Physiological Psychology

• Physiological psychology seeks to describe the physical mechanisms of the body that mediate our movements and our mental activity

• What is the relationship between mind and body?

• • Two major views of the mind-body problem:
  • • “Dualism”: mind and body are separate but interacting
    • “Monism”: mind is a property of the physical nervous system (body)

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Physiology is simply all the vital processes of an organism.

Psychology is the science of mental processes and behavior (remember psycho- means mind).

So we will look at the biological science of the essential life processes, activities, and functions (and what happens—and when and where—if things go wrong; I.e. brain disorders).

Dualism-dual nature of reality, I.e.mind is separate from the body

Monism: the belief that the mind is the working of the body (no need for a separate soul).

Physiological psychologists take a Monistic approach to the study of human nature. They believe that once we understand how the CNS and the brain work, then we will understand the mind-body interaction and how and why we do the things we do.