The Biological Approach : Mental Processes And Behaviors

Psychopathology is the study of mental distress and abnormal maladaptive behaviour, there are four approaches to psychopathology, cognitive, behavioural, psychodynamic and biological. The biological model of abnormality is split into four parts which can all cause abnormal behaviour these are; Genetic, Brain injury, Neurotransmitters and Infection.

The approaches of humanistic and biological are just two of the many different approaches in the world of psychology. A few of the others are trait, cognitive, and psychoanalytic approaches, each offers a

In terms of human behaviour, psychology provides alternative perspectives, known as approaches, which give explanation to human behaviours. What makes each approach unique is that they all have their own focal points for how to explain behaviour. For example, the biological approach looks to the evolutionary processes and gene mutations/hormone levels, whilst the cognitive approach looks at how behaviour is influenced

The biological approach focuses on both the physiological and evolutionary aspects which explain human behaviour.

Another difference is what each perspective considers as the causes of behaviour. The biological approach claims that all behaviour is a result of biological functions, taking a nature based approach. For example, depression occurs due to

The biological perspective, examines biological and environmental factors that shape how we learned. This perspective does not focus on subject experiences, but objectives behaviors. Behavioral scientists are interested in how we learn from the things around us.

(AC1) Two perspectives in psychology are the behaviourist approach and the biological (also known as physiological) approach. These perspectives consist of different theories, research methods and treatments in relation to mental illness.

Biological psychology is the study of how biology affects a number of psychological processes i.e. how the mind affects the body (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner & Hood 2015). The study of the mind has had many influential figures throughout history that often use each other’s ideas as a stepping stone to further advance psychology, some of the first being Plato and Aristotle. Plato believed in nativism and theorised some skills and characteristics are innate and a person is born with them (Schacter et al, 2015). Aristotle, however, was in favour of philosophical empiricism i.e. that all knowledge is acquired through experience, yet current scientists do not consider that nativism and empiricism are entirely accurate (Schacter et al, 2015). Aristotle also believed that the brain existed to cool the blood, as during that time people were sceptical that an organ could be responsible for behaviour (Kolb, Whishaw & Teskey 2016). The next major advancement in biological psychology was the introduction of phrenology by Francis Gall, Gall’s theory suggested that all psychological capabilities had a specific place in the brain (Schacter et al, 2015). This theory later turned out to be correct, although was overshadowed by Gall’s insistence that he could state a person’s character dependant on the size of lumps and indentations on a person’s skull, which he thought would represent the size of that brain region beneath (Schacter et al, 2015). Due to this, in spite of a large following, phrenology was quickly discredited. Biologist Pierre Flourens, unhappy with Gall’s research, began removing localized areas of the brain in various animals to observe their behaviour (Schacter et al, 2015). Flourens then found that animal’s movements differed to those with intact brains. This mirrored a situation for surgeon Paul Broca with whom one of his patients had damage to the left side of

Whether it is the study of biopsychology and other fields of psychology or neuroscience, all psychologists and scientists are trying to understand the functions of the brain. The body and mind connection and how it reacts to certain behaviors or illnesses. Most all psychological functioning can be reduced to underlying brain processes. This should serve as reason alone as to why biology plays an important part in the study of psychology. Psychological factors play a role in whether a person develops a mental illness and in how well they recover from a mental illness, yet biological and genetic risk factors, or predispositions, are

(P1)The biological approach means that our behavior is the cause of biological factors. This approach looks at our genetics to construct a reason why we act the way we do and why we develop abnormal behaviors. The brain and nervous system are the biological approach and so are chemical changes in the body .This can mean chemical reactions in the brain. For instance, in eating disorders - twin studies were carried out and it was shown that if one identical twin suffered from an eating disorder then the other twin would also be more likely to suffer from a disorder as well. This did not happen with non-identical twins, suggesting that the

The biological approach states that “all thoughts, feeling & behavior ultimately have a biological cause” (Simply Psychology). This approach says that we are affected by biological factors. Biological factors are “anything which affects the function and behavior of a living organism. Internally, this factor can be a physical, physiological, chemical, neurological, or genetic condition

Psychology is made up of many perspectives, such as, behavioural, biological, cognitive, social, humanistic and finally, psychodynamic. This essay will focus on the behavioural perspective and the biological perspective. According to J Walker (2012) the behavioural perspective is based on behaviourism and is the study of observing behaviour when in certain contexts and events. The biological perspective however, explains behaviour by focusing on the function of the nervous system, genes and the brain.

The Biological Perspective: This is the study of exactly how the physical events within the physical body interact with the events in the external environment. This is expressed by our perceptions, memories, behaviors and interactions with everything around us. We can think about our heredity and genetic makeup and the influences that has on each one of us as an individual. Then think about the stress of poor health and illness and how we may express our emotions with those around us. Since we are diverse as individuals we rely on our physiological make up and the stimuli of our environment to adapt to each situation. This human biology helps us to constantly adapt and survive in an ever-changing world.

First we will look into the biological aspect of human behavior. Biological pertains to one’s body chemistry and from a psychological standpoint the chemistry of the brain. No two people have exactly the

Biological psychology, of biopsychology, is the application of the principles of biology to the study of mental processes in terms of bodily mechanisms. The view that psychological processes have biological (or physiological) correlates, is the basic assumption of the whole field of biological psychology. Biological psychology is a hopeful domain, one that has much to offer in terms of improving the quality of life of the healthy as well as those suffering from disorders. It also contributed important therapeutic data on a variety of conditions, including: Parkinson 's Disease, Alzheimer 's Disease, Clinical depression, Schizophrenia and a lot others. Humans have very complex nervous system, they use neurons and neurotransmitters to make the highest active communication network throughout the body. “most of the body’s neurons are found in the central nervous system(CNS), which consists of the brain and spinal cord” (psychology 5th edition). “Neuroscience emphasizes that the brain and nervous system are central to understanding behavior, thought, and emotion. (Van Horn, 2014; Zhao & others, 2014). Therefore, for biological psychologist all that is psychological is first physiological. All thoughts, feeling & behavior ultimately have a biological cause.” We are benefited from biological approach for diagnosing and treating human brains Ex. Schizophrenia. Scientists are also able to create medications for different types of illnesses. Besides having psychologists