The biological approach

• What is the biological approach?

  A perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neural function
• What are genes?


  Genes are segments of DNA that contain the instructions for building and maintaining an organism's cells and tissues.
• What is the biological structure?


  An arrangement or organisation of parts to form an organ, system or living thing.
• What is neurochemistry?


  It relates to the chemicals in the brain that regulate psychological functioning.
• What is a genotype?

  The particular set of genes that a person possesses.
• What is a phenotype?

  The characteristics of an individual determined by both genes and the environment.
• What is evolution?


  Evolution is the process of change in all forms of life over generations, resulting in the diversity of species we see today.
• What influence do genes have on our behaviour?

  Each individual possesses a unique combination of genetic instructions, therefore, we differ from each other in terms of personality, intelligence, abilities and so on.
• What is heredity?


  The passing on of traits from parents to offspring.
• What influence does neurochemistry have on our behaviour?

  Much of our thought and behaviour relies on chemical transmission in the brain. This occurs using neurotransmitters.
• What are Excitatory neurotransmitters?

  These stimulate the brain into action e.g. dopamine
• Evolution and behaviour:

  Charles Darwin argued that over time organisms become adapted to their environment through biological evolution
• What are the different parts of the brain?

  Occipital lobe- Responsible for receiving + processing visual information

  Temporal lobe- Responsible for analysis of speech related information

  Frontal lobe- Movement, personality and higher-level thinking

  Parietal lobe- Responsible for processing information from our senses
• What is a strength of the biological approach?

  One strength is that it uses scientific methods of investigation. These include brain- scanning techniques, such as fMRI and EEGs, and drug trials. These methods are highly controlled and objective, meaning that findings are reliable and valid.
• Another strength of the biological approach?

  Another strength is that it has significant applications to the real world. For example, research into the role of neurochemical imbalances in depression has led to the development of drug treatments to treat this imbalance.
• What is a weakness of the biological approach?

  There are problems with the approach being reductionist. Whilst this reductionist approach lends itself to scientific investigation, critics argue that we can not fully understand behaviour without taking into account other factors. It is likely that cognitive, emotional and cultural factors all play a part and have an influence on behaviour and this is not taken into account in this approach.
• What is another weakness of the biological approach?

  One weakness of the biological approach is that it is deterministic- it sees all behaviour as being governed by biological processes over which we have no control. However we know that how an individual's genotype is expressed is heavily influenced by the environment. Also, a purely genetic argument becomes problematic when we consider crime.
• What is another weakness of the biological approach?

  The biological has been criticised for describing behaviour solely in terms of nature. This is limiting and underestimates the complexity of human behaviour. It is more likely that behaviour is due to an interaction between nature and nurture. For example, individuals may be predisposed to certain behaviours, but these behaviours may not be displayed unless they are triggered by factors in the environment.