PY 0261 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Behavioral Neuroscience, Monism

• School: Fairfield University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PY 0261
• Professor: Breunig

Document Summary

Mind and body are different kinds of substances. Belief of most lay people and theologists. Mind and body are one kind of substance. Mental activity (thoughts, dreams, perceptions) are brain activity. Psychology- study/science of the mind and behavior. Study of physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behavior. Aka biopsychology, psychobiology, physiological psychology, behavioral neuroscience. Neuroscience- the study of the nervous system (anatomy, chemistry, behavior. etc. ) How things affect the brain and influence behavior. Ontogenetic/developmental- describes the development of a behavior (genes, nutrition, experience) such as genetic predispositions. Evolutionary- examines behavior in terms of evolutionary history. Compare different species to see if a behavior is normal. Functional- describe why a behavior evolved (advantage) Physiological- hormones (testosterone), possible dysfunction growth/changes in the brain. Ontogenetic/developmental- predisposition aggression, gained experience from other males, certain types of rats are more aggressive. Evolutionary- similar rodents share this trait of aggression. Functional- show who"s dominant, if females are around they may fight to reproduce.