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Biological Foundations in Psychology

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Biological Foundations in Psychology
Biological Psychology Paper
Vanell Wilson
Manon Doll
March 13, 2010

Biological Psychology
Biological Psychology is defined as “the study of behavior and experience in terms of genetics, evolution, and physiology, especially the physiology of the nervous system” (American Heritage Dictionary). Biological psychology uses biology as an approach to understand human and animal behavior.
Psychology has now developed into a wide-ranging discipline and is concerned with understanding behavior and mental processes from a variety of perspectives. Biological psychology is the branch of science that attempts to explain behavior in terms of biology, is therefore the study of the brain and how it causes or relates to behavior (Foundations of Biopsychology). The brain contains more cells than there are in the universe. There are over 100 billion cells and each parts works together to produce, direct, and choreograph what we think, feel, and do.
The study of the brain is one of the most rapidly expanding areas in modern science today, and part of this development is a quest to understand how it’s physical and chemical structure gives rise to human behavior. Arguably, there is no other discipline that can give us greater insight into ourselves, as well as having the potential to change people’s lives for the better (Foundations of Biopsychology).
The ancient Greeks were among the first to realize that the brain was the organ of the mind, Plato proposed that the brain was the organ of reasoning even though most disagreed with him. Many scientists after him studied the brain and its function. Galen who happen to be the most prominent physician of the Roman Empire propose a theory of brain function based on the ventricles, also believed that the heart was the most important part of the human body because it contained our vital spirit.

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