1. How Biology Affects Behaviour
1. How Biology Affects our Behaviour
Our behaviours, as well as our thoughts and feelings, are produced by the actions of our brains, nerves, muscles, and glands.
In this section we will consider the biological makeup of the human being, including the most remarkable of human organs—the brain. We’ll consider the structure of the brain and also the methods that psychologists use to study the brain and to understand how it works.
We will see that the body is controlled by an information highway known as the nervous system, a collection of hundreds of billions of specialized and interconnected cells through which messages are sent between the brain and the rest of the body.
And we will see that our behavior is also influenced in large part by the endocrine system, the chemical regulator of the body that consists of glands that secrete hormones.
Take the following introductory brain quiz to see what you know about your brain. Take it again after you have finished this topic to see if you have learned a few things....