Dr. James W. Kalat's BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY is the best selling text in the market because of its extremely high level of scholarship, clear and occasionally humorous writing style, and precise examples integrated throughout the text. Throughout all nine editions, the goal has been to make biological psychology accessible to psychology students, not just to biology majors and pre-meds.
The goal has also been to convey the excitement of the search for biological explanations of behavior. Kalat argues that biological psychology is "the most interesting topic in the world," and this text convinces many students.
Try-it-yourself activities in the book and on-line help illustrate phenomena and procedures described in the text. Accuracy, currency and a clear presentation style have always been the trademark signature of this text and this Ninth Edition has taken these qualities to the next level.
An extremely skilled teacher, Dr. Kalat has written a text that not only speaks to today's students but to their professors as well. Accuracy, currency and a clear presentation style have always been the trademark signature of this text and this Ninth Edition has taken these qualities to the next level.
Introduction • The Biological Approach to Behavior • • The Field of Biological Psychology • • Three Main Points to Remember from This Book • Biological Explanations of Behavior • Career Opportunities • The Use of Animals in Research • • Degrees of Opposition • IN CLOSING: Your Brain and Your Experience
01. Nerve Cells and Nerve Impulses • Module 1.1: The Cells of the Nervous System • • Neurons and Glia • • • Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a Pioneer of Neuroscience • • • The Structures of an Animal Cell • • • The Structure of a Neuron • • • Variations among Neurons • • • Glia • • The Blood–Brain Barrier • • • Why We Need a Blood–Brain Barrier • • • How the Blood–Brain Barrier Works • • Nourishment of Vertebrate Neurons • • IN CLOSING: Neurons • Module 1.2: The Nerve Impulse • • The Resting Potential of the Neuron • • • Forces Acting on Sodium and Potassium Ions • • • Why a Resting Potential • • The Action Potential • • • The Molecular Basis of the Action Potential • • • The All-or-None Law • • • The Refractory Period • • Propagation of the Action Potential • • The Myelin Sheath and Saltatory Conduction • • Local Neurons • • IN CLOSING: Neurons and Messages
02. Synapses • Module 2.1: The Concept of the Synapse • • Properties of Synapses • • • Speed of a Reflex and Delayed Transmission at the Synapse • • • Temporal Summation • • • Spatial Summation • • • Inhibitory Synapses • • Relationships among EPSP, IPSP, and Action Potentials • • IN CLOSING: The Neuron as Decision Maker • Module 2.2: Chemical Events at the Synapse • • The Discovery of Chemical Transmission at Synapses • • The Sequence of Chemical Events at a Synapse • • • Types of Neurotransmitters • • • Synthesis of Transmitters • • • Storage of Transmitters • • • Release and Diffusion of Transmitters • • • Activating Receptors of the Postsynaptic Cell • • • Ionotropic Effects • • • Metabotropic Effects and Second Messenger Systems • • • Neuropeptides • • • Variation in Receptors • • • Drugs that Act by Binding to Receptors • • • Inactivation and Reuptake of Neurotransmitters • • • Negative Feedback from the Postsynaptic Cell • • • Electrical Synapses • • Hormones • • IN CLOSING: Neurotransmitters and Behavior
03. Anatomy and Research Methods • Module 3.1: Structure of the Vertebrate Nervous System • • Terminology to Describe the Nervous System • • The Spinal Cord • • The Autonomic Nervous System • • The Hindbrain • • The Midbrain • • The Forebrain • • • Thalamus • • • Hypothalamus • • • Pituitary Gland • • • Basal Ganglia • • • Basal Forebrain • • • Hippocampus • • The Ventricles • • IN CLOSING: Learning Neuroanatomy • Module 3.2: The Cerebral Cortex • • Organization of the Cerebral Cortex • • The Occipital Lobe • • The Parietal Lobe • • The Temporal Lobe • • The Frontal Lobe • • • The Rise and Fall of Prefrontal Lobotomies • • • Functions of the Prefrontal Cortex • • How Do the Parts Work Together? • • IN CLOSING: Functions of the Cerebral Cortex? • Module 3.3: Research Methods • • Effects of Brain Damage • • Effects of Brain Stimulation • • Recording Brain Activity • • Correlating Brain Anatomy with Behavior • • Brain Size and Intelligence • • • Comparisons across Species • • • Comparisons among Humans • • • Comparisons of Men and Women • • IN CLOSING: Research Methods and Progress
04. Genetics, Evolution, Development, and Plasticity • Module 4.1: Genetics and Evolution of Behavior • • Mendelian Genetics • • • Sex-Linked and Sex-Limited Genes • • • Genetic Changes • • • Epigenetics • • Heredity and Environment • • • Environmental Modification • • • How Genes Affect Behavior • • The Evolution of Behavior • • • Common Misunderstandings about Evolution • • • Brain Evolution • • • Evolutionary Psychology • • IN CLOSING: Genes and Behavior • Module 4.2: Development of the Brain • • Maturation of the Vertebrate Brain • • • Growth and Development of Neurons • • • New Neurons Later in Life • • Pathfinding by Axons • • • Chemical Pathfinding by Axons • • • Competition among Axons as a General Principle • • Determinants of Neuronal Survival • • The Vulnerable Developing Brain • • Differentiation of the Cortex • • Fine-Tuning by Experience • • • Experience and Dendritic Branching • • • Effects of Special Experiences • • Brain Development and Behavioral Development • • • Adolescence • • • Old Age • • IN CLOSING: Brain Development • Module 4.3: Plasticity after Brain Damage • • Brain Damage and Short-Term Recovery • • • Reducing the Harm from a Stroke • • Later Mechanisms of Recovery • • • Increased Brain Stimulation • • • Regrowth of Axons • • • Axon Sprouting • • • Denervation Supersensitivity • • • Reorganized Sensory Representations and the Phantom Limb • • • Learned Adjustment in Behavior • • IN CLOSING: Brain Damage and Recovery
05. Vision • Module 5.1: Visual Coding • • General Principles of Perception • • The Eye and Its Connections to the Brain • • • Route within the Retina • • • Fovea and Periphery of the Retina • • Visual Receptors: Rods and Cones • • Color Vision • • • The Trichromatic (Young-Helmholtz) Theory • • • The Opponent-Process Theory • • • The Retinex Theory • • • Color Vision Deficiency • • IN CLOSING: Visual Receptors • Module 5.2: How the Brain Processes Visual Information • • An Overview of the Mammalian Visual System • • Processing in the Retina • • Further Processing • • The Primary Visual Cortex • • • Simple and Complex Receptive Fields • • • The Columnar Organization of the Visual Cortex • • • Are Visual Cortex Cells Feature Detectors? • • Development of the Visual Cortex • • • Deprived Experiences in One Eye • • • Deprived Experiences in Both Eyes • • • Uncorrelated Stimulation in the Two Eyes • • • Early Exposure to a Limited Array of Patterns • • • Impaired Infant Vision and Long-Term Consequences • • IN CLOSING: Understanding Vision by Understanding the Wiring Diagram • Module 5.3: Parallel Processing in the Visual Cortex • • The Ventral and Dorsal Paths • • Detailed Analysis of Shape • • • The Inferior Temporal Cortex • • • Recognizing Faces • • Color Perception • • Motion Perception • • • The Middle Temporal Cortex • • • Motion Blindness • • IN CLOSING: Aspects of Vision
06. Other Sensory Systems • Module 6.1: Audition • • Sounds and the Ear • • • Physics and Psychology of Sound • • • Structures of the Ear • • Pitch Perception • • The Auditory Cortex • • Hearing Loss • • • Deafness • • • Hearing, Attention, and Old Age • • Sound Localization • • IN CLOSING: Functions of Hearing • Module 6.2: The Mechanical Senses • • Vestibular Sensation • • Somatosensation • • • Somatosensory Receptors • • • Tickle • • • Somatosensation in the Central Nervous System • • Pain • • • Stimuli and Spinal Cord Paths • • • Emotional Pain • • • Ways of Relieving Pain • • • Sensitization of Pain • • Itch • • IN CLOSING: The Mechanical Senses • Module 6.3: The Chemical Senses • • Chemical Coding • • Taste • • • Taste Receptors • • • How Many Kinds of Taste Receptors? • • • Mechanisms of Taste Receptors • • • Taste Coding in the Brain • • • Variations in Taste Sensitivity • • Olfaction • • • Olfactory Receptors • • • Implications for Coding • • • Messages to the Brain • • • Individual Differences • • Pheromones • • Synesthesia • • IN CLOSING: Senses as Ways of Knowing the World
07. Movement • Module 7.1: The Control of Movement • • Muscles and Their Movements • • • Fast and Slow Muscles • • • Muscle Control by Proprioceptors • • Units of Movement • • • Voluntary and Involuntary Movements • • • Movements Varying in Sensitivity to Feedback • • • Sequences of Behaviors • • IN CLOSING: Categories of Movement • Module 7.2: Brain Mechanisms of Movement • • The Cerebral Cortex • • • Planning a Movement • • • Inhibiting a Movement • • • Mirror Neurons • • • Connections from the Brain to the Spinal Cord • • The Cerebellum • • • Functions Other than Movement • • • Cellular Organization • • The Basal Ganglia • • Brain Areas and Motor Learning • • Conscious Decisions and Movement • • IN CLOSING: Movement Control and Cognition • Module 7.3: Movement Disorders • • Parkinson's Disease • • • Causes • • • L-Dopa Treatment • • • Other Therapies • • Huntington's Disease • • • Heredity and Presymptomatic Testing • • IN CLOSING: Heredity and Environment in Movement Disorders
08. Wakefulness and Sleep • Module 8.1: Rhythms of Waking and Sleeping • • Endogenous Rhythms • • Setting and Resetting the Biological Clock • • • Jet Lag • • • Shift Work • • • Morning People and Evening People • • Mechanisms of the Biological Clock • • • The Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) • • • How Light Resets the SCN • • • The Biochemistry of the Circadian Rhythm • • • Melatonin • • IN CLOSING: Sleep–Wake Cycles • Module 8.2: Stages of Sleep and Brain Mechanisms • • Sleep and Other Interruptions of Consciousness • • The Stages of Sleep • • Paradoxical or REM Sleep • • Brain Mechanisms of Wakefulness, Arousal, and Sleep • • • Brain Structures of Arousal and Attention • • • Sleep and the Inhibition of Brain Activity • • Brain Functions in REM Sleep • • Sleep Disorders • • • Sleep Apnea • • • Narcolepsy • • • Periodic Limb Movement Disorder • • • REM Behavior Disorder • • • Night Terrors and Sleepwalking • • IN CLOSING: Stages of Sleep • Module 8.3: Why Sleep? Why REM? Why Dreams? • • Functions of Sleep • • • Sleep and Energy Conservation • • • Analogous to Sleep: Hibernation • • • Species Differences in Sleep • • • Sleep and Memory • • Functions of REM Sleep • • Biological Perspectives on Dreaming • • • The Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis • • • The Clinico-Anatomical Hypothesis • • IN CLOSING: Our Limited Self-Understanding
09. Internal Regulation • Module 9.1: Temperature Regulation • • Homeostasis and Allostasis • • Controlling Body Temperature • • • Surviving in Extreme Cold • • • The Advantages of Constant High Body Temperature • • • Brain Mechanisms • • • Fever • • IN CLOSING: Combining Physiological and Behavioral Mechanisms • Module 9.2: Thirst • • Mechanisms of Water Regulation • • Osmotic Thirst • • Hypovolemic Thirst and Sodium-Specific Hunger • • IN CLOSING: The Psychology and Biology of Thirst • Module 9.3: Hunger • • Digestion and Food Selection • • • Consumption of Dairy Products • • • Food Selection and Behavior • • Short- and Long-Term Regulation of Feeding • • • Oral Factors • • • The Stomach and Intestines • • • Glucose, Insulin, and Glucagon • • • Leptin • • Brain Mechanisms • • • The Arcuate Nucleus and Paraventricular Hypothalamus • • • The Lateral Hypothalamus • • • Medial Areas of the Hypothalamus • • Eating Disorders • • • Genetics and Body Weight • • • Weight Loss • • • Bulimia Nervosa • • IN CLOSING: The Multiple Controls of Hunger
10. Reproductive Behaviors • Module 10.1: Sex and Hormones • • Organizing Effects of Sex Hormones • • • Sex Differences in the Hypothalamus • • • Sex Differences in Childhood Behavior • • Activating Effects of Sex Hormones • • • Males • • • Females • • • Effects of Sex Hormones on Nonsexual Characteristics • • Parental Behavior • • IN CLOSING: Reproductive Behaviors and Motivations • Module 10.2: Variations in Sexual Behavior • • Evolutionary Interpretations of Mating Behavior • • • Interest in Multiple Mates • • • What Men and Women Seek in a Mate • • • Differences in Jealousy • • • Evolved or Learned? • • Gender Identity and Gender-Differentiated Behaviors • • • Intersexes • • • Interests and Preferences of CAH Girls • • • Testicular Feminization • • • Issues of Gender Assignment and Rearing • • • Discrepancies of Sexual Appearance • • Sexual Orientation • • • Behavioral and Anatomical Differences • • • Genetics • • • An Evolutionary Question • • • Prenatal Influences • • • Brain Anatomy • • IN CLOSING: We Are Not All the Same
11. Emotional Behaviors • Module 11.1: What Is Emotion? • • Emotions and Autonomic Arousal • • • Is Physiological Arousal Necessary for Emotional Feelings? • • • Is Physiological Arousal Sufficient for Emotions? • • • Is Emotion a Useful Concept? • • Do People Have a Limited Number of Basic Emotions? • • The Functions of Emotions • • • Emotions and Moral Decisions • • • Decision Making after Brain Damage that Impairs Emotions • • IN CLOSING: Emotions and the Nervous System • Module 11.2: Attack and Escape Behaviors • • Attack Behaviors • • • Effects of Hormones • • • Serotonin Synapses and Aggressive Behavior • • • Heredity and Environment in Violence • • Fear and Anxiety • • • Role of the Amygdala • • • Studies of Rodents • • • Studies of Monkeys • • • Response of the Human Amygdala to Visual Stimuli • • • Individual Differences in Amygdala Response and Anxiety • • • Damage to the Human Amygdala • • Anxiety Disorders • • Relief from Anxiety • • • Pharmacological Relief • • • Alcohol as an Anxiety Reducer • • • Learning to Erase Anxiety • • IN CLOSING: Doing Something about Emotions • Module 11.3: Stress and Health • • Stress and the General Adaptation Syndrome • • Stress and the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Cortex Axis • • • The Immune System • • • Effects of Stress on the Immune System • • Stress Control • • IN CLOSING: Emotions and Body Reactions
12. The Biology of Learning and Memory • Module 12.1: Learning, Memory, and Amnesia • • Localized Representations of Memory • • • Lashley's Search for the Engram • • • The Modern Search for the Engram • • Types of Memory • • • Short-Term and Long-Term Memory • • • Our Changing Views of Consolidation • • • Working Memory • • The Hippocampus • • • People with Hippocampal Damage • • • Theories of the Function of the Hippocampus • • Other Types of Amnesia • • • Korsakoff's Syndrome • • • Alzheimer's Disease • • • What Patients with Amnesia Teach Us • • The Basal Ganglia • • Other Brain Areas and Memory • • IN CLOSING: Types of Memory • Module 12.2: Storing Information in the Nervous System • • Blind Alleys and Abandoned Mines • • Learning and the Hebbian Synapse • • Single-Cell Mechanisms of Invertebrate Behavior Change • • • Aplysia as an Experimental Animal • • • Habituation in Aplysia • • • Sensitization in Aplysia • • Long-Term Potentiation in Vertebrates • • • Biochemical Mechanisms • • Improving Memory • • IN CLOSING: The Physiology of Memory
[Continued in comments due to Goodreads character limit]
-"Hamsters sometimes hibernate. If you keep your pet hamster in a cool, dimly, lit place during the winter, and it appears to have died, make sure that it is not just hibernating before you bury it!" -"Vasopressin is also knows as antidiuretic hormone (ADH) because it enables the kidneys to reabsorb water from urine and therefore make the urine more concentrated. You cannot succeed as well as gerbils, however. Gerbils can drink ocean water, and we certainly cannot."
Awesome. Maybe if all science textbooks used rodent examples, I'd have an easier time reading 'em.
I find it very well written, interesting, and easy to understand - and I'm horrible at comprehending science (provided I read slowly enough to understand what's going on, and take notes, it takes me about 3 hours per chapter).
I love this book so much. It explains with an easy language the biological aspects of psychology. At first i needed the book for my course and i thought it would be boring but it was such an interesting read. I learnt many things!
I liked this book very much although I thought the language was a bit basic and had hoped for more depth from the course in general. One delightful addition that gave this book its fifth star is the list of recommended books at the end of the chapters. I have purchased several of them and have more saved in my to-buy list. The author includes books that give a separate viewpoint or that enrich his chapters. It is an intro book and the books he recommends are geared toward the lay person which will make for great light reading later. One he included is from an author whose journal articles have been among my favorites especially when writing about mirror neurons.
The chapters are broken up into sections with self-tests. I used them to make sure I was on track with the material. All and all, a good textbook.
When I made the decision to study psychology I thought it would be best to learn more about how the human brain works. This book and the class I took was absolutely fascinating. I would recommend this book to any one who wants to learn more about biological psychology.
Great refresher of the wonderful connection within our brain and to the rest of the body and behaviours! Love the end of chapter quizzes to help solidify learning.
An amazing way to study the brain and a great introduction to behavioural biology. Best part about it is it's written with humor and is quite easy to understand as you go deeper into the topic. If you're interested in how your brain works, this is a must read book!
This text book, along with the professor, not only completely changed my major, but I brought it with me on my Iraq deployment almost two years after the class was over.
An incredible psychology textbook that explains biology and psychology easily for students to study and understand. Highly recommend and is my go to book when I forget something biology related.