Biological approach AO1

- Charles Darwin suggested that all our behavior is acquired through natural selection and survival of the fittest.

- According to his theory, natural selection ensures only those behaviors that are adaptive will be naturally selected and passed down through generations.

- Seligman suggested that there was a biological preparedness to phobias of certain things e.g spiders and snakes that threatened early man 

- All humans are genetically 99.9% the same but we all have a unique genotype. 

- Genotype is the genetic constitution of an individual. Identical twins (MZ twins) have the exact same genotype.

- A phenotype is the result of your genotype interacting with the environment to establish behavior. It is a set of observable characteristics of an individual.

- Genetic influences are often studied through twin studies it family studies.

- This is the relationship between the various areas of the brain and their functions.

- Broca's area is in the posterior portion of the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere and is critical for spontaneous speech production and writing.

- Wernicke's area is in the posterior portion of the left temporal lobe and recognizes language and associated it with meaning.

- If it's not the structures in the brain genetically inherited then the next suspect is neurochemistry 

-  Involves neurotransmitters such as GABA.

- Inhibits the activity of neurons in most areas of the brain during synaptic transmission it combines with receptors on the postsynaptic neuron, reducing the firing rate of that postsynaptic neuron.

- This has led to anti-anxiety drugs like valium to make us more relaxed.