Biological approach.

Assumptions
1. Psychological charictoristics have a physiological cause.
  1. have a physical cause and therefore should be treated with medication or surgery like pysical illness
    1. For example: Antidepressiants for depression.
2. Genes influence our behaviour.
  1. We inherited psychological charictoristics in the same ways a physical ones.
    1. For example aggressive behaviour is inherited like eye colour.
Theory.
1. General adaptation syndrome.( Genral applied to the population, adaptation part of evoluion, and syndrome, effects the body).
  1. Developed after rats exposed to the same stressor all died. do humans all deal with stress in the same way?
  2. Stage one: Alarm
    1. Become aware of the stressor and the body gets ready to fight or flee.
      1. Hypothalamus
        Adrenal Medulla
        Pupils dilate
        Eyes let in more light
        See better.
        Heart beat increases.
        More blood supplied to muscles
        Can flee (run faster)
  3. Stage 2: resistance.
    1. Continue to fight or flee
      1. Hypothalamus
        Pituitary Gland
        Hoarmone
        Adrenal Cortex.
        Cortisol
        Regulates glucose levels by breaking down fat storage. Continue to fight or flee
  4. Stage 3: Exhaustion.
    1. The body releases the hoarmones to its supply runs out.
      1. After long term exposure to the stressor, cortisol in high doses causes a weakened immune system causing stress related illnesses like high blood pressure, colds, heart disease and ulcers.
Therapy
1. Chemotherapy.
  1. Genral term for drug treatment used to treated mental disorders.
  2. The aim of chemotherapy is to interfear with the neurotransmitter activity in the synapse between neurons to either increase or decrease chemical messages.
  3. Asumptions
    1. Mental illness has a physiological cause.
    2. Chemical messengers effect our behaviour (ABNORMAL LEVELS ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR)
  4. How it works.
    1. AD Depression
      1. Depression caused by too little seratonine
        Stop reabsorbtion.
        Seratonine stay in synapse for longer
        Higher chance bind to recpeters.
        Increase in message.
        Increase mood
    2. AP for schizophrenia
      1. Caused by high dopamine activity.
        Block receptors of nuerons.
        Less dopamine molecules can bind/reduced transmition
        Decreased messages.
        Decreased Symptoms.
Strenghs
1. Useful practical applications
  1. Has aspects that are useful/helpful in changing behaviour in a positive way.
    1. Chemotherapy, help people with mental illness to ease symptoms and improve quality of life.
2. Sciencetific.
  1. Objective explanations, identifies variables which can be manipulates, controlled and messured to identify a causal relationship.
    1. IV seratonin levels, DV symptoms are manipulated by drugs to see relationship..
Weaknesses.
1. Reductionist.
  1. Reduces complex human behaviours into basic explanations which means we could loose full understand of that behaviour as a result.
    1. Depression with variety of symptoms unlikley to be caused by one nuerotransmitter.
2. Ignores nurture
  1. Ignores that we develop pschological charictoristics through our enviroment and experiances
    1. As twins never have 100% concordance rate but identical genes, some psychological charactoristics must be down to other fcaters ither then genes.
Methodology.
1. Nuero-imaging.
  1. Weeekness
    1. Exspensive.
    2. Patient must sit still for a long time.
  2. Strenght
    1. MRI produces detailed images.
  3. Link
    1. Localisation as a technique to see which parts of the brain are active. Each part of the brain has a certain role.
  4. Study
    1. Kabsaku: Was language more strongly lateralised in males and females,Males activity is in the left side of the brain, were as femals use both simaltainiasly. this explains why males with storkes on the left side of the brain are more likely to suffer from aspasia then women with simulare problems.
  5. Description.
    1. Brain scanning techniques, including mri (Placing head in magnetic field), the particles that make the brain line up. Computure software interperates this and produces detailed brain images. FMRI show more detailed images by showing where most oxygen is, as brain cells respire the most oxygn is needed where the most active cells are it produces images of active parts of the brain.
2. Twin studies
  1. Discription
    1. Looking for concordance rates (the chance that two family members will share a given behavour expressed as a %
  2. Link to assumptions.
    1. That psycholological characteristics have a physiologicla cause.
  3. Study.
    1. McGuffin found there was a CR of 46% for identical twins with deppresion. concluded that this shows a significant relationship between gene influenece and developing depression.
  4. Strenght.
    1. Share 100% genes perfect ppts for study of genes on behaviour.
  5. Weakness.
    1. Twins share same enviroment, this could influence psychological behaviour.

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Biological approach.

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