Marcus has been diagnosed with schizophrenia; his symptoms include hearing critical voices and a complete lack of energy or interest in daily activities. His sister, Chloe, has been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), experiencing persistent thoughts about contamination and carrying out extreme, repetitive cleaning rituals. Their family doctor suggests that both siblings' conditions are primarily caused by abnormal neurotransmitter activity in their brains. However, their mother argues that since their father also had severe psychiatric problems, their conditions must be purely genetic.
Discuss biological explanations for schizophrenia and one other disorder (such as OCD). You must refer to Marcus and Chloe in your answer.
Practise Edexcel A Level Psychology Content with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 1,059 questions covering Bowlby's work on attachment, Ainsworth and the Strange Situation, Research into deprivation, Research into privation, Research into day care, Cross-cultural research into attachment, Autism, Individual differences, and Developmental psychology, matched to the Edexcel A Level Psychology (9PS0) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.