astronomy

Patricia Barchas

Patricia Barchas is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Patricia Barchas rather than just read about it. In short: Patricia Barchas (1934–1993) was a scholar committed to the study of the interaction of social behavior and physiological processes. She was a pioneer in the study of brain electrical activity and hormonal function in social processes, such as the development of status hierarchies in small social groups.

Key takeaways

Patricia Barchas belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Patricia Barchas to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Patricia Barchas from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Patricia Barchas (1934–1993) was a scholar committed to the study of the interaction of social behavior and physiological processes. She was a pioneer in the study of brain electrical activity and hormonal function in social processes, such as the development of status hierarchies in small social groups.

Background Patricia Barchas was a pioneer in the field of sociophysiology - the effects of social behavior on the brain. She can be considered as one of the founder of social neuroscience. A native of Chickasha, Oklahoma, Dr. Barchas grew up in Los Angeles. She attended Pomona College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English and History in 1956. She then went on to earn her master's in education from the University of Chicago. In 1971, she earned her doctorate in sociology at Stanford. She also spent many years studying neurophysiology and endocrinology. While at Pomona, she met her future husband, psychiatrist Jack Barchas who served for many years on Stanford's psychiatry faculty. Early in her career, Dr. Barchas taught emotionally disturbed children. Later, she joined the faculty of Stanford's Department of Sociology. She also served as a senior research associate in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, where she headed the Program in Sociophysiology of the Division of Child Psychiatry and Development. Most recently, she was a member of the research staff at the University of California-Los Angeles School of Medicine.

Academic achievements Patricia Barchas discovered that small amounts of alcohol could alter the formation and retention of social hierarchies in humans; showed that humans and non-human primates form new social hierarchies in analogous ways; and provided evidence that groups of human females and groups of human males use different social processes in solving problems, with the females being more consensual. Barchas was co-author of a report commissioned by Congress, dealing with aggression and violence, and was a co-author of an Institute of Medicine report dealing with mental disorders and substance abuse. Books authored by Barchas include Social Cohesion, Social Hierarchies, and Sociophysiology.

Patricia R. Barchas Award The Patricia R. Barchas award in sociophysiology was established through a gift of a permanent endowment to the American Psychosomatic Society. The goal of the Barchas family in providing the endowment is that the recipient of the award be an individual (or more than one individual if they constitute a team) who is making or has made significant contributions to the study of the ways in which social behavior impacts on the physiology of the body in humans or in animals.

Selected publications Barchas, P. R. (1976). Physiological sociology: interface of sociological and biological processes. Annual Review of Sociology, vol 2, 299-333. Barchas, P. R. (1986). A sociophysiological orientation to small groups. Advances in Group Processes, vol 3, 209-246.

Books Barchas, P. R. 1984. Social hierarchies. London: Greenwood Press. Barchas, P. R. 1984. Social Cohesion: Essays Toward A Sociophysiological Perspective. London: Greenwood Press.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Patricia Barchas

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Patricia Barchas claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Patricia Barchas before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Patricia Barchas ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Patricia Barchas

In research: Patricia Barchas appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Patricia Barchas in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Patricia Barchas is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1934 births, 1993 deaths, 20th-century American anthropologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Patricia Barchas outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Patricia Barchas in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Patricia Barchas means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Patricia Barchas out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Patricia Barchas in simple terms?

Why does Patricia Barchas matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Patricia Barchas?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Patricia Barchas.