Reductionism vs Holism

• Reductionism

  Looking at smaller parts of behaviour that can be easily tested, allows complex behaviours to be explained in simple terms
• parsimony

  the simplest explanation is normally the best
• levels of explanation (types of reductionism)

  • Social / cultural
  • psychological
  • Physiological
• 2 main types of reductionism

  • biological
  • environmental
• biological reductionism

  all humans are biological systems so behaviour can be explained through neurochemical or genetic explanations
• environmental reductionism

  breaking up behaviour into smaller stimulus response links
• evidence for types of reductionism

  • dopamine explanation of schizophrenia - only looks at chemical imbalance in the brain and implies it can be fixed
  • behaviourism - phobias are only acquired through learning
• Strengths of reductionism

  • scientific - helps us understand the diverse and complex areas of human behaviour
  • Testable ideas
  • Useful - if we can find something that contributes to behaviour we can address or change it
• weaknesses of reductionism

  • ignores other influences on behaviour
  • over simplistic - makes us miss key features of interactions and we lose the meaning on behaviours
  • animal research - Pavlov & Skinner are environmentally reductionist
• holism

  human behaviour should be viewed as a whole integrated experience, not as separate parts
• strengths of holism

  • argues that humans react to stimuli as an organised whole rather than a set of stimulus response links
  • uses qualitative methods so can get in depth information about behaviour
• weaknesses of holism

  • difficult to study and apply
  • using qualitative methods makes it harder to compare findings
• which approach is holistic?

  humanistic