ABSTRACT
Have you ever wondered why a particular characteristic like high IQ or perhaps a bad temper seems to run in your family? Thinking about people more generally, have you ever considered why people prefer to go to the toilet alone, or why a young man going out with an older woman raises eyebrows whereas no one looks twice at an older man partnered with a young woman? Although there are many possible explanations for these patterns, there has recently been an upsurge of interest in biological explanations for these and many other psychological phenomena. Over the next two chapters we shall look at three major concepts from biology that have proved useful in explaining human psychology-genetics, evolution and neurophysiology.
