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AQA A-Level Psychology > Section 5 : The Approaches in Psychology - The Biological Approach > Flashcards

Section 5 : The Approaches in Psychology - The Biological Approach Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 3 basic assumptions of the biological approach

A
  • Human behaviours can be explained by looking at hormones, genetics, evolution and nervous system
  • in theory we can explain all behaviour using biological causes, unwanted behaviour could be modified or removed using biological treatments e.g. medication for mental illness
  • experimental research conducted using animals can inform us about human behaviour and biological influences, because we share a lot of biological similarities
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2
Q

What contains the information that makes us unique

A

Genes

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3
Q

Genes are important in the development of…

A

The brain and therefore have a role in our behaviour

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4
Q

What does Darwin’s theory of evolution suggest

A
  • Individual who are better with adapted to their environment through having better genes are more likely to survive to reproduce and pass on their useful genes
  • Those who are less well adapted will be less likely to survive and reproduce and pass their genes
  • Eventually the less useful genes will be eliminated from the gene pool
  • Through of natural selection early humans became better adapted to their environments
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5
Q

According to Darwin’s evolution theory how may have phobias and aggressions evolved

A

Behaviours such as phobias and aggression may have evolved because of the survival advantage they gave

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6
Q

What is genotype

A

The genes of a person

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7
Q

What is phenotype

A

The characteristics of a person that their genes produce e.g. hair and eye colour

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8
Q

What are faulty genes known to cause

A

Diseases that have some psychological effects e.g. Huntington’s disease that leads to a deterioration of mental abilities

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9
Q

Biological psychologists reckon that…

A

Genetics can explain psychological traits. These are things like gender behaviour, intelligence, personality and sexual orientation

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10
Q

What were type of studies are used to see if genetics has a role in schizophrenia

A
  • Twin Studies
  • Adoption Studies
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11
Q

What is the link between identical twins and non identical twin and schizophrenia

A
  • Identical twins share 100% of their genes
  • Non identical twins share 50% of genes
  • if Schizophrenia has a purely genetic basis and one of the identical twins suffer from schizophrenia then the other twin will suffer from it too
  • if schizophrenia has a purely genetic basis and one of the non identical twins suffer from schizophrenia then the other non identical twin’s risk of developing it should be lower
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12
Q

What was Gottesman 1991

A

Gottesman carried out a meta-analysis of approximately 40 twins

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13
Q

What was the results of Gottesman 1991

A
  • It was found that having an identical twin with schizophrenia gave you a 48% chance of developing the condition. This reduced to 17% in non identical twins
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14
Q

What is the conclusion of Gottesman 1991

A

Schizophrenia has a strong genetic basis

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15
Q

What were the evaluations of Gottesman 1991

A
  • The meta-analysis was carried out in field studies - gave the research high ecological validity
  • because identical twins share 100% of their genes, it might be expected that both would always suffer from the same conditions
  • the fact that both twins had developed schizophrenia in only about half of the cases means that another factor must be involved
  • identical twins tend to be treated more similarly than non identical twins and so the family environment might play a large role
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16
Q

What adoption study provided evidence for a genetic basis of schizophrenia

A

Heston 1966 - An adoption study of schizophrenia

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17
Q

What was the method of Heston 1966

A
  • 47 adopted children whose biological mothers had schizophrenia were studied
  • the control group consisted of 50 adopted children whose biological mothers didn’t suffer from schizophrenia
  • the children were followed up as adults and were interviewed and given intelligence and personality tests
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18
Q

What were the results of Heston 1966

A
  • Experimental group, 5 of the 47 became schizophrenic
  • 0 of the 50 were schizophrenic in the control group
  • another 4 of the experimental group were classified as borderline schizophrenic by the raters
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19
Q

What was the conclusion of Heston 1966

A

The study supports the view that schizophrenia has a genetic basis

20
Q

What are the evaluations of Heston 1966

A
  • Interview data can be unreliable and affected by social desirability bias
  • Interviews are a good way of getting data in a naturalistic way
  • The adopted children whose mothers didn’t suffer from any conditions might not have shown any symptoms of schizophrenia yet - can’t be completely ruled out
21
Q

What did psychologists use to investigate brain structure and function before brain scanning techniques were developed

A

They relied on case studies of people who had experienced a brain injury or had brain operations.

22
Q

What is the relation between the site damaged and change in behaviour when psychologist looked at case studies of brain injuries

A

If the person had brain damage in a specific area and also a change in behaviour, the assumption could be made that the two were related

23
Q

What is a famous case study

A

The case study of Phineas Gage:
- Iron bar went straight through his head after an explosion
- After the accident he was less organised and more impulsive and increased aggression
- led to believe that this area of the brain is responsible for these behaviours
- case study of one person and so it isn’t representative leads to problems with generalising the results

24
Q

What were the problems with case studies

A
  • not representative - problems with generalising the results
  • these studies aren’t conducted in controlled circumstances - less scientific
  • ethically we can’t deliberately inflict this type of brain injury in humans
  • Non Human animals have been used to study brain structure and behaviour
  • Differences between non human animal brains and human brains mean that results may not be useful when we apply them to human behaviour
25
Q

What do brain scans help examine

A

Patterns of brain activity and anatomy

26
Q

What are the five basic brain scan techniques

A
  • PET scans
  • CAT scans
  • MRI scans
  • Functional MRI scans
  • SQUID magnetometry
27
Q

What are PET scans

A
  • Positron emission tomography
  • shows which parts of the brain are active during different tasks
  • By studying PET scans we can link certain areas of the brain with particular functions
  • they allow us to see where the brain is most active when we are thinking about certain things
  • they show average activity over a 60 second period, not by moment by moment
28
Q

What are CAT Scans

A
  • Scans that detect damaged parts of the brain, tumours, blood clots
  • Brain structure is shown not function
29
Q

What are MRI scans

A
  • Scans that detect small tumours and provide detailed information about structure
30
Q

What are functional MRI scans

A
  • Scans that provide structural and functional information
31
Q

What is SQUID magnetometry

A
  • A technique that produces accurate images of brain activity by measuring the magnetic fields generated when neurons are activated
  • However outside sources of magnetism can affect measurements
32
Q

What evidence is there from MRI scans to show changes in brain structure

A

Maguire et al 2000 - a study of taxi drivers’ brains

33
Q

What was the method of Maguire et al 2000

A
  • Natural experiment
  • MRI scans from 16 licensed male London taxi drivers
  • Compared with a control group who had never driven taxis
  • All of the participants were in a good general neurological and psychiatric health
  • average age of 44
  • All of taxi drivers had been working for at least 18 months
34
Q

What were the results of Maguire et al 2000

A
  • Average size of the right posterior hippocampus was significantly larger in the taxi driver group compared to the control group
  • Additionally the increased size was relative to the length of time the taxi driver had been working
  • l9nger they’d been working the larger their right posterior hippocampus
35
Q

What was the conclusion of Maguire et al 2000

A
  • The hippocampus is responsible for storing a spatial representation of the environment
  • it seems that the specific navigational demands sin the taxi drivers resulted in physical change
36
Q

What were the evaluations of Maguire et al 2000

A
  • Findings of the study could be used to help those with brain injuries as it shows that the size of structures within the brain can be influenced through cognitive activity
  • Rehabilitation could be tailored to the specific needs of the individuals and their injuries
  • Small sample size
  • Results can be generalised to male taxi drivers in London
  • Results can’t be generalised to other areas of the brain
37
Q

How was brain structure investigated in aggression

A
  • Bard and Mountcastle 1948 found that lesioning areas of the brains of cats led to changes in levels of aggression
  • their research suggests that the hypothalamus and amygdala are involved in aggression
38
Q

How was brain structure investigated in memory

A
  • Milner et al 1957, case study, found that HM was unable to use his long term memory effectively, suggesting that the hippocampus has an important role here
39
Q

How was brain structure investigated in psychopathology

A

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

40
Q

Other than brain structure, what also might influence behaviour

A

Neurochemistry

41
Q

What is neurochemistry

A

Neurochemistry is all about the nervous system and neurotransmitters. The biological approach looks at the role they might play in explaining behaviour

42
Q

What part of Neurochemistry may produce psychological disorders

A
  • Too much or too little of a particular neurotransmitter may produce psychological disorders
  • e.g. an increased level of dopamine is linked to schizophrenia. Drugs like cocaine, which increase dopamine levels, can lead to schizophrenia-like symptoms
43
Q

What do some biological psychologists investigate

A

The impact neurotransmitter have on behaviour

44
Q

What are the strengths of the biological approach

A
  • The approach can provide evidence to support or disprove a theory - its a very scientific approach
  • if a biological cause can be found for mental health problems or for unwanted behaviour such as aggression, then biological treatments can be developed to help individuals
45
Q

What are the weaknesses of the biological approach

A
  • The approach doesn’t take into account the influence of peoples environment, their family, childhood experiences or their social situation.
  • Using a biological explanation for negative behaviour can lead to individuals or groups avoiding taking personal or social responsibility for their behaviour

AQA A-Level Psychology (34 decks)

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