Focus
How the body and brain create emotions, memories, and sensory experiences.
Sample Issues
•  How do evolution and heredity influence behavior?
•  How are messages transmitted within the body & brain?
•  How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?
•  What emotional and mental traits are we born with?
•  To what degree are mental disorders determined by
   heredity?
Francis Galton
The collection of data for his first important book, Hereditary Genius, marks the beginning of his psychological work. The thesis of the book is that "genius" or "talent" is genetically rather than environmentally determined (Forrest, 1995).
[Figure 37]
   Biological Perspective
Pierre Paul Broca
Gustav Theodor Fechner
Fechner’s greatest achievement was in his study of exact relationships in psychology and aesthetics.  He formulated Fechner's law, which says that, within limits, the intensity of a sensation increases as the logarithm of the stimulus.
William James
Mind Body Duality
Studied intelligence and the role of the frontal lobes of the brain. He espoused  the theory of cortical specialization for both senses and motor operations and challenged the idea of localization in the brain. He studied memory and learning by looking at the affects of brain damage in lab animals. Lashley brought to light the controversy between localization and those proposing holistic brain function.
K.S. LASHLEY
Image:broca2.gif
Created by Gordon Vessels, Ed.D. 2004