Discuss biological explanations of schizophrenia (IMPROVED)

Schizophrenia is a severe psychotic disorder characterised by marked impairment to cognition,

emotion and behaviour. The biological explanation follows the general assumption of the biological
approach – behaviours are caused by internal physiological factors such as genetic vulnerability and
the dopamine hypothesis. Genetic vulnerability

The reductionist stance of the biological approach can be seen as a strength. For example, it reduces
complexity of schizophrenia and simplifies it to operationaised variables such as dopamine levels of
the severity of the symptoms.

This is a strength as these variables can generate testable hypotheses for further research evidence.

However, this reductionist stance can also be seen as a limitation. By focusing on the internal
physiological

There is a real-life application in the biological research into schizophrenia, pharmaceutical

companies are able to develop antipsychotic medication to nullify schizophrenia symptoms. All
antipsychotics work by interacting dopamine receptors in the brain which temporarily decreases the
severity and frequency of the positive symptoms of a schizophrenic individual until they wear off.
This is a strength as this further supports the evidence for the role of dopamine in schizophrenia and
can be the basis for developing more effective drugs in the future.