Chapter 3

The Biological and Evolutionary

Bases of Behavior
 Chapter 3 Main Points
 Heredity and Behavior
 Biology and Behavior
 Psychology in the 21st Century: Advances
in Localizing Brain Function
 The Nervous System in Action
 Psychology in Your Life: How does Music
Have an Impact on How you Feel?
 Heredity and Behavior
 Causal Explanations in Psychology
– Nature vs. Nurture
– Heredity vs. Environment
 Natural Selection
– Favorable adaptations to features of the
environment allow some members of a
species to reproduce more successfully than
others (C. Darwin, Origins of Species, 1859)
 Natural Selection
 Genotype
– Genetic structure
 Phenotype
– Observable characteristics
How Natural Selection Works
Environmental pressure
(changes in the environment)

Competition
(for resources)

Selection of fittest phenotype

(among a variety of phenotypes)

Reproductive success (genotype

corresponding to fittest
phenotype passed to next
generation)

Frequency of that genotype (and

phenotype) increases (in next
generation)

Copyright © 2004 Allyn & Bacon

 Natural Selection
 Human Evolution:
– Bipedalism
– Encephalization
– Language
– Cultural Evolution
Variation in the Human Genotype
 Heredity:
– Biological transmission of traits from
parents to offspring
 Genetics:
– Study of the inheritance of physical and
psychological traits from ancestors
 Basic Genetics
 DNA:
– Physical basis for the transmission of genetic
information
 Genes:
– Biological units of heredity
 Genes and Behavior
 Human Genome Project
– Began in the USA in 1990
– The study of a full sequence of genes found
on the chromosomes with the associated DNA
 Genome defined
– The genetic information for an organism,
stored in the DNA of its chromosomes
 Genes and Behavior
 Human Behavior Genetics
– Evaluates the genetic components of
individual differences regarding behaviors
and traits
– Heritability
– Adoption Studies
– Twin Studies
 Genes and Behavior
 Sociobiology
– The study of behavior and social systems of
humans and others species from a social
context
– Sociobiologists provide evolutionary
explanations for social behavior and social
systems of humans and other species
 Genes and Behavior
 Evolutionary Psychology
– The study of behavior and the mind using the
principles of evolutionary theory
– Evolutionary psychologists extend evolutionary
explanations to include other aspects of human
experience such as mind functioning
 Biology and Behavior
 Neuroscience defined
– Scientific study of the brain and of the links
between brain activity and behavior
 Eavesdropping on the Brain
 Interventions in the Brain
– Lesions: injuries to or the destruction of brain
tissue
 Eavesdropping on the Brain
 Broca’s Area of the Brain
– Named after brain researcher Paul Broca
– Language research and brain damage
– Area of the brain that translates thoughts into
speech or sign
The Case of Phineas T. Gage
Recording and Imaging Brain Activity
 Repetitive Transcranial Magnet
Stimulation (rTMS)
– Pulses of magnetic stimulation create
temporary reversible lesions without damage
to briefly inactivate the brain for study
Recording and Imaging Brain Activity
 Electroencephalogram (EEG)
– Electrical activity of the brain
 PET Scans
– Records radioactivity emitted
by cells during cognitive and
behavioral activities
Recording and Imaging Brain Activity
 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
– Scans the brain using magnetic
fields and radio waves
 Functional MRI (fMRI)
– Detects magnetic changes in
blood flow to cells in the brain
Functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (fMRI)
Functional MRI is based on the
increase in blood flow to the
local vasculature that accompanies
neural activity in the brain
 Functional and Structural
Areas of the Cerebral Cortex

Figure 13.11a
Motor Areas Sensory Areas
 Nervous System
 Central Nervous System (CNS)
– Brain and spinal cord
 Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
– Spinal and cranial nerves
– Connects the body’s sensory receptors to the
CNS and the CNS to muscles and glands
Cross Section of the Brain
Basic Divisions of the Brain
Subdivisions of the Nervous System
 Nervous System
 Somatic Nervous System (SNS)
– A sub-division of the peripheral nervous
system that connects the CNS to the
skeletal muscles and skin
Subdivisons of the Nervous System
 Nervous System
 Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
– A sub-division of the peripheral nervous
system that controls the body’s involuntary
motor responses by connecting the sensory
receptors to the CNS and the CNS to the
smooth muscles, cardiac muscle and glands
 Nervous
System

Peripheral Nervous System

Central Nervous System
(neural tissue outside brain
(brain and spinal cord)
and spinal cord)

Somatic nervous system Autonomic nervous system

(sensory and motor (internal systems,
nerves, voluntary) involuntary)

Sympathetic division Parasympathetic division

(“troubleshooter”) (“housekeeping”)
The Brain Stem and Cerebellum

– Brain stem
– Medulla
– Pons
– Thalamus
– Cerebellum
 The Limbic System
 Hippocampus
– Acquisition of implicit memory
 Amygdala
– Controls emotion, aggression, and
formation of emotional memory
 Hypothalamus
– Regulates motivated behavior
 The Cerebrum
 Cerebral Cortex
 Cerebral Hemispheres
 Corpus Callosum
 Motor and Somatosensory Cortex
 Motor Cortex
– Controls the action of the body’s voluntary
muscles
 Somatosensory Cortex
– Processes sensory input from various body
areas
Brain and Somatosensory Association
 Motor and Somatosensory Cortex
 Auditory Cortex
– Receives and processes auditory information
 Visual Cortex
– Processes visual information
 Association Cortex
– High-level brain processes
Primary and Sensory Cortex
Hemispheric Lateralization
Hemisphere Lateralization
Hemispheric Lateralization
 Endocrine System
 Endocrine System
– Network of glands that manufacture and
secrete hormones
 Hormones
– Chemical messengers that regulate
metabolism and influence body growth,
mood, and sexual characteristics
Endocrine System
Endocrine System
 Endocrine System
 Pituitary Gland
– Secretes growth hormone and influences the
secretion of hormones by other endocrine
glands
 Testosterone
– The male sex hormone
 Estrogen
– The female sex hormone
 The Neuron
 The Neuron
– A cell in the nervous system specialized to
receive, process, and/or transmit information
to other cells
 The Neuron
 Dendrites
 Soma
 Axon
 Terminal Buttons
 Major Classes of Neurons
 Sensory Neurons:
– From sense receptors toward the CNS
 Motor Neurons:
– From CNS toward muscles and glands
 Interneurons:
– From sensory neurons to other interneurons
or to motor neurons
The Neuron
Pain Withdrawal Reflex
 Action Potentials
 Action Potential:
– The nerve impulse
 Resting Potential:
– Polarization of cellular fluid within a neuron,
which provides the capacity to produce an
action potential
How Neurons Fire
 Action Potentials
 Glia Cell
– The cells that hold neurons together and facilitate
neural transmission, remove damaged or dead
neurons, and prevent poisonous substances in
the blood from reaching the brain
– Excitatory Input
– Information entering a neuron that signals it to
respond and fire
Action Potentials
 Action Potentials
 All-or-None Law
– The size of the action potential is unaffected
by increases in the intensity of stimulation
beyond the threshold level
Action Potentials
 Synaptic Transmission
 Synapse
– The gap between one neuron and another
 Neurotransmitters
– Chemical messengers of information
 Neurotransmitters
 Acetylcholine
 GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)
 Dopamine
 Norepinephrine
 Serotonin
 Endorphins
 生命教育單元
人體實驗
 人工生殖法 ( 試管嬰兒，代理孕母 )
 複製人
 胚胎移植
 器官捐贈與移植
 幹細胞與臍帶血
 基因改造食物、基因療法

動物實驗
 實驗動物的照顧與對待
 複製羊、牛
 實驗動物保護管理與使用
 動物福利法 (Animal Welfare Act ， AWA)
 實驗動物人道管理與使用政策 (Public Health Service
Policy ， PHS Policy)
 實驗動物飼養管理及使用指南 (Guide for the Care and Use of
Laboratory Animals)

國內目前使用相關法條
 中華民國動物保護法
 動物保護法施行細則
 動物實驗管理小組設置辦法
 廢棄物清理法與實驗動物相關條文
衛生署於九月十三日早上召開專家委員會議，邀集婦產科、生殖科
、泌尿科、醫學倫理、法界等十名專家，針對是否可取死者精子做
人工生殖，蒐集各方意見。
 生命教育單元
人體實驗
 人工生殖法 ( 試管嬰兒，代理孕母 )
 複製人
 胚胎移植
 器官捐贈與移植
 幹細胞與臍帶血
 基因改造食物、基因療法

人非勝天、人定勝天？？
 問題－親屬關係？道德、倫理關係的混亂
範例 1 ：
    某甲 30 歲生了個兒子 → 20 年後甲因飛機墬機過
世，家人利用基因複製一個甲。
Q 1 ：複製甲的社會倫理地位為何？
         - 此 20 歲兒子如何稱呼甲 ( 爸爸？ )
Q 2 ：複製甲的法律地位為何？
         –兒子與複製甲如何分配甲過世後所留的遺產
？
 範例 2 ：
    因被複製者的遺傳基因 (DNA) 與原來個
體相同，若未來複製人犯了強姦殺人，現
場僅留有血液及精液等樣本，警方如何釐
清複製與被複製者的關係？