The Biological approach Flashcards
What does the biological approach says causes behaviour?
Behaviour is caused by genes and evolution.
What is the main assumption of the biological approach?
‘All that is psychological is first physiological’
Explain what is meant by genotype and phenotype.
Genotype= the genes an organism has inherited.
Phenotype= the traits that are actually expressed.
Give supporting evidence for the theory of genes influencing behaviour.
Gottesman and Schields conducted a twin study with schizophrenia and found concordance rates of 48% for MZ twins and 13% for DZ twins.
What influence do biological structures have on behaviour?
Enlarged ventricles (fluid filled gaps) in the central brain area have been linked to negative symptoms of Schizophrenia.
What influence does neurochemistry have on behaviour?
Excitatory and Inhibitory neurotransmitters have been shown to link to behaviour e.g. Dopamine is an excitatory neurotransmitter and has been linked to our ‘drive’.
What influence does evolution have on behaviour?
Beneficial traits are passed on to successive generations and will become more common, aiding the survival of the human race. E.g. Lactose intolerance was previously a behaviour of all humans, however now it is uncommon.
Give 2 advantages of the biological approach.
+Has high practical validity.
It has led to effective treatments being developed, such as SSRIs.
+Uses accurate and reliable methodology.
E.g. fMRI scans, this increases the reliability of the approach.
Give 2 disadvantages of the biological approach.
-Findings from animal studies are hard to generalise to the human population and humans are much more complex.
Lacks population validity.
-It is a very reductionist explanation.
It is not holistic and doesn’t take into consideration other factors that may be effective such as a person environment or their early experiences.
