The human being, as one of the most complex animals that exist, is the object of study in countless sciences. Which try to unravel its mysteries and nature both on the physical or organic level, and on the psychological, social or spiritual level.
Two of these sciences are psychology and physiology, two disciplines at the center of which is the research and understanding of human functioning. Thanks to them, we know many things about how we react to different situations and how we adapt to the environment. However, There are substantial differences between physiology and psychology which we will try to elucidate throughout this article.
Psychology and Physiology: the two parts of a whole
From a general perspective, we can conceive the human being as a whole made up of different planes, which could not live without each other. These planes refer to the physical or organic aspect of the person and the psychological aspect, related to behavior and emotions.
Throughout the history of humanity, sciences were created and developed that, in parallel, had the mission of discovering the secrets of the functioning of both levels of the person: psychology and physiology.
However, although the subject of study (the human being) is shared in both disciplines, each of them has specialized in different aspects of the organisms. While physiology is dedicated to investigating how the different parts of our body work, psychology tries to understand the foundations of people’s behavior, conduct, and mental processes.
As we said, both can be considered as two parts of a whole. Which, although they may seem independent, are closely related and can influence each other.
An example that can help us clarify these ideas is the one in which we compare the mind and the brain. Both concepts are closely related and one cannot exist without the other; However, the first of them is part of the field of study of psychology, while physiology is responsible for studying the functioning of the second.
However, within the field of psychology we also find the study of how brain functioning is manifested and made visible through people’s behavior.
Differences between Physiology and Psychology
To delve a little deeper into the differences between psychology and physiology, below we will see a brief description of the characteristics of these two disciplines.
1. What is psychology?
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), psychology is the science that studies the mind and human behavior including both conscious and unconscious phenomena, feelings and thoughts.
This discipline was born with the need to understand the role of mental functions and individual and social behavior, while exploring the physiological and biological processes that underlie cognitive functions and behaviors, hence its close relationship with physiology.
Through the empirical method, psychology researchers study behavior and mental processes, which include perception, cognition, attention, emotions and affects, and personality inferring causal relationships and correlations between the different psychological and psychosocial variables.
Although psychological knowledge is usually applied to the evaluation and treatment of problems or conditions of a mental nature, it is also aimed at understanding and solving problems in various spheres of human life, such as academic, work, sports and even media and forensic investigation.
Finally, There are a whole range of branches of psychology which is dedicated to the study of certain specific aspects of the mind, cognition and human behavior. Some of them are:
2. What is physiology?
On the other hand, physiology refers to that science that is dedicated to scientific study of the mechanisms, functioning, and their interactions of a living system. More specifically, it is a subdiscipline of biology that focuses on how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells and biomolecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that are carried out in a living system, regardless of whether they are whether we are human or not.
This would also be one of the main differences between psychology and physiology. While psychology has traditionally focused on the study of the human mind and behavior, physiology covers the study of the functioning of any living organism.
In this specific case, since we are making a comparison with psychology, we will focus on animal physiology, which includes the study of the functioning of the organism of human beings.
But it’s not all differences
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, although psychology and physiology have different specific objects of study, in matters of human research, both fields are interrelated.
This relationship becomes manifest from the first moment in which we understand that the functioning of our body and our organism, starting with the brain, affects the functioning of our mind; as well as the fact that certain psychological processes and mental disorders are capable of altering the development of our body’s activity in what is known as somatization.
Such is the level of connection between these two fields of study that this led to the emergence of psychophysiology, currently known as cognitive neuroscience a branch of study within psychology that is responsible for studying the physiological bases underlying psychological processes.
For example, while psychology is interested in the causes or factors that cause the appearance of a phobia, psychophysiology focuses on the study of how the brain organs involved in the fear response, such as the amygdala, function in this situation, trying to relate the psychological and physiological aspects of a state of stress and anxiety such as that of phobias.
By citing this article, you acknowledge the original source and allow readers to access the full content.
This article has been reviewed by our editorial team at PsychologyFor to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to evidence-based research. The content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.
