Holism and reductionism

• Holism= people and behaviour should be studied as a whole system
• Holism:

  Gestalt psychologists claimed that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'. Breaking up behaviour and experience is inappropriate as these can only be understood by analysing the person or behaviour as a whole. This view is shared by humanistic psychologists who see successful therapy as bringing together all aspects of the whole person
• Reductionism= breaking down behaviour into constituent parts
• Reductionism:

  Reductionist approaches analyse behaviour by breaking it down into smaller parts. This is based on the scientific principle of parsimony- all phenomena should be explained using the most basic, lowest level and simplest principles
• Parsimony= all phenomena should be explained using the most basic, lowest level and simplest principles
• The notion of levels of explanation suggests there are different ways of viewing the same phenomena in psychology- some are more reductionist than others
• Different understandings of OCD:

  • Socio-cultural level- it involves behaviour most people would regard as odd (e.g. repeated hand-washing)
  • Psychological level- the individual's experience of having obsessive thoughts
  • Physical level- the sequence of movements involved in washing one's hands
  • Physiological level- hypersensitivity of the basal ganglia
  • Neurochemical level- underproduction of serotonin
• Which level is the 'best' explanation of OCD is a matter of debate, but each level is more reductionist than the one before
• Psychology can be replaced by a hierarchy of reductionism. Psychology can be placed in a hierarchy of science, with the more precise and 'micro' of these at the bottom (e.g. physics) and the more general and 'macro' at the top (e.g. sociology)
• Biological reductionism:

  Physiological and neurochemical level- we are biological organisms made up of physiological structures and processes- all behaviour is at some level biological and can be explained through neurochemical, evolutionary and genetic influences. This assumption has been successfully applied to the explanation and treatment of mental illness
• Environmental reductionism:

  Physical level. The behaviourist approach is built on environmental reductionism- behaviourists study observable behaviour and break complex learning up into simple stimulus-response links. So they key unit of analysis occurs at the physical level- the behaviourist approach is not concerned with cognitive processes at the psychological level.
• Strength of holism: can explain key aspects of social behaviour

  There are some social behaviours that only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood at the level of individual group members. For example, the effects of de-individuation of prisoners and guards in the Stanford prison experiment could not be understood by studying the participants as individuals- it was the interactions between the people that mattered. This shows that holistic explanations are needed for a more complete understanding of behaviour than reductionist approaches
• Limitation of holism: it is empirical

  Holistic explanations tend not to lend themselves to rigorous scientific testing and become vague and speculative as they become more complex. For example, if we accept there are many factors contributing to depression, it is difficult to establish which is most influential and which to use as a basis for therapy. This suggests that when it comes to finding solutions for real world problems lower level explanations may be more applicable
• Strength of reductionism: scientific credibility

  A reductionist approach often forms the basis of scientific research. Target behaviours are reduced to constituent parts to create operationalised variables. This makes it possible to conduct experiments or record observations (behavioural categories) in meaningful and reliable ways. This gives psychology greater credibility, placing it on equal terms with the natural sciences lower down in the reductionist hierarchy
• Strength of holism and reductionism: interactionist approach

  Interactionist in the context of holism and reductionism considers how different levels of explanation combine and interact. For example, the diathesis-stress model explains mental disorders such as schizophrenia as the outcome of predisposition (often genetic) which is triggered by some stressor (often psychological). This models has led to a more multi-disciplinary and holistic approach to treatment (e.g. combing drugs and family therapy) and is associated with lower relapse rates