A2: Psychological approaches to health, wellbeing and illness

Question 1

what does the biological approach say about our behaviour ?

Answer 1

says that it’s a direct result of our biology

Question 2

what is genetic predisposition?

Answer 2

an increased likelihood of developing a disease based on our genetic makeup

Question 3

what are neurotransmitters?

Answer 3

chemicals used to transmit messages from one brain cell to another

Question 4

what does excitatory do?

Answer 4

increases brain activity

Question 5

what does inhibitory do?

Answer 5

decreases brain activity

Question 6

give examples of excitatory?

Answer 6

dopamine, adrenaline, glutamate

Question 7

give examples of inhibitory?

Answer 7

serotonin, GABA, glycine

Question 8

give a strength of the biological approach

Answer 8

it has real life applications. for example if someone has low levels of serotonin sending them to therapy without correcting their levels may not help

Question 9

give a weakness of the biological approach

Answer 9

only focuses on nature and not nurture and is unhelpful because everyone is affected by both

Question 10

what are cues?

Answer 10

external events that prompt behaviour

Question 11

what is positive reinforcement?

Answer 11

rewards that increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated

Question 12

what is negative reinforcement?

Answer 12

the removal of an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated

Question 13

give an strength on the behaviourist approach

Answer 13

it’s supported by research. Skinner taught pigeons to produce behaviours by using operant conditioning

Question 14

give a weakness on the behaviourist approach

Answer 14

it can’t explain why only some people become addicted to alcohol when most people experience a reward from drinking it

Question 15

what does the social learning approach say about behaviour?

Answer 15

that we learn it from our environment by observing others around us

Question 16

what are role models?

Answer 16

someone we imitate

Question 17

give a strength of the social approach

Answer 17

there’s a lot of research and real life examples like Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment

Question 18

give a weakness of the social approach

Answer 18

it doesn’t explain why some people don’t copy their parents because not everyone that grows up in a smoking household becomes a smoker

Question 19

what does the cognitive approach say about behaviour ?

Answer 19

that our thought processes are the main influence on behaviour

Question 20

what is cognitive dissonance?

Answer 20

used to describe the mental discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs

Question 21

what is professional biases?

Answer 21

a professional being unfair and not giving equal treatment

Question 22

give a strength of the cognitive approach

Answer 22

it has real life applications because understanding cognitive processes means that they can be tackled within therapy to prevent unhealthy behaviour

Question 23

give a weakness of the cognitive approach

Answer 23

it’s not a complete explanation on its own because there might be other factors such as biology which affects people