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Lecture 1: Biology & Behaviour.: Biological Bases of Behaviour
Lecture 1: Biology & Behaviour.: Biological Bases of Behaviour
Lecture 1: Biology & Behaviour.: Biological Bases of Behaviour
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Kalat, 2001, p21
Brain, Mind, and Behaviour.
Most people have no difficulty in explaining animal
behaviours in terms of genes, hormones, neural activity
etc.
Many are uncomfortable using such explanations for
complex human behaviours such as love, religious
experience, morality, aggression, consciousness etc.
Biological psychologists tend to be 'deterministic' i.e. they
believe than we can identify physical causes for all
observed behaviours.
The extreme form of this is known as 'reductionism' in that
very complex processes (e.g. consciousness) can be
reduced to events at a lower level (i.e. the actions in
specific neurons).
Problems with Reductionism.
It may not always be possible to employ this approach,
Toates (2001) points out that the assumption that the mind
needs a physical body does not necessarily mean that the
laws applicable to mental states can be reduced to those of
biological structure.
He uses the argument of liquid water (the product of
combining oxygen with hydrogen).
The final product does not resemble either of the original
components, and cannot be reduced to the sum of the
properties of each.
The property of liquid water only emerges from their
combination.
Mind/Body Problem
Many philosophers have addressed the 'mind-body
problem’ by asking 'How are the mind and brain related'?
Some argued that the mind and brain are separate entities
- this is called ‘dualism’, the most famous exponent being
Descartes who stated “cogito ergo sum” - ‘I think therefore
I am’
He argued that while animals were simply 'machines'
lacking a higher form of consciousness, humans possessed
souls that controlled the body via the pineal gland in the
brain.
BUT, if the mind is not part of the material world then how
can it exert a force that can influence physical matter?
Many people still hold dualist views - e.g. the survival of
the mind after the physical death of the body.
Monism.
1. Physiological.
This explanation relates a specific behaviour to the activity of
certain regions or structures of the brain, or other organs. It
covers cellular, chemical, and hormonal influences.
E.g the ability to learn information, memorise it, and then
recall it appears to be governed by the hippocampus and its
connections to other brain regions.
Damage to this area of the brain severely impairs the ability
to transfer short-term memories into long-term ones.
Individuals with hippocampal damage can only retain
information over a short delay.
Biological Explanations of Behaviour.
Testosterone Size of
level song
song-
production
area
Spring Autumn
Ontogenetic Explanation.
In certain bird species, a young male learns a song by
listening to and copying adult males.
Development of his singing ability requires the genetic
program that prepares him to learn the song and the actual
experience of hearing a song during a sensitive period in
early life.
Interestingly, although the song is learnt at a young age
the individual will not get a chance to practice it until later
in life.
Birds that do not sing (e.g. pigeons) do not have a sensitive
period; they make the noises throughout their
development.
Sensitive Periods and Singing.
Time of first
Birth
vocalisation
Sensitive
period
Time
Bird must
hear song here
Evolutionary Explananation.
Closely-related bird species have similar vocalisations,
suggesting that they share a common ancestor.
We can investigate this by analysing changes between the
evolutionary relationships ('taxonomy') of different bird
species.
E.g although Baird's sandpiper looks physically like other
sandpipers (and was originally named as one), its song is
more like that of the Dunlin.
Genetic analysis revealed that it is indeed more closely
related to the Dunlin.
Functional Explanation.
We have already seen that:
Genes + appropriate environment = song.
This combination must have some adaptive benefit to the
individual. The following have been proposed:
1. Singing songs is a feature of mate value - males sing
during the breeding season to attract females.
Only males with the best singing voices, or who can sing
the most complex songs, will be selected as mates and pass
their singing ability to their offspring.
2. Singing a song helps to establish a territory, it also gives
honest signals about the age and size of the singer.
References and Bibliography.
Carlson, N.R. (1994). Physiology of Behaviour. Allyn & Bacon.
Catchpole, C.K., & Slater, P.J.B. (1995). Bird Song: Biological Themes
and Variations. Cambridge University Press.
Chalmers, D.J. (1995). Facing up to the problem of consciousness.
Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2: 200-219.
Dennett, D.C. (1991). Consciousness Explained. Little Brown & Co.
Kalat, J.W. (2001). Biological Psychology, 7th edition, Wadsworth.
Rosenzweig, M.R., Leiman, A.L., & Breedlove, S.M. (1996). Biological
Psychology. Sinauer Associates.
Sperry, R.W. (1987). Structure and significance of the consciousness
revolution. Journal of Mind and Behaviour, 8: 37-66.
Tinbergen, N. (1951). The Study of Instinct, Oxford University Press.
Toates, F. (2001). Biological Psychology: An Integrative Approach.
Prentice Hall.