Holism and Reductionism

• Holism


  The view that human behaviour should be viewed as the product of different influences, which all interact. 'The whole is greater than the sum of its parts'.
• Reductionism


  Breaking human behaviour down into more simple components. The view that complex phenomena are best understood in terms of a simpler level of explanation.
• Approaches in Psychology which are more holistic


  • Humanistic Psychology which investigates many aspects of the individual as well as the interactions between people
• Reductionism


  • A powerful research tool that has led to major discoveries, e.g. treatments for psychological disorders
  • Based on the scientific principle of parsimony: all phenomena should be explained using the most basic (lowest level) principles
• Biological Reductionism


  The view that all behaviour can be explained at a lower biological level in terms of the actions of genes, neurotransmitters, brain structure and hormones
• Environmental (Stimulus-Response) Reductionism


  The view that all behaviour can be explained in terms of simple stimulus-response links, which involves learning the relationship between a behaviour and a corresponding event in the environment
• Levels of explanation in Psychology (from lowest to highest)

  • Biological explanations (most reductionist)
  • Psychological explanations
  • Social and cultural explanations (most holistic)
• Reductionism provides a basis for scientific research


  Allows for operationalised variables and experiments/observations, giving psychology greater credibility
• Reductionism ignores the complexity of human behaviour


  Can lead to oversimplification and errors of understanding
• Holistic explanations provide a more complete understanding of human behaviour


  Aspects of social behaviour only emerge within a group context and cannot be understood by examining individuals
• Holistic approaches do not lend themselves to rigorous scientific testing


  Become vague and speculative as they become more complex, making it difficult to establish causal relationships
• Reductionism provides basis for scientific research. To create operationalised variables, target behaviours must be broken down into constituent parts. Makes it possible to conduct experiments in a meaningful and reliable way. You cannot isolate variables with holism so its hard to establish cause and effect. Reductionism gives greater credibility on equal terms with natural sciences.
• Reductionism ignores complexity of human behaviour. Lead to errors on understanding as it ignores the complexity of human behaviour. E.g. SZ often treated with anti-psychotic medication due to belief of SZ being caused by chemical imbalance. Problematic because although medication reduces symptoms, it doesn’t address the cause of the issue. Could be due to high EE or double bind communication. Success rates of drug therapy are variable so biological explanation inadequate. Reductionist explanations can only form part of an explanation.
• Holistic explanations provide a more complete understanding of human behaviour as aspects of social behaviour only emerge within a group context. E.g. Zimbardos research couldn’t be understood by studying participants as individuals, it was the interaction between people and the behaviour of the group which was important. Provide a more complete and global understanding of behaviour than reductionist approaches.
• Holistic approaches

  • Do not lend themselves to rigorous scientific testing
  • Can become vague and speculative as they become more complex
• When it comes to finding solutions for real problems

  Reductionist may be more appropriate
• Reductionist


  Can be scientifically tested and therefore more reliable