holism and reductionism

• Reductionism is the view that we can understand things by breaking them down into simpler parts.
• Holism is the view that, to understand something, we must look at it as a whole.
• Explanations are more reductionist the further down the levels of explanations.
• The most reductionist explanation is the biological explanation because it involves explaining behaviour in terms of neurotransmitters and genes in the body.
• Biological reductionism features in the biological approach to psychology.
• Environmental determinism explains behaviour in terms of stimulus and response.