Unit 3: Biological Bases of Behavior
Key Learning
Evolution has fundamentally shaped the psychological processes because it favors genetic variations that produce adaptive
behavior. The brain coordinates the body’s two communications systems, the nervous system and the endocrine system, which
use similar chemical processes to communicate with targets throughout the body. The brain is composed of many specialized
modules that work together to create mind and behavior.
Essential Questions
I. How is everything psychological simultaneously biological?
II. How do nature and nurture affect behavior?
III. How does the body communicate internally?
IV. How does the brain produce behavior and mental processes?
V. How do biological processes relate to behavior and work to create and sustain behavior?
VI. How does damage to a biological process or part affect behavior?
Objectives
I. Describe the processes of evolution and natural selection and their relevance to psychological processes.
II. Describe the fundamental components of genetic process – DNA, genes, and chromosomes – and their influence on human
behavior and experience.
III. Describe the overall structure of the nervous system.
IV. Describe the essential anatomy of a neuron.
V. Describe how neurons use electricity and chemicals to communicate.
VI. Define the term “plasticity”.
VII. Describe the influence of hormones on behavior.
VIII. Describe the important anatomical structures of the brain and their specific functions.
IX. Discuss the specialized functioning of the two hemispheres of the brain.
Concept / Content Outline:
I. Biological Psychology and Neurotransmission
II. The Nervous and Endocrine Systems
III. Studying the Brain and Older Brain Structures.
IV. The Cerebral Cortex
V. Brain Hemispheres
VI Behavior Genetics: Predicting Individual Differences
VII. Evolutionary Psychology
Major Players:
Paul Broca, Charles Darwin, Michael Gazzaninga, Roger Sperry, Carl Wernicke
Key Vocabulary:
biological psychology, neuron, dendrites, axon, myelin sheath, action potential, refractory period, threshold, all-ornone response, synapse, neurotransmitters, reuptake, endorphins, agonist, antagonist, nervous system, central
nervous system, peripheral nervous system, nerves, sensory neurons, motor neurons, interneurons, somatic
nervous system, autonomic nervous system, sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic nervous system,
endocrine system, hormones, adrenal glands, pituitary gland, lesion, electroencephalogram (EEG), computed
tomography scan (CT), positron emission tomography scan (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional
MRI, brainstem, medulla, thalamus, reticular formation, cerebellum, limbic system, amygdala, hypothalamus,
cerebral cortex, glial cells, frontal lobes, parietal lobes, occipital lobes, temporal lobes, motor cortex,
somatosensory cortex, association areas, plasticity, neurogenesis, corpus callosum, split brain, consciousness,
cognitive neuroscience, dual processing, behavior genetics, environment, chromosomes, DNA, genes, genome,
identical twins, fraternal twins, molecular genetics, heritability, interaction, epigenetics, evolutionary psychology,
natural selection, mutation