Biological

• DNA is made up of a chain of two or more nucleotides

  it is identical in each cell in the body
• Chromosomes are made of DNA
• DNA is divided into segments called genes

  genes are instructions for protein synthesis
• the biological approach uses fMRIs and EEGs to record brain activity
• strengths

  the biological approach is scientific since it measures brain activity via fMRIs and EEGs. This provides objective, empirical data.

  research is conducted in a controlled laboratory environment using a standard procedure.

  this helps to control extraneous variables and allows for researchers to better test for cause and effect relationships

  using a standardised procedure also means that experiments can be easily replicated
• strength

  can be applied to help understand and treat mental disorders

  if there is a genetic basis to the mental disorder.

  people can then begin to search for the specific brain abnormalities that cause this (such as with schizophrenia) where they are then able to create treatments (such as antipsychotics for schizophrenia)

  
  

  it has now been shown that most mental disorders do have a genetic basis
• limitation

  the biological approach is highly reductionist - it reduces behaviour all the way down to how brain cells interact and what genes we have in our cells

  this can be useful as it helps to understand cause and effect of our behaviour - however there are some cases where it would be better to look at social causes of certain behaviours instead of the biological causes

  it ignores social and cultural factors of behaviour
• limitation

  the biological approach claims that behaviours are caused by biological factors - this is biological determinism as it assumes that we dont have control over our own behaviour

  this can be problematic as it claims that who we are and how we behave is determined from birth and we have no way to change it

  this means that we cant really hold people responsible for their own behaviour which can be problematic in legal settings