Biology and Culture: The Foundations of Psychology

Biology and culture both play important roles in the lives of human potential; the way one perceives information, processes that information, and performs depend on both biological and social influences, which can be limited by the structure of the brain. According to Kowalski and Western (2011, p. 7), “The circuits for psychological events, such as emotions or thoughts, are distributed throughout the brain, with each part contributing to the total experience.” Cultural influence can contribute to morals, values, and beliefs that also influence behavior.

Two major schools of thought began in the early nineteenth century – structuralism and functionalism that led to four perspectives. Edward Titchener (1867-1927) used introspection as one way to discover key elements of the conscious mind (Kowalski & Western, 2011, p. 12). Charles Darwin’s theory influenced William James (1842-1910) to coin the term functionalism, based on the function the psychological process uses. Other schools of thought or perspectives were developed as off-springs from structuralism and functionalism. These perspectives include psychodynamic, behaviorist, cognitive, and evolutionary perspectives.

Psychodynamic Perspective

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) “developed a theory of mental life and behavior and an approach to treating psychological disorders” (p. 13) that contains three premises: (1) thoughts determine people’s actions, (2) these thoughts often occur in the subconscious mind, and (3) the thoughts and motives conflict with one another (p. 13). The psychodynamic theory rests on the interpretation of expressed thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. According to Kowalski and Western (2011, p. 15), “…psychodynamic theorists focus on the entire person (Western, 1998) and the whole of the human experience.” Conscious awareness and thought can be linked to unconscious awareness and automatic responses. However, people are not likely to comprehend the chain of psychological events that oftentimes lead to conscious thought, feelings, or behavior without some knowledge of past events.

Behaviorist Perspective

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) accidentally discovered the behaviorist theory while conducting experiments with dogs and salivation. It was found that objects within the environment can influence and even control behavior. “According to behaviorists, psychologists cannot even study the conscious thoughts in a scientific way because no one has access to them except the person reporting them” (Kowalski & Western, 2011, p. 16). Environmental events can play important roles in both mental processing and behavior. Behaviorists commonly use experimentation as the method to study behavior scientifically. The most widely known approach in the study of behaviorism is from B. F. Skinner (1904-1990), who observed that behavior in humans “can be controlled by environmental consequences that either increase (reinforce) or decrease (punish) their likelihood of occurring” (Kowalski & Western, 2011, p. 16). Automatic responses learned during childhood can be altered or controlled with the use of biofeedback, teaching new ways to react in certain situations or environments.

Cognitive Perspective

According to Kowalski & Western (2011, p. 17), “The cognitive perspective focuses on the way people perceive, process, and retrieve information.” Wundt examined memory and how people process, store, and retrieve information from the environment. Cognitive psychologists also study decision making, problem solving, and how the person categorizes information. Kowalski & Western (2011, p. 19) state, “Cognitive research on emotion, for example, documents the way people think about events plays a substantial role in generating emotions (Caldwell & Burger, 2009’ Ferguson, 2000; Lazarus, 1999a,b; Roseman et al., 1995; Chapter 10).” Although experience can influence memory and decision making, some concepts are mentally constructed within the human mind. Some concepts may derive from the subconscious mind without any knowledge of this occurring.

Evolutionary Perspective

Evolutionary psychologists are divided between the controversial nature versus nurture issue. The nature perspective advocates that behavior is primarily inherited through genetics and biology. The nurture perspective advocates that behavior is learned through the environment and not inherited. According to Kowalski & Western (2011, p. 20), “Biological and genetic factors predispose people to certain physical and psychological experiences but it is the environment that determines the degree to which the predispositions manifest themselves.” Evolutionary psychologists also use the experimentation method but with the prediction of behavior rather than an explanation after the fact has been proven (Buss et al., 1992; Kowalski & Western, 2011, p. 23). The human brain has been shown to evolve thoughts, behaviors, and genetic predispositions for continued survival of species. Physical and psychological traits can be passed down through generations, but the environment can be adjusted to influence behavior. Personality is greatly influenced by genetic transmission and the transmission of selected traits allows reproductive success.

Biopsychology

Biopsychology or what is also called behavioral neuroscience, “examines the physical basis of psychological phenomena such as motivation, emotion, and stress” (Kowalski & Western, 2011, p. 6). The brain structure can limit potential at certain stages of life, but it also has the power to develop specific connections that contribute to specific thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Cross-cultural psychology looks at the relationship between psychological attributes and culture (Kowalski & Western, 2011, p. 8). Chemicals in the brain contribute to specific thoughts, feelings, and emotions; the environment can also contribute to these aspects but behavior is typically modeled after observation. Learning from the environment by observation is largely culturally influenced, however chemical reactions in the brain, which are biologically influenced, can contribute to how a person perceives the information.

Psychodynamic, behaviorist, cognitive, and evolutionary perspectives along with biopsychology can all assist in uncovering the mysteries of human behavior and thought. “The use of any and all forms of information about a person reflects the psychodynamic assumption that people reveal themselves in everything they do” (Kowalski & Western, 2011, p. 14). Searching the conscious and subconscious mind for clues that reveal intentions of behavior is ultimately the key to discovering how to change automatic negative patterns. According to Kowalski & Western (2011, p. 10), William James (1842-1910) stated “knowledge about human psychology could come from many sources.” The power to change the biological and chemical messengers in the brain, which control thoughts, feelings, and emotion, is challenging, however it can be done with the use of a combination of correct perspectives.

References

Kowalski, R., & Western, D. (2011). Psychology (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.