Biology of Psychology

Essay by chelesblueiisUniversity, Master'sA, October 2009

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The earliest origins of biology and psychology can be dated back to the ancient civilization of Greece. The early biologists of ancient Greece found interest in understanding “a thing’s shape and essence, its process of creation, and its purpose for being-constitute a thing’s form, why it is what it is” (Leahey, 2004, p.65) this was the beginning of discovering and understanding the vital processes of living things. The early psychologists of ancient Greece were interested in understanding how the mind, body, and soul operated together. Throughout the centuries the origins of biology and psychology have been intertwined.

Biology is the science of understanding “life and of living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution” (American Heritage Dictionary) while psychology is the science of understanding how the processes of the mind work. Biology basically deals with the physical body while psychology deals with our thoughts and feelings or some could say our imaginary bodies.

Without the mind our body cannot fulfill its purposes and without the body our mind is left useless. If one changes it usually has an affect on the other.

These two branches influence each other and can cause different chains of reaction that affect our mind and our body. There is a relationship that exists between what we experience through our thoughts and feelings and our biological processes such as activity in the nervous system. The link between the mind and body is that they are not separate but rather they are connected, interacting with each other to function properly. The brain is powerfully shaped by genetics, development, experiences, and social interactions as well as through the culture in which we live.

It was not until the nineteenth century that “psychology came of age as a recognized discipline” (Leahey, 2004, p. 186) and where...