Holism & reductionism

• Describe the holistic side of the debate

  Argument that proposes that it only makes sense to study human behaviour as a whole, indivisible system e.g. psychological factors, social factors and the environment
• describe the reductionism side of the debate

  the belief that human behaviour is best understood by studying the smaller constituent parts e.g. genetic factors
• What are the levels of explanation of reductionism

  Highest level: socio-cultural explanation

  Middle level: Psychological explanation

  Lowest level: biological or physiological explanation
• 2 types of reductionism

  biological reductionism

  environmental reductionism
• what is biological reductionism

  reducing complex behaviours down to physiological structures or processes e.g. genetics, biological structures, neurochem
• what is environmental reductionism

  all behaviour is learned and acquired through interactions with the environment e.g. conditioning
• What did Köhler argue in holism

  The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
• examples of holism in psychology

  humanistic psychology

  social influence
• Describe Interactionist approach

  Interactionists consider how different levels of explanations may combine and interact

  E.g. Diathesis-stress model where a genetic predisposition to a disorder such as schizophrenia is triggered by a stressor (experiences)
• limitation of the holistic approach- lacks practical values

  • holistic accounts of human behaviour tend to become hard to use as human behaviour is too complex
  • There are many different factors that contribute to a disorder so it becomes difficult to know which one is most influential in the holistic approach

  = difficult to know what to prioritise as the basis of a therapy or other treatment

  = suggests holistic accounts may lack practical value whereas reductionist r accounts may be better
• Strength of the reductionist approach - scientific approach

  • well controlled research as there is a need to operationalise variables in order to break done behaviours into constituent parts

  = scientific approach gives psychology greater credibility
• counterpoint to reductionism being scientific

  reductionist approach has been accused of oversimplifying complex phenomena, leading to reduced validity

  = suggests that reductionist approaches can only form part of an explanation
• limitation of the reductionist approach- some behaviours can only be understood at a higher level

  • aspects of social behaviour that only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood in terms of the individual member

  e.g. the effects of conformity to social roles in stanford prison experiment

  = suggests some behaviours require higher level explanations to provide a more valid account