Perspectives in Psychology Lecturer: Elspeth Cordell

Outcomes 1.Must (OC1.1) Identify and explain the assumptions made by the biological approach in psychology Look at examples such as Love to help with this 1.Should (OC 1.1) Analyse the strengths by using examples. 2.Could (OC1.2) Evaluate the weaknesses of the biological approach by using other schools of thought

Last lesson We looked at what Psychology is What human behaviour is Can you give examples?

The biological school of thought: the key ideas 3 basic key ideas to this school of thought: You will need to discuss these in your assignment Part 1- stating them with some supportive evidence Part 2- comparing and contrasting them against the key ideas in behaviourism and psychodynamic

Key idea one Human behaviour can be explained by looking at biological things – Mostly the brain, but other areas like bodily functions, hormones, genetics, and evolution Damage to the biology affects human behaviour

Factors that can influence behaviour Infection Mutation I.E amygdala- leads to psychopathic tendencies (Yang and Raine, 2009) Nutrition Disease Trauma Environmental factors (includes habits)

The Brain and supporting handout

Brain Trauma: Phineas Gage: 58Q 58Q

So… Love… supporting handout pages 5-8 Love is biological.. For example (Pincott (2008) adrenaline (sweaty palms), pupils dilate, Amygdala (the centre of the brain, it processes emotion)blazes with activity. Dopamine (feel good hormone associated with passion and addiction) is produced Oxytocin – hormone related to bonding. Therefore the human behaviour of love is biological!

More evidence: The human behaviour of Violence: serial killers and murderers Corpus Colossum - Raine et al 2001 Limbic System – Yang and Raine 2009 Serial Killer- Albert Fish

More evidence: Guess the illness! Mrs Childs

Conclusion Mrs Childs is severely constipated, she is offered medication and within a week she is back to normal Bio psychologists recognise that biological functioning can significantly influence behaviours, which allows for a biological understanding of Mrs Child’s behaviour of confusion and agitation.

Guess the illness 2 Miss Smith

Miss smith suffers with a autoimmune disease: Hypothyroidism She has now begun medication and will be tested every 6 months to a year Q: how will this affect her wellbeing?

Genes: Gottesman and Shields (1966) Schizophrenia in twins 40 sets of twins 48% of MZ twins (Identical) Only 17% of DZ twins (fraternal) Identical twins had much higher rate of illness than fraternal. Schizophrenia is partly biological Why were twins used? Any issues with this study?

More evidence: Nutrition Have a think in your groups about what you already know about the link of certain foods with behaviour

Further reading : Some additives cause illness No-sons-allergic-bread-Why-experts-think-unruly-youngsters- simply-need-change-diet.html No-sons-allergic-bread-Why-experts-think-unruly-youngsters- simply-need-change-diet.html However : Link of Sugar and hyperactivity? Newspaper article: Webmd hyperactivity-myth

So.. We know that the human behaviour such as love and violence is biological But is it completely biological….

2 In theory we can explain all behaviour using biological causes, Unwanted behaviour could be modified or removed using biological treatments

Surgeries and medicines for mental illnesses Anti depressants have been found to limit symptoms of mental illness thus altering/causing human behaviour

3- therefore we are animals Experimental research conducted using animals can inform us about human behaviour and biological influences, because we share a lot of similar biological makeup

Role of serotonin