A01: Holism and Reductionism

• Holism Approach

  In 1920s & 1930s, Gestalt psychologists declared 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'. This view is basis of holism in psy.

  • Holism refers to any approach that emphasises the whole rather than their constituent parts.
  • Suggest there are different levels of explanation & at each level there are 'emergent properties'.
  • Properties of a whole are said to 'emerge' when 2 or more parts, in cooperation, do something each part cant do on its own.
• Why are reductionist explanations not used in the study of human subjectivity?

  Reductionist explanations (which might work in some circumstances) are considered inappropriate to the study of human subjectivity coz here the emergent property that we have to take account of is that of the 'whole person'.

  • Otherwise it makes no sense to try to understand the meaning of anything that anybody might do.
• Levels of explanation in psychology - Holism:

  The notion of 'levels in psychology' suggest that there are different ways of viewing the same phenomena in psychology.

  Ranging from a lower or fundamental level focusing on basic components or units to those at a higher more holistic multivariable level.

  MOST HOLISITIC / LEAST REDUCTIONIST

  • Socio-cultural level
  • Psychological level
  • Physical level
  • Environmental level
  • Physiological level
  • Neurochemical level

  MOST REDUCTIONIST / LEAST HOLISITIC

  • Each level is more reductionist than before
• Levels of Explanations of OCD:

  • Socio-cultural level: Repetitive hand washing is a behaviour that most people would regard as irrational/odd - only considered a problem if everyone considers it that way.
  • Psychological level: The individuals experience of having obsessive thoughts.
  • Physical level: A sequence of movements involved in washing's one hands. (to do with muscles).
  • Environmental/behavioural level: Learning/reinforcement for hand washing (conditioning)
  • Physiological level: Abnormal frontal love functioning.
  • Neurochemical level: An underproduction of serotonin
• Levels of Explanation of Schizophrenia:

  SEE GC
• Levels of Explanation - PART 2


  Need to understand neurochemical to understand everything above it, need to understand everything below env level to understand above

  • Which of these provides the 'best explanation' is a matter of debate, but each level is more reductionist than the one before.
• MOST HOLISTIC:

  • Sociology
  • Psychology
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics

  MOST REDUCTIONIST

  
  

  • Holism and reductionist is NOT A CONTINUUM
• Reductionist vs Holisitic VIEW: Cake:

  Ingredients: reductionist

  Whole cake: holistic

  • Just to help understand
• Holism and reductionism is NOT A CONTINUUM :)
• Reductionism

  • The belief human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into smaller component parts.

  Reductionists say that the best way to understand why we behave as we do is to look closely at the very simplest parts that make up our system, and use the simplest explanations to understand how they work.

  • It is based on the scientific principle/assumption of parsimony (to achieve this you need to be reductionist) - that all complex phenomena should be explained by the simplest underlying principles possible (lowest level principles).
• 3 types of reductionism?

  • Biological Reductionism
  • Environmental Reductionism (stimulus -response)
  • Machine Reductionism (NOT IN SPEC)
• Biological Reductionism:

  This is based on the premise that we are all biological organisms made up of physiological structures and processes.

  Thus, all behaviour is, at some level, biological and so can be explained through neurochemical, neurophysiological, physiological, evolutionary and genetic influences.

  • Basically suggests all behaviour can be explained through neurochemical, physiological, evolutionary &/or genetic influences.
• Environmental Reductionism

  (Stimulus-response)

  Behaviourist approach based on env reductionism.

  • All behaviour be reduced to simple building blocks of S-R & complex behaviour is a series of S-R chains. Analysis occurs at physical level not psychological level.

  Mind is a 'black box' irrelevant to our understanding of behaviour - proposes all behaviour acquired thro interactions with env

  • Other words all behaviours a consequence of conditioning

  e.g attachment explained through a +ve association being made between baby &person (NS) providing food (UCS) leading to feelings of love (CR).
• Holism:

  The whole

  Holism proposes that it only makes sense to study a whole system - the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Gestalt psychology).

  • For examples humanistic psychology focuses on experience which can't be reduces to biological units, qualitative methods investigative themes.
• Not a continuum

  Debate over which position is preferable for psychology - study the whole person (holism) or study component parts (reductionism)

  • As soon as you break down the 'whole' it isn't holistic. Reductionism can be broken down into levels of explanation.