holism and reductionism

• holism

  an argument or theory which proposes that it only makes sense to study an indivisible system rather than its constituent parts.Behaviour can only be understood by analysing the person or behaviour as a whole.E.g humanistic psychologists
• reductionism

  the belief that human behaviour is best explained by breaking it down into constituent parts.Simplest,easiest ,most economical level of explanation.
• biological reductionism

  a form of reductionism which attempts to explain social and psychological phenomena at a lower biological level.

  • In terms of the action of genes,hormones,evolutionary and genetic influences
• environmental reductionism

  the attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus-response links that have been learned through experience.

  E.g the behaviourist approach
• levels of explanation

  • explanations vary from those at a lower level or fundamental level focusing on basic components or units to those at a higher, more holistic multivariable level