Biological approach

Question 1

AO1: what is the biological approach?

Answer 1

suggests that everything psychological is at first biological

Question 2

AO1: neurochemistry and genetic basis of behaviour

Answer 2

neurochemistry: actions of chemical in the brain.
neurotransmitters help send messages to the brain about thoughts and behaviours, An imbalance of these neurotransmitters is suggested as a possible cause of mental illness.

genetic basis of behaviour: psychological characteristics (e.g. intelligence) are inherited from out biological parents. Twin studies are used to find out if this is true, by analysing concordance rates and look at monozygotic and dizygotic.

Question 3

AO1: genes

Answer 3

genes- the make up of chromosomes, consists of DNA which codes the psychical and psychological features of an organism
genotype- particular set of genes that a person possesses
phenotype- characteristics of an individual determined by both genes and environment
evolution- changes in inherited characteristic in a biological population following other generations

Question 4

AO3: strength- real world applications

Answer 4

P: real world application
E: increased understanding of neurochemical processes in the brain and is associated with the use of psychoactive drugs to treat mental disorders
E: helps promote anti depressants for clinical depression
L: people with depression will have less symptoms and live a relatively normal life
HOWEVER,
P: antidepressants don’t work for everyone
E/E: a study compared 21 anti depressant drugs and found wide differences in their effectiveness
L: suggests brain chemistry does not account for all cases of depression

Question 5

AO3: strength- uses scientific methods

Answer 5

P: scientific methods
E/E: e.g. MRIs and EEGs which are scanning techniques
L: shows the biological approach is mainly based on objective and reliable data

Question 6

AO3: limitation - determinist

Answer 6

P: believes behaviour is determined by external factors
E: sees human behaviour as governed by internal, genetic causes over which we cannot control
E: however the way in which a genotype is expressed is heavily influenced by the environment
L: biological view is too simple and ignores the effects of the environment

Question 7

AO3: limitation- can’t establish cause and effect

Answer 7

P: cant establish cause & effect
E: e.g. having depression and having low serotonin, which came first?
E: became depressed and got low moods and then serotonin levels dropped or did the low serotonin drive the low mood.
L: can also be applied to schizophrenia and high levels of dopamine