reductionism vs holism

• behaviourism

  • environmental reductionism
  • behaviour explained via stimulus response link
• social learning theory

  • less reductionist
  • they consider behaviour with their social context
  • reductionist with the way they study human behaviour
• cognitive

  • machine reductionism
  • behaviour explained through computer analogy
  • e.g WMM criticised for ignoring role of emotion and irrationality
• biological

  • biological reductionism
  • behaviour explained through genes, neurotransmitters erc
• psychodynamic

  • both
  • behaviour broken into unconscious conflicts and biological drives
  • also considers other factors e.g childhood experiences (environmental)
• humanistic

  • holism
  • understand behaviour by studying whole person as experiences, perceptions and feelings are interconnected
  • attempt to reduce behaviour to separate elements loses sense of what it means to be human