🔵 Approaches - The Biological Approach Flashcards
What is the biological approach
Approach that combines psychology and biology to provide physiological explanations for human behaviour. It attempts to explain how we think, feel and behave in terms of physical factors within the body
Assumptions of approach
- investigates how biological structures and functions of the brain impacts behaviour
- human behaviour is biological cause
- genes affect behaviour
- the nervous system (hormones and neurotransmitters) affect behaviour
- infections of the brain can play role in mental illness
Heredity
Passing of characteristics from one generation to the next through genes
Genes
Carry instructions for characteristics
What does genetics being developed depend on
Interactions of the genes with other genes and the influence of the environment
Heritability
Amount of variation in a trait within a population that can be attributed to genetic differences
Concordance rates
Extent to which a pair of twins share similar traits or characteristics
MZ twins
Monozygotic twins - identical twins, occur when a single egg cell is fertilized by a single sperm cell.
DZ twins
Dizygotic (DZ) twins, occur when two egg cells are each fertilized by a different sperm cell in the same menstrual cycle
Analysis of Bourxhard’s twin research
- identical twins reared apart have much higher concordance rate than ordinary siblings reared together H72% vs 47%) showing genetics have greater influence than envonment
- not a great deal of difference between concordance rates of identical twins reared together (86%) and identical twins reared apart (72%)
- MZ twins have higher concordance rate (86%) than DZ twins (60%) suggesting genetics plays a role but because not 100%, envonment is a factor also
What is destruction of the brain cause by and what can it cause
Injury, tumours and strokes. It can cause possible behavioural changes
6 parts of the brain I need to know
Frontal lobe
Parental lobe
Temporal lobe
Occipital lobe
Cerebellum
Brain stem
What is the Frontal lobe responsible for
Thinking, memory, behaviour and movement
What is the parietal lobe responsible for
Language and touch
What is the occipital lobe responsible for
Sight
What is the temporal lobe responsible for
Hearing, leaning and feeling
What is the cerebellum responsible for
Balance and coordination
What is the brain stem responsible for
Breathing, heart rate and temperature
Story of phineas gage
He survived an accident in which a large iron rode when through his brain. Although he survived his personality changed from being social able to being hostile. He became bad tempered and violent
Discoveries from gages story
That the brain is not random, it is spilt into sections of which have different responsibilities. In this case, because the frontal lobe was damaged, it shows the frontal lobe is responsible for behaviohr
How does the central nervous system influence behaviour
Neurotransmitters enable NS to function and abbnirmal levels of neurotransmitters can lead to symptoms of mental illnesses. For example depression is linked to low levels of serotonin and noradrenaline. Neurotransmitter levels can be determined genetically
Behavioural effect of low serotonin
OCD
Behavioural effect of high dopamine
OCD acts on reward system in brain
Behavioural effect of melatonin hormone
Regulates sleep
Behavioural affect of Adrenalin hormone
Releases fight of flight responses
Increases HR and BP
What are hormones
Chemical messengers that help to regulate processes in the body and control how cells and organs work
What are hormones secreted by
Glands and then they travel to their target organs in the bloodstream
What is a genotype
Genetic make up. It is the set of genes an indivual has or is made up of
What is the expression of a genotype influenced by
Environmental factors, for example a twin may look more in shape as they exercise more
What is a phenotype
An individuals physical appearance from the inherited genotype but involves interaction of environment
What characteristics is a phenotype expressed through
Physical, behavioural and psychological characterstics
What is the difference between genotypes and phenotypes
The genotype is the genetic programming that provides the phenotype
Why are psychologists interested in studying twins
To investigate the genetic basis of behaviour
What is a good example of a genotype interacting with the environment
Identical twins
What do adoption studies involve
Comparing a trait or characterstics between adopted children and their biological or adoptive parents
Evolution
Changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over successive generations
2 main concepts in evolutionary theory
Natural selection
Sexual selection
Natural selection
The principle that behaviour that benefits a species and helps it to survive and reproduce will continue in further generations
Adaptive traits
Traits that will provide them with an advantage and are more likely to survive because of them so they are passed on to their offspring
What does evolutionary psychology try to understand
Human behaviour as the result of psychological adaptation and natural selection
Where does this approach stand on the free will / deterministic debate
Deterministic approach
Strengths of biological approach
- scientific approach suggesting we can find cause and effect of biology on behaviour
- scientific methods used increasing reliability and validity of findings
- lead to treatment as can identify the reason for a mental illness
Limitations of biological approach
- determinstic approach as it believes we are determined by our physiological, genetic or evolutionary make up
- reductionists approach by stating that all human behaviour can be explained through a single biological process
- suggests not unique as individual
- ignores role of environment
- lab experiments can lack ecological validity
