Biological Approach

• What are the assumptions of the Biological Approach?

  1. All human behaviour is biological at first
  2. You need to study biological processes such as genetics, biological processes and neurochemistry
  3. The mind and the brain are the same
• What is a Genotype?


  The actual genetic makeup of your DNA
• What is a Phenotype?


  The observable characteristics of your DNA as a result of interacting with the environment
• What are Monozygotic Twins?

  Share 100% of the same DNA
• What are Dizygotic Twins?

  Share 50% of the same DNA
• What are concordance rates?


  The likelihood of one twin having the same characteristic if the other twin has it.
• What is a piece of research that supports concordance rates?

  If one identical twin has depression, there is a 46% chance that the other twin has depression
• What is Evolution?


  The development of generations of organisms due to adapting to the environment
• What is Natural Selection?

  Process by which individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce, leading to the gradual evolution of a population. Some characteristics may die out
• Neurochemicals

  • Thoughts and behaviour rely on chemical transmission
  • Imbalance of neurochemicals in the brain has been implicated as a possible cause of mental disorder
  • Lower levels of serotonin - OCD and Depression
  • Higher levels of Dopamine - Schizophrenia
• The Brain

  • Different parts of the Brain have different functions
  • Frontal Lobe - Personality Characteristics, decision making and movements
  • Hippocampus - involved in learning and memory
• AO3 Biological Approach: Real World Application

  • Increased understanding of neurochemical processes in the brain is associated with the use of psychoactive drugs to treat mental disorders
  • Promoted the treatment of depression using antidepressant drugs - increase levels of serotonin
• AO3 Biological Approach: Counterpoint to Application

  • Although drugs work on some patients they don’t work on everyone
  • Effects of antidepressants are ’mainly modest’
  • Challenges the value of the biological approach because it suggests brain chemistry alone may not account for al cases
• AO3 Biological Approach: Scientific Methods

  • In order to investigate the genetic and biological basis of behaviour, the biological approach makes use of a range of precise and objective methods
  • Scanning techniques such as fMRIs and EEGs
  • They accurately measure physiological and neural processes that are not open to bias - objective and reliable
• AO3 Biological Approach: Biological Determinism

  • Sees human behaviour as governed by internal, genetic causes over which we have no control
  • No free will means we cannot hold people accountable for their actions- moral and legal issues
  • Too simplistic and ignores the effects of the environment