Psychology and Medicine pp 23-49 | Cite as
Biological Bases of Behaviour
Chapter
Abstract
A discussion of the biological determinants of behaviour is an appropriate part of our introduction to psychology in medicine for at least two reasons. The first is that biological factors are important components of the aetiology of human behaviour. We have already seen (chapter 1) that psychology is a biological discipline. The broad assumption made by most psychologists is that human behaviour is determined by a complex aetiology which involves both biological and environmental ‘causes’.
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References
- Cannon, W.B. (1915) Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
- Luria, A.R. (1973) The Man with a Shattered World. London: Jonathan Cape.Google Scholar
- Valenstein, E.S. (1973) Brain Control: A critical examination of brain stimulation and psychosurgery. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
- Wilson, E.O. Sociobiology: The new synthesis. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap.Google Scholar
Annotated reading
- Eysenck, H.J. (1976) Psychology as a bio-social science. In H.J. Eysenck and G.D. Wilson (eds), A Textbook of Human Psychology. Lancaster: MTP. An introduction to psychology as the study of behaviour with special reference to the interaction of social and biological factors.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Martin, I. (1976) Emotions. In H.J. Eysenck and G.D. Wilson (eds). A Textbook of Human Psychology. Lancaster: MTP.Google Scholar
- Strongman, K.T. (1978) The Psychology of Emotion (2nd edn). Chichester: Wiley. The above two references discuss a number of facets concerning the study of emotion.Google Scholar
- Boddy, J. (1978) Brain Systems and Psychological Concepts. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
- Van Toller, C. (1979) The Nervous Body: An introduction to the autonomic nervous system and behaviour. Chichester: Wiley. Two useful books, both in very readable style, which cover in much greater depth the topics outlined in the biological bases chapter. They are detailed and informative, and worth sampling on topics which interest the student.Google Scholar
- Gray, J.(1971) The Psychology of Fear and Stress. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Deals not only with innate and acquired features of fear and stress but also with mechanisms of conditioning and reinforcement.Google Scholar
- Valenstein, E.S. (1973) Brain Control: A critical examination of brain stimulation and psychosurgery. New York: Wiley. An interesting account of a number of topics involving brain and behaviour studies, including a good discussion of the effects of psychosurgery in psychopathological disorders.Google Scholar
Copyright information
© The British Psychological Society 1981