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Biopsychology/Neuroscience Biopsychology is one of the twelve different branches of psychology. Biopsychology, also known as neuroscience, analyzes how the brain and neurotransmitters influence our behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. Many psychology programs use alternate names for this field, such as biopsychology, physiological psychology, behavioral neuroscience, and psychobiology. Biopsychology fits hand-in-hand with the neuroscience/biopsychology perspective. This perspective has came along in just the last few decades.
According to our psychology book, scientists started exploring “the role of genetics and other biological factors in almost every area of psychology, including sensation, perception, learning, memory, language, sexuality, and abnormal behavior” (Psychology, p. 13). This exploration has led to the development of the neuroscience/biopsychology perspective. The book goes on to say that biopsychology’s use sophisticated tools and technologies to study the structure and function of individual nerve cells, the roles of various parts of the brain, and how genetics and other biological processes contribute to our behavior and mental processes.
Just like the other 11 branches of psychology, the biopsychosocial model is very important in this field. Also, as in many of the other 11 branches of psychology, biopsychology uses more than one part of the biopsychosocial model. According to the people at Connexions, the biopsychosocial model is broken down into three different interconnected spectrums: biological processes, psychological factors, and social forces. Biopsychology deals with two of these three sections, the biological processes and the psychological factors (Biopsychosocial).
The biopsychology field is a field that is growing at a very rapid rate, and as the scientific understanding of human behavior continues to increase and improve, biopsychology professionals will remain in high demand. According to the people at grad schools. com, most biopsychology careers require a doctorate degree. They state that the average salaries of biopsychology careers vary depending on degree, experience, job setting and location. According to them someone starting in this field can earn anywhere from $60,000 to $90,000 annually (Biopsychology).
When I first started researching this field on the internet and started thinking of this field as a career, I really didn’t think that it would interest me very much for the simple fact that you have to get your doctorate degree. But, after I researched further and got a better understanding of what the field actually was, I was actually very interested, because I have always enjoyed learning how the brain works. One of the main things that sparked my interest, however, is I found that biopsychology professionals are in high demand, and since this is a relatively new field, will stay in high demand for a long time.
With today’s economy that is one of the greatest things you could ask for, especially in a career that really interests you. Bibliography “Biopsychology Curriculum. ” Grad Schools. Web. 17 Fed. 2010 http://www. gradschools. com/Article/biopsychology-curriculum/191. html. Psychology In Action. Eighth ed. Hermitage Services. Print “The Biopsychosocial Model of Health and Illness. ” Connexions. Web. 17 Feb 2010. http://cnx. org/content/m13589/latest/.