Biological Approach

Question 1

What is biological psychology?

Answer 1

Understanding human behaviour at a cellular and structural level on the assumption that the cause is biological being due to nature.

Question 2

What does the biological approach assume about behaviour?

Answer 2

That it is inherited through genes and has an evolutionary function.

Question 3

Give an example of how behaviour is an evolutionary function.

Answer 3

• Levels of testosterone in men decrease in the weeks after childbirth
• Testosterone deprived men are less likely to leave in search of new mates to inseminate.

Question 4

Define ‘trepanning’.

Answer 4

Drilling holes into the skull to treat problems with the brain (e.g. treating migraines).

Question 5

What did Descartes (1596) propose?

Answer 5

That there is a difference between animals and humans, and that the difference was that humans had souls.

Question 6

Define ‘monism’.

Answer 6

That the mind and body are one thing.

Question 7

Define ‘dualism’.

Answer 7

That the mind and body are separate but can interact.

Question 8

Define ‘phrenology’.

Answer 8

Mapping out the bumps on a person’s skull to deduce aspects of their personality.

Question 9

Describe Darwin’s ideas on natural selection.

Answer 9

If alterations in a gene helped people to survive, then the gene would be passed on.

Question 10

What did Hippocrates put forward?

Answer 10

The idea that each side of the brain serves a distinct function.

Question 11

What did Paul Broca’s (1861) research suggest?

Answer 11

He examined a man unable to talk coherently because of a head injury and a post-mortem showed that he had damage to an area of his brain showing localised function.

Question 12

List a brief timeline of the history of methods used in biological psychology.

Answer 12

• 4th Century BC = Trepanning + Hipocrates
• 16th Century = Descartes (1596)
• 18th Century = Phrenology
• 19th Century = Darwin + Broca
• 21st Century = Brain scans

Question 13

What is a weakness of using brain scanning to research problems with the brain.

Answer 13

It may overemphasise the importance of one area.

Question 14

Briefly describe the role of the central nervous system in determining behaviour.

Answer 14

The CNS is made up of neurons that send messages around the body that can shape our behaviour.

Question 15

Briefly describe the role of brain function in behaviour.

Answer 15

The brain receives input through neurons from each senses and sends an output to the rest of our body.

Question 16

Briefly describe the role of evolution and natural selection in explaining human behaviour (e.g. aggression).

Answer 16

Men prefer young women due to their fertility whilst women prefer men with resources due to aiding their survival.

Question 17

Give 2 strengths of the biological approach.

Answer 17

P - Data is scientific
E - Uses brain scanning, such as PET
E - This provides quantitative, objective data that isn’t open to misinterpretation
P - It uses mainly animals in the research
E - They are less intelligent than humans and so don’t show any demand characteristics
E - Easier than using humans for experiments and is less unethical

Question 18

Give 2 weaknesses of the biological approach.

Answer 18

P - Reductionist
E - Says that human behaviour is only down to neurotransmitters in the brain
E - Doesn’t account for other factors
P - Deterministic
E - Says that individuals don’t have their own free will and that their behaviour is not of their choice
E - Therefore there are no practical applications if behaviour is deterministic then there is little that can be done about it