Biological Approach Flashcards
What does the biological approach view humans as?
Biological organisms, it suggests that everything that is psychological is at first biological, so to understand human behaviour we need to look at biological structures and processes
What are genes?
A part of the chromosomes of an organism that carry information in the form of DNA
What do genes determine?
Physical characteristics like hair colour and height, as well as psychological characteristics such as mental health and intelligence
What is a genotype?
A persons actual genetic makeup
What is a phenotype?
The way the genes are expressed through physical, behavioural and psychological characteristics
What can be not determine?
The genotype from just observing the phenotype
What do behavioural genetics study?
Whether behavioural characteristics such as intelligence are inherited in the same way as physical characteristics
What do twins studies determine?
The degree to which certain traits have a genetic basic
How are twin studies used?
Compare the concordance rates between monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins
What can we estimate by using twins?
The heritability of trait, the amount of variability in a trait fat can be attributed to genetic difference in people in the population
What are responsible for our behaviours?
Biological structures such as the brain and the nervous system
What does the nervous system do?
Carries messages through the body using nerve cells called neurons, neurons send nerve impulses in the form of electrical signals
What is the cerebrum?
The biggest part of the brain, it makes up about 85% of the brains mass, it is split into two halves which are further divided into four different parts
What is neurochemistry?
The chemical and neural processes that are associated with the nervous system
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemical messengers which travel between neurons, a nerve impulse is sent through a neuron and neurotransmitters are released to travel across the synapse to activate the receiving cells
