Devon Klingman, Ashley Knapp, Alex Touch, Taylor Roney, Megan Disney, Kyra Lukens, Hayley Powers, Lauren Saultz
Period 6
Biological View & Factors of Psychology – Write Up
1. Assumptions
a. An assumption of the biological view of psychology is that genetics and brain make up determine
behavior.
i. For example, if there is someone with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, then his or her
offspring will are at risk of being diagnosed with or having schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
b. Another assumption is that the hormones coordinate with certain emotions or thoughts, and contribute
to cognition and acquisition of knowledge and skills.
i. For example, Oxytocin is often referred to as the “Love Hormone” because it is normally
released when the person feels trust.
c. Biological psychologists assume that we are products of nature (genetics) and not nurture
(environment). Psychologists assume that our actions, thoughts, and emotions are all products of our
genes, hormones, and brain structure.
2. Studies
a. Clive Wearing
i. Clive Wearing was a professional musician who contracted Herpes simplex in 1985. For most
people herpes simplex usually means getting a cold sore but for some, like Clive Wearing, the
virus spread to his central nervous system. He developed permanent amnesia causing his
memory to last only between 7 to 30 seconds. He has very few memories from before he
contracted the virus like: his wife Deborah, his two kids from his previous marriage that he
cannot remember the name of, and how to play the piano. Although, as soon as he finishes
playing a song he forgets he did and starts spasmodically shaking because the nerves in his brain
are trying to send signals to his frontal lobe, which no longer works because of the infection.
This case study supports the biological view of psychology because it proved to psychologists
that there were multiple forms of memory storage and even if one or multiple were to be
damaged they could still function somewhat; but if they were destroyed then that part of the
brain could no longer store any memory. It also proved that damage to the frontal lobe effects
memory.
b. January Schofield- Childhood Onset Schizophrenia
i. Early in Jani’s life, around 6 years old, her parents began to notice unusual behavior in the way
she interacted and behaved. Such as violent outbursts and wanting to cause harm towards her
newborn brother; this behavior was later diagnosed to be Childhood Onset Schizophrenia, or
COS. There has found to be a thinner cortical thickness found in the few cases of COS. Cortical
thickness loss in COS appears to localize with age to prefrontal and temporal regions of the
brain. Researching this topic is helpful for the development of medications and treatment of
COS. At the National Institute of Mental Health, children are sought out all over the nation for
trials because of the importance of understanding the treatment, diagnosis, and genetic basis
for this disorder. The Institute is interested in seeing children who are responders as well as
non-responders to current treatments. This supports the biological view of psychology by
proving that damage to cortical regions in the temporal and prefrontal lobe of the brain can
contribute to behavioral disorders.
c. Michael Gazzaniga Split Brain Study
i. A split brain patient in one of Gazzaniga’s psychological studies was named Joe. He had the
bonds between the two halves of his brain, the corpus callosum, severed in order to prevent
epileptic episodes. This also means that one half of his brain was unable to send information to
the other, resulting in “two” brains. To test this, Gazzaniga had Joe sit with his hands covered
and one hand had the job of drawing an object, while another hand had the job of drawing a
different object. In a human who has the transfer of information from one side to the other, the
two shapes come out somewhat similar. For Joe, his hands are working independently meaning
that he is able to successfully draw two separate objects at the same time. In another test, a
word was shown to only one side of the brain and Joe was able to report back what it was.
When the word was shown to the left side of his brain Joe was unable to say what the word was
but when he was given a notepad to draw it, his brain was able to draw out what the word was.
This was to show that each side of the brain has certain jobs and when the connection is
severed, there is no way to put two things together. Doctors conducted a surgery that severed
the corpus callosum in an attempt to prevent seizures due to epilepsy. In a sense this man now
lives with two brains and Gazzaniga wanted to study a brain that was unable to exchange
information from one half to the other. This supports the biological lens of psychology because
it is an example of how the brain works together to develop thought and language.
3. Strengths
a. Biological psychology is based on quantitative data rather than qualitative data. Through the eyes of
“hard sciences” this makes the data more relevant, as well as more reliable. This prevents researcher
bias and makes the data strong and reliable without the need to use triangulation.
b. Biological experiments have the potential to be studied in depth and replicated with the right resources.
This aids in proving many theories by having a strong backbone of data.
i. For example, by studying a case study of a man with a damaged frontal lobe, researchers can
research people with undamaged frontal lobes to narrow down the differences and effects.
c. The ability to experiment and have concrete data allows for biological psychological theories to be
generalized to the public or a specialized population.
4. Limitations
a. One limitation of the biological view of psychology is the fact that it doesn’t account for culture and
environment of humans and animals. Biological psychology bases the way a person behaves and
interacts strictly on their genetic structure and their brain. There is little acknowledgment that the way a
person is raised greatly affects their personality. Also, in our society, people are affected by
surroundings that influence personality and change us in ways that are not innate components of our
biology.
b. Another limitation of biological psychology is that the case studies that support biological components
of psychology are very hard to replicate. This is because the case studies are based off of someone’s
biological or genetic condition and in order to replicate that you would need to find someone with the
exact same biological condition. This is limiting because in order to have sufficient evidence you need to
be able to represent a larger population through replication.
c. The biological view of psychology is extremely limited in terms of ethics. Biological psychology runs into
ethical roadblocks mainly because most of the people with behavioral or neurological disabilities cannot
consent themselves to extensive research tests and surgery. Usually, someone else will consent for
them or they will attempt to consent for themselves. Also, in terms of debriefing, psychologists cannot
necessarily debrief disabled subjects because some subjects may not be comprehensive.
5. Applications
a. Learning about the biological systems of the body can help doctors and psychologists develop theories
about how genetics and the nervous system play a part in behavior, emotions, and psychological
disorders
i. Psychologists used case studies involving memory to determine that memory takes place in the
frontal lobe and has long and short term storage areas.
b. Studies about the biological system can also apply to help with early diagnosis of mental diseases or
disorders.
i. For example, those with uncontrollable bursts of anger may have bipolar disorder, which is
caused by unbalanced neurotransmitters like adrenaline and dopamine.
c. Medicating disorders is very applicable to the biological study of psychology. By understanding how
chemicals and parts of the brain influence behavior and functionality of humans, medicine has been
developed to treat certain disorders.
i. Those with depression suffer from a lack of dopamine and serotonin and can take medications
that enhance these neurotransmitters and allow them to live a functional life.
Cognitive Analysis and Processes
Mikaela Clemons, Paloma Perea, Mateo Trujillo, Peter Rule, Christine Pracht, Emma Reece, Patrick Jones
Period 6 HL Psychology
Assumptions
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The memory models are correct
Everyone’s mind works the same or very similar like a computer
All behavior is reduced to simple cognitive processes (thinking and memory)
Cognitive psychology can be apply to child development
Psychologists and Studies
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Yochelson and Samenow (1976) looked at how criminals think and argued that criminal behavior is a
result of cognitive distortions, which are errors in thinking
British psychologist Frederic Bartlett coined the term schema, defined as a mental representation of
knowledge. Bartlett studied how cultural schemas influence retrieving memories
Studied by Milner and Scoville (1957), HM is one of the most famous case studies of amnesia. Suffering
from epileptic seizures since he was 9 years old, the doctors decided to remove parts of his temporal lobe,
including the hippocampus, in an attempt to stop the seizures. After the surgery, HM could retrieve past
memories, but could not form new memories.
Strengths
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Gives understanding to how memories are made
Theories are applied to use in cognitive therapies, including Rational Emotive Therapy
The correlation of emotions to behavior were studied and applied to cognitive analysis
Limitations
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Biological processes are neither explained nor well-connected
Reduces behavior down to individual processes, but humans have processes working together
Models do to take everything into consideration, instead forming “shortcuts”
Applications
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Models allow an understanding of how memory works
Defines how sensory and memory relate
Understand why we think what we think
How eye witness testimonies can be affected and what causes changes or confusion
Further the study of the brain with MRI
Jenna Hartley
Zoe Jennings
Angel Gonzalez
Karlye Enkler
Suzanne Goodale
Bella Farrell
Behaviorism
1. Assumptions:
a. Biological and Environment
b. Behavioral relations are observable and measureable
c. There is no mind/body dualism-it is behavioral.
2. Psychologists/Studies
a. Pavlov
i. Drooling Dogs
b. Watson
i. Little Albert
c. Skinner
i. Superstitious pigeon
d. Genie
3. Strengths
a. Based on observations
b. Easy to quantify and collect data
c. Effective therapeutic techniques
4. Limits
a. One Dimensions
b. Superficial
c. Doesn’t account of other types of learning (i.e. reinforcement and punishment)
5. Applications
a. Have allowed for treatments for mental illness
b. Helps autistic/learning disables children
c. Extinction-learning more=remembering less
d. Provides exploration for historical behaviors