holism and reductionism

• what is holism?


  an argument which proposes that it only makes sense to study an indivisible system rather than its constitute parts
• which psychological approach takes a holistic view?

  the humanistic approach as it focuses on the individuals experience which is not something that can be reduced into e.g. biological units.
• what is reductionism?


  the belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into simpler component parts.
• which psychological approaches take a reductionist view?

  the biological approach, the behaviourist approach.
• what are levels of explanation?


  the idea that there are several ways that can be used to explain behaviour.

  -the lowest level considers physiological/biological explanations

  - the middle level considers psychological explanations

  - the highest level considers social and cultural explanations.
• what are the two types of reductionism?

  - biological and environmental
• what is biological reductionism?


  refers to the way that biological psychologists try to reduce behaviour to a physical level and explain it in terms of neuron's, hormones, brain structure etc.
• what is environmental reductionism?


  the attempt to explain all behaviour in terms of stimulus response links that have been learned through experience e.g. the behaviourist approach.
• what is a strength of the holistic approach?

  there are aspects of social behaviour that only emerge in a group context and can't be understood through an individual group member

  -e.g. the effects of conformity to social roles and the deindividuation of p's in the SPE could not be understood through individual p's

  -showing the holistic approach provides a more complete understanding behaviour unlike reductionists.
• what is a limitation of the holistic approach?


  don't really involve scientific testing so can become vague.

  -e.g humanistic psychology tends to be criticised for its lack of empirical evidence. by considering various factors about an individuals behaviour it becomes hard to see which one is most influential, making it harder for the development of therapy.

  this is a limitation as the holistic approach makes it difficult to help individuals in the real world.
• what is a strength of reductionism?


  -forms the basis of scientific research.

  -in order to conduct well controlled research we need to operationalise the variables. making it possible to conduct experiments/ record observations in a way that's reliable.

  -e.g. research on the SS operationalised variables such as separation anxiety.

  -this puts psychology on equal grounds with the natural sciences.
• what is a limitation of reductionism?


  -oversimplifies complex phenomena.

  -e.g. the reductionist approach may only consider the influence of genetics on depression, completely discarding any other factors such as past experiences, trauma etc.

  -these genetic explanations do to analyse the social context within which the behaviour occurs.