Reductionism in Psychological Research

• What does reductionism refer to in psychological research?

  Breaking down human processes into parts
• How does holism differ from reductionism in psychology?

  Holism looks at interactions of elements as a whole
• What is a key term associated with reductionism?

  Reductionism
• How does biological psychology utilize reductionism?

  By using brain scanning techniques to study behavior
• What does a PET scan measure in biological psychology?

  Glucose metabolism in the brain
• How does reductionism explain aggression in biological psychology?

  By linking it to the amygdala's activity
• What is a strength of reductionism in explaining aggression?

  It leads to early interventions and treatments
• What is a weakness of reductionism in psychological research?

  It fails to consider social factors influencing behavior
• What does holism consider in psychological research?

  Interactions between different aspects of a system
• What did Brendgen's study conclude about aggression?

  Physical aggression is genetic, social aggression is environmental
• How does a holistic approach benefit anti-bullying policies?

  It promotes pro-social role models in schools
• What is a weakness of Brendgen's study regarding its sample?

  Twins are rare in society, limiting generalizability
• What does parsimony mean in psychological research?

  Explaining phenomena in the simplest terms
• How does Milgram's agency theory relate to obedience?

  It explains obedience through the agentic shift
• What is a strength of Milgram's agency theory?

  It has practical applications in crowd control
• What is a weakness of Milgram's agency theory?

  Its concepts are unfalsifiable and subjective
• What is the hypothetico-deductive model in science?

  A theory is formulated and tested through hypotheses
• What does social impact theory study?

  Interactions between humans based on various factors
• How does status and authority affect obedience according to social impact theory?

  Increases through titles and uniforms
• What is a strength of Sedikides and Jackson's field experiment?

  It shows real-life influences on obedience
• What is a weakness of holistic explanations in psychology?

  They are hard to test scientifically
• What is biological reductionism?

  Reducing behavior to physical explanations
• What does environmental reductionism support?

  Classical conditioning and stimulus-response theory
• How does the dopamine hypothesis explain schizophrenia?

  It links symptoms to increased dopamine levels
• What is a strength of the dopamine hypothesis in treatment?

  First-generation antipsychotics reduce positive symptoms
• What is a weakness of the dopamine hypothesis?

  It fails to consider social and environmental factors
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of reductionism in psychological research?

  Strengths:

  • Develops applications for treatment
  • Simplifies complex behaviors for understanding

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Ignores social factors
  • May lead to incomplete explanations
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of holism in psychological research?

  Strengths:

  • Considers interactions between elements
  • Provides a more realistic account of behavior

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Hard to test scientifically
  • May lack generalizability due to sample limitations
• What are the key components of social impact theory?

  • Strength of the source
  • Immediacy of the source
  • Number of sources and targets
• What are the implications of the dopamine hypothesis for treatment?

  • First-generation antipsychotics block D2 receptors
  • Reduces positive symptoms like hallucinations
  • 60% success rate in alleviating symptoms