Eduqas A Level Psychology Biological Approach Exam Questions

About Eduqas A Level Psychology Biological Approach

The biological approach is the first of the five approaches in Component 1, Psychology: Past to Present. You learn its three assumptions and apply them to explain behaviour, study one therapy (drug therapy or psychosurgery), and analyse the classic study by Raine, Buchsbaum and LaCasse (1997) on PET scans of murderers. The approach also carries the contemporary debate on the ethics of neuroscience. Examiners test whether you can describe the study's procedure and findings precisely, evaluate its methodology, ethics and social implications, and compare the biological approach with the other four. It links forward to biological explanations in Component 3.

What you need to know

• Evolutionary influences Behaviour that helped our ancestors survive and reproduce has been passed on through natural selection, so many behaviours (such as fear of snakes or mate preferences) are seen as adaptive.
• Localisation of brain function Specific areas of the brain carry out specific functions, for example Broca's area (speech production) and Wernicke's area (language comprehension). Damage to an area produces predictable deficits.
• Neurotransmitters Chemical messengers such as dopamine and serotonin carry signals across the synapse. Too much or too little of a neurotransmitter is linked to behaviour, for example low serotonin with depression.
• Raine, Buchsbaum and LaCasse (1997) 41 murderers pleading not guilty by reason of insanity were matched on age and sex with 41 controls and given a PET scan while doing a continuous performance task. The murderers showed lower glucose metabolism in the prefrontal cortex, superior parietal gyrus, left angular gyrus and corpus callosum, and abnormal asymmetries in the amygdala, thalamus and medial temporal lobe.
• Drug therapy or psychosurgery Drug therapy alters neurotransmitter levels, for example SSRIs block the reuptake of serotonin so more stays in the synapse. Psychosurgery destroys or disconnects brain tissue, from early prefrontal lobotomies to modern, precise procedures such as cingulotomy for severe OCD; evaluate effectiveness, side effects and consent.
• The ethics of neuroscience Brain scanning and drugs raise questions about using scans as evidence in court or for lie detection, privacy of brain data, incidental findings, cognitive enhancement drugs and whether brain differences reduce personal responsibility.

Common mistakes in Biological Approach

• Saying Raine et al. proved that brain damage causes murder. The study is correlational in nature and the authors stressed that brain dysfunction may predispose someone to violence, not determine it.
• Describing the murderers as convicted of murder. They had been charged with murder or manslaughter and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, so they are not a typical offender sample.
• Writing that the murderers had less activity everywhere in the brain. There were no differences in some areas, such as the caudate and cerebellum, and some areas (such as the right amygdala) showed higher activity.
• Evaluating drug therapy only with 'it has side effects'. Name a drug, explain how it works at the synapse, and weigh effectiveness, relapse when stopped, and ethics.
• Writing the debate as a list of uses of brain scans. You must explore both sides, for example the value of scans as evidence against the risk of over-interpreting them in court.

Try three Biological Approach exam-style questions