P2 Approach: Biological Approach

Question 1

What are the assumptions of the biological approach

Answer 1

1. Humans are biological organisms made up of physiological processes therefore all cognitive processes must be biological in origin - the mind lives in the brain and is not separate
2. The action of genes, hormones, neurotransmitters and neurochemical mechanisms must be understood in order to explain behaviour fully

Question 2

How did psychologists investigate genetic influences on behaviour

Answer 2

Twin studies were used to investigate whether certain psychological characteristics have a genetic basis. This is achieved by analysing concordance rates

Question 3

What are concordance rates

Answer 3

The extent to which twins share the same characteristic

Question 4

What would happen if a characteristic is genetic

Answer 4

It would be expected that all monozygotic twins (identical) would share 100% of the same genes.

Whereas the same wouldn’t be true for dizygotic (non-identical) twins who share 50% of genes

Question 5

What is a genotype

Answer 5

Genetic makeup

Question 6

What is a phenotype

Answer 6

The way the genes are expressed

Question 7

What does an imbalance of neurochemicals in tbe brain lead towards to

Answer 7

Changes in behaviour such as aggression levels and psychopathology

Question 8

What does natural selection suggest

Answer 8

Any genetically determined behaviour which increases a species survival will be passed down to future generations

Question 9

Advantages?

Answer 9

• real world applications, such as the success of drug therapies like antidepressants
• uses scientific methods of investigation = much of the biological approach is based on objective and reliable data

Question 10

Disadvantages?

Answer 10

• biological determinism = suggests all behaviour is caused by internal Biological forces over which we have no control of. This suggests that the biological view is often too simplistic and ignored the mediating effects of the environment