Chapter 1

• Chapter 1
• Biopsychology is the scientific study of the biology of behavior (psychology)
• Biopsychology emerged as a discipline in the late 1940s
• Hebb (1949) proposed that psychological phenomena might be produced by brain activity
• Hebb's work helped discredit the notion that psychological functions were too complex to be derived from physiological activities
• Biopsychology utilizes the knowledge and tools of other disciplines of neuroscience
• Other disciplines of neuroscience

  • Neuroanatomy
  • Neurochemistry
  • Neuroendocrinology
  • Neuropathology
  • Neuropharmacology
  • Neurophysiology
• Biopsychological research involves human and nonhuman subjects, experiments and nonexperiments, and pure and applied research
• Reasons for using humans in research

  • They can follow instructions
  • They make subjective reports
  • They are often cheaper to work with
• Types of experiments


  • Experiments
  • Nonexperiments
  • Quasiexperimental studies
  • Case studies
• Divisions of Biopsychology


  • Physiological psychology
  • Psychopharmacology
  • Neuropsychology
  • Psychophysiology
  • Cognitive neuroscience
  • Comparative psychology
• Physiological psychology


  1. Studies neural mechanisms of behavior

  2. Conducts controlled experiments with direct manipulation of the brain
• Psychopharmacology


  Conducts controlled experiments of the effects of drugs on the brain and behavior
• Neuropsychology


  1. Studies psychological effects of brain damage in humans

  2. Usually has a clinical emphasis
• Psychophysiology


  1. Studies the relation between physiological activity and psychological processes

  2. Example: visual tracking is abnormal in schizophrenics
• Cognitive neuroscience


  1. Studies the neural bases of cognition

  2. Uses functional brain imaging as the major method
• Comparative psychology involves comparing different species to understand evolution, genetics, and adaptiveness of behavior
• Converging Operations


  1. Using multiple approaches to address a single question

  2. Example: Korsakoff’s syndrome is explored through multiple approaches to find more accurate findings
• Scientific Inference is the empirical method that biopsychologists use to study the unobservable