Biological evaluation

Question 1

What are the strengths of the biological approach?

Answer 1

• scientific approach
• Determinist approach
• Successful application

Question 2

Weaknesses of the biological approach?

Answer 2

• Reductionist approach
• Nature rather then nurture
• Individual differences

Question 3

scientific approach?

Answer 3

Both drug therapy and psychosurgery have had scientific research with clear variables they are able to be tested.

Question 4

Determinist approach?

Answer 4

• An advantage of being determinist is that if we can know what predetermines behaviour we are more likely to be able to treat it.
• Dopamine has been liked to schizophrenia by studding the drug amphetamine. High doses of this drug cause symptoms of schizophrenia. Other drugs like antipsychotics reduce dopamine and reduce symptoms of schizophrenia.

-Other research from brain scans shows us that patients with OCD have more brain activity in some areas.

Question 5

Successful application?

Answer 5

• Research has identified criminals often have abnormal levels of neurotransmitters. This offers the opportunity of pharmacological treatments. For example Cherek et al (2002) gave some prisoner SSRI antidepressants and other a placebo. After 21 days the SSRI group had reduced levels of impulsivity and aggression.
• The psychosurgery treatment capsulotomy has shown to benefit patients with OCD. Also bipolar disorder has been successfully treated with medications such as lithium.

Question 6

Reductionist approach?

Answer 6

• The biological approach reduces the complex behaviour to the response of a hormone adrenaline.
• Reductionism can help understanding but often causes loss of understanding what is being studied. For example the biological approach suggests that schizophrenia is just a compex physical-chemical system gone wrong. The psychiatrist R.D. Lang (1965) says this approach fails to include distress as a factor.

Question 7

Nature rather than nurture?

Answer 7

• The biological approach focuses only on the biolgical factors (nature) and not life experiance (nurture).
• For example the biological approach suggests schizophrenia is caused by neurotransmitter imbalance and does not look at how patients feel. As a result treatment is focused on how to alter the neurotransmitter levels and not talking to patients about how they feel.

Question 8

Individual differences?

Answer 8

• The biological approach is nomothetic. It looks for similarities. it misses factors such as people produce different levels of adrenaline when stressed which alters the long term effect.
• Research has often been done on males and not females when studying both animals and humans. This is because it is thought female hormone cycles could cause erroneous results.
• Taylor et al (2000) identified that men usually respond to stress with fight or flight. However, women usually take a tend and befriend response. This is likely because women produce the hormone oxytocin when stressed (this is the love hormone).