Psychology The Behaviourist Approach And The Biological

An Introduction To Psychology Part 1 (AC1) Two perspectives in psychology are the behaviourist approach and the biological (also known as physiological) approach. These perspectives consist of different theories, research methods and treatments in relation to mental illness. The behaviourist approach believes that people, as well as animals, are controlled by their surrounding environment which has a direct impact upon their behaviour and whether they would suffer from mental illness (McLeod, S. 2007). Whereas the biological approach views genes, chromosomes and the nervous system as contributing factors to mental health and the way people behave, this theory believes that people have inherited traits of mental illness which may have adapted through evolution. These perspectives argue whether nature (biological) or nurture (behaviourist) have an influence over life and life decisions which has caused numerous ongoing debates (McLeod, S. 2007). Between the 1920s and the 1950s the behaviourist approach was often primarily used. Behaviourists thought that psychology should be viewed as scientific, therefore theories within the approach consisted of controlled observations and measurements of behaviour which resulted in quantitative data, sometimes through the process of experiments. Within this perspective there is no room for free will, as all behaviour and thoughts are determined by the environment (Don, K. 2015), this is also the case from the biological aspect as theyShow MoreRelatedThe, Biological And Humanistic Approaches And Will Compare And Contrast Assumptions On Human Behavior1347 Words   |  6 PagesIn psychology there are many different approaches to understanding the complexity of human behaviour, all of which have different methods of testing what factors can influence behaviour, varying from scientific to pure assumption in an attempt to understand human behaviour. 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