"The conscious mind may be compared to a fountain playing in the sun and falling back into the great subterranean pool of subconscious from which it rises." - Sigmund Freud
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The biological perspective of psychology focuses on the biological influences of both behaviour and mental processes. It is basically explaining human behaviour through biology. This perspective is more weighed upon the physiological side of things with it being focused on the brain and the nervous system, the endocrine (hormone) system, the immune system and genetics. Theories within the biological approach supports nature over nurture. The nature nurture debate in psychology is primarily concerned with the extent to which particular aspects of behaviour are either inherited (genetic) or acquired (learned) characteristics. Interest in the biological perspective became much more popular in the later part of the twentieth century. This was the case because advances in medicine for treating mental illness and the development of research equipment for studying the living human brain were becoming more accessible.
A major assumption in the field of biological psychology is basically that the primary assumption is that the majority of human experience, such as behaviour and emotion, is physiologically mediated and explained. This means that all of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours involve underlying ‘bodily’ activities and processes. For example, when you think, a specific area or part of your brain is doing that thinking, but that part can differ according to what it is you are actually thinking of. When you experience fear for example, electrical impulse shoot along your nervous system, and the hormones will be released into the blood stream and travel throughout your body causing your organs to respond. In order to do something like scratch your nose or wave hello to somebody, specific areas in your brain are triggered to move the appropriate muscles or tendons into action and to coordinate all the requires movements.
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This illustration shows us how each part of the brain is ‘wired’ to react and think different feelings, emotions, physical movement etc. A major development in the biological perspective of psychology is the enormous progress in understanding brain chemistry. The brain works through the actions of chemicals called neurotransmitters, which communicate messages between neurons (nerve cells) within the brain and the rest of the nervous system, (seen below first image). Understanding the chemical processes of the brain has provided many new insights into behaviour and mental activities and has also been useful for developing treatments and to help people with brain and nervous system disorders. Without having a biological perspective none of this amazing research would have been discovered in such sophisticated detail, therefore showing us that biological psychology and also the practice of physiology is very important.
Although it was long believed that no more than several neurotransmitters were involved in brain activity, it’s now known that there are hundreds of different neurotransmitters, each of which plays one or more critical roles in our human behavior and mental processes. For example, psychologists conducted experiments that found that the neurotransmitters called dopamine are involved in complex bodily movements and in regulating emotional responses, particularly our experience of pleasure. Also, the neurotransmitter serotonin is involved in the onset of sleep and the most of the moods we experience on a daily basis. It is also used in medications to help people with brain and nervous system disorders. An interesting element tied into that of the biological perspective is the medium of split-brain surgery. American neuropsychologist Roger Sperry (1913-1994) was awarded a Nobel Prize for his research on the role of the brain in behavior and mental processes. Sperry conducted experiments with patients who had undergone split-brain surgery for medical reasons. This operation involves surgically cutting the nerve tissue, which connects the two halves of the brain. It is often an effective treatment for people suffering with Epilepsy. In one of his experiments Sperry gave a split-brain patient a series of tests to measure the effects of having disconnected halves of the brain on specific thoughts and behavioral responses. He found for example that the patients could recognise a picture of an object but they could not name it. This indicated that one hemisphere is primarily responsible for visual recognition of objects and the other for verbal language. It seemed that cutting the nerve pathways between the two halves prevented the exchange of this information, very interesting!
Although it was long believed that no more than several neurotransmitters were involved in brain activity, it’s now known that there are hundreds of different neurotransmitters, each of which plays one or more critical roles in our human behavior and mental processes. For example, psychologists conducted experiments that found that the neurotransmitters called dopamine are involved in complex bodily movements and in regulating emotional responses, particularly our experience of pleasure. Also, the neurotransmitter serotonin is involved in the onset of sleep and the most of the moods we experience on a daily basis. It is also used in medications to help people with brain and nervous system disorders. An interesting element tied into that of the biological perspective is the medium of split-brain surgery. American neuropsychologist Roger Sperry (1913-1994) was awarded a Nobel Prize for his research on the role of the brain in behavior and mental processes. Sperry conducted experiments with patients who had undergone split-brain surgery for medical reasons. This operation involves surgically cutting the nerve tissue, which connects the two halves of the brain. It is often an effective treatment for people suffering with Epilepsy. In one of his experiments Sperry gave a split-brain patient a series of tests to measure the effects of having disconnected halves of the brain on specific thoughts and behavioral responses. He found for example that the patients could recognise a picture of an object but they could not name it. This indicated that one hemisphere is primarily responsible for visual recognition of objects and the other for verbal language. It seemed that cutting the nerve pathways between the two halves prevented the exchange of this information, very interesting!