Biopsychology

Biological Psychology

The historical development of Biopsychology and its relationship to other branches of psychology including neuroscience make it the most important field of science within psychology. The validity of this science is evident in the growing interest in biopsychology not only from other branches of psychology but from other sciences as well. The understanding of biopsychology begins with the theorists who lay the foundations and later those who reinforce those foundations with truth.

The Definition

The title of biological psychology is a combination of two branches of science. Biology is the study of life. Psychology is the study of mental processes and behavior. The brain is the fundamental source of mental processes and thus the fundamental source of behavior. The summation of these individual definitions is "the study of the brain and how it causes or relates to behaviour" Wikens (2005, p. 3).

Historical Development

The historical development of biopsychology in entirety would require a rather lengthy book and thus hardly possible in the limitations of this article. In consideration of this fact, the author begins with the first theorist to get closer to the truth of the functions of the brain and break from the primitive theories of the middle ages.

According to Wickens (2005) Rene Descartes (1596-1650) was the first to try to solve the problem of defining the how the mind controls physical action in the body. Descartes thought the mind and body were separate (dualism) and that the junction of these two was the pineal gland. Descartes did not actually break from the theory that the mind was a soul controlling the body (the theory since the middle ages) but he was the first to try to explain the working of physical control as a mechanism under unconscious control. This he thought was reflex behavior, which marks him as the first to propose the body could act without control of the soul. (p.5)

Luigi Galvani

Luigi Galvani (1791) is specifically important as the scientist that broke from the idea of an animal spirit controlling the body by discovering that electricity was the real force. Wikens (2005)

Franz Joseph Gall

Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) made a major contribution to biopsychology by freeing science from the dualist conception of brain function. (Wikens, 2005) Gall was the father of a later discredited science phrenology. Phrenology was the concept that the shape of the skull is the source of personality and behavior. The study of the shape of the skull led Gall to believe in the brain having separate areas, which had unique function. (Wikens, 2005)

Otto Loewi

In 1921, Otto Loewi did experiments proving that chemicals were the medium of electrical currents passing from one neuron to the other. (Wikens, 2005) This discovery is one of the most important in the history of biopsychology because it explains the very basic working of the neuron and the neurotransmitter.

Human Genome Project

In conclusion, to the theorists and the historical development of biopsychology the importance of mentioning the human genome project (HGP) cannot be overestimated. This unraveling of the DNA chain was an important development for all sciences. The HGP took 13 years and was a joint effort from Japan, France, Germany, China and a host of other countries.

Human Genome (2007, para.1)

Biological Psychology and Other Fields of Psychology

Wickens (2005) explains biopsychology is essential in supplying data for all fields of psychology. Since all areas of psychology treat or study behavior the brain and understanding how it functions to cause behavior is specifically related to all branches of psychology.

Biopsychology (2007, I Introduction) introduces the relationship of biopsychology to other fields as being overlapping. This means biopsychologists work in many kinds of study such as cognitive neuroscience, psychopharmacology, neuropsychology or evolutionary psychology.

A good way to look at biopsychology is to think of it as separate but not separate from other fields of psychology.

The Biological Approach

The biopsychological approach is to look for the causes of behavioral problems within the influence of the brain, nervous system, endocrine glands, genetic DNA or any physical element.

According to Biopsychology (2007, p. 1, II Relation to other fields of Psychology) other fields of psychology approach from the subject matter. Clinical psychology approaches from the study of mental illness. In contrast, the approach of biopsychology is the complete spectrum of phenomena. However, this approach is always from the view of biology.

In other words, the cause of behavior must be in some relation to the physical body. This reasoning includes environmental influence since the nervous system and brain are susceptible to environmental influences which result is undesirable behavior.

Conclusion

The assumption that all begins and ends with the brain is the basis of biopsychology. The historical development of biopsychology although beginning under the influence of religious dogma slowly made the way to empirical proof. The brain being the cause of behavior is the reason all branches of psychology have a relation and the data coming from study in biopsychology is essential for other fields of psychology. The basic approach for studying the physical cause of behavior in relation to the brain, endocrine system, nervous system and genetic makeup is biopsychology.

References

Biopsychology. (2007). Retrieved February 4, 2008 from Microsoft® Encarta® Online

Encyclopedia Web site: http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation.

All Rights Reserved.

Human Genome Project Information. (2007). Retrieved February 4, 2008 from

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml

Wickens, A. (2005). Foundations of biopsychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice

Hall.