a weakness of the biological approach to OCD is that it can be seen as reductionist, it ignores other factors. eg it does not take into consideration cognitions and learning. some psychologists suggests that OCD may be learnt through classical conditioning and maintained by operant conditioning, for example, stimulus (dirt) is associated with anxiety and this association is then maintained through operant conditioning, where a person avoids dirt and continually washes their hands. This hand washing reduces their anxiety and negatively reinforces their compulsions.
