The Biological Approach Flashcards
What is the biological approach?
Aims to explain human behaviour from a biological perspective. These biological factors could be genetic, biochemical, viral, neural or evolutionary.
What’s the genetic basis of behaviour?
Genetic theories argue that behaviours are inherited. This is often investigated through the use of twin studies. Twins are either identical (mono-zygotic) or non-identical (dizygotic).
If behaviours were inherited what would we expect from monozygotic and dizygotic twins?
We would expect monozygotic twins to have exactly the same traits as they must share the gene that causes such traits. As such, they are concordant. This is not the same for dizygotic twins as they share only 50% of their genes and so are not concordant as one twin may have a gene that causes a particular trait but the other twin does.
What is neurochemistry?
The chemicals within the brain.
How is neurochemistry relevant to psychology?
The chemicals in the brain may account for certain behaviours. These neurotransmitters fire across synapses in the brain to make us think/behave in certain ways. e.g. low serotonin may cause OCD
Which part of the brain has been known to cause OCD?
The basal ganglia
What’s a genotype?
All of our inherited information (our genetic information). However, not all of this information will be physically noticeable.
What’s a phenotype?
It’s the expression of our genes but is also affected by the environment. e.g. if a set of identical twins both had tooth decay it would be because of their genotype, if one did and the other didn’t it would be due to their phenotype so one may have eaten more sugar.
What does the evolutionary theory suggest?
It suggests that our behaviours are influenced by our caveman/cave woman ancestors. In our evolutionary past, humans operate on a survival of the fittest basis whereby those people who carried out behaviours which aided their survival (adaptive behaviours) would be around for long enough to successfully reproduce and pass on the sucessuful genes.
What would this suggest woman and men are attracted to?
Women- a man with resources as he would look after the female and her offspring
Men- a young, attractive female as she would indicate she’s fertile and in possession of good genes.
What are two strengths of the biological approach?
- It has many important applications. such as drugs to treat mental illnesses. Medication is a life line therefore it’s an important contribution.
- It takes a scientific view and uses techniques such as brain scanning. This is objective.
However, it’s unfalsifiable and evolutionary theories are post hoc (happened long ago so can’t be verified)
What are two limitations of the biological approach?
- Only takes the nature side and ignores important factors so is a narrow view. It is reductionist and simplifies complex human behaviour. It’s guilty of ignoring the bigger picture.
- Has the potential to be socially sensitive. Implies a person has no choice excusing undesirable behaviours. e.g. the MAOA gene is linked to aggression. Has implications for wider society and may excuse negative behaviour.
