evaluation of approach

• strength - scientific
• scientific - explain

  assumptions such as the localisation of brain function and neurotransmitters are measurable, biological phenomena that can be observed and tested by the use of scientific methodology and experimentation.
• scientific - example

  Raine et al. (1997) used PET scans to demonstrate how murderers pleading NGRI had reduced activity in certain areas of their brain linked to aggression, e.g. deficit in the prefrontal cortex.
• scientific - link

  people are more likely to believe the principles of the biological approach if scientific research has been carried out to investigate its ideas.
• however,

  the scientific nature of the biological approach tends to ignore the role of environmental factors in determining our behaviour, and only focus on the nature of our behaviour.
• nature - explain

  while there is no doubt that biology and genetics influence our behaviour, this approach neglects the role of nurture in shaping human activity - the biological approach disregards the role of environmental factors that contribute significantly to explaining why and how we behave.
• nature - example

  whilst Raine et al's findings may provide preliminary evidence that certain areas of the brain are linked to aggression, Raine himself emphasises that violence is not determined by biology alone, and that there are cultural, social and psychological factors that play an important role in predisposition to violence.
• nature - link

  this overemphasis on nature rather than nurture weakens the biological approach, as it fails to explore significant factors in the developing of behaviour.
• strength - deterministic
• deterministic - explain

  if we knows what predetermines our behaviour, we are more able to treat people with abnormal behaviour. If mental illness is caused by biological factors, then we can treat mental illness using biological methods.
• deterministic - example

  this is an advantage in treating conditions such as OCD. Brain scans have been able to link OCD to a neural circuit linking the frontal lobe to the thalamus, so procedures such as the cingulotomy and the capsulotomy have been designed to interrupt this circuit and effectively treat OCD in many cases.
• deterministic - link

  this determinism provides explanations about the causes of behaviour, allowing treatments to be developed that can improve people's lives.
• weakness - reductionist
• reductionist - explain

  it reduces the complexity of human behaviour to a series of predictable chemical and hormonal reactions. Reductionism is a part of understanding how behaviour is formed, but the problem is that, in the process, we may lose understanding of the thing we are investigating.
• reductionist - example

  the psychiatrist R.D Laing suggests that by reducing illnesses such as schizophrenia to a series of faulty physical-chemical processes, we ignore the experience of distress that accompanies any mental illness.
• reductionist - link

  the simplicity of this reductionism is a weakness as it fails to look holistically at mental health. To understand mental health, it is imperative to examine all other aspects of an individual's experiences, environment and general wellbeing.