New-ro Psychology

An article by David Glenn in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Psychology departments are changing their behavior (December 5, Volume 55, Issue 15, Page A1) discusses how research in psychology is changing because of neuroscience.

As we have noted earlier, the practice of science has become more of a team sport. Neuroscience is suited to groups of scientists working together because of its inherent complexity, large equipment costs, and necessity for specialization.

Like physics and biology before, psychology is now becoming "big science" and directors of research projects manage large budgets and supervises teams of scientists and assistants. Fortunately, according to Glenn, the emergence of neuroscience has, mostly, led to cooperation with older, traditional forms of behavioral psychology.

One exception, however, has been grant funding. Since 2004, the National Institute for Mental Health has changed its research priorities and now tends to fund research that has neuropsychological or genetic components. (Here is an article from APA on that topic.)

Glenn quotes Alan Kraut, APS's executive director, "Everybody, I think, would recognize that behavior is ultimately the result of biological, environmental, and genetic processes...But that doesn't mean that every study needs to have a biological component."

Clearly, psychology has entered a new era, one characterized by the search for the neurological causes of behavior. This is not a bad thing. However, it means that those who wish to research psychology will have to adapt and learn new ways to work together.