The human aptitude to acquire and maintain information is an outstanding feature of human evolution. Moreover, after being exposed to the neurological potential of human beings, my passions, rooted in behavioral neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and psychopathology, have thrived. As a mental health specialist, I am continually drawn to what is deemed “abnormal,” and the psychopathologies behind certain symptomology. Behaviorism, although respectively becoming outdated as a stand-alone discipline, is an interesting field; however, it requires interdisciplinary applications of fields such as neuroscience. Moreover, the physiological mechanisms underlying behavior, neuropsychological pathologies, and the neuroplasticity of the brain are where …show more content…
Critical to the practice of neuroscience, particularly in research, is a strong ethical footing. Ethics is a discipline engaged in regularly in research and has strong footholds in any scientific discipline. Moreover, having taken a biomedical ethics course during my undergraduate degree, this has enlightened my perceptions of what research entails. Supplementary to this course, I have also taken courses that directly relate to my primary interests—as aforementioned, they include behavioral neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and psychopathology. Memory and cognition was a course that explored experiments and theories in human memory and cognition with a primary focus on the related topics of attention, thinking, and problem-solving, and their role in a general model of information processing. This was the first course I took that identified one of my key passions, namely cognition. Similarly, Human Brain and Behavior and Introduction to Physiological Psychology furthered this intrigue. In Introduction to Physiological Psychology, the biological mechanisms underlying fundamental psychological processes were surveyed and the biological basis of motivated behavior, sensory processes and attention, learning and memory, and language were explored in depth. Likewise, in Human Brain and Behavior the neurological basis of human behavior was surveyed with principle emphasis on hemispheric specialization, psychopathology, and psychopharmacology. These two courses went in tandem to one another and solidified a deep understanding of the underlying biological principles of human
As particular circuits in our brain strengthen through the repetition of a physical or mental activity, they begin to transform that activity into a habit” (34). Carr establishes his idea of neuroplasticity by providing a test performed by neuroscientist, Michael Merzenich. He observed monkeys with damage to the nerves in their fingers. When a portion of the hurt monkeys’ hands were affected, the indication became disordered because of the way their brains and their fingers were being stimulated. Amazingly, the monkeys adjusted the psychological misperception by their selves.
The brain accounts for the main portion of one’s personality: “The cerebrum is also the seat of intelligence and personality.” More specifically, the prefrontal cortex of the brain accounts for the personality of one person; therefore, biology is the reason for decisions as biology determines personality, and personality is a part of the decision making process. One instance of this may be seen in the Stanford Prison experiment, an experiment complete at Stanford, where several college students played the guards and some prisoners. From the experiment extreme treatment and abuse from the guards to the prisoners was seen; however, this abuse depended on the guard, “Not all of the guards showed sadistic tendencies, with some seeking to actively help prisoners and show sympathy towards them.” (Shuttlewarth).
Throughout the informative nonfiction book, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, written by David Eagleman, different scientific processes and ideas are explored through clear explanations. Composed of topics such as psychology’s influence on legal procedures, along with how the brain parts work together, Eagleman crafts a book to inform readers in an interesting way. His diction is simple, and yet the intricacies of his ideas are advanced and scientific in nature. In writing the book, he achieved his goals of opening the eyes of more people to how psychology is woven into our lives at every moment, and the brain is an elaborate engine.
By taking this class hopefully I will gain insight and knowledge on psychological factors and how they influence us as a society. My interest in human behavior correlates in my attraction for primates. I realize that by studying primates
Then the Skinner box will be discussed, finally leading to the studies of Loftus and Palmer on the link between language and memory. The role and importance of ecological validity in each body of research will be discussed and evaluated. Ecological validity is how much the
When I think of a physician and their characters I immediately think of the traits listed in this honor code. A physician must be responsible and diligent. They must be able to be honest and responsible enough to put their patient 's best interest as a top priority. When I started working at the Hunt Regional Medical Center I took a HIPPA regulation class and took it very seriously. I was very careful not to share any information about any patient that I might have seen during my volunteer work or shadowing.
There is only one approach in psychology that studies thoughts, feelings and behaviour. The biological approach believes that the way we are is due to our genetics and physiology. They believe that the activity going on our nervous system’s is what affects the way we think, feel and behave (Sammons, 2009). The physiology in the biological approach looks into how the brain functions. The brain is a very complicated machine as such, the brain is what controls our every move, every feeling and every action.
Often the differences between Psychiatry and Neuroscience are quite obscure. All revolving around the subjects of human behavior, cognition, and focusing on the neural substrates of mental processes and their behavioral manifestations, Neuroscience and Psychiatry are contingent to one another. This allows Neuroscientists and Psychiatrists to work together seamlessly in order to help understand the underlying reasons of human behavior. With the increasing accessibility of neuroimaging, patterns of regional brain activity associated with normal brain functions can be visualized.
(2009) and Fridlund et al. (2012) respectively. However, these hypotheses have gained much traction in the wider psychological community despite Powell, Digdon, Harris and Smithson (in press) theorizing a much more compelling candidate, Albert Barger. Ethics in psychology is a contemporary consideration and this fresh perspective has dictated a popular practice of re-examining the ethics of historical experiments with superfluous criticism. It is plausible that the outrage over possible unethical practice has distracted from the more parsimonious option presented by Powell et al.
Through pursuing a Master of Arts in Psychology from Rutgers University, I want to be challenged. I would like to focus my core courses towards the field of language and neuropsychology through Developmental, Abnormal, Cognitive, and Physiological Psychology courses. I hope to gain classroom experience when taking Teaching in Psychology and through pursuing the thesis track, I hope to work with Dr. Bill Whitlow. I would be interested in working with Dr. Whitlow for his background in psychobiology of learning. Along with this, Dr. Whitlow’s interest in topics such as the evolution of cognition and metacognition are things I find interesting.
And the other reason was that they realized that psychological processes must have a physiological basis. In the past, researches were carried regarding the
William James, a leading figure in the field of psychology, was born into a very wealthy family and received schooling in both Europe and the U.S, yet suffered from poor health. Eventually he enrolled in Harvard, then changed his studies from chemistry to medicine, dabbed in zoology/biology, then returned to biology. He suffered from “neurasthenia”, which appeared to be neurotic in origin and was epidemic at the time. Eventually, James began to develop his own philosophy and came to believe in free will. In addition, he also became interested in “mind-alternating chemicals”.
I always find the first two chapters in any textbook to be the most interesting chapters. They are introduction chapters to the rest of the book. I found these chapters to be quite helpful when studying for other psychology course. Biopsychology is a field that works with both the makeup of a human being, their biology, and human behavior. Honestly, I have not heard of such a field until I started this course and the first chapter added on to that excitement when I found out that there were many divisions of Biopsychology as well.
Taking this class has had a profound impact on me. I have learned how to properly study for a college class. Also, I learned how to effectively communicate and reach out to my professor. This was my first college course which gave me a learning experience about psychology and myself as a student. I have learned how to manage my time, study in ways that are better for me, focus on the task in front of me, and reaching out and taking opportunities.
Psychology: Advances in neuoscience ("Secrets of the Brain," National Geographic, Feb 2014) What was the motivation that led to the discovery? Some of the motivations that lead to the advancement in studies of the human brain are being able to understand the advances in the workings of the human brain, learning and discovering more about the structure of individual nerve cells/neurons, charting the biochemistry of the brain= surveying how our billions of neurons produce and employ thousands of different kinds of proteins, and creating representations of the brain’s wiring. Recently another motivation was to help to speed up the mapping of our neural circuitry,seeing the brain in action. It will help scientists to learn how to diagnose disorders