Bridging Psychological and Biological Science: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Perspect Psychol Sci. 2010 Nov;5(6):772-5. doi: 10.1177/1745691610388781.

Abstract

Revolution or the new phrenology-the advent of functional neuroimaging has led some psychologists to address issues of structure-function relations that only two decades ago would have been relegated to science fiction. Others, however, are skeptical of recent bridges between psychological and biological science and consider these advances as misguided and leading us astray. With any new advancement comes problems and pitfalls, and constructive criticisms help to sharpen the research program. Here I offer commentary on the state of the art and identify both advances and concerns in bridging psychological and biological science.

Keywords: biological psychology; cognitive neuroscience; functional neuroimaging; localization; reductionism.