1. Access Psychology Tutor: Hannah Butler hbutler@stvincent.co.uk

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3. What will we learn today? The Biological approach to Psychology Nature versus nurture Brain structure and functions

4. The Biological approach to Psychology

5. The biological perspective is a way of looking at psychological topics by studying the physical basis for animal and human behaviour. It is one of the major perspectives in psychology, and involves such things as studying the immune system, nervous system and genetics. This field of psychology is often referred to as biopsychology or physiological psychology.

6. The biological perspective is relevant to the study of psychology in three ways: 1. Comparative method: different species of animal can be studied and compared. This can help in the search to understand human behaviour.

7. 2. Physiology: how the nervous system and hormones work, how the brain functions, how changes in structure and/or function can affect behaviour. For example, we could ask how prescribed drugs to treat depression affect behaviour through their interaction with the nervous system.

8. 3. Investigation of inheritance: what an animal inherits from its parents, mechanisms of inheritance (genetics). For example, we might want to know whether high intelligence is inherited from one generation to the next. Each of these biological aspects, the comparative, the physiological and the genetic, can help explain human behaviour.

9. Basic assumptions Psychology should be seen as a science, to be studied in a scientific manner (usually in a laboratory). Behaviour can be largely explained in terms of biology (e.g. genes/hormones). Human genes have evolved over millions of years to adapt behaviour to the environment. Therefore, most behaviour will have an adaptive / evolutionary purpose.

10. Nature versus nurture This debate is about how much a person’s life is determined by their inherited genetics (their 'nature') and how much is determined by the environment they grow up in ('nurture'). The nature versus nurture debate is one of the oldest issues in psychology.

11. Nurture is the effect the people in your life had on you growing up. An example would be the values your parents taught you. Nature is the genetics you received, like eye colour.

12. Read ‘nature versus nurture handout’ Highlight key information Complete ‘nature versus nurture worksheet’

13. What do you think??? For example, when a person achieves tremendous academic success, did they do so because they are genetically predisposed to be successful or is it a result of an enriched environment? What about homosexuality? What about serial killers?

14. Brain structure and functions Class reading

17. Complete the ‘brain structure and functions’ work sheet

18. Homework Research and summarise the following studies: Kaplan & Woodside (1987) Strober & Katz (1987 Askevold & Heiberg Hollander et al (1984)