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Those Who Adhere To The Biological Perspective In Psychology Emphasize?

• Sabrina Sarro
• 05.05.2023
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• 18

Contemporary Perspective Flashcards The biological perspective of psychology emphasizes the influence of biology on our behavior. This perspective has roots in associationism. Psychologists assume that our mental processes—our thoughts, fantasies, and dreams—are made possible by the nervous system.

• They point particularly to its key component, the brain.
• The cognitive perspective emphasizes the role that thoughts play in determining behavior.
• Cognitive psychologists study mental processes to understand human nature.
• They investigate the ways in which people perceive information and make mental images of the world, solve problems, and dream and daydream.

The Sociocultural Perspective Those psychologists who adhere to the sociocultural perspective study the influences of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socio-economic status on behavior and mental processes. The Biopsychosocial Perspective According to the biopsychosocial perspective, mental processes are influenced by the interaction of biological processes, psychological dispositions, and social factors.

What does the biological perspective emphasize?

There are many different ways of thinking about topics in psychology. The biological perspective is a way of looking at psychological issues by studying the physical basis for animal and human behavior. It is one of the major perspectives in psychology and involves such things as studying the brain, immune system, nervous system, and genetics.

One of the major debates in psychology has long centered on the relative contributions of nature versus nurture, Those who take up the nurture side of the debate suggest that it is the environment that plays the greatest role in shaping behavior. The biological perspective tends to stress the importance of nature.

Illustration by Brianna Gilmartin, Verywell

What is biological perspective in psychology?

What to Know About the Neuroscience/Biological Perspective – The neuroscience/biological perspective relates to the way that people act in terms of how they came to be. With this perspective, affect the way that they react to certain situations or the way that they act in different situations.

• This means that the genetics that have been passed down to that individual as a result of their parents will influence the way that they act throughout their entire life.
• On the other hand, this theory also looks at the way that the nervous system and operate to understand fully the basis under which the body continues to evolve and function.

By understanding these aspects of the body it is believed that an individual will be capable of understanding why they react the way they do but often takes away some of the freedom that many believe that they have. Under the neuroscience/biological perspective, actions are less the result of an individual choice and more the result of a genetic background.

• This makes it more difficult to change actions in a more positive light, though not impossible.
• In many instances, this perspective can be used to gain a thorough understanding of human behaviors.
• The neuroscience/biological perspective is about the way that a person is.
• Instead of believing that external factors help to shape an individual, this perspective, instead, believes that the internal aspects of an individual are far more important to their actions.

This perspective considers the external effects on the individual as being lesser and not as influential on the way they turn out. With this perspective, the care and attention that an individual is given when they are being brought up and even into their adult life will still not affect them as much as what their genetic code states.

What do biological psychologists emphasize _____?

Biological psychologists emphasize that behavior is the result.

Which perspective of psychology emphasizes the influence of biology?

The biological perspective of psychology emphasizes the influence of biology on our behavior. The Evolutionary Perspective. The evolutionary perspective focuses on the evolution of behavior and mental processes.

What does biological perspective say about personality?

The biological perspective on personality emphasizes the internal physiological and genetic factors that influence personality. It focuses on why or how personality traits manifest through biology and investigates the links between personality, DNA, and processes in the brain.

What is the biological perspective quizlet psychology?

What is the biological perspective? This field of psychology is often referred to as biopsychology or physiological psychology. way of looking at psychological topics by studying the physical basis for animal and human behavior. psychological topics by studying the physical basis for animal and human behavior.

What is an example of a biological perspective in psychology?

An example of the biological approach to psychology would be the fear response. The fear response gives way to fight, flight, or freeze behaviors. Which course of action an individual takes in the presence of a stressor relies on their biological make-up.

What is the biological domain of psychology?

The Biological Domain – Biopsychology—also known as biological psychology or psychobiology—is the application of the principles of biology to the study of mental processes and behavior. As the name suggests, biopsychology explores how our biology influences our behavior. Figure 2, Different brain-imaging techniques provide scientists with insight into different aspects of how the human brain functions. The research interests of biological psychologists span a number of domains, including but not limited to, sensory and motor systems, sleep, drug use and abuse, ingestive behavior, reproductive behavior, neurodevelopment, plasticity of the nervous system, and biological correlates of psychological disorders.

What do psychologists who favor the biological approach believe?

How much of our personality is in-born and biological, and how much is influenced by the environment and culture we are raised in? Psychologists who favor the biological approach believe that inherited predispositions as well as physiological processes can be used to explain differences in our personalities (Burger, 2008).

1. In the field of behavioral genetics, the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart —a well-known study of the genetic basis for personality—conducted research with twins from 1979 to 1999.
2. In studying 350 pairs of twins, including pairs of identical and fraternal twins reared together and apart, researchers found that identical twins, whether raised together or apart, have very similar personalities (Bouchard, 1994; Bouchard, Lykken, McGue, Segal, & Tellegen, 1990; Segal, 2012).

These findings suggest the heritability of some personality traits. Heritability refers to the proportion of difference among people that is attributed to genetics. Some of the traits that the study reported as having more than a 0.50 heritability ratio include leadership, obedience to authority, a sense of well-being, alienation, resistance to stress, and fearfulness. To what extent is our personality dictated by our genetic makeup? View this video to learn more.

What do biological psychologists study?

Biological Psychology Definition Alternative names of biopsychology include behavioral neuroscience and physiological biology. Researchers in this field examine how biology, particularly the nervous system, affects behavior, but they also go beyond that to explore how behaviors affect the brain.

Why do psychologists emphasize human biology?

Psychologists are concerned with human biology because all of the mental processes studied in psychology result from biological processes. When we use our five senses, perceive and organize sensory information in the brain, learn new information, store and recall memories,

How does biological factors influence behavior?

Our social networks, personal interactions, and relationships are determined by both our genes and the world around us. Some behaviors may have a genetic basis, but genes do not actually control behavior. Rather, our genetic makeup influences how we interact with and respond to our surroundings.

What are the biological factors of perception?

Conclusion – From the above discussion, it can be concluded that perception is the recognition and interpretation of sensory information and becoming aware of things happening around us through the various senses. Perception is mainly influenced by biological factors like physiological factors such as sense, age, and neurobehavioral challenges and psychological factors such as mood and self-concept.

There are some internal factors as well that influence perception. Those are personality, motivation and learning, and experience. Perceptions can help calm down a heated situation and allow people to take the sensory information and make it meaningful. As a limitation of perception, it is known that perception sometimes gives an incorrect explanation of sensory information.

Furthermore, these cases are known as illusions. Psychologists often use this term to refer to false perceptions. : Biological Factors Influencing Perception

How does the biological perspective view psychological disorders?

Perspectives on Psychological Disorders OpenStaxCollege By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Discuss supernatural perspectives on the origin of psychological disorders, in their historical context
• Describe modern biological and psychological perspectives on the origin of psychological disorders
• Identify which disorders generally show the highest degree of heritability
• Describe the diathesis-stress model and its importance to the study of psychopathology

Scientists and mental health professionals may adopt different perspectives in attempting to understand or explain the underlying mechanisms that contribute to the development of a psychological disorder. The perspective used in explaining a psychological disorder is extremely important, in that it will consist of explicit assumptions regarding how best to study the disorder, its etiology, and what kinds of therapies or treatments are most beneficial.

• Different perspectives provide alternate ways for how to think about the nature of psychopathology.
• For centuries, psychological disorders were viewed from a supernatural perspective: attributed to a force beyond scientific understanding.
• Those afflicted were thought to be practitioners of black magic or possessed by spirits () (Maher & Maher, 1985).

For example, convents throughout Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries reported hundreds of nuns falling into a state of frenzy in which the afflicted foamed at the mouth, screamed and convulsed, sexually propositioned priests, and confessed to having carnal relations with devils or Christ.

Although, today, these cases would suggest serious mental illness; at the time, these events were routinely explained as possession by devilish forces (Waller, 2009a). Similarly, grievous fits by young girls are believed to have precipitated the witch panic in New England late in the 17th century (Demos, 1983).

Such beliefs in supernatural causes of mental illness are still held in some societies today; for example, beliefs that supernatural forces cause mental illness are common in some cultures in modern-day Nigeria (Aghukwa, 2012). In The Extraction of the Stone of Madness, a 15th century painting by Hieronymus Bosch, a practitioner is using a tool to extract an object (the supposed “stone of madness”) from the head of an afflicted person. Dancing Mania Between the 11th and 17th centuries, a curious epidemic swept across Western Europe. Groups of people would suddenly begin to dance with wild abandon. This compulsion to dance—referred to as dancing mania —sometimes gripped thousands of people at a time ().

Historical accounts indicate that those afflicted would sometimes dance with bruised and bloody feet for days or weeks, screaming of terrible visions and begging priests and monks to save their souls (Waller, 2009b). What caused dancing mania is not known, but several explanations have been proposed, including spider venom and ergot poisoning (“Dancing Mania,” 2011).

Although the cause of dancing mania, depicted in this painting, was unclear, the behavior was attributed to supernatural forces. Historian John Waller (2009a, 2009b) has provided a comprehensive and convincing explanation of dancing mania that suggests the phenomenon was attributable to a combination of three factors: psychological distress, social contagion, and belief in supernatural forces.

1. Waller argued that various disasters of the time (such as famine, plagues, and floods) produced high levels of psychological distress that could increase the likelihood of succumbing to an involuntary trance state.
2. Waller indicated that anthropological studies and accounts of possession rituals show that people are more likely to enter a trance state if they expect it to happen, and that entranced individuals behave in a ritualistic manner, their thoughts and behavior shaped by the spiritual beliefs of their culture.

Thus, during periods of extreme physical and mental distress, all it took were a few people—believing themselves to have been afflicted with a dancing curse—to slip into a spontaneous trance and then act out the part of one who is cursed by dancing for days on end.

1. The biological perspective views psychological disorders as linked to biological phenomena, such as genetic factors, chemical imbalances, and brain abnormalities; it has gained considerable attention and acceptance in recent decades (Wyatt & Midkiff, 2006).
2. Evidence from many sources indicates that most psychological disorders have a genetic component; in fact, there is little dispute that some disorders are largely due to genetic factors.

The graph in shows heritability estimates for schizophrenia. A person’s risk of developing schizophrenia increases if a relative has schizophrenia. The closer the genetic relationship, the higher the risk. Findings such as these have led many of today’s researchers to search for specific genes and genetic mutations that contribute to mental disorders. Also, sophisticated neural imaging technology in recent decades has revealed how abnormalities in brain structure and function might be directly involved in many disorders, and advances in our understanding of neurotransmitters and hormones have yielded insights into their possible connections.

The biological perspective is currently thriving in the study of psychological disorders. Despite advances in understanding the biological basis of psychological disorders, the psychosocial perspective is still very important. This perspective emphasizes the importance of learning, stress, faulty and self-defeating thinking patterns, and environmental factors.

Perhaps the best way to think about psychological disorders, then, is to view them as originating from a combination of biological and psychological processes. Many develop not from a single cause, but from a delicate fusion between partly biological and partly psychosocial factors.

The diathesis-stress model (Zuckerman, 1999) integrates biological and psychosocial factors to predict the likelihood of a disorder. This diathesis-stress model suggests that people with an underlying predisposition for a disorder (i.e., a diathesis) are more likely than others to develop a disorder when faced with adverse environmental or psychological events (i.e., stress), such as childhood maltreatment, negative life events, trauma, and so on.

A diathesis is not always a biological vulnerability to an illness; some diatheses may be psychological (e.g., a tendency to think about life events in a pessimistic, self-defeating way). The key assumption of the diathesis-stress model is that both factors, diathesis and stress, are necessary in the development of a disorder.

Different models explore the relationship between the two factors: the level of stress needed to produce the disorder is inversely proportional to the level of diathesis. Psychopathology is very complex, involving a plethora of etiological theories and perspectives. For centuries, psychological disorders were viewed primarily from a supernatural perspective and thought to arise from divine forces or possession from spirits.

Some cultures continue to hold this supernatural belief. Today, many who study psychopathology view mental illness from a biological perspective, whereby psychological disorders are thought to result largely from faulty biological processes. Indeed, scientific advances over the last several decades have provided a better understanding of the genetic, neurological, hormonal, and biochemical bases of psychopathology.

The psychological perspective, in contrast, emphasizes the importance of psychological factors (e.g., stress and thoughts) and environmental factors in the development of psychological disorders. A contemporary, promising approach is to view disorders as originating from an integration of biological and psychosocial factors.

The diathesis-stress model suggests that people with an underlying diathesis, or vulnerability, for a psychological disorder are more likely than those without the diathesis to develop the disorder when faced with stressful events. The diathesis-stress model presumes that psychopathology results from _.

1. vulnerability and adverse experiences
2. biochemical factors
3. chemical imbalances and structural abnormalities in the brain
4. adverse childhood experiences

Dr. Anastasia believes that major depressive disorder is caused by an over-secretion of cortisol. His view on the cause of major depressive disorder reflects a _ perspective.

1. psychological
2. supernatural
3. biological
4. diathesis-stress

Why is the perspective one uses in explaining a psychological disorder important? The perspective one uses in explaining a psychological disorder consists of assumptions that will guide how to best study and understand the nature of a disorder, including its causes, and how to most effectively treat the disorder.

Which of the following is the best definition of biological psychology?

biological psychology, also called physiological psychology or behavioral neuroscience, the study of the physiological bases of behaviour. Biological psychology is concerned primarily with the relationship between psychological processes and the underlying physiological events—or, in other words, the mind-body phenomenon.

Its focus is the function of the brain and the rest of the nervous system in activities (e.g., thinking, learning, feeling, sensing, and perceiving) recognized as characteristic of humans and other animals. Biological psychology has continually been involved in studying the physical basis for the reception of internal and external stimuli by the nervous system, particularly the visual and auditory systems.

Other areas of study have included the physiological bases for motivated behaviour, emotion, learning, memory, cognition, and mental disorders, Also considered are physical factors that directly affect the nervous system, including heredity, metabolism, hormones, disease, drug ingestion, and diet.

• Theories of the relationship between body and mind date back at least to Aristotle, who conjectured that the two exist as aspects of the same entity, the mind being merely one of the body’s functions.
• In the dualism of French philosopher René Descartes, both the mind and the soul are spiritual entities existing separately from the mechanical operations of the human body,

Related to this is the psychological parallelism theory of German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Leibniz believed that mind and body are separate but that their activities directly parallel each other. In recent times behaviourists such as American psychologist John B. More From Britannica motivation: Physiological, psychological, and philosophical approaches This article was most recently revised and updated by John M. Cunningham,

What is the origin of biological perspective psychology?

Key Takeaways –

• Biological psychology – also known as biopsychology or psychobiology – is the application of the principles of biology to the study of mental processes and behaviour.
• Biological psychology as a scientific discipline emerged from a variety of scientific and philosophical traditions in the 18th and 19th centuries.
• In The Principles of Psychology (1890), William James argued that the scientific study of psychology should be grounded in an understanding of biology.
• The fields of behavioural neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and neuropsychology are all subfields of biological psychology.
• Biological psychologists are interested in measuring biological, physiological, or genetic variables in an attempt to relate them to psychological or behavioural variables.

What are the five major perspectives of biological psychology?

There are various approaches in contemporary psychology, An approach is a perspective (i.e., view) that involves certain assumptions (i.e., beliefs) about human behavior: the way they function, which aspects of them are worthy of study and what research methods are appropriate for undertaking this study.

There may be several different theories within an approach, but they all share these common assumptions. The five major perspectives in psychology are biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive and humanistic. You may wonder why there are so many different psychological approaches and whether one approach is correct and another wrong.

Most psychologists would agree that no one approach is correct, although in the past, in the early days of psychology, the behaviorist would have said their perspective was the only truly scientific one. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses, and brings something different to our understanding of human behavior.

What is biological and cognitive perspective psychology?

From Structuralism to Functionalism – As structuralism struggled to survive the scrutiny of the scientific method, new approaches to studying the mind were sought. One important alternative was functionalism, founded by William James in the late 19th century, described and discussed in his two-volume publication The Principles of Psychology (1890) (see Chapter 1.2 for details).

• Built on structuralism’s concern for the anatomy of the mind, functionalism led to greater concern about the functions of the mind, and later on to behaviourism.
• One of James’s students, James Angell, captured the functionalist perspective in relation to a discussion of free will in his 1906 text Psychology: An Introductory Study of the Structure and Function of Human Consciousness : Inasmuch as consciousness is a systematising, unifying activity, we find that with increasing maturity our impulses are commonly coordinated with one another more and more perfectly.

We thus come to acquire definite and reliable habits of action. Our wills become formed. Such fixation of modes of willing constitutes character. The really good man is not obliged to hesitate about stealing. His moral habits all impel him immediately and irrepressibly away from such actions.

• If he does hesitate, it is in order to be sure that the suggested act is stealing, not because his character is unstable.
• From one point of view the development of character is never complete, because experience is constantly presenting new aspects of life to us, and in consequence of this fact we are always engaged in slight reconstructions of our modes of conduct and our attitude toward life.

But in a practical common-sense way most of our important habits of reaction become fixed at a fairly early and definite time in life. Functionalism considers mental life and behaviour in terms of active adaptation to the person’s environment. As such, it provides the general basis for developing psychological theories not readily testable by controlled experiments such as applied psychology.

• William James’s functionalist approach to psychology was less concerned with the composition of the mind than with examining the ways in which the mind adapts to changing situations and environments.
• In functionalism, the brain is believed to have evolved for the purpose of bettering the survival of its carrier by acting as an information processor,

In processing information the brain is considered to execute functions similar to those executed by a computer and much like what is shown in Figure 2.3 below of a complex adaptive system. Figure 2.3 Complex Adaptive System. Behaviour is influenced by information gathered from a changing external environment. The functionalists retained an emphasis on conscious experience. John Dewey, George Herbert Mead, Harvey A. Carr, and especially James Angell were the additional proponents of functionalism at the University of Chicago.

1. Another group at Columbia University, including James McKeen Cattell, Edward L.
2. Thorndike, and Robert S.
3. Woodworth, shared a functionalist perspective.
4. Biological psychology is also considered reductionist,
5. For the reductionist, the simple is the source of the complex,
6. In other words, to explain a complex phenomenon (like human behaviour) a person needs to reduce it to its elements.

In contrast, for the holist, the whole is more than the sum of the parts, Explanations of a behaviour at its simplest level can be deemed reductionist. The experimental and laboratory approach in various areas of psychology (e.g., behaviourist, biological, cognitive) reflects a reductionist position.

1. This approach inevitably must reduce a complex behaviour to a simple set of variables that offer the possibility of identifying a cause and an effect (i.e., the biological approach suggests that psychological problems can be treated like a disease and are therefore often treatable with drugs).
2. The brain and its functions (Figure 2.4) garnered great interest from the biological psychologists and continue to be a focus for psychologists today.

Cognitive psychologists rely on the functionalist insights in discussing how affect, or emotion, and environment or events interact and result in specific perceptions, Biological psychologists study the human brain in terms of specialized parts, or systems, and their exquisitely complex relationships.

1. Studies have shown neurogenesis in the hippocampus (Gage, 2003).
2. In this respect, the human brain is not a static mass of nervous tissue.
3. As well, it has been found that influential environmental factors operate throughout the life span.
4. Among the most negative factors, traumatic injury and drugs can lead to serious destruction.

In contrast, a healthy diet, regular programs of exercise, and challenging mental activities can offer long-term, positive impacts on the brain and psychological development (Kolb, Gibb, & Robinson, 2003). Figure 2.4 Functions of the Brain. Different parts of the brain are responsible for different things. The brain comprises four lobes:

1. Frontal lobe: also known as the motor cortex, this portion of the brain is involved in motor skills, higher level cognition, and expressive language,
2. Occipital lobe: also known as the visual cortex, this portion of the brain is involved in interpreting visual stimuli and information,
3. Parietal lobe: also known as the somatosensory cortex, this portion of the brain is involved in the processing of other tactile sensory information such as pressure, touch, and pain.
4. Temporal lobe: also known as the auditory cortex, this portion of the brain is involved in the interpretation of the sounds and language we hear,

Another important part of the nervous system is the peripheral nervous system, which is divided into two parts:

1. The somatic nervous system, which controls the actions of skeletal muscles,
2. The autonomic nervous system, which regulates automatic processes such as heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure, The autonomic nervous system, in turn has two parts:
   1. The sympathetic nervous system, which controls the fight-or-flight response, a reflex that prepares the body to respond to danger in the environment,
   2. The parasympathetic nervous system, which works to bring the body back to its normal state after a fight-or-flight response.

What is the biological vs psychodynamic perspective?

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Created by: Created on: 07-05-14 19:00

	REDUCIONIST: Biological approach tries to understand behaviour in terms of biological responses but ignores psychological and social factors. Psychodynamic approach focuses on childhood and unconscious, ignores current events and conscious thought processes. DETERMINISTIC: Biological approach believes if our personality and behaviour is a consequence of our genetics and physiology suggests we have no free will. Psychodynamic approach suggests that personality is fully developed by age 6. It is difficult or impossible to change-biological determinism (no free will)	NATURE/NURTURE: Biological approach only takes into account the nature part of the debate as it believes that we are a product of our genes, brain structure, neurotransmitter and hormone levels. Whereas, Psychodynamic approach is interactionist as it takes both nature and nurture into account. Believes that id is innate (nature) and early childhood experiences (nurture) is important for ego and super ego. SCIENTIFIC/NON-SCIENTIFIC: Biological approach is scientific and variables can be measured objectively and casual relationships can be found (lab exp.) theories are falsifiable. However, Psychodynamic approach is non-scientific as the unconscious mind is inaccessible and cannot be directly tested.
	Biological and Psychodynamic both have many similarities and differences.

Copyright Get Revising 2023 all rights reserved. Get Revising is one of the trading names of The Student Room Group Ltd. Register Number: 04666380 (England and Wales), VAT No.806 8067 22 Registered office: International House, Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XE : Compare and Contrast the Biological and the Psychodynamic approaches

What is biological perspective in gender psychology?

The biological theory argues that biological attributes such as genes and hormones that determine the sexuality of individuals are responsible for the different behaviour and differences among males and females in our society. The theory’s proposition is that biological sex creates gendered behaviour.

What is biological vs behavioral 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.