The Biological Approach (Approaches)

Question 1

The biological approach

Answer 1

combines psychology and biology to provide physiological explanations for human behaviour. Biological psychology tries to explain how we think feel and behave in terms of physical factors within the body

Question 2

Assumptions of the biological approach

Answer 2

-everything psychological is at first biological
-biological structures and processes within the body impacts behaviour
-much of human behaviour has a physiological cause which may be genetically or environmentally altered
-psychologists should study the brain, nervous system and other biological systems including hormones.
-The mind lives is the brain: in contrast to the cognitive approach sees mental processes of the mind as being separate from the physical brain.

Question 3

Monozygotic

Answer 3

One Zygote. This is when twins are formed when a fertilised cell splits in two and forms two separate embryos

Question 4

Dizygotic

Answer 4

Two Zygotes. When twins are formed when two separate eggs both become fertilised by different sperm cells

Question 5

Concordance rates

Answer 5

Concordance meaning ‘agreement between’. This refers to the extent to which a pair of twins share similar traits or characteristics.
Dizygotic twins will show lower concordance rates.

Question 6

Family studies

Answer 6

1869- Francis Galton- “…all natural abilities are inherited”. This is a simplistic viewpoint- Galton later had to agree that any resemblance between family relatives could be a result if both genes and the environment.
However, with alcoholism for example, there is a suggestion of a biological predisposition to the addiction

Question 7

Adoption studies

Answer 7

Involve comparing a trait or characteristic between adopted children and their biological or adoptive parents.

Question 8

Genetic basis of behaviour

Answer 8

There is evidence from twin, family, and adoption studies suggest that certain behaviours, for example, intelligence, are genetically determined.
Research has shown that the environment can play more of a role in determining than genetics.
Selective breeding studies have demonstrated how a number of behavioural characteristics, for example aggression, can have a genetic basis

Question 9

Genotype

Answer 9

The genes and the characteristics corresponding with them

Question 10

Phenotype

Answer 10

The observable characteristics that depend on the interaction of genetic and environmental factors

Question 11

Genes

Answer 11

The basic units of heredity. Function in pairs and the recombination of genes from parents to offspring provides the basis for genetic variability.

Question 12

Recessive genes

Answer 12

Only show if the individual has two copies of the recessive gene

Question 13

Dominant genes

Answer 13

Always shows, even if the individual has one copy of the gene

Question 14

Heterozygous

Answer 14

The genotype consists of two different alleles, for example, Bb

Question 15

Homozygous

Answer 15

The genotype consists of two alleles that are the same, for example, BB

Question 16

Evolution

Answer 16

The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over successive generations. Charles Darwin emphasised two main concepts in evolutionary theory: natural selection and sexual selection.

Question 17

Natural selection

Answer 17

animals with particular traits that provide them with an advantage are more likely to survive and reproduce thereby passing on their ‘adaptive traits’ to their offspring. These behaviours need to adapt to the environment that the animal is living in which is dependent on the principles of diversity, interaction and differential amplification.

Question 18

The principle of diversity

Answer 18

The variety within a species

Question 19

The principle of interaction

Answer 19

How this variety of species adapt and fit in with the environment, e.g., animals that breathe air wouldn’t be able to permanently live underwater.

Question 20

The Principle of differential amplification

Answer 20

Those who adapt to their environment will reproduce and those that do not will die out

Question 21

Strengths of the biological approach

Answer 21

-has highly scientific methods such as fMRIs, EEGs and twin studies, meaning data is reliable

-scientific approach lends credence to psychology

-can lead to treatments and intervention to those suffering mentally

-understanding abnormality in the brain can shed light on normality in the brain

-scanning methods are objective and can be performed by machines with no vested interest in th eoutcome

Question 22

Limitations of the biological approach

Answer 22

-deterministic, meaning that it claims there to be no free will

-dehumanises humans, stating that all behaviour can be explained using biological processes

-ignores the role of the environment

-research tends to focus on rare conditions

-complex machinery means measurements could be subject to human error

-correlations aren’t always cause and effect

-lab experiments lack ecological validity

Question 23

Biological explanation for aggression

Answer 23

Bard and Mountcastle (1948) suggested that the hypothalamus and the amygdala are involved in aggression

Question 24

Biological explanation for memory

Answer 24

Milner et al (1957) found that the Hippocampus has an important role to play in memory.

Question 25

Biological explanation for psychopathology

Answer 25

Szeszko et al (1995) found differences in the prefrontal cortex when comparing people with and without schizophrenia, suggesting a relationship between them.

Question 26

Neurochemistry’s influence on behaviour

Answer 26

Too much or too little oof a particular neurotransmitter (for example, dopamine linking to schizophrenia) can produce disorders.

Question 27

Brain scans

Answer 27

PET scans: show activity in the brain during tasks

CAT scans: detect damaged parts of the brain

MRI scans: provide detailed information about the structure of the brain

Functional MRI scans: provide structural and function information

SQUID magnetometry: accurate images of brain activity by measuring magnetic fields generated when neurons are activated