Hebb was one of the greatest individuals who made many contributions to the field of Neurological scientific research. He was the founder of some of the most used themes in behavioral neuroscience (Hebb, 1949). He also had his way of looking at psychology and saw it to be among the disciplines of biological science, he believed that psychology is a discipline that puts more concern on the study of behavior.
He contributed to the field of psychology by coming up with some of the greatest theoretical concepts such as; “phase sequence,” “cell assembly” and “Hebb’s synapses.” He did much in trying to link circuits, cells with human performance and behavior (Hebb, 1949). Phase sequence can be defined as a series of neurons that are working together. Hebb developed this concept to try and explain why large damage to the brain cells does not really lower an individual’s intelligence quotient. Cell assembly on the other hand means many neurons which combine to constitute a single cell assembly. Hebb also contributed in identifying what neurons Synapses are, he said that synapses are the joinings between nerve cells in which impulses flow through from one nerve cell to the other.
Hebb’s influence on Neurological Scientific Research
Hebb as mentioned above contributed so much to scientific research that deals with behavior and neurological functioning. Hebb perceived the brain as a very changing and organized system which comprised of several well-partitioned parts, having its roots that run back into time, affected by evolutionary changes and heritage.
Hebb’s contribution to behavioral science is still of much worth today and his theories and works are continuing to inspire both professional investigators and students. Although some other facts continue to arise at a very speedy rate in neuroscience and psychology, these facts are just but a revision of the previous works of Hebb.
Some of the areas which have developed because of Hebb’s works in modern-day studies include; population coding studies, background factors in the neurological representations, synaptic flexibility, developmental growth of behavior and brain relationship, the decline in a person’s performance because of diseases, and age, and the recognized production of connectionist models (Hebb, 1949).
Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary Psychology is a branch of biological sciences that endeavors to explain psychological and mental characteristics for example; perception, memory, or communication language as an adaptation that is a product of sexual selection or natural selection. Evolutionary psychologists take to study and come up with inferences on physiological processes such as how the lungs, the heart, and the immune system works and coordinates, they then link these studies to psychology (Wilson, 1998).
Evolutionary psychologists believe that a person’s behavior is usually generated by mental adaptations. They assert that the human mind passed through progressive evolutions in order to successfully solve the recurrent environmental problems which faced the human ancestors many years ago. These groups of scientists believe that all humans have inherited mental capabilities cities for acquiring language, making it nearly automatic while inheriting no capacity, especially for writing and reading.
Other important adaptations include the capacity of humans to realize other individual’s feelings and emotions, to distinguish family from nonfamily, to choose the preferable sexual partners, to work in teams for the same interests, and so on. With much consistency to Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection, evolution psychologists view the living things as being in constant conflict with members of the same species. For instance, the mothers in the mammalian kingdom usually compete with the young ones over weaning, which tends to put more benefit to the mothers more than the young ones. Humans, however, are distinct from their members in the mammalian kingdom, since they have the capacity to show cooperation on certain instances and conditions (Wilson, 1998).
Biological Boundaries of Learning
In the study of behavior, thoughts, actions, and feelings are all considered to be a function of a learning process and history. Genetic and biochemical influences are believed to be major contributory factors to this; however, their learning changeability is emphasized. Different organisms have different “biological boundaries: as far as learning is concerned (Lea, 1984).
The biological boundary in learning can be explained as follows; our thinking capacity evolves in a similar way as the natural conditions that impact change onto the environment. Both two changes are subjected to boundary conditions that are based on the ecological setup. All the forces of nature impacting a change on the psychological development usually are welcomed by the subjects according to what Darwin termed as natural selection. The progress of human knowledge is determined by a process similar to the biological natural selection in the logic that the probable association between human learning and adaptation to the environment can be seen as a process of trial and error, this kind of phenomenon shows a clear boundary for a man being able to learn his environment sufficiently.
References
Lea, S. (1984). Instinct, environment and behavior. Routledge.
Hebb, D. (1949). Organization of behavior. USA: Wiley.
Wilson, R. (1998). Psychology. USA: Prentice Hall publishers.