Three Complementary Perspectives on Behavior

Three Complementary Perspectives on Behavior

There are three different complementary perspectives on psychology. They are the biological, psychological, and sociocultural perspectives. The biological perspective explains psychology through certain biological aspects of the human body such as genetics, evolution, and brain processes (Coon & Mitterer, 2014). The psychological perspective is a more traditional perspective of psychology that views human behavior as the product of a person’s psychological processes (Coon & Mitterer, 2014). Finally, the sociocultural perspective takes into account the effects of social and cultural influences on a person’s behavior (Coon & Mitterer, 2014).

In an article titled “Biological Psychology” author Saul McLeod provides a very comprehensive analysis about the biological perspective of psychology. He states that the biological perspective of psychology is relevant to the study of psychology in three different ways. First, it can be used in other animal species that can be studied and compared to human behavior through the comparative method (McLeod, 2007). Second, the biological aspect of physiology can help psychologists understand how the nervous system works, how hormones impact the human body, how the brain functions, and how changes in structure or function can impact human behavior (McLeod, 2007). Finally, the biological aspect of genetics can help psychologists understand how certain characteristics can be inherited through a person’s parents and how these inherited characteristics affect human behavior (McLeod, 2007).

McLeod’s article also explains the pros and cons of the biological perspective of psychology. Some of its strengths are that it is very scientific, its theories are supported by many various empirical studies, and it provides a strong counter argument to the nurture side of the psychological debate (McLeod, 2007). The main limitation is that many biological explanations are quite...