Biological Psychology in Sec B

Question 1

Describe the assumptions of biological psychology.

Answer 1

• focuses on our biological makeup + so assumes all behaviour has a physical cause
• assumes behaviour is controlled by psychological changes in body as opposed to environmental factors, + that human behaviour should be investigated w/ scientific, rigorous methodology
• proposes what people think, feel, say + do is determined by make up of nervous system, brain structure, genetics + DNA, chemicals + hormones, + evolutionary factors.

Question 2

Describe biological psychology in the Nature vs Nurture debate. Link to a study.

Answer 2

• biological area supports nature side of nature-nurture debate as it sees genetic, biological factors as explanation for thinking + behaviour

E.g. Casey proposed people’s ability to resist temptation is a stable characteristic of an individual over time, w/ those classed as high delayers showing increased activity in inferior frontal gyrus during no-go trials, compared to low delayers w/ high levels of activity in reward-related region (the ventral striatum).

Question 3

Describe biological psychology in the Individual vs Situational debate. Link to a study.

Answer 3

• biological approach supports individual side of debate

E.g. Casey found those classed as high delayers during childhood were better at resisting temptation as an adult + so ability to resist temptation = a stable characteristic within individual – situation does not play a role, so biological psychology supports individual side of debate here.

Question 4

Describe biological psychology in the Reductionism vs Holism debate. Link to a study.

Answer 4

• biological area = reductionistic as assumes behaviour + experiences can be explained by brain structure + chemicals, so provides an over-simplistic explanation of behaviour

E.g. Casey concluded ability to resist temptation = stable characteristic of an individual over time, but there are likely to be environmental or social influences contributing to ability someone has to delay gratification. Looking at responses in go / no go tasks + to smiling faces does not represent complexity + holistic nature of human behaviour.

Question 5

Describe biological psychology in the Determinism vs Free Will debate. Link to a study.

Answer 5

• biological area is deterministic as assumes behaviour is pre-determined by biological functions e.g. brain structure + chemicals, so we have no control over actions

E.g. Casey proposes early behaviour seems to predict adulthood ability to resist temptation + if you have higher levels of activity in inferior frontal gyrus you are pre-disposed to be better at delaying gratification.

Question 6

Describe biological psychology in the Usefulness of Research debate. Link to a study.

Answer 6

E.g. Sperry’s study informed us of functions of left + right hemispheres, demonstrating hemispheric lateralisation. This helpful when dealing w/ brain damaged patients w/ language difficulties.

Question 7

Describe biological psychology in the Psychology as a Science debate.

Answer 7

• biological approach tends to support psycho as a science as often brain imaging techniques used to objectively analyse brain function

E.g. fMRI in Casey + quantitative data is obtained

• but sometimes is a lack of control over specific variables when quasi-experiments are used

E.g. in Sperry’s study, were differences between pps post-operation + in extent of their hemispheric disconnection.

Question 8

State the strengths of biological psychology.

Answer 8

• tends to use specific, rigorous methodology to study human behaviour (e.g. Brain scanning techniques, artificial + controlled procedures, + collection of quantitative data)
• provides strong arguments of nature side of nature vs nurture debate
• has contributed to our understanding of fundamental processes of behaviour, leading to many practical applications (e.g. Rehabilitation programmes for brain damaged patients)
• adopts a reductionistic approach which isolates specific variables, so cause + effect can be established.

Question 9

State the weaknesses of biological psychology.

Answer 9

• adopts a deterministic view suggesting behaviour is pre-determined + so humans have no free will over actions
• takes a reductionistic approach + tends to over-simplify physical systems + their interactions w/ environment
• tends to use highly-controlled lab experiments conducted in artificial settings to observe human behaviour, so may lack ecological validity
• often no qualitative data obtained + thus findings from biological area do not give a detailed insight into behaviour under investigation.