the biological approach

Question 1

what is the biological approach

Answer 1

the assumption that behavior and experiences are caused by activity in the nervous system, physiology and genetics

argues that thee brain controls behavior and any psychopathology is like a ‘disease’ of the brain

Question 2

who researched the physiological explanations

Answer 2

kalat (1998)

Question 3

what did kalat find

Answer 3

the physiological explanation explains behavior in terms of the structure and processes that produce them e,g a specific brain structure or influence of a certain hormone

Question 4

what is the ontogenetic explanation

Answer 4

developmemnt of a particulsr structure por behaviour and the factors that influence this

Question 5

what is the evolutionary explanation

Answer 5

certain structures or behavior in a evolutionary context- explaining similarities in terms of shared ancestory

Question 5

what is the functional explanation

Answer 5

explaining behavior in terms of the purpose it serves

Question 6

genotype meaning

Answer 6

set of genetic material or the alleles it carries for a particular trait or traits

Question 7

phenotype meaning

Answer 7

the observable characteristic

Question 8

what type of twins are genetically identical

Answer 8

monozygotic twins (Mz)
dizygotic twins (Dz) share around 50%

Question 9

why are Mz twins studied

Answer 9

If a characteristic is genetic, it would be expected that all MZ twins would share the characteristics as they share 100% of their genetics
compared to Dz twins

Question 10

what is a study that has proved this

Answer 10

holland et al 1988
anorexia having a 56% concordance rate in mz twins means nothing until you point out that’s 7x the rate for dz twins
(you have to be able to compare these otherwise its useless mentioning)

Question 11

what is a concordance rate

Answer 11

The extent to which both twins share the same characteristic

Question 12

twin studies advantage

Answer 12

they are natural experiments due to the biological relation in twins

Question 13

twin studies disadvantage

Answer 13

Early twin studies e.g. Lange (1929) were inadequately controlled and lacked validity as to whether the twins were monozygotic or dizygotic as it was based on appearance and not DNA so evidence may not be as reliable

Question 14

explain the diathesis stress model

Answer 14

explains how bio and the environment work together in peoples minds
people are born with certain genetic/ biological dispositions but not all people will develop this illness
if their life situation is serious in their environment is enough this ‘stress’ will set off the diathesis

Question 15

how can genetics be researched

Answer 15

twin studies
adoption studies
isolating specific genes
identify the genes and work out the risk of transmission

Question 16

why are adoption studies useful

Answer 16

Adoption studies are made more valid if the researchers have information about the child’s biological parent. If the child grows up with traits that resemble the adoptive parent more than the biological parent, this is stronger evidence that these traits are due to nurture

Question 17

advantage of influence of genetics
(name a study from ocd to back this point)

Answer 17

real-world applications, such as the success of drug therapies, like antidepressants, in treating psychological disorders (Lewis (1936) found that 37% of patients with OCD had parents with the disorder. He also observed that 21% of his OCD patients had siblings with OCD. According to the diathesis-stress model, certain genes leave some people more likely to suffer a mental disorder, but it is not certain - some environmental stress is necessary to trigger the condition)

Question 18

disadvantage of influence of genes

Answer 18

deterministic, meaning it sees everything is pre-determined by genetics and biological structures, this is a simplistic view and ignores the effects the environment has on the development

Question 19

what is the endocrine system

Answer 19

chemical messaging system that operates throughout the body

Question 20

what is the pituitary gland

Answer 20

It controls the release of hormones from other glands
It is known as the master gland

Question 21

what is the adrenal gland

Answer 21

It releases adrenaline/ noradrenaline as part of the fight/ flight response

Question 22

what is the reflex arc

Answer 22

consists of a collection of cells that transmit information and an immediate response to a particular stimulus

Question 23

what is the sensory neuron

Answer 23

They send information from the senses e.g. touching a hot radiator, to the brain e.g. pulling hand off the radiator
sends electrical impulses to the relay neuron

Question 24

what is the relay neuron

Answer 24

They connect with other neurons
They analyse sensations
They decide which response to make
connects the sensory nueron to the motor nueron

Question 25

what is the motor neuron

Answer 25

The motor neuron then sends electrical impulses from axons in neurons to an effector (usually a muscle), which produces a rapid response (like moving your hand away from the hot object) without conscious thought

Question 26

why is it important that there are no variation of hormone secretion

Answer 26

variations in these chemicals can result in excessive, limited or faulty activity in the brain- can have a direct impact on feelings or behavior e.g a decline in serotonin may result to depression

Question 27

methods of research for hormone system

Answer 27

blood tests
swabbing- saliva
identify the hormone- too much/ too little?

Question 28

assumptions that need to be made when measuring neurochemistry (3)

Answer 28

if a drug targeting a neurochemical works by altering behavior then that chemical must be the cause

when we look at the brains of those who suffered from long term psychological damage we can work out the chemical imbalances by looking for structural characteristics in their synapses

if there is more broken bits in urine then you must have excess of that chemical

Question 29

case study name for neuroanatomical structure

Answer 29

phineas gage

Question 30

what does this case tell us

Answer 30

reveals the relationship between personality and the function of the frontal lobe while leaving other neurological functions intact. his personality changed to impatient, unreliable and indecisive

Question 31

whose theory is evolution and behavior based on

Answer 31

Charles Darwin

Question 32

what is natural selection

Answer 32

the process whereby behaviors and traits which are useful for survival and reproduction are kept over generations – and those which are not eventually die out

Question 33

what are adaptive behaviors

Answer 33

those which increase the chances of survival and reproductive success which is why they are passed down through the generations

Question 34

who did research for adaptive behaviors

Answer 34

Curtis et al. (2004)

Question 35

what was found in this

Answer 35

found that people showed higher levels of disgust for disease-salient images than for neutral images (disgust is an evolutionary mechanism as it prevents people from ingesting toxic materials)

Question 36

strengths of evolution and behaviour (2) (kinda weak)

Answer 36

Some behaviors have clearly been advantageous to humans across the millennia e.g. the fight or flight response which gives the theory some validity
Research such as that conducted by Curtis is easily replicated to check for reliability

Question 37

weaknesses of evolution and behaviour (2)

Answer 37

Some behaviours which are not advantageous to a 21st century person still remain e.g. ADHD, aggression, fear of the dark (these behaviours would at one point in history have been highly beneficial but not so much today)

overly reductionist- deals with stereotypes e.g men prefer younger females

Question 38

weaknesses of the biological approach (2)

Answer 38

The biological approach is determinist and views behavior as caused by biological factors over which we have no control leaving no room for free will

Reductionist: ignores the environment and cognitive processes

Question 39

ways of measuring neuroanatomy (3)

Answer 39

case studies- case studies, accidents e.g phineas gage
brain scans
autopsy/ post mortem analysis

Question 40

how to measure neurochemistry (4)

Answer 40

case studies- case studies, accidents e.g phineas gage
brain scans
autopsy/ post mortem analysis
drug trials