Introduction to bio psych

Question 1

What are the six divisions of biopsychology?

Answer 1

• Physiological psychology (neural mechanisms)
• Psychopharmacology (drugs and behaviour)
• Neuropsychology (effects of brain damage)
• Psychophysiology (physiological correlates)
• Cognitive neuroscience (neural mechanisms)
• Comparative Psychology (animal behaviour)

Question 2

Monism vs interactionism

Answer 2

Monism = the mind and body are one and the same

Interactionism = the importance of our social environment

Question 3

Physiological psychology

Answer 3

• Interested in what areas of the brain are involved in different behaviours
• Invasive, so majority of research utilises animal subjects

Methodology
- Lesions - Destroying parts of the brain permanently or temporarily
- Electrodes-electrical current destroys tissue
- Cannulae-chemical delivered
destroys area permanently/ temporarily
- Stimulation - Stimulating the brain electrically or chemically

Question 3

Psychopharmacology

Answer 3

• Investigates the effects of drugs on behaviour.
• Normally psychoactive drugs - affect mental functioning.
• Interested in the neural mechanisms by which the drug effects behaviour

Methodology
- Majority of research utilises animal subjects - administer a drug in a particular area of the brain and observe the effect on levels of exploratory behaviour.
- The therapeutic value can only however be established by examining the drugs effects in humans.

Question 4

Neuropsychology

Answer 4

• Study of the behavioural effects of brain damage in humans.
• Locate the neural mechanisms underlying behaviour.

Methodology
- Damage caused by disease, accident or neurosurgery
- Limitation of the research is that unlike physiological psychology the damage to the brain cannot be controlled.

Question 5

Psychophysiology

Answer 5

• Interested in the analysis of physiological responses of subjects during various activities.
• Non-invasive, majority of research utilises human subjects.

Methodology
- Electroencephalogram, EEG, Brain Waves
- Electromyogram, EMG, Muscle Tension
- Electrooculogram, EOG, Eye Movement
- Electrocardiogram, ECG, Heart Rate
- Electrodermagram, EDG, Skin surface activity
- Galvanic Skin Response, GSR, Autonomic Arousal

Question 6

Psychophysiology

Answer 6

• Subjects fitted with electrodes
• Electrodes detect signal change
• Signal displayed/ recorded on polygraph

Question 7

Cognitive Neuroscience

Answer 7

Study of the neural mechanisms of human cognition

Methodology
- Mostly using human subjects
- Often uses functional brain imaging techniques
- Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
- Functional magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Question 8

Comparative Psychology

Answer 8

• Study of the behaviour of different animal species
• To further understanding of the evolution, genetics and adaptiveness of behaviour.

Methodology:
- Research can be conducted in natural environment (ethological) or semi-natural settings in laboratory
- Selective breeding can be used to determine how genes can influence behaviour of species