A complex interplay of psychological and biological factors shapes behavior. Biological structures and processes serve as the pathways by which bodies carry out activities. They also affect predispositions to behave in certain ways, shape personalities, and influence the likelihood of developing psychological disorders. Psychological factors also affect behavior and, consequently, health and well-being.
The content in this category covers biological bases of behavior, including the effect of genetics and how the nervous and endocrine systems affect behavior. It also addresses how personality, psychological disorders, motivation, and attitudes affect behavior. Some of these topics are learned in the context of nonhuman animal species.
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Our Social World |
Introduction to Sociology |
Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life |
Exploring Psychology |
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Biological Bases of Behavior (PSY, BIO)
- The nervous system
- Neurons (e.g., the reflex arc)
- Neurotransmitters
- Structure and function of the peripheral nervous system
- Structure and function of the central nervous system
- The brain
- Forebrain
- Midbrain
- Hindbrain
- Lateralization of cortical functions
- Methods used in studying the brain
- The spinal cord
- Neuronal communication and its influence on behavior (PSY)
- Influence of neurotransmitters on behavior (PSY)
- The endocrine system
- Components of the endocrine system
- Effects of the endocrine system on behavior
- Behavioral genetics
- Genes, temperament, and heredity
- Adaptive value of traits and behaviors
- Interaction between heredity and environmental influences
- Influence of genetic and environmental factors on the development of behaviors
- Experience and behavior (PSY)
- Regulatory genes and behavior (BIO)
- Genetically based behavioral variation in natural populations
- Human physiological development (PSY)
- Prenatal development
- Motor development
- Developmental changes in adolescence
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NA |
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- Ch. 1, pp. 8-9
- Ch. 2, pp. 37-78
- Ch. 4, pp. 115-160
- Ch. 9, pp. 336-337, 41-343
- Ch. 14, pp. 483, 495-496
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Personality (PSY)
- Theories of personality
- Psychoanalytic perspective
- Humanistic perspective
- Trait perspective
- Social cognitive perspective
- Biological perspective
- Behaviorist perspective
- Situational approach to explaining behavior
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Psychological Disorders (PSY)
- Understanding psychological disorders
- Biomedical vs. biopsychosocial approaches
- Classifying psychological disorders
- Rates of psychological disorders
- Types of psychological disorders
- Anxiety disorders
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Trauma- and stressor-related disorders
- Somatic symptom and related disorders
- Bipolar and related disorders
- Depressive disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Dissociative disorders
- Personality disorders
- Biological bases of nervous system disorders (PSY, BIO)
- Schizophrenia
- Depression
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Stem cell-based therapy to regenerate neurons in the central nervous system (BIO)
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- Ch. 8, Constructing Difference: Social Deviance, pp. 236-241 (“The medicalization of deviance”)
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- Ch. 2, pp. 44, 64
- Ch. 8, p. 279
- Ch. 14, pp. 493-534
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Motivation (PSY)
- Factors that influence motivation
- Instinct
- Arousal
- Drives (e.g.,negative-feedback systems) (PSY, BIO)
- Needs
- Theories that explain how motivation affects human behavior
- Drive reduction theory
- Incentive theory
- Other theories (e.g., cognitive, need-based)
- Biological and sociocultural motivators that regulate behavior (e.g., hunger, sex drive, substance addiction)
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- Ch. 3, pp. 101-102
- Ch. 5, pp. 165-187
- Ch. 10, pp. 348-367
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Attitudes (PSY)
- Components of attitudes (i.e., cognitive, affective, behavioral)
- The link between attitudes and behavior
- Processes by which behavior influences attitudes (e.g., foot-in-the door phenomenon, role-playing effects)
- Processes by which attitudes influence behavior
- Cognitive dissonance theory
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