Evaluate the biological approach (Drains)

Determinism or free will?

• Determinism, the biological approach does not acknowledge the role that free will plays in human behaviour.

• •In the development of the biological approach, many biopsychologists such as Trivers have displayed their view that all human behaviour is determined by physical features of the individual. All behaviour stems from biological systems such as the lobes of the brain (e.g. issues with vision stem from the occipital lobe), neurotransmitters (e.g. depression stems from low levels of serotonin) and genetics (e.g. genes have been found for criminality and stress).

• A strength is that it allows treatments to be developed as it is easier to establish cause and effect, leading to therapies such as drug therapy.

• A weakness is that being deterministic means that the biological approach does not support the idea that humans have free will and that therefore they argue that we are not responsible for our actions which could lead to complications and issues with situations such as the legal system and criminal responsibility.

Reductionist or holistic?

• Reductionist, The biological approach takes a reductionist view of human behaviour; it believes that all behaviour can be reduced down to biology and physical factors alone.

• For example, Soomro et al (2008) reviewed 17 pieces of research where the effects of SSRIs on patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) were recorded. They discovered that patients who were given the SSRIs found them to be much more effective than patients who were given a placebo. This was evidenced by the reduced levels of OCD in the patients who took the SSRIs.

• A strength of reductionism is that it means we can isolate a factor and research it or treat problems by focusing on it. Which can lead to things like drug therapy.

• However, a weakness is that it may offer an explanation that is perhaps too simplistic. For example, with Adrian Raine’s study its unrealistic and simplistic to state that murder is only due to brain abnormalities when other varying factors also play a role in murder.

Applied successfully?

• The biological approach has been applied across a range of aspects of society.

• For example, the biological approach has been successful in managing the effects of life-changing mental illnesses for which there is no known cure, such as schizophrenia. Applications of this kind not only allow individuals to lead a relatively ‘normal’ life through therapies such as drug therapy, but it also allows them to function more independently, maintain relationships, and participate in education or employment, reducing the burden on families and healthcare services. This demonstrates that the biological approach has practical value in real-world settings.

• A strength of the biological approach is that it has high practical application. Biological treatments such as antipsychotic drugs are widely used in mental health services and have been shown to reduce symptoms like hallucinations and delusions. This improves patients’ quality of life and shows the approach can be applied successfully outside the laboratory, increasing its usefulness and credibility.

• A weakness of the biological approach is that its applications often focus on symptom management rather than underlying causes. For example, drug therapies for schizophrenia do not cure the disorder and can cause serious side effects, meaning individuals may become dependent on medication long-term. This suggests that although the biological approach has practical applications, these may be limited and not always address psychological or social factors involved in mental illness.

Idiographic or nomothetic?

• Nomothetic, The biological approach is nomothetic in its approach. As the approach uses the scientific method to carry out research, it is aiming to develop theories that can be applied as general laws of human behaviour.

• The biological approach cannot be considered to be idiographic. It does not place a strong emphasis on the individual’s personal sense of health and wellbeing. For example, in therapies like drug treatment, the individual is encouraged to allow the doctor to take control of their treatment. This treatment will be used for many individuals with very little variation in the way drug is prescribed from one patient to the next (therapy is never unique to the individual).

• A strength of being nomothetic is that is considered to be very scientific as it is easy to replicate and you can generalise to everyone. Meaning that treatments such as drug therapy that are developed can be widely applied to people with the same illness/ symptoms.

• A weakness however, of being nomothetic is that it can offer an impersonal and superficial appreciation of the behaviour, ignoring individual differences. So it overlooks the uniqueness of individuals which disservices people suffering with mental illnesses as they should be provided with tailored therapies and treatments personal to them instead of generalised drugs.

Nature, nurture or interactionism?

• One feature of the biological approach is that it only considers nature when explaining behaviour.

• This is demonstrated by the use of therapies such as drug therapy or psychosurgery, where individuals are given physical, rather than psychological, treatments in order to improve their mental health.

• A strength is that drug therapy is very effective for relieving the symptoms of mental illness, so if the approach uses successful and scientific therapies that target biology (hence the nature of the individual), then psychology can fulfil its aim of curing or managing mental illness so that people can live a more 'normal' life.

• A weakness is that there is evidence from other therapies to suggest that mental illness stems from psychological, not physical, issues. For example, Beck stated that 90% of depressed people were cured of their depression by using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This suggests that nurture/the environment can cause mental illness so if the biological approach ignores nurture and only uses a nature approach in its therapy, treatment will be unsuccessful in the long term.

Scientific or unscientific?

• A key aspect of the biological approach is its aim to use the scientific method to investigate behaviour. Biological psychologists create hypotheses, use objective research methods and collect quantitative data to investigate their ideas.

• An example of this scientific approach can be seen in the work of Raine et al (1997) who made observations on the differences between the brains of murderers who were pleading ‘Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity’ and non-murderers. Raine et al used PET scans, a radioactive injection tracer and a continuous performance task, as well as controlling a number of other variables such as matching the participants for any health issues (such as schizophrenia) and all of the participants being medication free so as not to affect brain biochemistry.

• This study shows just how scientific the biological approach is. Using such controlled methods allows for objectivity and replication to ensure reliability of results. It also makes psychology a more trusted discipline because scientific evidence can be provided to back up the theories made, which is a strength. Additional strengths are that scientific studies are more likely to get increased funding for the research and be adopted more widely in society.

• However a weakness of being scientific is that due to ethical restrictions, some research cannot be carried out in a ‘scientific way’ limiting what research can and can’t be done.