AS APPROACHES - THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH

Question 1

Describe the assumptions of the biological approach

Answer 1

• Everything psychological was at first biological, so to understand psychology we should study biological structures, e.g. genes, the nervous system and neurochemistry
• Says the mind lives inside the brain so we should understand brain structures in order to understand beh; all thoughts, feelings and behaviour have an ultimately biological basis

Question 2

Describe the key features of the biological approach

Answer 2

Genetic basis of beh: beh.al geneticists use twin studies to investigate whether beh.al characteristics are inherited like physical ones are. Monozygotic (MZ) twins share 100% of their DNA, whereas DZ share about 50%, so if concordance rate of MZ>DZ, then there could be a genetic basis for that beh

Genotype = genetic makeup, phenotype = when genotype is mixed w/ env; the physical expression of the gene

Darwin’s theory of evolution states that a beh that aids survival will be passed down whilst those that don’t will die out

Question 3

Evaluate the biological approach

Answer 3

(+) Real life application; drug therapy eg treatment for OCD; Soomro et al found SSRIs to be consistently better at reducing OCD symptoms than placebos across 17 studies
(+) BIG economic implications; drug therapy often cheaper than alternatives like CBT so can save the NHS money; also link to big pharmaceutical companies
(-) Treatment-causation fallacy
(-) Twin studies criticised due to MZ sharing more similar environments than DZ
(-) Very biologically determinist; accountability issues for the legal system
(+) Uses highly objective methods eg brain scanning techniques which boost the scientific credibility of psychology as a whole
(-) Ignores social factors involved in behaviour do biologically reductionist