BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
What Is BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE?
The biological perspective of psychology is taking a look into the brain to see why a person may be behaving or thinking in a certain way. In this approach, you take into account the brain, the immune system, nervous systems, and genetics. You can use this method to treat patients with behavioral issues, brain diseases, and mental disorders. This perspective looks at these disorders being caused by their genetics. This could be a result of Darwin's theory of gene variation and natural selection.
Charles Darwin formulated a theory of natural selection while studying finches in the Galapagos on a tour with the H.M.S. Beagle. This theory stated that evolutionary change comes with genetic variation passed through generations. These genetic changes normally were to an animal's benefit, such as moths that blend in with their surroundings or birds with beaks that help them find food.
Key People
Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall is a London born primatologist who uncovered the discovery
that many aspects of Chimpanzee behavior
are extremely similar to human behavior. In the October of 1960 she silently observed and recorded down her findings of chimpanzees and their use of tools. What she found was that Chimpanzees used and made sticks as tools for fishing for termites, a discovery that challenged the idea that man was the only toolmaker.
John Harlow & Phineas Gage
John Harlow was one of the attending physicians to the Phineas Gage brain case study. Phineas Gage was a 25 year old railroad construction foreman who was on the wrong end of an explosion that ended with a tamping iron propelled right through his head. Harlow attended to Gage on the scene and found that the iron had entered the cranium, passed through the anterior left lobe of the cerebrum and exited in the medial line.With these findings and studies, Harlow provided neuroscience with a deeper understanding on how the brain works.
Edward Wilson
Edward Wilson is an American biologist who researches into fields like, sociobiology, biodiversity, and island biogeography. Wilson is highly known for his scientific career and as his role as the "father of sociobiology". In 1975 he published his book titled "Sociobiology" which focused around evolutionary principles and the social behavior of animals, humans included. When published it brought evolutionary perspective of life to psychology.
Vocabulary
Neuroanatomy-the anatomy of the nervous system
Neuron-a specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses
Dendrites-a short branched extension of a nerve cell
Axon-the long threadlike part of a nerve cell along which impulses are conducted from the cell body to other cells
Myelin sheath- the insulating covering that surrounds an axon with multiple spiral layers myelin (increases the speed at which a nerve impulse can travel along an axon)
Terminal buttons-tiny bulblike structures at the end of the dendrites, which contain neurotransmitters that carry the neuron’s message into the synapse
Neurotransmitters-a chemical substance that is released at the end of a nerve fiber by arrival of a nerve impulse and causes the transfer of an impulse to another nerve fiber, a muscle fiber or some other structure
Synapse-a junction between tow nerve cells consisting of a minute gap across the diffusion by a neurotransmitter
Receptor sites-a molecular site or the docking port on the surface of, or within, a cell, usually involving proteins that are capable of recognizing and binding with specific molecules
Action potential-the change in electrical potential associated with the passage of an impulse along the membrane of a muscle cell or nerve cell
Acetylcholine-a compound that occurs throughout the nervous system in which it functions as a neurotransmitter
Dopamine-a compound present in the body as a neurotransmitter
Endorphins-any of a group of hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system and having a number of psychological functions
Serotonin-a compound present in blood platelets and serum that constricts the blood vessels and acts as a neurotransmitter
GABA-gamma-aminobutyric acid
Glutamate-a salt or ester of glutamic acid
For AP Psychology Course (Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology (also known as AP Psych)).
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