reductionism vs holism

• holism


  human behaviour can only be understood via analysing the person/behaviour as a whole
• reductionism


  human behaviour can only be analysed by breaking it down into constituent parts. This is based on the scientific principle of parsimany & explained through basic principles
• levels of reductionism


  -socio-cultural

  -cognitive

  -behavioural

  -biological

  -neurochemical

  
  

  -from macro reductionism to micro reductionism

  -cognitive & behavioural fall under psychological explanations
• levels of reductionism: example

  OCD:

  -socio-cultural: produce behaviours seen as irrational

  -cognitive: obsessive & intrusive thoughts

  -biological: genetic vulnerability

  -neurochemical: decreased serotonin
• biological reductionism


  explains social & psychological phenomena at a biological level
• environmental reductionism


  explains behaviour in terms of stimulus-response, links that everything is learnt via experience
• evaluations

  Strength(s):

  -reductionism is more economical. Complete research on single components, can then see how they influence behaviour & give treatments e.g., antipsychotics, can allow people to go to work & give money to economy. Also, reductionist research is cheaper to do than longitudinal research.

  
  

  -reductionism is more scientific, increased scientific standing of psychology D: reductionism doesn't allow people to fully understand their disorder which can cause psych harm, not allowing psych to reach its aim.

  
  

  -interactionist approach

  
  

  Weakness(es):

  -reductionism oversimplifies complex behaviours

  
  

  -holism is hard to apply to real-world concepts
• Gestalt psychology: emphasis on people as a whole instead of constituent parts