Biological Approach In Psychology Essay

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The biological approach within psychology aims to explain human interactions in terms of chemical processes that occur within the body, for example, the key features addressed are: interactions between different areas of the brain, hormone secretion and the role of genetics. On the other hand, the psychoanalytical approach proposed by Sigmund Freud highlights the importance of the unconscious mind and its influence on human behaviour – particularly that which is pathological.
Rene Descartes was one of the first philosophers and mathematicians to address a distinction between the mind and the body, stating how the body is a ‘machine.’ Moreover, as a dualist, he believed that the psyche is independent of the body and that it exists in the pineal …show more content…

All biological explanations of behaviour state that behaviour is determined by an individual’s genetic make-up and that certain skills are hard wired into the brain at birth. For example, Gottesman (1991) investigated the role of genetics in the development of schizophrenia within families and found that the closer the degree of genetic relatedness, the greater the risk of that individual developing schizophrenia. Moreover, it was found that children with two schizophrenic parents have a concordance rate of 46%, in comparison to children with only one schizophrenic parent having a concordance rate of 13%. Therefore, this demonstrates the important role of genetics – a core assumption addressed by the biological approach. However, the psychoanalytical approach differs, as it doesn’t focus on genetics or biology determining behaviour, but rather nurture and early parent-child relationships. For example, in the case of Little Hans, he displaced his fear of being bitten by a horse as a sign that his mother would leave him and the fear of a horse falling down, as his unconscious desire to see his father dead - such events lead him to feel anxiety, due to his irrational phobia (Freud, 1909). Therefore, this demonstrates the difference between the biological approach, which focuses on nature and the psychoanalytical approach which focuses on

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