• Question: how is biology and psychology similar?

    Asked by anon-237445 to Peter, Madeleine, Catherine, Andrew on 20 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Madeleine Pownall

      Madeleine Pownall answered on 20 Mar 2020: last edited 20 Mar 2020 10:58 am

      Short answer: Biology is the study of the body 🦴, psychology is the study of human mind/behaviour 🧠

      Long answer: There’s actually quite a bit of overlap, depending on what area of psychology you’re talking about. Cognitive psychologists and neuropsychologists do a lot of work looking at how a persons’ biological makeup (genes, hormones, brains etc) affects their behaviour.

      Most degrees, according to the British Psychological Society, should include teaching about ‘Biological Psychology’, which covers all kinds of interesting topics such as drug use, genes (think nature/nurture debate), and neurology.

    • Photo: Andrew McNeill

      Andrew McNeill answered on 20 Mar 2020:

      It really depends on what area of psychology you are talking about. Some areas of psychology are very interested in neurobiology (biology of the brain). Understanding how synapses between brain cells (neurons) are involved in the transmission of chemicals like serotonin have been influential in developing treatments for depression and anxiety.
      Other areas of psychology (like social psychology – my area of expertise) have very little overlap with biology.

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