To different disciplines

Self Assessment Questions
1) Different aspects of political behaviour include:
a) propaganda, b) crowding, c) mob mentality,
d) a& b, e) a & c, f) b & c
2) ......................................................... is supposed to be the mother of all
social/behavioural sciences.
3) Psychological theories of ............................................ have contributed
to work out techniques of motivating students for improving their
learning.
Answers: 1) e), 2) Anthropology, 3) Motivation
4.3
PSYCHOLOGY AND OTHER SCIENCES
You already know the tasks of psychologists. They work in a variety of basic
and/or applied fields. Though psychology has emerged as a science; due to
developments in other sciences, the developments in psychology have also
influenced the growth and development of other disciplines like sociology,
anthropology, economics, political science, management etc. Let us , now look
at the relationship of psychology and other sciences, i.e., biological sciences,
physical sciences and medical sciences, as described by Parameswaran and Beena
(2002).

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Introduction to Psychology,
Objectives, Goals
4.3.1
Psychology and the Biological Sciences
We have already discussed about the intimate relationship between psychology
and the biological sciences. All behaviour occurs through bodily processes. Hence,
psychology, which is the science of behaviour, is naturally dependent on other
sciences which deal with the nature of the human body, the organs of the body
and their functioning. Sensations, perceptions and all forms of behaviour originate
as physical or physiological reactions and often culminate in muscular actions
and glandular secretions. We have earlier discussed how the brain plays a very
important role in coordinating and organising the functions of the different organs
of the body. Along with the brain, the entire nervous system plays a crucial role
in behaviour. Hence, there is an intimate relationship between psychology and
neurology, neurophysiology, neurochemistry and other branches of knowledge
which are directly involved with the study of the nervous system, particularly
the brain. The important role of genetics, another branch of the biology which
deals with the nature of inheritance of different qualities in determining behaviour,
is well known.
According to Darwin, species change via a process of natural selection. Studies
of selective breeding support this view. Characteristics are passed on from one
generation to the next via genes. Genetic factors influence individual differences
in intelligence, personality, and mental disorder (Eysenck, 2004). Evolutionary
psychology, an emerging field in the 21
st
century, is an approach that explains
behaviour and the development of the mind in terms of their function and
adaptiveness.
It is a new theoretical approach that incorporates many of these ideas of
behavioural genetics. Behavioural genetics is an approach to understanding the
causes of behaviour that uses the degree of relatedness among different relatives
to assess the role of genetic factors. The essence of evolutionary psychology, as
pointed out by Buss (1999, p.3) and cited by Eysenck (2004) is as follows:
Evolutionary psychology focuses on four key questions: (1) Why is the mind
designed the way it is? ... (2) How is the human mind designed?—what are its
mechanisms or component parts, and how are they organised? (3) What are the
functions of component parts and their organised structure—that is, what is the
mind designed to do? (4) How does input from the current environment, especially
the social environment, interact with the design of the human mind to produce
human behaviour?
It could be argued that Buss’s definition of evolutionary psychology is too broad,
and is applicable to most approaches to psychology (David Carey, personal
communication).
Pinker (1997, p. 23) addressed the issue of the historical origins of evolutionary
psychology, arguing as follows:
Evolutionary psychology brings together two scientific revolutions. One is the
cognitive revolution of the 1950s and 1960s, which explains the mechanics of
thought and emotion in terms of information and computation. The other is the
revolution in evolutionary biology of the 1960s and 1970s, which explains the
complex adaptive design of living things in terms of selection among replicators
(animals that reproduce).

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