"The Biological Perspective"

"The Biological Perspective" The relationship between mind and body, and the influence of heredity on human behaviour are two main objectives of the biological approach to psychology. Before the concept of the brain being the seat of the soul was introduced, the vital organs of the human body were considered to be the heart and the liver,a point of view widely accepted amongst the inhabitant of incient Egypt. The theory of the brain being the seat of the soul was introduced by Alcmacon and later confirmed by Plato. Hippocrates emphasized that the brain was organ of intellect and controlled senses and movement, he suggested that a mental or behavioral disorder could be caused by physical dysfuntion and not possesed by evil spirits. Dualism was an assumption put forward by Descartes, it was a rather radical idea. The theory dualism implied the distinction of mind and body, and that the two of them could interact(via the pineal gland in the brain). But dualism was rejected by today's researchers in the biological approach because of another theory called Materialsm. The assumption that all behaviour has a physical basis. In 1745 a French phisician wrote a book called "The Natural History of the Soul" which was based on the fact that body is not just a machine, the soul is not different from the mind and that the mind was part of the body. Evantually In 1981, the view of

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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I chose to investigate the behaviour of woodlice in a wet or dry environment.

David Bennett 1DSM Coursework: Behaviour of Wood Lice When Offered a choice Between Wet and Dry In the experiment I was offered the choice to investigate the behaviour of woodlice in a wet or dry environment or a light or dark environment. I chose to investigate the behaviour of woodlice in a wet or dry environment. Woodlice belong to the biological class crustacea. Most of the animals in this class are aquatic, and though the terrestrial species can breathe with the aid of primitive 'lungs' they lack the features found in most other land-dwelling arthropods. They have no waterproof waxy cuticle on their exo-skeleton and are therefore more likely to suffer from dessication compared with other arthropods such as insects which have a well developed waxy layer. These animals excrete their nitrogenous waste as ammonia gas directly thorough their exo-skeleton (rather than as urea or uric acid).This means that their exo-skeleton needs to be permeable to ammonia and is therefore also permeable to water vapour. In my experiment I am testing whether the woodlice prefer the environment to be wet or dry. I predict that they will prefer it wet rather than dry. I think this because when you find them in the wild, they are in dark damp places like under big rocks or a log. Method First of all in my experiment I will set up a 'choice chamber' with wet cotton wool under one side

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Characteristics of Different Soil Types

Characteristics of Different Soil Types Sand, Loamy sand, Sandy loam These are well drained and aerated and workable for most of the year. They are very light to handle and quick to warm up in spring. Unless they have a very high organic matter content they are prone to drying out too quickly, and additional watering will be needed. This extra watering will also help to wash out the plant foods and lime from the soil, so they are likely to be acid (except for some coastal soils). They are often referred to as "hungry" soils and need lots of extra feeding. With careful management however, they can be amongst the most productive soil types. Medium loam, Sandy clay loam, Silt Loam These are the "average" soil types. They achieve a good balance between the ability to be very productive and the minimum of attention. The medium loam group is probably the best in this respect. Clay, Sandy clay, Clay loam, Silty clay loam, Silty clay, Silt Although these soils are difficult to work and manage, they usually have good supplies of plant foods and lime. The main drawbacks are the high water holding capacity (which means they are late to get going in spring) and the effort required to work them. You will need to catch just the right weather conditions to avoid hard work and damage to the soil structure. The use of heavy machinery (and especially rotavators) should be avoided at

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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To investigate the effect of varying concentration of a certain sugar solution on the amount of osmotic activity between the solution and the potato chip.

Amy Grammer 11.6 AT1 Aim: - To investigate the effect of varying concentration of a certain sugar solution on the amount of osmotic activity between the solution and the potato chip. Background information If a dilute solution is separated from a concentrated solution by a partially permeable membrane, water diffuses across the membrane from the dilute to the concentrated solution. This is known as Osmosis. A partially permeable membrane is porous but allows water to pass through more rapidly than dissolved substances. Since a dilute solution contains, in effect, more water molecules than a concentrated solution, there is a diffusion gradient that favours the passage of water from the dilute to the concentrated solution. In living cells, the cell membrane is partially permeable and the cytoplasm and vacuole (in plant cells) contain dissolved substances. As a consequence, water tends to diffuse into cells by Osmosis if they are surrounded by a weak solution, e.g. fresh water. If the cells are surrounded by a stronger solution, e.g. salt water, the cells may lose water by Osmosis. Water Potential. The water potential of a solution is a measure of whether it is likely to lose or gain water molecules from another solution. A dilute solution, with its high proportion of free water molecules, is said to have higher water potential than a concentrated solution, because

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Osmosis Investigation

Osmosis Investigation Aim: To investigate the effect of varying concentration of a certain sugar solution on the amount of osmotic activity between the solution and a potato chip of a given size. Osmosis is defined as the net movement of water or any other solutions molecules from a region in which they are highly concentrated to a region in which they are less concentrated. This movement must take place across a partially permeable membrane such as a cell wall, which lets smaller molecules such as water through but does not allow bigger molecules to pass through. The molecules will continue to diffuse until the area in which the molecules are found reaches a state of equilibrium, meaning that the molecules are randomly distributed throughout an object, with no area having a higher or lower concentration than any other. Equipment list * Potato borer * Boiling tube rack * Boiling tubes * Paper towels * Weighing scales * Knife * Test tubes Prediction: For this particular investigation I think that the lower the concentration of the sugar solution in the test tube the larger the mass of the potato will be. This is because the water molecules pass from a high concentration, i.e. In the water itself, to a low concentration, i.e. In the potato chip. Therefore, the chips in higher water concentrations will have a larger mass than in higher sugar concentrations. When

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Benefits and implications of improving plant productivity.

Biology Coursework Skill I+J Benefits and implications of improving plant productivity Tamryn Renwick To increase plant productivity we can manipulate the environment, or more importantly we can improve the plants. There are many different ways that plant productivity can be improved, for example one option is to keep them in ideal, controlled environments such as glass houses and poly-tunnels. In these conditions, light intensity, temperature, CO2 concentration, moisture, etc are adjusted to suit a particular crop (2). But one major problem with this method of crop production is that costs are very high and there is not always a big enough profit. Another process that can be used to increase plant productivity is breeding programmes based on hybridisation. This process has many disadvantages though, such as, there is the transfer of few desirable genes also accompanied by the uncontrollable transfer of an additional 1000- 10 000 genes (1), the process takes 10-15 years to complete (1), and so has not been widely used. The most widely thought of way to improve plant productivity is genetic manipulation. Genetic manipulation (GM) was developed in the late 1970s (1) but has only been exploited to full in the last decade. It is a new and most important approach in increasing agricultural productivity, and is one of the fastest growing industries. Examples of genetically

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Contributory factors to heart disease

Contributory factors to heart disease Diet is not the only factor that causes heart disease; lifestyle is also a very big factor. Smoking deprives the blood of oxygen and also narrows the blood vessels. Smoking dramatically increases the risk of developing heart disease, lung cancer and many other diseases. These diseases are not always fatal but can seriously affect your quality of life. If a person smokes they are more likely to die before they retire. " Smoking doubles your risk of dying from heart disease. Each year 35,000 British smokers die from heart disease." (Flora project for heart disease.) Taking more exercise will help prevent C.H.D. as it has a direct link to obesity. When a person is overweight the body and the heart have to work harder. A lack of exercise can increase the chances of C.H.D. the body takes in a certain amount of fat per day, and needs to burn it all off through exercise or else the body cant cope and the fat causes the arteries to build up and clot. Having excess weight on the body gives a higher blood pressure. "About 1 in 7 of us will have high blood pressure at some point." It is advised to have your blood pressure checked by your doctor. Especially if you are over 35 you should have your blood pressure checked every 3 years or so. There is no way to tell if you have high blood pressure or not as you don't feel any different.

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Investigate the effects of varying concentration of certain solutions on the amount of osmosis in a potato chip of a given size.

Osmosis in Plant Cells Plan: Aim To investigate the effects of varying concentration of certain solutions on the amount of osmosis in a potato chip of a given size. Prediction A definition of osmosis is: 'the movement of water molecules from an area of high water concentration to a low water concentration across a semi-permeable membrane' (Oxford dictionary 2000). In a high concentration of water the amount of solute (e.g. sugar) is low. These solutions are usually known as a dilute or weak solution. But in a low concentration of water the amount of solute (e.g. sugar) is high. These solutions are usually known as concentrated or strong solutions. When a weak solution and a strong solution are separated by a partially permeable membrane, the water will move from the area of high concentration to the area of low until both sides are equal. This is osmosis, and is shown in the diagram below. An Example of Osmosis Examples of osmosis can also be seen in living cells. Root hairs on plants take in water from the soil via osmosis. Water continuously moves along the cells of the root and up the xylem to the leaf. Water is moving to areas of lower water concentration all the time. This is shown in the diagram below. Example of Osmosis in a Root Hair Cell When a cell is placed in distilled water which is high water concentration water will move across the semi-

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Limiting Factors & the Rate of Photosynthesis.

Limiting Factors & the Rate of Photosynthesis James Irwin Introduction Photosynthesis can be defined as the production of simple sugars from carbon dioxide and water causing the release of sugar and oxygen. For photosynthesis to take place a plant requires carbon dioxide, water, light, a suitable temperature, chlorophyll and availability of nutrients. The raw materials of photosynthesis are carbon dioxide and water. Carbon Dioxide is the only form in which a plant can take in carbon, however, in this case using an aquatic plant, in may obtain it from hydrogen carbonate ions in the water. The limiting factors of photosynthesis are: * Light Intensity If you put a plant in total darkness, it cannot photosynthesize at all. As the amount of light is increased, the rate of photosynthesis increases until the chloroplast is working at full capacity. At this level of light intensity, adding more light makes not difference to the rate of photosynthesis. In fact, it may reduce it, because very bright light can bleach chlorophyll and make the leaf much less efficient. This graph resembles that as the increase in light intensity (which can be measured in lux) increases, the rate of photosynthesis, until another factor such as carbon dioxide or temperature, limits it. * Concentration of Carbon Dioxide Carbon dioxide is needed to make sugars in the leaf. Carbon dioxide is present

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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" To KILL ,or not to KILL: that is the question"

Marcin Stenka Sem. IV Gr."A" Opinion essay " To KILL ,or not to KILL: that is the question" Around the world, animals are used to test products ranging from hand cream to new cancer drugs. Almost every medical treatment you use has been tested on animals. The question is: should animals be used in medical experiments? I strongly believe that, even though people cause harm to animals ,these experiments are useful and not once saved life of human being. In the first place, without tests progress in medicine would not be possible and many of well known cosmetics would not exist. Antibiotics invented to cure great diseases such as: polio, measles, mumps ,rubella were also tested ,but not on human. For example ,animals were also used to develop anesthetics to prevent human pain and suffering during surgery. Moreover, HIV drugs and insulin rely on animal tests ,because other testing methods aren't advanced enough. Furthermore, human living standard goes up. Can one imagine better life without soap ,toothpaste, perfumes or make-up? Without mentioned people appearance and scent would not much differ from animals. For instance , currently cosmetics are used almost everywhere at home, at work etc. Many of us are not able to live without medicines. One can function as normal having incurable disease. In addition to this, operations on animals helped to develop organ transplant. It

  • Word count: 564
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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