Biological Psychology Worksheet

1. What are the core assumptions of the biopsychological approach?

One major assumption is mental events in an individual cause biological consequences and biological events cause a mental consequence in turn.  Biological psychology’s, also known as behavioral neuroscience, approach is using science and biology principles, and applying these to studying mental processes of individuals. The main focus resides on all human behavior having a biological cause. This branch of psychology studies how mental processes either effect or get affected by bodily mechanisms and a person’s behavior. This assumption describes a complex link between a psychological and biological approach to the behavior of people which is believed to be linked together according to biopsychology.

2. What historical disciplines converge to create biological psychology?

The roots of biological psychology have a few historical disciplines which have converged to create the overall approach. Biological psychology seeks to support and address the relationship which is a vital one between the mind as well as the body through integral pathways in the brain. The history of the approach is rooted in physiology as well as philosophy and gains information from disciplines like neuroscience which helped lead to biological psychology’s creation. The creation of this approach is rooted in the works of scientists, philosophers, early psychologists, and physiologists.  

3. What are some of the earliest examples of a biological approach to studying behavior?

A major part of psychology’s history is the biological psychology approach which can trace the roots back to the same point of start as the entire field of psychology. An early example of biopsychology is from Plato who believed that a person’s brain was responsible for behavior and the person’s ability to reason.

4. What are some examples of modern careers that have resulted from studying biological psychology?  Include an overview of the careers.

There have been a variety of modern careers created such as neuroscientists and pharmacists which both came about from the development of this approach. Neuroscientists examine a person’s brain development, the person’s sensations and memories, and other concepts relating to the person’s mind. Neuroscientist work with other doctors and scientists as well as spend a lot of time researching different topics.For a pharmacist, they specialize in chemicals in a person’s brain and how to balance the chemicals, which is generally done through the use of medicine that counteracts behaviors that are associated with unbalanced chemicals.  

5. How is biological psychology viewed by other professionals in psychology today?

This field of psychology is much like any other approach in psychology.  Professionals will be mixed on the reviews for it with some agreeing that there are some aspects of the approach that are good and some that disagree with some of the aspects of the approach. In a lot of cases the approach is useful and can be combined often with other approaches to create a more comprehensive approach.  Some professionals may challenge the approaches assumptions or some aspects of the approach, such as the belief that biological affects a person’s mental processes.  There are however many benefits which have come from the approach like the understanding of functioning in the brain which makes it hard for the professionals to deny.

Carlson, N. R. (2013). Physiology of Behavior (11th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc..