Comparing Biological and Psychoanalytic Perspectives in Psychology

What are the core assumptions and key features of the biological and psychoanalytic perspectives in psychology? In what ways are they similar and how do they differ?

Introduction
In Psychology, various different explanations of behaviour and the intellect have been presented and debated over the years such as the psychodynamic, behavioral, biological and humanistic approach. The biological approach aims to provide explanation is concerned with how behaviour is affected by physiological systems and mechanisms (Barnes, 2013). This approach assumptions usually explore physiological and evolutionary explanations to behaviour. In opposition to this, the Psychoanalytic approach presents an explanation to psychological occurrence by exploring

One of the key themes of the Psychoanalytic approach is to recognise the importance of the unconscious mind and how it relates to behaviour.

One of the main assumptions of the Freudian psychoanalytic view is that behaviour depends on 3 components in the brain that are all at different levels of consciousness, The id, the ego and superego. According to the theory of the personality structure, the id is part of the selfish unconscious mind which is present from birth and functions according to the pleasure-pain principle. Moreover, the ego is part of the preconscious, which holds thoughts an individual has the ability to bring to conscious mind. However, the ego is more rational and realistic in comparison to the id. In addition, the super ego regards morals and family values that individual holds (Hiriyappa,

One similarity is that both approaches have a focus on instinctual behaviour, for example the biological approaches tends to focus on genes and the psychoanalytical approach also consists around the notion that behaviour comes from an instinctual place in regards to Freud and his studies into the unconscious. Another similarity, is that both approaches are reductionist as they break down complex ideas into simple notions. This is evident as the biological approach simplifies evolution into the break down of genes. Similarly, the psychoanalytic approach reduces the complex ideas surrounding the unconscious into basic parts such as the id, ego and superego. A final similarity between the two approaches is that both explore the influence of family life on behaviour as Freud explored the relations between attachment with parents whilst the biological approach explored the influence of hereditary information passed through