A01

• 1.The holism-reductionism debate in psychology contrasts the holistic approach, which considers systems as wholes, with reductionism, which breaks behaviour down into constituent parts. While holism emphasises the interconnectedness of elements, reductionism seeks simplicity through analysing behaviour at various levels of explanation, from socio-cultural to physical to neurochemical. The debate between these approaches is not a continuum but a preference for understanding behaviour in its entirety or through component parts.
• 2.Holistic perspectives, favoured by humanistic psychologists, focus on individual experiences beyond biological components, using qualitative methods to explore themes. It is based on the Gestalt view that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In contrast, reductionist approaches, like behaviourism, break behaviour into stimulus-response links, emphasising environmental influences on learning.
• 3.Biological reductionism extends this approach to genetics, neurochemistry, and evolution, viewing behaviour as fundamentally biological. For instance, OCD may be reduced to neurotransmitter activity, supporting biological interventions. Similarly, behaviourists reduce complex phenomena like attachment to learned associations, emphasising environmental conditioning.