Answer to Question #293601 in Psychology for abhay

Question

Please write at least 500 words(250 words for each prompt at least) for the paper and of course you can go beyond 500 words. 

Following are the two prompts that you need to write on:

Do you think studying "biology of mind" is imperative to the field of Psychology?

 

In what ways, knowledge of “biology of mind” has changed the way you see the world.

Answer 1

Yes, it is of great importance to study biology of mind to the field of psychology. Biology of mind (The Biology of Mind. By M. Deric Bownds) is the multidisciplinary tour of some of the most exciting areas in contemporary brain and cognitive science. Psychology being the study of behaviour and mental processes, study of the brain structures is of vital importance. Behavior and the brain are intertwined because effects of the brain permeate all human behavior. Studying damaged brains is a very useful way to improve understanding links between brain and behavior. A lesion, damaged or diseased tissue of the brain, is important since when a psychologist sees a person with a partially damaged brain and then spots changes in that person's behavior, the changes can most likely be attributed to the brain damage. For example, Phineas Gage was damaged on the left frontal part of the brain and changed his behavior of loosing temper.

Understanding the mind, has helped cognitive psychologists to study how people acquire, process, see and even store information. As a psychologist, it has made me understand that the brain, being so complex, plays a major role in determining the behaviour of human beings. For example, memory which is stored in the cerebellum, how people react under different conditions and many other complex processes. New technologies such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have come up and seeing the picture of the brain at work, it has helped me understand the way in which a brain will react to particular stimuli and the differences in brain structures that affects someone's cognitive functioning, personality and health. It has helped me map out some diseases affecting the brain such as Alzheimer's diseases, speech issues, memory loss and sensory difficulties.