Evaluate and Compare the Behavioural and Biological Approaches in Psychology

To compare these two vastly contrasting psychological approaches it is first necessary to understand their views and explanations for the origins of behaviour. The behavioural approach (commonly known as behaviourism) aligns with environmental arguments to explain how and why observable behaviour takes place; the focus is casted largely on what can be seen of the way an individual subject or animal chooses to act rather than the thought processes and emotions behind such actions. For this reason, under this approach, environmental stimuli are granted greater prominence and observation as a fundamental cause and foundation in one's behaviour and characteristics. Contrarily, the biological approach explains one's behaviours, thoughts and feelings as a result of one's genetic and physical body. This is the only approach in psychology which explains behaviour from a physical perspective as a result of innate physiological structures and thus directly opposes the behaviourist nature of measuring external and observable behaviours only. There is also less emphasis placed upon the environmental influence on our behaviour which is instead concentrated largely upon our inherited and genetically predisposed traits. This contributes towards the nurture argument of the nature vs nurture debate, one which is of great prevalence in the comparison of behavioural and biological psychological explanations.