Biology explanation AO3

• What is one strength of biological explanation for schizophrenia?

  Genetic studies show hereditary component
• What did Gottesman find regarding genetic relatedness and schizophrenia risk?

  Risk increases with genetic relatedness
• What is the concordance rate for monozygotic twins regarding schizophrenia?

  48%
• What is the concordance rate for dizygotic twins regarding schizophrenia?

  17%
• Why does the concordance rate matter in the context of schizophrenia?

  It supports genetic factors in development
• What does a concordance rate of less than 100% suggest about schizophrenia?

  Environment also plays a part
• How does the evidence from genetic studies affect the validity of biological explanations for schizophrenia?

  It strengthens the validity of biological explanation
• What is the interactionist approach in the context of schizophrenia?

  • Considers both biological and environmental factors
  • Acknowledges the complexity of schizophrenia development
• What is a strength of biological explanations in psychology?

  They have practical applications for effective treatment
• What hypothesis contributed to the creation of antipsychotic drugs?

  The dopamine hypothesis
• What is the name of the antipsychotic drug mentioned?

  Chlorpromazine
• What symptoms do antipsychotic drugs like chlorpromazine effectively reduce?

  Positive symptoms
• Why is understanding the biological underpinning of schizophrenia important?

  It leads to significant advances in treatment
• How do biological explanations benefit clinical practice?

  They provide practical benefits for treatment
• What is a limitation of treatments based on biological explanations?

  They are not used for all symptoms
• What type of symptoms are not addressed by biological treatments?

  Negative symptoms
• How does the biological explanation of schizophrenia support clinical practice?

  It is supported by theory and practical benefits
• One limitation of the biological explanation is the dopamine hypothesis, supporting evidence is correctional so causation cannot be established. For example pos-mortem and PET studies showed increased dopamine activity in brain of individuals with SZ but unclear of consequences or cause of disorder.This matters because this causes doubt about role of dopamine in SZ. Alternative explanation, such as environmental stress also contributes to these findings. Therefore dopamine hypothesis relies on correlational evidence which is limited because correlation doesn’t mean causation.
• Another weakness of biological explanation ignores important factors. For example research shows environmental factors like stress also increase risk of SZ even in people with no genetic predisposition. This matters because biological explanation is too narrow and don‘t consider the fulln picture making it reductionist.Therefore a bettter explanation might combine biological and environmental factors like diathesis-stress model.