BIOLOGICAL

• what is the first assumption

  behaviour is caused by the biological structured in the brain, so brain structures, chemicals and hormones determine the way we behave
• what are three examples of this?

  - damaged brain areas

  - neurotransmitters

  - hormones
• what was zohars study?

  ZOHAR + SSRIS

  he found that when he gave Ps with a phobia a SSRI they reported less fear and anxiety due to the increase in serotonin
• AO3: strength


  treatments - SSRIS
• AO3: Weakness


  Reductionist
• what is the second assumption?

  behaviour is caused by the influence of genes
• FAT STUDIES


  family, adoption and twins
• family studies..

  relatives and genetic relatedness linked to a behaviour or disorder
• adoption studies..


  behaviour and disorders linked to biological parents
• twin studies..


  Monozygotic - 100%

  dizygotic -50%
• Melos breeding exp


  - two rats with an alcohol preference mate

  - observed offspring to discover they have a preference for alcohol aswell

  - shows genetic alcohol preference
• AO3: Weakness


  animals shouldn't be generalised to humans
• Nestadt twin study


  researched the concordance rates in twins for OCD

  MZ - 68%

  DZ - 31%
• What is a concordance rate?


  a statistical measure that is used to describe the proportions of pairs of individuals having the same attributes
• genotype


  genetic makeup
• Phenotype

  characteristics influenced by genes and the environment
• what is the third assumption?

  behaviour evolves through natural selection
• what is the evolution of behaviour?

  - firstly, small changes occur over time

  - if it aids survival, animals adapt to the environment, survive and pass on genes

  - if it doesn't, animals die and dont pass on genes
• what did Curtis et al find?

  - our ancestors feared dangerous things which aided survival and passed on genes

  - if they didn't fear danger they didn't survive

  - we fear threats to our survival
• however....


  doesn't explain why we fear non threatening objects
• AO3: Weakness


  reductionist
• A03 strength

  :) - treatments - Zohar

  :) - explanatory powers - phobias - Curtis

  :) - research - genetic predispositions - Melo
• AO3: strength - RM

  :) - high control variables

  :) - rich detailed data
• AO3: Weakness - RM

  :( - animal studies shouldn't be generalised to humans

  :( - hard to analyse data