Dictionary of Biological Psychology

Book excerpt: Biological Psychology is the study of psychological processes in terms of biological functions. A major obstacle to understanding dialogue in the field has always been its terminology which is drawn from a variety of non-psychological sources such as clinical medicine, psychiatry and neuroscience, as well as specialist areas of psychology such as ethology, learning theory and psychophysics. For the first time, a distinguished international team of contributors has now drawn these terms together and defined them both in terms of their physical properties and their behavioural significance. The Dictionary of Biological Psychology will prove an invaluable source of reference for undergraduates in psychology wrestling with the fundamentals of brain physiology, anatomy and chemistry, as well as researchers and practitioners in the neurosciences, psychiatry and the professions allied to medicine. It is an essential resource both for teaching and for independent study, reliable for fact-checking and a solid starting point for wider exploration.