Biological & Cognitive Approaches revision.

What do you need to know for the exam?

Create a mind map 5 mins As quick as you can, write everything you can remember about the biological and cognitive approach Don’t include biopsychology (you will do this next week)

Distinguish between the terms genotype and phenotype (3 marks) The genotype is a person’s genetic make-up and the phenotype is the actual expression of the genes of a person. The difference is that the genotype is what we inherit and the phenotype is what develops from that genotype as a result of environmental influences.

Q: What is meant by the term evolution? (2 marks) Evolution refers to the way in which behavioural and physical changes to a species occur – some changes help the organism adapt to its environment and through natural selection, adaptive characteristics are passed on top future generations while maladaptive ones die out.

Explain two limitations of the biological approach (4 marks) One limitation is that it is reductionist as it tries to reduce all aspects of human behaviour down to physical processes and the activity of neurons. Another limitation is that it under-estimates the role of environmental factors on many behaviours such as aggression which SLT sees as being learned through imitation, rather than due to hormones such as testosterone. Make sure you elaborate on these!!

Give an example of one behaviour and suggest how this behaviour can be explained in terms of evolutionary processes (2 marks) ‘Aggression is one behaviour that can be explained through evolution. Animals defend their territory by using aggression which helps them to survive. In a similar way, it is suggested that humans are territorial and defend their territory (such as when someone parks outside their house) with violence’

PlaN… In Pairs “Outline and evaluate the biological approach in psychology” (12/16) “Outline and evaluate the cognitive approach in psychology” (12/16) Remember: you are explaining how each approach explains human behaviour, keep linking it back to this.