Holism and Reductionism

• Debate

  Which position is more preferable for psychology study the whole person (holism) or study component parts (reductionist). When the whole gets broken down it stops being holistic. Reductionism can be broken down into levels of explanation.
• Holism

  Proposes that it makes more sense to study a whole system: Gestalt found the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Humanistic psychology fouses on experiences which can't be reduced to biologsal units, qualitative methods investigate themes.
• Reductionism

  is based on the scientific principle of parsimony-all phenomena should be explained using the lowest level principles.
• Levels of explanation (highest - lowest) eg OCD phobias

  •Sociocultural level-behaviour people would regard as odd

  •Psychological level- individuals experience of obsessive thoughts

  anxiety

  •Physical level-sequence of movement involved in washing hands

  •Environmental level + behavioural

  level- learning experiences

  classical and operant conditioning

  •Physiological level level - abnormal functioning in frontal lobes

  •Neuro-chemical level-underproduction of serotonin
• Biological reductionism

  suggests all behaviour can be explained through neurochemical, physiological, evolutionary & genetic influences. eg. drugs increase serotonin; can treat OCD.
• Environmental reductionism

  proposes all behaviour is acquired through interactions with the environment. eg neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus & conditioned research.