Biological Approach To Psychology

The Biological Approach
One of the most perplexing issues in psychology is understanding the relationship between the mind and the brain. We all recognize that we have conscious awareness of our surroundings, and also of ourselves (self-awareness). It is this experience which has normally been described as the mind. But what is the basis of the mind? Is it the expression of a non-physical soul, or is it a product of physical processes within our body? Philosophers and scientists have been pondering this question for centuries. Explaining the nature of consciousness (that is, the mind) was regarded by William James (one of the great pioneers of psychology) as the most challenging question for psychology to answer. Today, a hundred years after
One day in 1848, he was working on track construction near Cavendish, Vermont. While Gage was placing an explosive charge, a spark of metal against rock set off the charge, sending a long metal tamping rod flying upwards. The rod entered Gage's head just below the left eye, and exited from the tob of his skull, somewhat forward of left center. Remarkably, Gage survived (though he was blinded in his left eye). Even more remarkably, his behavior changed dramatically. Whereas Gage had previously been likeable and responsible, he became erratic, and given to terrible fits of temper. Sadly, he spent his remaining years wandering around the United States, displaying the hole in his skull and the iron rod which had brought him such
A major relay point for these pathways is the thalamus en route to the cortex. Remarkably, despite the transformation of the sensory signal into a neural signal, and the routing through a series of connections within the CNS, the information which reaches the cortex typically preserves significant detail about the nature, location, and timing of the stimulus. (For example, one can identify where on the body a touch stimulus occurred, the order in which sounds occurred, etc.) In the cortex, as noted in the text, sophisticated processing occurs, in regions whose functions are dedicated to sensory processing. (Primary locations are the occipital lobe for vision, temporal lobe for hearing, parietal lobe for touch, and frontal lobe for some aspects of taste and smell.) In turn, this information is integrated across senses, and with memories of past experiences, to produce our perceptions of the world. Simple, isn't