BiologicalPsych is a great topic because it’s all about how your body works to make you unique. It’s a complicated but fascinating process.
Most areas of psychology are organized around theorists (Freud, Skinner, etc.) but biopsych tends to ignore people and focus on brain regions and processes.
It’s About You
Biological Psychology is about you. In particular, how your body receives, processes and acts on information. We’ll look at sensation and perception (inputs), and movements and skills (outputs). We’ll also take a look at some of learning, memory, and cognition factors that happen between inputs and outputs.
It’s About The Words
The focus is on how things happen biologically. We will look at “why” only in terms of why things are processes in one part of the brain and not in another. We may raise questions that make you question your philosophy but we won’t answer them. I’d rather confuse you. 🙂
I’ve tried to limit the number of terms but they just pop up all on their own. Since it is so vocabulary-driven I’ve put together an aid: Captain Psychology’s How To Learn Vocabulary – Biological Psychology. It’s available on Amazon (in paperback and Kindle versions) or your local bookstore (ISBN-13: 978-1983440922).
You might also be interested in my book on the brain: 101 Questions About The Brain by Dr. Ken Tangen. ISBN-13: 978-1722227456. Paperback.
In any case, focus on the vocabulary. Like any course in biology, you have to know the words. Then, you have to understand the concepts. But learning is in that order. Think of it as learning a new language. You need vocabulary and grammar. Vocabulary is all the words (facts) you need to know. Grammar is the rules (concepts) of how to put the words together.
It’s About Time
Also like learning a new language is time. Biological Psychology is time intensive. Success required your putting in many hours. It’s interesting material but it does take time to conquer it. An hour a day is good starting point. You can raise or lower the time based on your performance but start with one hour every day.
If you have questions, jot me a note: prof (which is short for professor) @biologicalpsych.com.
