reductionism

• Behaviourism

  Behaviourists are highly reductionist; they explain behaviour, even complex behaviour, as due to a chain of simple stimulus-response links.
• SLT

  Social learning theorists, while agreeing behaviour is due to stimulus response mechanisms, are less reductionist than behaviourists as they include the role of internal mental processes. For example, the mediational processes of attention, retention, reproduction and motivation.
• Cognitive approach

  The computer analogy explains the mind and brain as similar to the CPU and software; this is argued to be machine reductionist, an over-simplistic view that ignores the important and complex role of emotions and irrationality in humans, as well as ignoring computer memory is flawless. However, human memory is reconstructive.
• Biological approach

  Behaviour such as aggression, attachment and mental health conditions like schizophrenia are explained as the result of chemical processes within the brain; this highly reductionist explaination oversimplifies the complex and highly personal experience of having an emotion and ignores the role of cognitive and cultural forces.
• Psychodynamic approach

  Psychodynamics is not reductionist, as its explanation for behaviour includes a range of factors, such as the biological changes that happen in childhood, experiences during the psychosexual stages that shape the unconscious mind, and how the unconscious mind interacts with the conscious mind. (holistic)
• Humanistic approach

  Humanists argue against any reductionist explanations of behavior, they claim the only valid explanation is holistic, this means if an individual experience is to be explained the widest range of factors need to be included, from biological factors and direct experience to education, social learning and culture.