ABSTRACT
This chapter explores an understanding of the biological and biochemical substrates of cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor processes and, human personality. Most modern biologists and psychologists adhere to a monistic philosophy in which the mental and physical, the mind and the body, are viewed as interacting and interdependent rather than separate entities. Studies in psychosomatic medicine, and in particular the effects of stress on the body, have employed a number of physiological variables and measuring instruments. Individual differences are found in all systems of the body. However, because of its close connection with behavior, cognition, and personality, the functioning of the nervous system has been of special interest to psychologists and other behavioral scientists. Research on population genetics has led to advances in understanding the influences of heredity on more complex physiological and psychological characteristics. Because modern genetics arose after his time, Charles Darwin did not have the advantage of this knowledge in propounding his theory of evolution.
