Barr D.A. Introduction to Biosocial Medicine: The Social, Psychological, and Biological Determinants of Human Behavior and Well-Being

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015. — 171 p.Understanding Human BehaviorThe need to understand human behavior
What is behavior?
Well-being and the consequences of behavior
The impact of social inequality and social hierarchy on behavior
How cultural context affects behavior
Social group identity, status inequality, and behavior
Motivation as a key mediator of behavior
Personality: Who we are
Neural structure as a basis of behavior
Cognition: How we think and what we know
How social inequality and stressful childhood experiences impact cognition, behavior, and well-being
Connecting the causes of early adversity to well-being over the life course: Understanding the causal links and the interventions
that hold the most promiseBehavior and Well-BeingPhysical well-being
Physical well-being beyond life expectancy
Social well-beingInequality and Well-BeingRacial and ethnic inequality in health in association with educational inequality
How does inequality in access to medical care affect health inequality?
The differing impact of low education and low income on the health of minority groups
The origins and meanings of the concepts of race and ethnicity in the United States
The changing demographics of the population in the United States
The disparate impact of inequality on Hispanics and blacksSociety, Culture, and BehaviorThe impact of culture: The Cultural Cycle
Differing perspectives on the nature of social structure
The role of culture in influencing personality and behavior
Other contexts in which independence and interdependence Clash!
Acculturation: When people move across cultural boundaries
The role of social networks in affecting behaviorIdentity and BehaviorSocial identity: Responding to the social group
Alternative forms of capital and their impacts on social status
Questioning one’s identity in the context of cultural mismatch: The case of FirstGen students entering college
The competition for status: Group identity, bias, and stereotype threat
Attribution theory: Explaining why other people act the way they do
Letting the behavior of others guide our own: The bystander effect
Social impact theory and social loafingMotivation and BehaviorThe marshmallow experiment: How long will kids wait for a treat?
The role of motivation in affecting behavior
The cognitive understanding of the self as a driver of motivation
Time perspective and the Up Series children
Zimbardo and time perspective
Noncognitive aspects of motivation and Maslow’s hierarchy of needsPersonality, Behavior, and Well-BeingSigmund Freud and the stages of psychosexual development
Erik Erikson and the stages of psychosocial development
Criticisms of the Freud/Piaget/Erikson perspectives on the stages of development
Understanding adult personality traits using the “Big Five”
Scales of personality that go beyond the “Big Five”
Mental illness and disorders of personalityThe Brain and BehaviorThe importance of communication between information sources: On the Internet and in the human brain
The development of the human brain, from embryo to organ
The molecular biology of nerve conduction and neuronal myelination
Transmission of a nerve impulse across the synapse
Brain systems for emotion and response to stressCognition, Behavior, and Well-BeingThe development of cognition
The development of language and reading ability as examples of Piaget’s stages of development
Learning math in Piaget’s next stage
Memory and its role in cognition
Emotional stress as another source of long-term memorySocial Inequality, Childhood Experiences, and BehaviorSocioeconomic inequality and early school readiness
The impact of social disadvantage on adolescent development
The added impact of minority race
Adolescent educational attainment as reflecting parents’ educational attainmentUnderstanding Well-Being and the Interventions That Can Enhance ItSocial inequalities in adult health
The early roots of adult health behaviors
Identifying and adopting interventions to improve adult health through the reduction of adverse childhood experiences
The effects of early childhood intervention for children at risk of ACEs
Home visitors and the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program
Looking to the future