The Bio Psychological Perspective.

study carried out by Gottesman and Shields (1972, cited in Gross & Mcilveen 1996) a concordance rate of 42% for identical twins to develop schizophrenia was found in comparison to a concordance rate of only 9% for non-identical twins. The concordance rate has been consistently higher for identical twins to develop schizophrenia in several other studies. Evidence also suggests that the concordance rate is equally high for identical twins that have been separated at birth, as it is for identical twins that have been raised in the same environment. Another explanation for the development of schizophrenia could be over-activity of neurotransmitters in the brain. The neurotransmitter implicated in an overwhelming amount of research is dopamine. When post-mortems have been conducted on people who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, a greater concentration of dopamine was found in their brain. It is believed that more dopamine is used (rather than produced) due to over sensitive receptors or more receptor sites than usual. This theory is supported by a study carried out by Philip Seeman at the University of Toronto (cited in Gross & Mcilveen 1996), where the D4 receptor was reported to be six times greater in the brains of people with schizophrenia as it was in those without the condition. Another example to sustain the dopamine theory is that if a person without schizophrenia takes cocaine or amphetamine they display schizophrenic characteristics such as delusions and hallucinations. Research by Davis (1974, cited in Gross & Mcilveen 1996) has shown that if a person with schizophrenia takes the same drugs their symptoms are exaggerated. In addition, research has also reported that drugs used to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia block the dopamine receptors to prevent them becoming stimulated, therefore reducing the amount of dopamine activity in the brain (Kimble 1988, cited in Gross & Mcilveen 1996). Although the biopsychological perspective may seem a convincing account of schizophrenia it can be criticised in many respects. Firstly, it ignores the fact that humans have emotions. Secondly, it ignores the environments influence on the way we behave. Both of these factors are integral in conditions such as stress and depression, which would be difficult to explain in terms of biology alone. The biopsychological perspective de-humanizes complex behaviours by reducing them to a level of cells and chemicals. 2