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Summary Biopsychology Chapter 1
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Bio Psychology – Chapter 1 “The Biological Approach to Psychology” Study of the animal roots of behavior, relating actions and experiences to
genetics and physiology
The biological approach to behavior
o Leibniz (1714) posed in regards to the universe:
“Why is there something rather than nothing?”
The univers had to be self-created
o The universe could have taken on many different forms; very few
could have supported life
o We may never know why the universe is the way it is
o Chalmers (1995) proposes the “hard problem”:
Given a universe of matter and energy, why is there such a
thing as consciousness?
o A question of the relationship between physics and psychology
o Biological explanations of behavior raise the issue of the relationship
between mental activity and the brain aka the “mind-body” or
“mind-brain problem”
o Consciousness as a fundamental property; it just exists
o Biological psychology: the study of the physiological, evolutionary
and developmental mechanisms of behavior and experience
o A strong emphasis is placed upon brain functioning (Lecture 1, 6)
o Brain functioning can be explained at a more microscopic level in
terms of neuron and glia activity
o Neurons and glia somehow produce an enormous wealth of behavior
and experience
Biological explanations of behavior
o Biological explanations of behavior fall into four categories:
Physiological: relates a behavior to the activity of the brain
and other organs
Ontogenetic: describes the development of a structure or
behavior (genes, nutrition, experiences)
Evolutionary: reconstructs evolutionary history of a behavior
or structure
Functional: describes why a structure or behavior evolved as
it did
Genetics and behavior
o Both genes and environment interact to shape human behavior
o The fundamental issue is how much a role each factor plays in
shaping human behaviors
o Examples: psychological disorders, weight gain, personality, sexual
orientation
Mendelian genetics
o 19th century monk Gregor Mendel demonstrated that inheritance
occurs through genes
o Genes are aligned along chromosomes (strands of genes) and come
in pairs
o A gene is a portion of a chromosome and is composed of
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
o DNA serves as a model for the synthesis of ribonucleic acid (RNA)
, o RNA is a single strand chemical that can serve as a template/ model
for the synthesis of proteins
Contains adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine determining
the order of amino acids that compose a protein
o Proteins determine the development of the body by:
Forming part of the structure of the body
Serving as enzymes, biological catalysts that regulate
chemical reactions
o
o Homozygous, for, a gene means that a person has an identical pair
of genes on the two chromosomes
o Heterozygous, for a gene, means that a person has an unmatched
pair of genes on the two chromosomes
o Genes are either dominant, recessive, or intermediate
Examples: eye color, ability to taste PTC
A dominant gene has a strong effect in both the homozygous
or heterozygous condition
A recessive gene shows its effect only in the homozygous
condition
Examples such as PTC and hair color can be misleading
Implies that a single gene combination completely controls a
characteristic, but this is not true
o Some genes are only expressed partly: in some cells and not others
or only under certain circumstances
o Types of genes include:
Autosomal genes: all other genes except for sex- linked
genes
Sex-linked genes: genes located on the sex chromosomes
o During reproduction:
Females contribute an X chromosome
Males contribute either an X or a Y chromosome that
determines the sex
o The human Y chromosome has genes for 27 proteins
o The human X chromosome has genes for approximately 1500
proteins
o Thus, sex-linked genes usually refer to X-linked genes: e.g., red-
green color deficiency)
o Sex-limited genes: present in both sexes but mainly have an
effect on one sex (chest hair, breast size, etc.)
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