! A more plausible version is that we will eventually find a way to explain all psychological experiences in purely physical terms.

Question 17

Define the monism category: Mentalism.

Answer 17

The view that only the mind really exists and that the physical world could not exist unless some mind were aware of it. It is not easy to test this idea – go ahead and try! – but few philosophers or scientists take it seriously.

Question 18

Define the monism category: Identity Position.

Answer 18

The view that mental processes and certain kinds of brain processes are the same thing, described in different terms. In other words, the universe has only one kind of substance, which includes both material and mental aspects. By analogy, one could describe the Mona Lisa as an extraordinary painting, or one could list out the color and brightness of each point on the painting. Although the two descriptions appear entirely different, they refer to the same object. According to the identity position, every mental experience is a brain activity, even though descriptions of thoughts sound so different from descriptions of brain activities.

Question 19

Define the position known as solipsism.

Answer 19

Solipsism is based on the Latin words solus and ipse, meaning “alone” and “self”; I alone exist, or I alone am conscious. Other people are like robots or like the characters in a dream. Although few people take solipsism seriously, it is hard to imagine evidence to refute it.

Question 20

What is the “problem of other minds”?

Answer 20

The difficulty of knowing whether other people (or animals) have conscious experiences.