the biological approach Flashcards
what is the biological approach
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
who researched the physiological explanations
kalat (1998)
what did kalat find
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
what is the ontogenetic explanation
developmemnt of a particulsr structure por behaviour and the factors that influence this
what is the evolutionary explanation
certain structures or behavior in a evolutionary context- explaining similarities in terms of shared ancestory
what is the functional explanation
explaining behavior in terms of the purpose it serves
genotype meaning
set of genetic material or the alleles it carries for a particular trait or traits
phenotype meaning
the observable characteristic
what type of twins are genetically identical
monozygotic twins (Mz)
dizygotic twins (Dz) share around 50%
why are Mz twins studied
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
what is a study that has proved this
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)
what is a concordance rate
The extent to which both twins share the same characteristic
twin studies advantage
they are natural experiments due to the biological relation in twins
twin studies disadvantage
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
explain the diathesis stress model
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
how can genetics be researched
twin studies
adoption studies
isolating specific genes
identify the genes and work out the risk of transmission
why are adoption studies useful
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
advantage of influence of genetics
(name a study from ocd to back this point)
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)
disadvantage of influence of genes
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
what is the endocrine system
chemical messaging system that operates throughout the body
what is the pituitary gland
It controls the release of hormones from other glands
It is known as the master gland
what is the adrenal gland
It releases adrenaline/ noradrenaline as part of the fight/ flight response
what is the reflex arc
consists of a collection of cells that transmit information and an immediate response to a particular stimulus
what is the sensory neuron
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
what is the relay neuron
They connect with other neurons
They analyse sensations
They decide which response to make
connects the sensory nueron to the motor nueron
what is the motor neuron
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
why is it important that there are no variation of hormone secretion
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
methods of research for hormone system
blood tests
swabbing- saliva
identify the hormone- too much/ too little?
assumptions that need to be made when measuring neurochemistry (3)
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
case study name for neuroanatomical structure
phineas gage
what does this case tell us
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
whose theory is evolution and behavior based on
Charles Darwin
what is natural selection
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
what are adaptive behaviors
those which increase the chances of survival and reproductive success which is why they are passed down through the generations
who did research for adaptive behaviors
Curtis et al. (2004)
what was found in this
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)
strengths of evolution and behaviour (2) (kinda weak)
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
weaknesses of evolution and behaviour (2)
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
weaknesses of the biological approach (2)
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
ways of measuring neuroanatomy (3)
case studies- case studies, accidents e.g phineas gage
brain scans
autopsy/ post mortem analysis
how to measure neurochemistry (4)
case studies- case studies, accidents e.g phineas gage
brain scans
autopsy/ post mortem analysis
drug trials
