Unit 8, Psychological Perspectives – P1,M1, Psychological Perspectives Kieran Richards
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Psychological Perspectives
The aim of this assignment is to explain about the different perspectives in psychology with
one of its theories and to evaluate the approached used to study these topics. It is
important that people who work with in the health and social care sector understand these
perspectives of psychology and how they can be applied to a health and social care setting.
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour which includes studies of
conscious and unconscious phenomena, feeling and thought (Mcleod, 2019).
Biological
The Biological approach studies behaviour caused by genetic and biological influences. A
Biological theory is Gesell’s Maturational Theory. Arnold Gessell (1180-1961) was known for
his research and his contributions to the field of development in children (Jansen, 2016).
According to Gesell, the rate that children develop mostly depends on the growth of said
child’s nervous system consisting of the web nerves of nerve fibres, spinal cord, and brain
(Jansen, 2016). As the nervous system grows, their minds develop, and behaviours change
(Jansen, 2016). Gesell believed that the person’s environment had an influence on their
development but biology being nature was the biggest influence. With each individual
child’s unique genetic and biological code determines the rate of development of the that
child and the environment should be adapted and modified to meet the individuals genetic
and biological’s timetable (Jansen, 2016). Gesell noticed there are sequences of
development and believed that children develop following the same sequence however, at
there own pace starting at the head and working their way down to the feet (Jansen, 2016).
With hitting skills or behaviours (milestones) performed at certain points of the
development that tells us that the said child is developing on the right track which are
mostly physical developments (Jansen, 2016). Due to developments are dependent on the
growth of the nervous system, some children won’t be able to complete certain tasks until
that part of the nervous system has developed (Jansen, 2016).
One Advantage of the biological approach is that it provides clear predictions where the
explanations can be tested scientifically and be supported with evidence. This can be
repeated to evaluate reliability. Another advantage of this approach it is deterministic as it
increases the likelihood of people with abnormal behaviours to be treated and it can also
provide explanations about the cause of it (Strengths and Weaknesses of Biological
Approach, 2013). However, A disadvantage of this approach is that it has limitations where
the meditational process is ignored, and it doesn’t recognise cognitive processes. Another
disadvantage is that most biological explanations are reductionist where it reduces
behaviour to the outcome of genes and other biological processes.
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