Biological Bases of Behavior This article links different situations together, to create an overarching theme that the brain is an important part of the brain and understanding how it operates is crucial to understanding how humans operate. The first situation is about a girl named Nancy whose father was an alcoholic and her mother was very passive about the issue. As Nancy was growing up she vowed to never be like her parents. Although she wished not to be like her parents, she found herself in an alcohol rehabilitation center. As Nancy grew older she wondered whether genes or the environment, which she grew up in, caused her alchol problem. Many psychologists wonder the same thing. They wonder what causes human behavior. Genes, chromosomes, and the central nervous system are worthy of study because they represent the biological aspects of behavior. Psychologists utilize one of three techniques to understand the biological basis of biology. One technique is through animal studies. The second includes the examination of unfortunate individuals whose brains were damaged at birth. The third technique is by studying identical and fraternal twins. The second part of the article briefly summarizes a few articles that refer to the role of biology in humans. The first article, titled “Nature, Nurture, Not Mutually Exclusive,” informs the reader that human behavior is the complex interplay of many factors related to both nature and nurture. The second article, “What We Learn From Twins,” examines two identical twins that we separated at birth. It helps understand the nature versus nurture issue. The next article covers the factors that affect genetic expression and consequently, individual differences. The last article is concerned with the human brains, which is the most significant part of the central nervous system and therefore plays an important role in our psychological makeup. ...
