Applied psychology biological approach

Biological approach

State the 2 assumptions for the biological approach

Behavior is influenced by biology

Behavior is a product of natural selection and evolution

What are personality traits?

Combination of characteristics and qualities that form a person’s character

Define introversion and extroversion

Introversion - Shy people that avoid new experiences that have overactive nervous systems

Extraversion - Social and outgoing people that have underactive nervous systems

What are genes?

A unit of inheritance that consist of DNA which tells your body what proteins to make

What is a genotype?

An individual’s set of genes

What is a phenotype?

How genes are expressed

What is the SRY gene?

Gene that determines the sex of an embryo

Define neuroplasticity

The brains ability to change and reorganise itself via experience

Define lateralisation

The idea that 2 halves of the brain are functionally different

What is localisation of function

The idea that certain locations of the brain have different functions

What are neurotransmitters?

Chemicals that allow communication between nerve cells

What is neurochemistry

A topic about the substances of the nervous system and neurochemicals that affect the function of the brain

What are the 2 main neurotransmitter and what are they linked to?

Dopamine- involved in reward, motivation, memory, and attention. Large amounts of dopamine released causes feelings of pleasure and reward. High dopamine is linked to schizophrenia

Serotonin - dampens and calms brain activity which stabilises mood. Depression is connected to low serotonin levels

How are mental illnesses like depression treated

People can be prescribed with certain medication that affects the production of neurotransmitters. Antidepressants work by increasing serotonin in the synapses between neurons

What are hormones

Chemical substances that affect target organs

What are the 2 main stress hormones?

Cortisol - increases sugars in the blood stream, enhances brain use of glucose, and increases availability of substances that repair tissues

Adrenaline - increases heart rate, blood pressure, and boosts energy supplies

What is the FFF response

The fff stands for freeze flight or fight response which activates when encountering a perceived threat

What are all the sex differences in brain structure

Brain volume is greater in men

Women have stronger connection between brain hemispheres

Cortex is thicker in women

Thalamus is bigger in women

What are the 4 cortexes of the brain and what are they responsible for?

Motor - located in frontal lobe responsible for voluntary movements by sending signals do different muscles

Pre frontal - responsible for analysing acoustic information

Visual - responsible for processing visual information

Somatosensory - receives sensory info from the skin to produce sensations of pain, pressure, etc

Define the environment of evolutionary adaptation

The habitat in which a species evolved its most recent adaptations

What is genome lag

Environmental change occurs too quickly for our genes to adapt properly

What is sexual selection

Attributes that increase reproductive success are more likely to be passed on and may become exaggerated over succeeding generation of offspring

What is survival of the fittest

Natural selection selects the genes giving rise to the characteristics that promote survival and reproduction so they are retained in the population